Antigone, Sophocles' 5th century take on the Oedipus story, dramatizes war, fratricide, attempted patricide, suicide, the loss of young love, civil disobedience, and capital punishment. These elements make for great theatre but Antigone is also an immensely useful tool to engage undergraduate students from many disciplines in learning about politics. I use Antigone as a “motivating text” in political theory courses to engage students in the study of politics and persuade them of the importance of this field of study (Turner 2005).

As several recent articles in PS have noted, study abroad remains one of the most important and vital ways to make the international relations and comparative politics classroom more active, participatory, and experiential (Thies 2005; Bowman and Jennings 2005). Along with various pedagogical techniques (such as simulations, film, and Internet and web-based technologies) increasingly used by political science instructors to enhance the learning environment, the study abroad experience helps bring the world into the classroom because it can connect directly and experientially with students. Studies have shown that studying abroad increases students' cross-cultural abilities and global understanding, skills particularly relevant to comparative politics and international relations courses (Kitsantas 2004; Hopkins 1999). Indeed, because of study abroad's value as one component in active, student-centered learning, as early as 1991 the APSA Task Force on Political Science, in the so-called Wahlke Report, made the recommendation that political science departments should strive to increase the number of their students who participate in study abroad programs of some kind, a recommendation echoed again recently by several higher education panels (Wahlke 1991; Bollag 2003).

A college-level introductory course rarely gets the attention it deserves. It tends to be the oldest course in one's repertoire; the course that has the least-direct interface with one's research activities; the one that is most easily farmed out to adjunct faculty; and also the one that draws the largest audience, from all corners and crevices of the campus. It is easy to fall into a comfort zone with an introductory course, instead of thinking self-critically about one's method and effectiveness of instruction. Moreover, in a department setting, the introductory course is rarely the focus of our interaction with colleagues.

People in political science.

This issue of PS: Political Science and Politics introduces a new segment: Booklist. In this section we endeavor to list the upcoming book publications across the broad fi eld of political science. This current list is necessarilly limited: only publishers who submitted the information to PS are included. In an effort to make the process more egalitarian, to recognize the work of scholars independent of the quality of the media relations department at their publisher, we ask for our readers' assistance; in the future this section will be fully reader generated. If your fi rst-edition book is scheduled for publication in the three months before publication of the next issue of PS (i.e., if it will be published in the April, May, or June months that lay between publication of PS's April and July issues), enter the details of publication in the box found at PS's web site: www.apsanet.org/section_223.cfm. We hope that spreading word of upcoming work will help keep our members even more attune to new scholarship within the discipline.

Robert Paul Boynton (universally known as Bob) died of cancer on November 4, 2005, at age 78. Bob was a collegial colleague, constructive collaborator, compassionate confidante, and consummate cosmopolitan. These alliterative categories attempt to capture the primary qualities of Bob's 50 years of scholarly public life. The designations, however, fall woefully short of encompassing what he contributed to numerous university, association, community, national, and international settings. In those contexts his personal, intellectual, and humane character and skills stimulated good will as well as good learning.

Fred Homer, a political science professor at the University of Wyoming, died of heart failure on January 1, 2006, at the age of 66.

Richard L. Merritt, Emeritus Research Professor in Communications and professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, died on Saturday, November 19, 2005. He had suffered from Parkinson's for several years and fell at his home a week before his death.

Woodrow Jones, Jr., professor of political science at Texas A&M University passed away on November 22, 2005, after a long battle with heart disease. Born in McKenzie, Tennessee, on February 28, 1947, he received his B.A. in political science from the University of New Mexico in 1969 and went on to earn an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Oregon in 1974 and an M.P.H. from the University of Texas School of Public Health in 1981.

William C. Mitchell died January 2, 2006, at his home in Eugene, Oregon. He had suffered from pulmonary fibrosis. He was 80. His wife since 1959, Joyce Mitchell, died in 1996; he is survived by a brother James W. Mitchell, of Kingsford, Michigan, and two sisters, Jeanine Watt of Iron River, Michigan and Waverly Jarvis of Withee, Wisconsin.

Lester G. Seligman, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, died November 2, 2004, in Urbana, Illinois. He had a distinguished academic career, making major contributions to the study of political leadership and especially the U.S. presidency, and played a leadership role in the profession as well. He was widely admired, not only for the excellence of his teaching and research, but also for his indefatigable optimism, good humor, and generous spirit.

The 102nd APSA Annual Meeting will be held in Philadelphia, August 31–September 3, 2006. More than 700 panels will be organized in 47 thematic divisions focusing on the meeting's theme “Power Reconsidered.” In addition to the division panels, program chairs Judith Goldstein of Stanford University and Rick Valelly of Swarthmore College will offer theme panels that focus on the theoretical bases of power and their empirical effects.

Here is a quick look at some of the short courses planned for Wednesday, August 30th at the 2006 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. A complete listing of courses will be printed in the July issue of PS. For further details, and for information regarding pre-registration, transportation, and housing, visit www.apsanet.org. The online preliminary program, which will be released in May, provides information on panel schedules and the latest updates on the meeting.

In 2005, PS: Political Science and Politics published myriad articles covering a vast range of topics. Symposia alone published in 2005 focused on reviewing the 2004 presidential election, the careers of political scientists who graduated during “separate but equal,” the politics of same-sex marriage, strategizing for department chairs in an era of resource constraints, the nature and political significance of preemption, a guide to publishing your first book, and the changing citizenship theory and practice. Upcoming symposia will focus on Middle East research methods, the editorial cartoon in politics, and the politics of water. And remember, these are only the symposia. The journal's commitment to publishing articles on pedagogy and on the profession, as well as exemplary topical scholarship on a wide array of topics, calls for an equally broad stable of expert reviewers. PS cannot publish such diverse work without the outstanding work (and open-mindedness) of our peer reviewers. The peer review process relies on the professionalism and generosity of those who contribute their time to read and evaluate the work of others. The editors of PS thank the following scholars, who served as manuscript reviewers between January 1, 2005, and December 31, 2005.

Center space available for fall 2006

Research funding available

In the News

InProfile

Ethnic differences based on national origin are often undistinguished within the Black community in the United States. The assumption of a singular Black ethnicity (or the notion that all Blacks in the U.S. identify their origins within the U.S.) defines the majority of scholarly work on Black political identity and political behavior. However, the growing visibility of Black immigrant communities in major metropolitan areas of the U.S. raises the following question for scholars of immigration and race politics: What are the political implications of ethnic diversity within the Black community?

News and notes.

In recognition of their outstanding academic and personal achievements, APSA is pleased to announce the APSA Minority Fellows for the 2006–2007 academic year. Awards are based on the students' undergraduate course work, GPA, GRE scores, extracurricular activities, and recommendations from political science faculty. A selection committee designated six Fellows who receive financial support from the Association. Due to the high quality of applicants in this year's pool, the committee also selected one non-funded Fellow. Members of the selection committee for this year's Fellows included Jessica Perez Montfori, University of Texas, Pan American; Diane-Michele Prindeville, New Mexico State University; and Sherri L. Wallace, University of Louisville.

On November 7, 2005, APSA Executive Director Michael Brintnall welcomed the 2005–2006 class of APSA Congressional Fellowship Program (CFP) Fellows. In his opening remarks to 31 Fellows, Brintnall articulated three primary roles of the APSA congressional Fellows. First, he noted that following the five-week intensive orientation, APSA Fellows would become full-time Capitol Hill staff members. In this capacity Fellows are typically expected to demonstrate loyalty and dedication to advancing the issues of importance of the Senator or Representative in whose office they serve. The second role involves joining the distinguished fraternity of approximately 2,000 others in the program's history. This role requires current Fellows to recognize the program's rich and storied history and to take steps to advance the interests of the program. Third, APSA fellows are to be active learners. The CFP is an experiential fellowship, based on the participant-observer model. Now that the midpoint of the fellowship year is approaching, it seems appropriate to use the remainder of this essay to briefly reflect on these three roles. In doing so, I am reminded of the ancient Chinese proverb—”I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand.” Undoubtedly, the CFP provides a firsthand opportunity to learn about the first branch of government by doing.

When I first learned that I would be spending most of my final year in graduate school working on Capitol Hill as an APSA Congressional Fellow, I really did not know what to expect—other than that I needed to hurry up and finish my dissertation! Since most of my training was empirical in nature, with a smattering of formal theory here and there, the one thing I knew for certain was that I was in for a novel experience. After all, there are few substitutes for acting as a participant observer to uncover a different perspective on a subject.I want to thank Charles Bullock, Jeff Jenkins and especially Dave Rohde for helping me get into the Fellowship Program.