Announcing the 2010 Summer Institute in Political Psychology (SIPP)
Applications are being accepted now for the 19th Annual Summer Institute in Political Psychology, to be held at Stanford University July 11–30, 2010.
The Summer Institute offers 3 weeks of intensive training in political psychology. Political psychology is an exciting and thriving field that explores the origins of political behavior and the causes of political events, with a special focus on the psychological mechanisms at work.
Research findings in political psychology advance basic theories of politics and are an important basis for political decision-making in practice.
SIPP was founded in 1991 at Ohio State University, and Stanford has hosted SIPP since 2005, with support from Stanford University and from the National Science Foundation. Hundreds of participants have attended SIPP during these years.
The 2010 SIPP curriculum is designed to (1) provide broad exposure to theories, empirical findings, and research traditions; (2) illustrate successful cross-disciplinary research and integration; (3) enhance methodological pluralism; and (4) strengthen networks among scholars from around the world.
SIPP activities will include lectures by world-class faculty, discussion groups, research/interest group meetings, group projects, and an array of social activities.
Some of the topics covered in past SIPP programs include race relations, conflict and dispute resolution, voting and elections, international conflict, decision-making by political elites, moral disengagement and violence, social networks, activism and social protest, political socialization, and justice.
In 2010, SIPP will accept up to 60 participants, including graduate students, faculty, professionals, and advanced undergraduates.
Applicants are accepted on a rolling basis until all slots are filled, so applying soon maximizes chances of acceptance. Further information can be found at http://www.stanford.edu/group/sipp.
Call for Proposals for Perspectives on Politics and Party Politics
Perspectives on Politics and Party Politics are issuing this call for proposals for a theme and an editor (or co-editors) of a special issue of the journal. The special issue should ideally reflect the diversity of the section, and, as such, we would prefer a topic spanning both interest groups and parties and including both American and comparative politics. An issue of the journal runs about 40,000–45,000 words (usually five or six articles), so this provides a framework for planning the number and form of the contributions to the special issue.
We are requesting brief proposals on the thematic focus of the proposed issue and a list of potential articles and authors (5–10 pages). For best consideration, proposals should be received by May 1, the launch date for the journal/Perspectives on Politics association. An ad hoc committee of the section's executive committee will review proposals to identify a candidate for this special issue in consultation with the Party Politics editors. As a peer-reviewed journal, Party Politics has blind review of articles for prospective special issues, so the quality of the proposal and the fit to the section's research themes will be the prime criteria.
Send proposals to Barbara Sinclair, chair of the ad hoc committee, at [email protected].
Resolution of American Sociological Association v. Clinton
In a major victory for academic freedom and civil liberties, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has signed orders that effectively end the exclusion of a prominent scholar who was barred from the United States by the Bush administration, and who the American Sociological Association (ASA) had invited to participate in the 2007 ASA Annual Meeting in New York. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged the denial of a visa to Professor Adam Habib of the University of Johannesburg in a complaint filed on behalf of ASA and other organizations in the U.S. District Court in Boston in October 2007.
“ASA has waited patiently and been persistent in our goal for this long-awaited decision from the U.S. Department of State to allow the admission of this internationally known South African scholar for purposes of scholarly exchange,” said ASA Executive Officer Sally T. Hillsman in response to the announcement.
During the Bush administration, the U.S. government denied visas to dozens of foreign artists, scholars and writers—all critics of U.S. foreign policy and many of whom are Muslim—without explanation or on vague or unspecified national security grounds. In a speech in Cairo in June 2009, President Obama addressed the relationship between the United States and Muslims around the world, calling for “a sustained effort to listen to each other; to learn from each other; to respect one another; and to seek common ground.”
ASA and the ACLU welcomed the State Department's orders as an important step toward achieving that goal. “The decision to end the exclusion of [Professor Habib] is a welcome sign that the Obama administration is committed to facilitating, rather than obstructing, the exchange of ideas across international borders,” said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project.
“Given the orders issued by Secretary Clinton, we hope and expect that Professor Habib … will soon be able to come to the United States to meet and talk with American audiences,” said Melissa Goodman, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project. “The Obama administration should now conduct a broader review of visas denied under the Bush administration, reverse the exclusions of others who were barred because of their political beliefs and retire the practice of ideological exclusion for good.”
The orders signed by Secretary Clinton state that, in the future, Professors Habib will not be denied a visa on the same grounds that it was in 2006 and 2007. To enter the United States, however, Habib will need to apply for a visa, a process likely to take several weeks. The ACLU expects that, given Secretary Clinton's orders, the visa application likely will be granted expeditiously.
Professor Adam Habib is a respected political analyst and Deputy Vice Chancellor of Research, Innovation and Advancement at the University of Johannesburg, as well as a Muslim who has been a vocal critic of the war in Iraq and some U.S. terrorism-related policies. Habib is a graduate of the City University of New York Graduate Center. Until he was deported back to South Africa upon his arrival in 2006 at Kennedy Airport with a valid visa and then denied a visa renewal, Habib was a frequent visitor to the United States to address and consult with academics, government agencies, and the non-profit sector.
“My family and I are thrilled by Secretary Clinton's decision, and we are thankful to the many organizations that put pressure on the Obama administration to stop excluding people from the United States on the basis of their political views,” said Habib. “This is not only a personal victory but also a victory for democracy around the world, and we hope this signals a move by the administration to begin restoring the liberties and freedoms that have been so badly eroded in recent times.”
Attorneys in the Habib case, American Sociological Association v. Clinton, are Goodman, Jaffer and Rabinovitz of the national ACLU and Sarah Wunsch and John Reinstein of the ACLU of Massachusetts.
ASA has exhibited a longstanding commitment to international scholarly exchange (see http://www.asanet.org/footnotes/mar07/exec.html). For a detailed history of the Habib case, see the page-one article in the November 2007 ASA Footnotes newsletter and the Executive Officer's column in the same issue (p. 2) http://www.asanet.org/footnotes/8.Nov07FN.pdf.
More information about both cases is available online at http://www.aclu.org/exclusion.
