A Program to Attract More Latina/o Undergraduates to Political Science and the Academic Profession
The Road Show is an outreach effort of the Committee on the Status of Latinos in the profession and the Latino Caucus of the American Political Science Association (APSA). It is intended to attract interest among Latino/a undergraduates, and all undergraduates interested in Latino politics, to the discipline as a profession. We want to visit campuses with significant numbers of Latino undergraduates where the political science program has neither Latino faculty nor faculty working on the topics in Latino politics. The visit will provide these students the opportunity to make valuable connections with Latino faculty and receive information about the place of Latinos in the political science discipline.
The Road Show volunteers include approximately 30 scholars—Latino and non-Hispanic alike—dedicated to the expansion of both the numbers of Latinos active in the discipline and the number of folks interested in the study of America’s largest minority group. The volunteers come from both research and teaching institutions in every part of the country.
Generally, two scholars will visit your campus and offer two presentations. The principal presentation is targeted to a broad audience of Latino and interested undergraduates. The visitors will present a window into their own research, as well as some solid information about options in political science as a profession. We’ll present information on choosing a graduate school, funding opportunities, the difference between political science and policy programs, and the challenges and opportunities for Latinos who take this path. A second presentation is available for graduate students and the faculty, focusing more on research and familiarizing the department on recent developments in this section of the discipline, how to reach out to Latino/a students, and resources they can draw upon. In addition to the two formal presentations, we would like very much to meet informally with smaller groups of interested and promising students, giving them time to ask more questions or explore more deeply some of the facets we talk about.
We want to cast the widest net possible. We would hope to advertise the presentations to undergraduate majors in Political Science, Sociology, other social sciences, and Chicano or Latino studies programs. In addition, Political Science student associations, Pi Sigma Alpha chapters, as well as Latino and minority student associations, should be invited to attend.
If you are interested in having a Road show presentation, you should contact one of the folks listed below, indicating your interest. While we have funding efforts underway, for the time being institutions not located in reasonable proximity to our volunteers will have to cover the travel and housing costs of the visitors. Since volunteers are widely distributed, however, it is possible for us to visit many institutions at no cost. For more information regarding the program, especially with reference to our availability and whether there will be a cost attached, you may contact one of the following:
Valerie Martinez-Ebers, Chair
APSA’s Committee on the Status of Latinos in the Profession
Department of Political Science
Texas Christian University
PO Box 297021Fort Worth, Texas 76129
817-257-7395
Manuel Avalos, Co-Chair
Latino Caucus of the APSA
Arizona State University-West
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences
PO Box 37100
Phoenix, AZ 85069
602-543-6004