Department of Political Science - McGill University

Department of Political Science

#2 in Canada #25 in the World

QS World University Rankings ? Social Sciences for 2011

ANNUAL REPORT January 1 ? December 31, 2011

Richard Schultz Chair

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Department of Political Science ANNUAL REPORT January 1 ? December 31, 2011

SECTION I: Departmental Overview ...................................................................................................... 3 SECTION II: Departmental Activities ..................................................................................................... 6

Teaching and Learning......................................................................................................................... 6 Research ............................................................................................................................................... 7 Professional Profile ............................................................................................................................ 11 Community Involvement.................................................................................................................... 13 Academic Staff ................................................................................................................................... 13

APPENDICES:

APPENDIX I ? Academic Staff............................................................................................................. 14 APPENDIX II ? Honours, Awards and Prizes ...................................................................................... 16 APPENDIX III ? Publications .............................................................................................................. 19 APPENDIX IV ? Consulting Activities ................................................................................................ 25 APPENDIX V ? Graduate Degrees Conferred ..................................................................................... 26 APPENDIX VI ? Graduate Conference Papers ..................................................................................... 28 APPENDIX VII ? Graduate Student Funding ....................................................................................... 31 APPENDIX VIII ? Undergraduate Enrolments .................................................................................... 32 APPENDIX IX ? Graduate Student Admissions .................................................................................. 33 APPENDIX X ? Courses and Enrolments ............................................................................................. 34 APPENDIX XI ? PhD Student Placements .......................................................................................... 35 APPENDIX XII ? Political Science Internship Award Recipients (2011) ............................................ 36

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SECTION I: DEPARTMENTAL OVERVIEW

Department of Political Science ANNUAL REPORT January 1 ? December 31, 2011

The Department of Political Science has three principal objectives:

? To maintain high-quality undergraduate and graduate teaching.

? To bring the Department of Political Science into the group of leading Departments in North America by fostering a strong research culture.

? To develop and enhance university-wide and inter-university cooperation.

We believe that over the twelve months covered by this report we have had considerable success in meeting these objectives. It is gratifying that the recent QS rankings of Political Science Departments in both Canada and the world - which placed us 2nd in Canada and 25th overall in the world - support this assessment.

The commitment to our objective of high quality teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels is reflected in the very positive teaching evaluations received by members of the department. On the major questions that measure undergraduate satisfaction with departmental teaching, our overall average is 4.2 out of 5, which must rank the Department very highly within the Faculty of Arts. Our evaluation scores are matched by informal feedback from both our undergraduate and graduate student associations.

In terms of our objective of bringing the Department into the group of leading North American Political Science Departments as measured by research output, members can rightly claim to have been extremely productive. Full details of the departmental external awards and prizes won and publications are provided in Appendices II and III. One of the clearest measures of the record of performance of the departmental members is in the external research grant competitions. In the 2011 competitions for both SSHRC and FQRSC, our departmental success rate continues to be exemplary. For the SSHRC competition alone for last year our success rate was 75%. This past year, departmental members were awarded approximately $8,775,000 in new research grants.

Another measure of the Department's reputation is in the individual awards won by members. A full list is found in Appendix II but several merit highlighting. Rex Brynen won both the McGill Political Science Students Association's teaching award and the Deborah Gerner Innovative Teaching Prize awarded by the International Studies Association; Krzysztof Pelc was nominated for the SSHRC Aurora Prize; and Vincent Pouliot received an honorable mention for the Lepgold Prize awarded by Georgetown University for "exceptional contributions to the study of international relations" and won the 2011 CPSA Prize for the best book in International Relations for his book, International Security in Practice: The Politics of NATO-Russian Diplomacy.

Furthermore, as measured by participation in major national and international conferences and annual meetings, as well as invitations to give lectures and papers to major universities, the evidence provided below under Professional Profile is surely a good indicator of our standing amongst our peer

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departments in Canada and abroad. In addition, our very successful placement record in Canada and elsewhere as indicated in Appendix XI is another good indicator of our very strong reputation.

In terms of our third objective, departmental members continue to be highly active through their participation in, contribution to, and leadership of many affiliated research centres, institutes and teaching programs, including the European Network at McGill, Institute for European Studies, the International Crisis Behaviour Project, the Inter-University Consortium for Arab and Middle East Studies, the Centre for International Peace and Security Studies, the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, the Middle East Studies Program, the McGill Institute for the Study of International Development, the Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship, the McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy, the Research Group on Constitutional Studies, the Media Observatory, the Quebec Studies Program, the Montreal Research Group on Ethnic Conflict, and the Social Statistics Program.

The Department also fosters research communication and public outreach through several vibrant speakers series: the Political Science Speakers Series, the Workshop on International Security and Political Economy, the Montreal Political Theory Workshop, the Europe and European Union Speakers Series, the Social Statistics Speakers Series, the Gender and Politics Speakers Series, and the Eileen and John Marrett Memorial Lecture Series.

In terms of student enrolments with 1925 undergraduate program students, and 76 graduate students (44 MA, 32 PhD), the Department of Political Science is one of the largest units in the Faculty of Arts. During the period of this report, the Department offered 103 courses to 7,636 students. Given the high student demand and the fact that our courses at all levels have very heavy enrolments, the Department was pleased to make two new appointments effective August 2011, one in Chinese Politics and the other in the Politics of Development (a joint appointment with the Institute for the Study of International Development). In addition, a Faculty Lecturer position jointly shared with the Department of Philosophy was converted into a departmental tenure track position in Political Theory. This brings our departmental complement to 29 full-time and 4 joint appointments (a full list is found in Appendix I).

The Department, as shown by this report, has clearly had another highly successful year both in teaching and research. Our successes reflect the commitment, determination and dedication of all members of the Department. In many important respects it also reflects the willingness of those members of the Department who are prepared to support the Department by assuming vital and timeconsuming administrative roles. In addition to the administrative work that many colleagues undertook, I would like to thank in particular Filippo Sabetti who served as Director of Graduate Studies and Catherine Lu as Associate Director for all of their efforts in these very demanding positions. I also want to thank Harold Waller who again served as Undergraduate Director.

Finally, it is important to emphasize that our departmental performance is not only the product of the dedication of our students and members of the faculty, but of a superb administrative team led by Andrew Stoten, our Administrative Officer. Della Maharajh is our exceptional Undergraduate Coordinator upon whom we have all come to depend so heavily. I also want to thank Mari Ikeda and Tara Alward, who moved into the position of Graduate Coordinator, not only on behalf of my colleagues but also personally for their most essential contribution to the care and sustenance of both faculty and students. I would also like to express our appreciation for the continuing efforts of Megan Fitzgibbons, our Liaison Librarian. Finally, I would like to thank Pina Giobbi who as my Administrative Coordinator not only keeps me on schedule but is a most creative and effective organizer for our hiring process. She is normally the first point of contact with job applicants and is a major factor in shaping their positive responses to the Department.

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On a personal note, this is my last annual report as June 2012 marks the end of my term as Chair of the department. While it may surprise some to say so, it has been a most gratifying and satisfying six years. I have been pleased to continue the work of Hudson Meadwell and Chris Manfredi who served so well as Chair of the department from 1995 to 2006 in contributing to the development of this great department. What has been particularly enjoyable both for my predecessors and me is our ability as a department to continue to attract the very best applicants for academic openings. The attraction of the department in a highly competitive environment is a reflection of a remarkable combination of enthusiastic, extremely productive and nurturing colleagues, a devoted administrative staff and not least an exceptionally talented community of undergraduate and graduate students. For the department to continue to be a centre of excellence in both teaching and research, in a period--has it ever not been so--of financial constraint facing the university is to me a remarkable achievement. I am indeed grateful for the opportunity to have contributed to this achievement and wish to thank all my colleagues, faculty and administrative, for their support.

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