2007 Conference Program - Midwest Political Science Association

53-4 RELIGION AND U.S. ELECTIONS
Room Sandburg 1, 7 th Floor, Thur at 2:35 pm
Chair Kimberly H. Conger, Iowa State University
Paper When Religion is an Issue: Mitt Romney's Campaigns in
Massachusetts
Reed L. Welch, West Texas A&M University
Ric W. Jensen, Northwestern State University
Overview: Examines Mitt Romney’s handling of questions about
his religion in previous campaigns to better understand how
candidates should manage these kinds of questions and to gain
insight into how Romney might deal with his religion in a
presidential run.
Paper Affect, Identity, and Image in the Religious Rhetoric of
Presidential Candidates
Christopher B. Chapp, University of Minnesota
Overview: This paper uses content analysis to examine religious
rhetoric in presidential campaign speech. I identify several modes
of religious discourse that may play an important role in candidate
evaluation and ultimately vote choice.
Paper Religion and the 2006 Vote
Stephen T. Mockabee, University of Cincinnati
Overview: This paper uses data from a variety of national- and
state-level surveys to examine the influence of religion on voting
behavior in the 2006 elections.
Disc. Laura R. Olson, Clemson University
Mary Segers, Rutgers University
55-4 STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING EDUCATION
Room Parlor H, 6 th Floor, Thur at 2:35 pm
Chair Don Racheter, Public Interest Institute
Paper Active Learning Strategies in the Teaching of Research
Methods
John W. Williams, Principia College
Overview: Active learning, especially the techniques of project
learning, has been central to the teaching of research methods at
Principia College. This paper documents the strategies that make
the course so successful—strategies that are easily replicable.
Paper Connecting Student Outcomes to Exam Preparation Strategies
Steve Vanderheiden, University of Minnesota, Duluth
Janet Donavan, University of Minnesota, Duluth
Overview: We examine pre- and post-exam surveys of student
learning strategies in two introductory courses, distinguishing
effective from ineffective strategies based in student selfreflection
and correlations between identified strategies and
outcomes.
Paper WAC: Working Across the Curriculum?
Michelle C. Boomgaard, Muskingum College
Overview: This paper tests the effectiveness of Writing Across the
Curriculum (WAC) techniques in an introductory political science
class by comparing final exam results and surveying students in
classes taught by the same professor.
Paper Revising the Classics
Miriam S. Wilson, University of Toledo
Overview: Teaching students to be critical consumers of the
seminal work in Political Science and Public Administration is
more meaningful when they are required to revise classic
literature.
Disc. S. Suzan J. Harkness, University of District of Columbia
Don Racheter, Public Interest Institute
58-1 LITERATURE AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
Room Parlor J, 6 th Floor, Thur at 2:35 pm
Chair Warner Winborne, Hampden-Sydney College
Paper Shakespearean Poetry as an Approach to Political Philosophy
Morton J. Frisch, Northern Illinois University
Overview: The English history plays represent a modest effort in
the direction of political thought within which political lessons can
be learned from Shakespeare's dramatic presentations.
Paper Domestic Housewives vs. Women Monarchs
Megan N. Kerr, Northern Illinois University
Overview: According to Shakespeare, should political regimes
encourage women to be directly involved in political affairs or to
refrain from exerting any significant political influence?
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Paper Aristotle, Aesop, and Animals
Edward W. Clayton, Central Michigan University
Overview: This paper uses Aristotle's understanding of animals to
examine the conception of animals in Aesop's Fables. I argue that
reading the fables in the context of Aristotle's conception of
animals reveals political meanings not evident on the surface.
Paper Politics and Cosmic Realignment in Sophoclean and
Euripidean Drama
Erik W. Kuiler, George Mason University
Connie L. McNeely, George Mason University
Overview: Engaging a dramaturgical frame to examine problems
of political and social conflict, we employ selected works of
Sophocles and Euripides to discuss how the polis copes with the
threat of disorder.
Disc. Carson Holloway, University of Nebraska, Omaha
WarnerWinborne, Hampden-Sydney College
59-101 ROUNDTABLE: SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
LITIGATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE (Co-sponsored
with Public Law, see 42-104)
Room Monroe, 6 th Floor, Thur at 2:35 pm
Chair Kathleen Hale, Auburn University
Panelist Ellen Andersen, Indiana University Purdue University,
Indianapolis
Jason Pierceson, University of Illinois, Springfield
Daniel R. Pinello, City University of New York
Daniel R. Pinello, City University of New York
Gerald Rosenberg, University of Chicago
Overview: This roundtable examines the effectiveness of samesex
marriage litigation in the U.S. in achieving social change in
the area of relationship equality.