The 42nd Annual Meeting of the Arkansas Political Science Association (ArkPSA) was held on the campus of Hendrix College in Conway on February 27-28, 2015. Dr. Kevin Brennan of Ouachita Baptist University served as President (2014-2015). Dr. Steven Breezeel of Harding University served as Vice-President (2014-2015). Dr. Mark Mullenbach of the UCA Department of Political Science served as Secretary-Treasurer (2014-2015). Dr. Kim Maslin of Hendrix College served as Program Chair for the 2015 annual meeting. Dr. Randy LeBlanc of the University of Texas at Tyler gave the keynote address, “Speaking Peace to Enmity: Edward Said, Judith Butler, and the End of Criticism in the Discourse on Palestine/Israel,” during the Friday evening dinner, and Dr. Jay Barth of Hendrix College addressed the conference participants on the topic, “The Challenges and Opportunities of an Academic in Public Life,” during the Saturday luncheon.
Several UCA Department of Political Science faculty members and students presented research or participated on panels during the annual meeting, including Autumn Reddell, “Education and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa”, Dr. Gizachew Tiruneh, moderator of panel on “NATO-Russian Relations”, Dr. Mark Mullenbach, “What Works in Africa? An Analysis of the Management of Intrastate Disputes, 1960-2012”, Dr. Mark Mullenbach, Willis Arnold, and Kayla Close, “Ballots and Observers: Elections, Election Monitoring, and Political Stability in Post-Colonial Africa, 1961-2010”, Dr. John Passe-Smith and Mary Sue Passe-Smith, “American Attitudes Toward Immigrants: The Dangers and Possibilities of Analyzing Social Media”, Dr. Clay Arnold, moderator of panel on “Erica Benner’s Machiavelli’s Prince”, and Dr. Mary Beth Sullivan, member of panel on “Erica Benner’s Machiavelli’s Prince”.