The 43rd Annual Meeting of the Arkansas Political Science Association (ArkPSA) was held on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Monticello (UAM) on February 26-27, 2016. Dr. Steven Breezeel of Harding University served as President (2015-2016). Dr. Kim Maslin of Hendrix College served as Vice-President (2015-2016). Dr. Michael Rogers of Arkansas Tech University served as Secretary-Treasurer (2015-2016). Dr. Carol Strong of UAM served as Program Chair for the 2016 annual meeting. Mr. Christopher A. Masingill, Federal Co-Chairman of the Delta Regional Authority, gave the keynote speech during the Friday evening dinner on February 26th. Dr. John Kyle Day, Associate Professor of History at UAM, talked about his book, The Southern Manifesto: Massive Resistance and the Fight to Preserve Segregation, during the Saturday noon luncheon on February 27th.
Several UCA Department of Political Science faculty members and students presented research or participated on panels during the annual meeting, including Dr. Mark Elrod who served as Chair of the International Relations/Comparative Politics section; Meredith Herring who presented the paper, “Understanding the Legal History Leading up to the Landmark Decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015); Dr. Gizachew Tiruneh who discussed his book The Rise and Fall of the Solomonic Dynasty of Ethiopia: Is the Kebra Nagast a Time-Bound Document?; Dr. Mark Elrod and Dr. Mark Mullenbach who co-presented the paper, “Hawks or Doves? A Preliminary Analysis of College Student Attitudes Regarding U.S. Foreign Policy”; Dr. Clay Arnold and Dr. Mary Beth Sullivan who participated in a Political Theory Roundtable Discussion; Dr. Heather Yates who presented the paper, “The Emotional Voter: The Role Emotions Have on Voting Behavior”; Dr. Gizachew Tiruneh and Dr. Joseph Howard who co-presented the paper, “What Determines the Political Orientations of College Students? A Comparative Study of Two Universities”; and Dr. Mark Elrod who participated in a Roundtable Discussion of the topic, “What to do about I.S.I.S.?”