Alabama Political Science Association Meeting at UA Offers Look at Women in Politics

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama department of political science will host the 40th annual Alabama Political Science Association meeting from noon Friday, April 19, until 2 p.m. Saturday, April 20 at the Hotel Capstone on campus.

This year’s conference will feature papers and presentations on a range of topics including public policy, American politics, international politics and political theory.

At 5:30 p.m. Friday, the event’s highlight symposium, titled “The State of Women and Politics in Alabama,” will take place as part of the meeting banquet and reception. Participants will explore the causes of Alabama’s historically low rankings regarding the political representation of women in each state and offer their perspectives on what changes can be made to give Alabama women better political representation.

The symposium is chaired by Dr. Lori Owens, former chair of the Alabama Women’s Commission, and will feature analysis and observations from a wide range of political scientists and prominent female elected officials, including Rep. Mary Sue McClurkin, R-Pelham; Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham; Sen. Linda Coleman, D-Birmingham; and Judge Beth Kellum, R-Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals.

The banquet is open to the public. Tickets are $25 a person.

“The University of Alabama political science department is proud to host the annual meeting commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Alabama Political Science Association,” said Dr. Richard Fording, professor and chair of political science at UA. “Along with my co-chairs Gina Miller and Laura Sojka, we have assembled an excellent program that features the research of political science faculty and students from across the state and the South.”

The first AlaPSA conference was on the UA campus in 1973.

The AlaPSA is an academic-based, professional organization that connects scholars interested in political science throughout Alabama and the southern region. The mission and purposes of AlaPSA can be found on their website: http://fs.huntingdon.edu/jlewis/ALaPSA/  For more information about the meeting, including tickets to the banquet and symposium, contact Fording at rcfording@as.ua.edu.

The political science department is part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.