Picture this room absolutely jammed packed with political scientists. That was the lobby of the Midwest Political Science Association’s Conference. And it was awesome. One of the greatest things about doing research is going to conferences to not only present your own research, but also talk with others about their research. Conferences are basically everyone’s time to shine: they serve to commend an individual’s hard work while simultaneously offering opportunities (whether it be panel discussions or poster presentations) to have other people see your research and offer feedback.
Though I had presented my Chappell research project at the Charles Center’s Celebration of Summer Research and the Tidewater Sigma Xi Scientific Research Conference in the Fall, going to the MPSA Conference was a uniquely different experience. First, it was great to just see a sliver of the amount of political science research being done - the conference program was at least a 400-500 paged book, with numerous panels and posters lined up every hour, for 4-5 days. Second, with so many choices, there was no doubt that I was able to find several panels, and see numerous posters, that revolved around research topics that I was either familiar with or deeply interested in. Attending these research presentations not only allowed me the opportunity to see other research being done in topics that interested me (I attended mostly panels about post-Soviet democratic transitions and foreign aid “problems”) but also apply the knowledge I had in such topics, helping me to formulate my own opinions about the research that was being presented. And for that fact, I am very thankful and appreciative of all the times my professors, especially Professor Pickering, have emphasized to their students the importance of critical, and analytical, thinking. In addition, them providing us with a wide array of different views has helped me to see, and be familiar with, the diversity of opinions regarding different subject matters.
Finally, the MPSA conference was a great asset to me because it allowed me to present my research (I did a poster presentation) to others who had done similar research. I got many positive comments from other political scientists who had done extensive research on the Balkans and it was absolutely fantastic to meet European and Russian political scientists, too. I was pleased that nearly everyone that talked with me a) approved of my holistic approach in trying to investigate the movitation behind donors’ foreign aid allocation patterns to the Balkans and b) thought my methodology regarding such was sound. With a couple buisness cards now in my possession, I am even more motivated to compile and polish up my research into a paper (once exams are over).
Chicago was a great location to have this conference, too. We stayed at the Chicago Hilton and I was absolutely thrilled to stay in one of Chicago’s most beautiful, and historical, hotels. Plus, eating out in Chicago was a treat – I think we managed to eat at an authentic and home-made style restaurant each day, ranging from Greek to Italian to Russian.
If you get the chance to go to Chicago, you must stop by the Russian Tea Time on E Adams Street, the desserts and teas there are phenomenal.
Overall, attending the MPSA conference was a great experience and one that has motivated me to continue pursuing my research endeavors, not just currently, but in the future as well.
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Sounds like you had an awesome time! Yay Dina!
Comment by Callie 05.09.09 @ 12:19 amhey this is a very interesting article!
Comment by KeHoeff 05.28.09 @ 5:35 pmI read an article recently that argued that conferences will become a thing of the past because of our increasing ability to post and interact online. Not sure if I agree. This may be up there with the guy in the 15th century who said that the university would become obsolete because of the invention of the printing press.
Comment by JDS 07.09.09 @ 4:40 pm