News
Postgraduate course: MSc in International Politics. Applications for admission in September 2012 are expected to close on 1 June 2012 (but may close earlier); details here.
Postgraduate course: MSc in Political Science (replaces the Masters in Comparative European Politics). Applications for admission in September 2012 are expected to closed on 1 June 2012 (but may close earlier); details here.
PhD programme in Political Science: deadline for admission in September 2012 is 15 March 2012. Details here.
*New* The Department announces graduate studentships for entry into the PhD programme in September 2012.
2011-12 academic year
The Kellogg / Notre Dame award for best paper in comparative politics at the 2011 Mid-West Political Science Association conference has been given to Christian Houle, who also won the 2010 award - the first person to win this award two years running. It will be presented at the MPSA's 2012 conference in Chicago, when Dr Houle will be aiming to make it three in a row.
Dr Peter Stone's edited volume Lotteries in Public Life: a reader has been published by Imprint Academic of Exeter. This book collects fourteen of the most important of the papers on the use of lotteries to make public decisions, and offers a critical introduction tying them together.
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On Tuesday 18 October Pat Rabbitte TD, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, launched How Ireland Voted 2011: the full story of Ireland's earthquake election, edited by two members of the department, Michael Gallagher and Michael Marsh. The book, which is published by Palgrave Macmillan, contains 13 chapters analysing various aspects of the dramatic general election of February 2011. The final chapter is by former EUI professor Peter Mair, who tragically died before the book was published, and in it he not only places the election result in a comparative context but also raises the question of whether the external constraints on Irish governments mean that Ireland has now become a ‘democracy without choices’. For more information on the book, click here. |
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On 16 November 2011 Professor Ron Hill, emeritus fellow, was presented in Warsaw with a 'Medal for the Promotion of Tolerance' by the Ecumenical Foundation 'Tolerance'. Pictures right show front and rear of the medal. On left: Professor Hill giving his speech of appreciation, and Professor Hill with Professor Jerzy Wiatr, doyen of Polish social science. |
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The department is pleased to welcome two new members of staff. Dr Tom Pegram and Dr Peter Stone both joined the department in September 2011 and are teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Full details can be found on the Staff page.
Dr Irene O'Daly, who taught in the department 2010-11, has moved to a post-doctoral position at the University of Leiden.
In September 2011 Prof Michael Marsh stepped down from the position of Vice-Provost at the completion of his term and resumed his responsibilities as Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.
The department's executive officer 2008-11, Martin Hooper, has moved upstairs to become School administrative officer. He made a great contribution to the department and we wish him every success in his more elevated position. He is replaced in Room 5.02 by Jessie Smith, formerly of the School of Business.
2010-11 academic year
On 2 July 2011 the School held an alumni reunion, to which all past Political Science graduates were invited. For full details, see the School news web page.
Courses taught within the Political Science department in 2010-11 were among the most positively evaluated by undergraduate students in the School; details here.
In May 2011 Christian Houle's PhD thesis, 'Inequality, Economic Development and Democracy', submitted in 2010, won the University of Rochester's Outstanding Dissertation in the Social Sciences Award 2010–11.
In May 2011, Prof Michael Marsh, who became pro-Vice-Provost in November 2010, became Vice-Provost and Chief Academic Officer in Trinity College Dublin. He is the 70th holder of that distinguished position and the first political scientist to take on the role.
In April 2011 Dr Gail McElroy was elected to Fellowship of Trinity College Dublin in recognition of her scholarship and research achievements and her contribution to College and to the School.
Several members of the department were involved in media coverage of the Irish election that took place on 25 February 2011. Michael Marsh, Elaine Byrne and Michael Gallagher all contributed to discussion of the campaign and/or of the election results, including interviews with media from a range of countries, and MG established a web page on the topic.
The award for the best article published in Political Research Quarterly in 2010 has gone to Gail McElroy and Michael Marsh for their article 'Candidate gender and voter choice: analysis from a multimember preferential voting system' in vol 63:4. The committee said 'We were struck by the importance of the questions you addressed and the quality of the data you gathered to answer them' and described the article as 'a great model for how to do high-quality social science'. The award was presented at the annual meeting of the Western Political Science Association in April 2011 in San Antonio, Texas.
The Kellogg / Notre Dame award for best paper in comparative politics at the 2010 Mid-West Political Science Association conference has been given to Christian Houle. It was presented at the MPSA's 2011 conference in Chicago.
On 1 January 2011 Dr Tim Hicks joined the department, and he is teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. Dr Hicks holds a PhD from Nuffield College Oxford and has previously spent a year in Trinity's IIIS. For full details, see Staff page.
On 31 December 2010 Prof Ken Benoit moved to the London School of Economics, where he is head of the Methodology Institute. Ken has been an outstanding colleague since his arrival in the department in 1998. He has made his mark as a leading researcher, with a consistent output of books and articles in high impact journals; as a teacher, with a strong commitment in particular to the department's PhD programme and to his students; and as an administrator, having served as head of department and graduate director. He has made a great contribution to the department and we wish him every success in London.
On 31 December 2010 Dr Rene Lindstadt moved to a new position as senior lecturer in the Department of Government at the University of Essex. We appreciated his commitmnent during his two and a half years in the department and wish him well.
On 1 November 2010 Prof Michael Marsh, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, was appointed pro-Vice-Provost and Chief Academic Officer of Trinity College Dublin.
Dr Eddie Hyland retired on 30 September 2010 after over 33 years of service. Fortunately, his experience and his outstanding teaching are not lost to the department, as he is teaching course PO2610 in the current academic year. A reception to mark his contribution to Trinity was held in the Common Room on 15 December 2010.
The department is pleased to welcome a number of new contract staff. Dr Christian Houle, Dr Koji Kagotani and Dr Jeffrey Weber all joined the department in September 2010 and are teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Full details can be found on the Staff page.
Dr Elaine Byrne, who is completing a book on political corruption in Ireland and who is a frequent contributor to public debates on Irish politics and political reform, is teaching a final-year course on Comparative Political Reform. Dr Irene O'Daly, who completed her PhD at Cambridge in 2009, is teaching a final-year course on Contemporary Political Theories. Again full details on Staff page.
A number of PhD theses have recently been successfully defended, adding to the growing list of theses to come out of the department’s PhD programme. A full list of successful graduates is to be found elsewhere on the department’s web site: click here.
For News from earlier years, see the News Archive.