BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//events.la.psu.edu//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20201101T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20200308T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:4012-a4ca1adc97b743bf3a4cb38373b3a73c@events.la.psu.edu DTSTAMP:20260426T182033Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20221005T153000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20221005T163000 SUMMARY:AFAM Colloquium: Dr. Ray Block DESCRIPTION:Ray Block\, Brown-McCourtney Career Development Professor in the McCourtney Institute for Democracy and Associate Professor of Polit ical Science and African American Studies\n\n&ldquo\;The Intellectual Be nefits of Diversity: How Political Science Suffers from Its Lack of Dive rsity\, and How It Can Do Better&rdquo\;\n\nFor decades\, political scie ntists have written about the need for increased diversity\, generally i n terms of gender\, race\, and socioeconomic class origin. These importa nt studies often focus on the inherent benefits of diversity and its imp ortance for reasons of fairness and for pedagogical purposes by allowing students to see instructors and role models who reflect the full range of demographic profiles. In this chapter\, we consider the intellectual benefits of increased racial diversity in the discipline\; it will make our profession richer by producing better research. \n\nAn important ele ment of demographic diversity is the substantive diversity in research f oci and the methodological diversity in terms of approach that it engend ers. Even though Black people are grossly underrepresented in the discip line\, Black scholars have produced innovative research projects on new topics of exploration\, and they have often pioneered new methodological approaches to understand them. These innovations have affected every fi eld of the profession\, from international relations to political theory \, not surprisingly with many important contributions in race and ethnic politics. Key to these substantive and methodological contributions is the fact that minority scholars often adopt different perspectives and t heoretical starting points. We document the paucity of diversity in the profession by looking at the make-up of the tenure-track faculty in the most prominent PhD-granting institutions and we show that few PhDs are g ranted to Black scholars across a range of disciplines. We then provide numerous examples of the theoretical richness and innovations that have come from Black scholars in recent years (and some not so recent)\, and we note how many of these insights would likely not have come from White scholars\; at least they did not. We discuss how identity matters in sh aping our research questions\, our theoretical approaches\, and our abil ities to study different topics. \n\nFor these reasons\, our profession will be richer in terms of theoretical questions\, approaches and capaci ty to address important research questions to the extent that it correct s the enormous shortfalls that currently characterize its demographic pr ofile. We also show that political science is in the middle of the pack with regards to its lack of demographic diversity compared to cognate di sciplines. Therefore\, the intellectual benefits that could come from ad dressing these questions in our field would likely be similar in many ot her disciplines including economics\, philosophy\, sociology\, psycholog y and history.For decades\, political scientists have written about the need for increased diversity\, generally in terms of gender\, race\, and socioeconomic class origin. These important studies often focus on the inherent benefits of diversity and its importance for reasons of fairnes s and for pedagogical purposes by allowing students to see instructors a nd role models who reflect the full range of demographic profiles. In th is chapter\, we consider the intellectual benefits of increased racial d iversity in the discipline\; it will make our profession richer by produ cing better research. An important element of demographic diversity is t he substantive diversity in research foci and the methodological diversi ty in terms of approach that it engenders. Even though Black people are grossly underrepresented in the discipline\, Black scholars have produce d innovative research projects on new topics of exploration\, and they h ave often pioneered new methodological approaches to understand them. \n \nThese innovations have affected every field of the profession\, from i nternational relations to political theory\, not surprisingly with many important contributions in race and ethnic politics. Key to these substa ntive and methodological contributions is the fact that minority scholar s often adopt different perspectives and theoretical starting points. We document the paucity of diversity in the profession by looking at the m ake-up of the tenure-track faculty in the most prominent PhD-granting in stitutions and we show that few PhDs are granted to Black scholars acros s a range of disciplines. We then provide numerous examples of the theor etical richness and innovations that have come from Black scholars in re cent years (and some not so recent)\, and we note how many of these insi ghts would likely not have come from White scholars\; at least they did not. \n\nWe discuss how identity matters in shaping our research questio ns\, our theoretical approaches\, and our abilities to study different t opics. For these reasons\, our profession will be richer in terms of the oretical questions\, approaches and capacity to address important resear ch questions to the extent that it corrects the enormous shortfalls that currently characterize its demographic profile. We also show that polit ical science is in the middle of the pack with regards to its lack of de mographic diversity compared to cognate disciplines. Therefore\, the int ellectual benefits that could come from addressing these questions in ou r field would likely be similar in many other disciplines including econ omics\, philosophy\, sociology\, psychology and history.For decades\, po litical scientists have written about the need for increased diversity\, generally in terms of gender\, race\, and socioeconomic class origin. T hese important studies often focus on the inherent benefits of diversity and its importance for reasons of fairness and for pedagogical purposes by allowing students to see instructors and role models who reflect the full range of demographic profiles. In this chapter\, we consider the i ntellectual benefits of increased racial diversity in the discipline\; i t will make our profession richer by producing better research. \n\nAn i mportant element of demographic diversity is the substantive diversity i n research foci and the methodological diversity in terms of approach th at it engenders. Even though Black people are grossly underrepresented i n the discipline\, Black scholars have produced innovative research proj ects on new topics of exploration\, and they have often pioneered new me thodological approaches to understand them. These innovations have affec ted every field of the profession\, from international relations to poli tical theory\, not surprisingly with many important contributions in rac e and ethnic politics. Key to these substantive and methodological contr ibutions is the fact that minority scholars often adopt different perspe ctives and theoretical starting points. \n\nWe document the paucity of d iversity in the profession by looking at the make-up of the tenure-track faculty in the most prominent doctorate-granting institutions and we sh ow that few doctoral degrees are granted to Black scholars across a rang e of disciplines. We then provide numerous examples of the theoretical r ichness and innovations that have come from Black scholars in recent yea rs (and some not so recent)\, and we note how many of these insights wou ld likely not have come from White scholars\; at least they did not. We discuss how identity matters in shaping our research questions\, our the oretical approaches\, and our abilities to study different topics. For t hese reasons\, our profession will be richer in terms of theoretical que stions\, approaches and capacity to address important research questions to the extent that it corrects the enormous shortfalls that currently c haracterize its demographic profile. \n\nWe also show that political sci ence is in the middle of the pack with regards to its lack of demographi c diversity compared to cognate disciplines. Therefore\, the intellectua l benefits that could come from addressing these questions in our field would likely be similar in many other disciplines including economics\, philosophy\, sociology\, psychology\, and history.\n\nFor more details: https://events.la.psu.edu/event/afam-colloquium_ray-block/ X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

Ra y Block, Brown-McCourtney Career Development Professor in the McCour tney Institute for Democracy and Associate Professor of Political Scienc e and African American Studies

“The Intellectua l Benefits of Diversity: How Political Science Suffers from Its Lack of Diversity, and How It Can Do Better”

For decades, political scientists have written about the need for incre ased diversity, generally in terms of gender, race, and socioeconomic cl ass origin. These important studies often focus on the inherent benefits of diversity and its importance for reasons of fairness and for pedagog ical purposes by allowing students to see instructors and role models wh o reflect the full range of demographic profiles. In this chapter, we co nsider the intellectual benefits of increased racial diversity in the di scipline; it will make our profession richer by producing better researc h.

An important element of demographic divers ity is the substantive diversity in research foci and the methodological diversity in terms of approach that it engenders. Even though Black peo ple are grossly underrepresented in the discipline, Black scholars have produced innovative research projects on new topics of exploration, and they have often pioneered new methodological approaches to understand th em. These innovations have affected every field of the profession, from international relations to political theory, not surprisingly with many important contributions in race and ethnic politics. Key to these substa ntive and methodological contributions is the fact that minority scholar s often adopt different perspectives and theoretical starting points. We document the paucity of diversity in the profession by looking at the m ake-up of the tenure-track faculty in the most prominent PhD-granting in stitutions and we show that few PhDs are granted to Black scholars acros s a range of disciplines. We then provide numerous examples of the theor etical richness and innovations that have come from Black scholars in re cent years (and some not so recent), and we note how many of these insig hts would likely not have come from White scholars; at least they did no t. We discuss how identity matters in shaping our research questions, ou r theoretical approaches, and our abilities to study different topics. < /p>

For these reasons, our profession will be rich er in terms of theoretical questions, approaches and capacity to address important research questions to the extent that it corrects the enormou s shortfalls that currently characterize its demographic profile. We als o show that political science is in the middle of the pack with regards to its lack of demographic diversity compared to cognate disciplines. Th erefore, the intellectual benefits that could come from addressing these questions in our field would likely be similar in many other discipline s including economics, philosophy, sociology, psychology and history.For decades, political scientists have written about the need for increased diversity, generally in terms of gender, race, and socioeconomic class origin. These important studies often focus on the inherent benefits of diversity and its importance for reasons of fairness and for pedagogical purposes by allowing students to see instructors and role models who re flect the full range of demographic profiles. In this chapter, we consid er the intellectual benefits of increased racial diversity in the discip line; it will make our profession richer by producing better research. A n important element of demographic diversity is the substantive diversit y in research foci and the methodological diversity in terms of approach that it engenders. Even though Black people are grossly underrepresente d in the discipline, Black scholars have produced innovative research pr ojects on new topics of exploration, and they have often pioneered new m ethodological approaches to understand them.

These innovations have affected every field of the profession, from inte rnational relations to political theory, not surprisingly with many impo rtant contributions in race and ethnic politics. Key to these substantiv e and methodological contributions is the fact that minority scholars of ten adopt different perspectives and theoretical starting points. We doc ument the paucity of diversity in the profession by looking at the make- up of the tenure-track faculty in the most prominent PhD-granting instit utions and we show that few PhDs are granted to Black scholars across a range of disciplines. We then provide numerous examples of the theoretic al richness and innovations that have come from Black scholars in recent years (and some not so recent), and we note how many of these insights would likely not have come from White scholars; at least they did not. < /p>

We discuss how identity matters in shaping our research questions, our theoretical approaches, and our abilities to st udy different topics. For these reasons, our profession will be richer i n terms of theoretical questions, approaches and capacity to address imp ortant research questions to the extent that it corrects the enormous sh ortfalls that currently characterize its demographic profile. We also sh ow that political science is in the middle of the pack with regards to i ts lack of demographic diversity compared to cognate disciplines. Theref ore, the intellectual benefits that could come from addressing these que stions in our field would likely be similar in many other disciplines in cluding economics, philosophy, sociology, psychology and history.For dec ades, political scientists have written about the need for increased div ersity, generally in terms of gender, race, and socioeconomic class orig in. These important studies often focus on the inherent benefits of dive rsity and its importance for reasons of fairness and for pedagogical pur poses by allowing students to see instructors and role models who reflec t the full range of demographic profiles. In this chapter, we consider t he intellectual benefits of increased racial diversity in the discipline ; it will make our profession richer by producing better research.

< p class="desc_normal">An important element of demographic diversity is t he substantive diversity in research foci and the methodological diversi ty in terms of approach that it engenders. Even though Black people are grossly underrepresented in the discipline, Black scholars have produced innovative research projects on new topics of exploration, and they hav e often pioneered new methodological approaches to understand them. Thes e innovations have affected every field of the profession, from internat ional relations to political theory, not surprisingly with many importan t contributions in race and ethnic politics. Key to these substantive an d methodological contributions is the fact that minority scholars often adopt different perspectives and theoretical starting points.

We document the paucity of diversity in the profession by looking at the make-up of the tenure-track faculty in the most promin ent doctorate-granting institutions and we show that few doctoral degree s are granted to Black scholars across a range of disciplines. We then p rovide numerous examples of the theoretical richness and innovations tha t have come from Black scholars in recent years (and some not so recent) , and we note how many of these insights would likely not have come from White scholars; at least they did not. We discuss how identity matters in shaping our research questions, our theoretical approaches, and our a bilities to study different topics. For these reasons, our profession wi ll be richer in terms of theoretical questions, approaches and capacity to address important research questions to the extent that it corrects t he enormous shortfalls that currently characterize its demographic profi le.

We also show that political science is in the middle of the pack with regards to its lack of demographic diversit y compared to cognate disciplines. Therefore, the intellectual benefits that could come from addressing these questions in our field would likel y be similar in many other disciplines including economics, philosophy, sociology, psychology, and history.

For more details: https://events. la.psu.edu/event/afam-colloquium_ray-block/

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