News

The 2025 Annual Student Writing Prize essay prompts focused on Policy Analysis and Critical Reflection, with winners chosen by faculty members!

What does Hollywood have to say about politics and the good life? A new book looks at blockbusters, not arthouse flicks, to see how movies might be shaping our deepest political beliefs. From The Dark Knight and John Wick to The Incredibles and Gladiator, do these hit films have anything to teach us? The volume includes contributions from several Baylor professors and alumni, including Jonathan Ashbach, Adam Carrington, Catherine Craig, Jerome Foss, and Richard Jordan.

Professor Tai Ming Cheung, a renowned expert on China from the University of San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy, discussed his research in a lecture held on April 1, 2025 and sponsored by the Political Science Department.

Baylor students enrolled in PSC 2306: Texas Civic Engagement & Politics in Action spent Thursday, April 17th talking with Texas state legislators about state-level policy problems and potential solutions. 

At the Texas State Capitol, the Baylor Bullock Scholars were celebrated by both the Senate and the House.

On Wednesday January 29th the Zavala Program for Constitutional Studies and the R.W. Morrison Chair hosted a talk by Dr. Stephen Skowronek, Pelatiah Perit Professor of Political Science at Yale University.

Associate Professor of Political Science Sergiy Kudelia was one of the invited speakers to address participants of 2025 Winter School organized by the Invisible University for Ukraine and sponsored by the Open Society University Network. The School was held at Central European University Budapest campus on January 11 – 18, 2025.

The new article by the Associate Professor of Political Science Richard Jordan co-authored with Peter Bils and Kristopher Ramsay was published in The Journal of Politics. 

Professor of Political Science Dr. Lee Ward has two forthcoming academic articles, which review the intellectual heritage of major American and German philosophers. 

Along with three other Baylor faculty members, Dr. Flavin participated in an online webinar on the topic “Discovering Christian civility in the midst of political hostility” held on October 17, 2024.

In February, 2024, Michael Gonzalez (Ph.D. 2022) became the inaugural Executive Director for the Institute of American Constitutional Thought & Leadership (IACTL) at the University of Toledo.

Baylor University alum Adam Carrington has returned this fall to his undergraduate institution Ashland University as an the Archer Endowed Professor in History & Political Science. 

The article “International Governance of Advancing Artificial Intelligence” was co-authored with Nicholas Emery-Xu and Robert Trager. It was published online in September by the journal AI & Society: Knowledge, Culture and Communication. 

Baylor University Political Science Professor Lee Ward was an invited participant in a conference entitled “Free Societies in Crisis: Perspectives in Classical Liberal Thought and Political Economy.” 

Associate Professor of Political Science Dr. Sergiy Kudelia was invited to speak at the 18th Danyliw Research Seminar on Contemporary Ukraine held on September 26 – 28, 2024 at the University of Ottawa. 

Associate Professor of Political Science Peter Campbell was awarded a $24,000 grant from the Dr. Benjamin Brown IV Fund for Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Scholarship through the Baylor in Washington program. The Brown Fund provides support to faculty “engaged in interdisciplinary and collaborative projects on issues of global importance.” 

Dr. Colby Humphrey, a lecturer at the Political Science Department, and a senior in Mechanical Engineering and Political Science Jackson Boone (’26 Baylor University) published a report Building a Better Waco: CTE Programs for the Future with policy analysis and recommendations for the municipal government of Waco. 

Dr. Rebecca Flavin was one of three recipients of the 2023-2024 Core Curriculum Virtues Recognition Award from the College of Arts & Sciences recognized for excellence in teaching moral, intellectual and/or spiritual virtues in a course in Baylor’s Unified Core Curriculum.

Political science professors Ann Ward and Sergiy Kudelia have been offering their insights on the US presidential election to the audiences in their native countries – Canada and Ukraine.

Dr. Sergiy Kudelia and Dr. Curt Nichols presented their co-authored paper “Transnational Solidarity Against Ukraine Aid? Comparing the AfD and the Freedom Caucus” at the 30th International Conference of Europeanists organized by the Council for European Studies. Held on July 3 – 5, 2024 in Lyon (France), the Conference addressed the general theme Radical Europe: Violence, Emancipation and Reaction.

Political science professor Ann Ward presented her paper “The unfolding of being in Plato’s Sophist” during the annual meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association (CPSA). The conference was held from June 12 to June 14, 2024 at McGill University in Montreal.

Professor Lee Ward presented his paper “John Adams: Conservative Revolutionary” at the annual meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association (CPSA) at McGill University, Montreal. Held from June 12 to June 14, 2024, the conference was devoted to a theme of Approaches, Knowledges, and Methods for the World of Tomorrow and called for envisioning “a more sustainable, equitable, and just world.” 

The new article of Dr. Aric Dale Gooch “Congressional Redistricting and Strategic Copartisans: Partisan Gerrymandering in Pennsylvania, 1800–1824” was first published online by Political Research Quarterly (PRQ) on June 12, 2024. 

Dr. Ivy Hamerly, who has long taught an introductory course on comparative politics at Baylor University, shared her insights and experience during the Teaching and Learning Symposium in Washington, DC held on June 27 – 29, 2024. 

Belmont, N.C. (June 4, 2024) – Belmont Abbey College is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Joseph Wysocki as the new Provost for Belmont Abbey College. Dr. Wysocki, an esteemed alumnus of the Abbey, who did his graduate work in the Baylor’s political science department, brings a wealth of experience and a deep understanding of the institution’s values and mission.

In the summer of 2024, Brigid will take a position as an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) of Political Science at Assumption University in Worcester, MA.

Acclaimed novelist and political commentator Mark Helprin discussed his work on May 13 and 14 at the annual David and Mary Nichols conference in Waco. The conference is sponsored by the Alexander Hamilton Institute.

Jordan T. Cash’s (PhD, Baylor Department of Political Science) latest book, Adding the Lone Star: John Tyler, Sam Houston, and the Annexation of Texas, was published this March (2024) by the University of Kansas Press in its series Landmark Presidential Decisions. His book on The Isolated Presidency was published by Oxford University Press in September of 2023. 

The Center for Public Justice has awarded the 2024 Hatfield Prize to Baylor University senior, Jackson Boone. Jackson is a mechanical engineering major, a William Carey Crane Scholar and Baylor Engage Fellow from Calvert City, Kentucky, along with Colby Humphrey, Ph.D., lecturer in political science, in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences. 

Mary P. Nichol's Aristotle's Discovery of the Human: Piety and Politics in the "Nicomachean Ethics, was published last summer (2023) by Notre Dame University Press. The book, which complements her earlier commentary on Aristotle’s Politics, Citizens and Statesmen (1992), represents the culmination of her teaching the Ethics for over forty years at Northern Illinois, Catholic, Fordham, and most recently at Baylor, where she is now professor emerita in the department of political science.

Catherine Craig has received the position of Assistant Professor, Political Theory, tenure-track, in the Department of Economics, Philosophy, and Political Science at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus (UBCO).

Graduate students, alums, faculty, and friends of Baylor’s PhD program in political science convened for on April 14 and 15 for a conference on the Moral Foundations of Modern Democracy. The topic of the conference was inspired by the volume Democracy and the History of Political Thought, edited by Steve Block, Stephen Sims, and Patrick Cain (Associate Professor and Chair of Political Science at Lakehead University) (Lexington, 2021).

Utah Valley University (UVU) has named Matthew S. Brogdon, Ph.D., to fill its new Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation Endowed Directorship as the senior director of the Center for Constitutional Studies (CCS), effective Jan. 1, 2023.

American Political Thought: A Journal of Ideas, Institutions, and Culture recently announced its new editorial team

Notre Dame’s Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government Welcomes Associate Director Dr. Deborah O'Malley

In an Op-Ed piece published on September 7, 2022, “Trump Couldn’t Have Done What He Did Without States Leading the Way,” Thomas Edsell examines recent research in political science on citizens’ perceptions of democratic decline. Among the scholars Edsell cites is recent work by Baylor Political Scientist Pat Flavin and co-author Greg Shufeldt (University of Indianapolis). Flavin’s and Shufeldt’s paper “Citizens’ Perceptions of the Quality of Democracy in the American States,” which will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association in September, finds that voters’ perceptions of their state’s democratic health is strongly correlated with whether or not their political party is control of state government.

Dr. Sergiy Kudelia, Associate Professor of Political Science, is giving a four-part lecture series this semester “Understanding the Russian-Ukrainian War.” The first lecture in the series, “Why 22 Years of Peace?,” was delivered on Thursday, September 8, to the Baylor community.

Dr. David Bridge was nominated for the core virtue of respect by Dr. Rebecca Flavin, senior lecturer in political science.

“Dr. Bridge ends the semester (by) requiring students to write a mission statement that outlines their philosophy of informed civic engagement and their five-year plan for civic engagement,” Flavin said. “I can think of no better way to instill respect in a politically polarized environment than the methods he has chosen.”

For his part, Bridge believes that “respect matters when it is challenged. When we deeply, fundamentally disagree with others — that is when respect is needed most,” he said. “Before we can say, ‘I see it differently,’ we have to be able to say, ‘You know I respect you.’ And though this skill is desperately needed in American political discourse, it also translates in other fields, as well as in everyday life.”

The Dr. James Curry Endowed Scholarship was created in 2021 to honor Jim Curry, who served the Baylor community for 47 years as Professor of Political Science, Director of the Washington Internship Program, and as Chair of the Department of Political Science for 14 years. The award was created to honor Dr. Curry's legacy of helping Baylor students succeed in Washington, D.C. by funding future student opportunities in the Baylor in Washington Program for years to come.

During the initial funding drive, over 80 generous alumni donated a total of $50,000, ensuring that the award remains a permanent part of Baylor's endowment. But more can still be done. Further funding will allow for greater and more frequent awards to be given to students like Omar Islam, the second recipient of the award, featured below.

Consider contributing to the James Curry Endowed Scholarship Fund today using Baylor's online giving platform.

On April 29, 2022, Baylor University hosted the eighth annual Shawnee Trail Regional Conference. This conference invites scholars of all ranks in political science, history, law, and related fields to a one-day conference dedicated to developing working papers and fostering intellectual connections. The conference was held in the Presidential Suite at McClane Stadium and featured panels on the Presidency, American Political Development, American Political Thought, and two special panels entitled “In Defense of Traditional Higher Learning in the United States” and “Liberal Constitutionalism & Moral Objectivity.” The conference concluded with a keynote address from Phillip Munoz of the University of Notre Dame.
This year, Baylor was pleased to welcome scholars from across the country and provide an outlet for the academic work of members of our own Political Science department, including Jordan Cash (Lecturer), Brigid Flaherty (PhD Student), Benjamin Kleinerman (Professor), Curt Nichols (Associate Professor & Organizer of the Shawnee Trail Conference), and Lee Ward (Professor).
The conference was co-sponsored by the Jack Miller Center, the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy at the University of Missouri, and Baylor University.

BAYLOR in Barbados is the newest summer study abroad program at Baylor and the only based on an English speaking Caribbean island nation. Available for only twelve full-time Baylor students, Baylor in Barbados is a 5-week residential program housed at the University of West Indies, Cave Hill Campus. The program features weekend trips to Codrington College (the oldest Anglican Seminary school in the Western Hemisphere) and the Bellairs Research Institute (affiliated with McGill University of Montreal, Canada). The Cave Hill Campus lies just north of the capital, Bridgetown, in Saint Michael parish and is within walking distance of Batts Rock Beach.

Baylor in Barbados combines rigorous classroom study, focusing on regional and issue-based topics in the Political Science / International Studies realm, with ample opportunity for cultural immersion and travel -- including multiple faculty-escorted day trips. Planned excursions include: a safari adventure, a visit to the Barbados parliament, an evening at the Oistins Fish Fry festival (food vendors and outdoor dancing), a historical tour of Bridgetown – including a meal at the George Washington House – and a “sandy places expedition” to sample a few of the islands many incredible beaches.

Baylor in Barbados allows time for personal travel and the island of Barbados serves as a great rallying point -- after the course is over -- for family and friends to gather and continue one’s summertime Caribbean exploration. 

From June 25-July 3, current and former graduate students in the Baylor University Political Science Department attended the twenty-third Jack Miller Center Summer Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, “What is America?” Invited participants included Matthew Brogdon, assistant professor of political science at the University of Texas, San Antonio; Kevin Burns, assistant professor of political science at Christendom College; and Jordan Cash, Pre-Doctoral Research Specialist in the University of Virginia’s Program on Constitutionalism and Democracy.

Among the prominent scholars who participated were Michael Zuckert (Notre Dame), James Ceaser (University of Virginia), Benjamin Kleinerman (Michigan State), Peter Onuf (University of Virginia), and Diana Schuab (Loyola University of Maryland).

Elizabeth S. Amato, who received her PhD from Baylor’s Department of Political Science in 2011, recently published “The Pursuit of Happiness and the American Regime: Political Theory in Literature” with Lexington Books (2018).

Dr. Amato is an assistant professor of political science at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. She has also held a postdoctoral position at Michigan State University. She has published articles on Walker Percy (in A Political Companion to Walker Percy, the University of Kentucky Press) and on Tom Wolfe (Perspectives on Political Science).

On June 11-15, Baylor graduate students from the Political Science Department attended the inaugural summer seminar on “The Moral Foundations of the American Constitutional Order” at Princeton University, co-sponsored by the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and the Witherspoon Institute. Among the topics covered were the historical approaches to the Founding, religion and the Founding, slavery, and common law. Participants came not only from the United States, but also the United Kingdom, Poland, and China.

Baylor invitees were Joseph Griffith, Hannah Norman, Jordan Cash, and Debbie O’Malley. Next year Norman will be completing her second year in our doctoral program, Griffith will teach at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Cash will serve as Pre-Doctoral Research Specialist in the University of Virginia’s Program on Constitutionalism and Democracy, and O’Malley will serve as the inaugural Daniel Patrick Moynihan Postdoctoral Fellow at Assumption College.

On May 9-10 at Baylor University, the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization (AHI) and the Department of Political Science, Baylor University, held their tenth annual summer conference. Daniel Burns, Associate Professor of Politics, University of Dallas, served as the discussion leader for the conference on “Cicero: Statesmanship and Constitutionalism.”

Robert Paquette, Executive Director of the AHI, announced that the conference in the future would be named “The Mary and David Nichols Annual Conference on the Great Books” in honor of their organizing these conferences in the past.

Assistant Professor, Joe Wysocki, of Belmont Abbey College, will help oversee the state government internship program in North Carolina.

Guest lecturer for PSC 5321

Baylor Interdisciplinary Core students will be seeing a new face next semester. Dr. David Nichols has joined the Baylor faculty as an associate professor, and will be teaching BIC classes starting in the spring.