Hello, Political Pulse readers! Welcome to the October edition of our newsletter, where we bring you the latest updates on the department. In this issue, we feature Dr. Emmanuelle Richez who specializes in law and politics and teaches in our French program. Also featured in this newsletter are opportunities for a Youth Fellowship Program with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and two calls for student papers, one of which offers cash prizes. Please consider these as they are great ways to build your experience and learning outside the classroom.

The semester is in full swing as students and faculty prepare for midterms and papers, with some already completed. The fall semester has an early mid-semester break with the Thanksgiving weekend and Reading Week. We just get used to the habit of going to class when we have this long interruption. I have found that often that is the point in the semester where students stop attending lectures. Perhaps it’s the break, or simply that things start piling up.

The problem is that by changing this habit, students often find it difficult to get back on track and then lose their enthusiasm. To help entice students back to campus, I encourage you to drop by my office on Wednesday, October 23rd, between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm where you can come for a visit with Tulip. According to Christine Grové and Linda Henderson, ”Researchers have found university students reported significantly less stress and anxiety, and increased happiness and energy, immediately following spending time in a drop-in session with a dog present, when compared to a control group of students who didn’t spend any time with a therapy dog.” While Tulip isn’t a therapy dog, she is friendly and loves to meet new people.

I also encourage you to take a selfie and post to our Instagram account. See below for details on a contest we are running to promote our Instagram account.

As always, I welcome your feedback and suggestions. Please feel free to contact me at [email protected]. Thank you for being part of our community!

The Pre-Law Students' Society is hosting its Annual Law Panel Information Session on October 3rd, and we would love to extend the invitation to Political Science students who may be considering a career in law or are curious about the law school journey.

This session will feature students and faculty from Windsor Law, offering insights into law school experience, tips on the application process, and what it takes to thrive as a law student. It's a fantastic opportunity for students to get their questions answered and gain valuable perspective on pursuing a career in law.

Students can quickly register through this [Law Panel Registration - Google Forms] or by visiting the link in our Instagram bio: @plssuwin

We hope to see you there!

The first speaker of our department speakers series is set for Friday November 22nd. Please joins us for a talk by Dr. Abelson on the relationship between think tanks and universities. All are welcome.

These and other events and updates can also be found on our department website and on our department channel in Brightspace.

Q: What inspired you to become a professor?

A: I’ve always had a passion for learning and teaching so it was a natural fit for me. I also wanted to use knowledge to make a difference and being a professor provided that opportunity for me.

Q: What is your area of research?

A: My research focuses on constitutional change with a specialization in language rights.

Q: What projects are you currently working on?

A: I am currently a member and the President of the Expert Panel on Official Language Rights of the Court Challenges Program of Canada. I am also writing a book on the impact of the Court Challenges Program. The Court Challenges Program is a federally funded program that works at arm’s length to affirm and clarify constitutionally protected rights and freedoms by providing support for public interest litigants.

Q: What courses are you teaching this semester? What are you excited about teaching this semester?

A: Right now I am teaching POLS1000, Introduction to Canadian Government and Politics, and POLS8000, Scope and Approaches to Political Science, which is a mandatory methods class for masters students. This winter I will be teaching Constitutional Law and Politics (POLS3140) which I am very excited to teach because I haven’t taught it since before the pandemic. This is the class that is really geared towards my own expertise as a professor, and I always like teaching this class because we do mock constitutional negotiations on Senate reform. Students will be representing different constitutional actors like the federal government, the provinces, but also interest groups like women’s groups and community groups.

Q: How difficult are your courses?

A: The word on the street is that I’m a tough grader, but if students put in the work that they should then it’s very easy to succeed in my classes. And I do provide exam questions before exams, so there’s no excuses.

Q: Do you have any tips on how to succeed in university?

A: Succeeding in university is really about developing your time management skills, making sure that you don’t leave everything until the last minute. The transition between high school and university can be hard, so it’s important to also develop a support network. I think university is not only about attending classes, but it’s also about creating ties, getting involved in student clubs, and just widening your horizons more generally.

Q: Do you have any advice for students trying to learn a second language?

A: We have this amazing French specialization program in Political Science. I highly recommend students to look into that program because all of our graduates have placed themselves really well. Being bilingual in Canada (French-English) is a real asset, especially if you're looking at getting into governmental jobs. There are obviously courses you can take, but I think you also need to develop your skills socially. We have a new French social club on campus, so students can get involved with them. We also have a community center, the Centre Communautaire Francophone Windsor-Essex-Kent (CCFWEK) that offers diversified programs. I also like to encourage students to listen to French radio and French television. The Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF) will also have 58 French films playing this year.

Q: What do you like to do in your free time?

A: I don’t have a lot of free time because I’m quite involved at the community level. I’m currently a school board trustee for the French public system Viamonde, so that takes up a lot of my time. But in the summer, when the school board is off, I like to go sailing on Lake Saint Clair.

Q: I know you went to Paris for the Olympics this summer, how was that experience and what was your favourite event to watch?

A: It was really magical. My favourite event was watching gymnastics with my goddaughter who is an aspiring gymnast. I prefer the Winter Olympics, but I kind of caught the Olympic bug and I want to go back in 2030 because it is going to be in the French Alps.

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) is seeking applicants for its 2025 Youth Fellowship Program. This is intended for students and interested in local government, policy development, governance, and the health of our democracy. This opportunity may be eligible for some program internship requirements.

AMO is a non-partisan, non-profit organization representing almost all of Ontario’s 444 municipal governments. Through this Fellowship, participants will learn more about municipal governance and policy while gaining exposure to real-time issues facing Ontario’s municipalities. The eight-month Fellowship is intended to complement full-time studies or work and much of the program will be delivered virtually. When necessary, travel and accommodation will be funded by AMO.

A virtual Information Session will be held Thursday, October 17, 4:00 – 5:00 p.m. for those interested in applying.

 Deadline: Applications are due on or before Tuesday, October 29 at 10 p.m.

 Here are a few helpful links to learn more about this program and the work at AMO:

• Youth engagement at AMO

• AMO’s Healthy Democracy Project

• AMO’s main page

Also, just a reminder that as part of AMO’s Healthy Democracy Project we are hosting a Healthy Democracy Forum in Toronto on Oct. 19 and 20. Of particular note, on October 19 we are hosting a session focused on Engaging Youth in Local Democracy and Elections. If there are young people in your networks (particularly in the GTA for ease of travel) who you think would be interested in joining, please share the opportunity with them.

 AMO Youth Fellows Application Form

The Undergraduate Journal of Politics, Policy and Society (UJPPS) is an emerging interdisciplinary academic journal that publishes peer-reviewed work of undergraduate students in social sciences and humanities. The journal provides a platform for aspiring academics to gain experience in publishing, research, and critical thinking while contributing to current debates and discussions in their disciplines. The UJPPS is currently soliciting submissions in the form of academic essays and literary reviews for its upcoming issue.

The theme of the 2024 issue is Polarization, cohesion, trust and institutions in an era of polycrisis. Current global systems are increasingly defined by several interacting crises crossing ecological, social, economic and technological domains (Søgaard Jørgensen et al., 2024). Many new and serious threats are appearing rapidly, creating a period of great global risk known as “poly-crisis” (Morin & Kern, 1999, p.74). The COVID-19 pandemic, the Russo-Ukrainian War, and climate change are all instances which contribute to current poly-crises. As poly-crises have no single underlying cause, current solutions require multi-disciplinary strategies, as solutions to one problem could exacerbate another (Lawrence, 2024).

At the centre of these multiple crises are polarization, trust, cohesion, and institutions. For example, democratic regimes face multiple threats ranging from polarization to a lack of institutional trust to waning social cohesion. The digital age is intensifying these challenges and the capacity to respond to poly-crises. We invite submissions exploring the complex intersections of polarization, cohesion, trust and institutions, particularly examining how these factors shape and are shaped by the ongoing poly-crisis. These themes can engage questions such as:

• How does a polarized political climate affect international relations and global conflict?

• Can democratic institutions resist poly-crises?

• What impact does technology and social media have on polarization, social cohesion, trust and institutions?

• How do disasters and conflicts influence community mobilization? • In what ways does this era of poly-crises impact Indigenous governance?

• How do populist actors affect trust in political institutions and social cohesion?

• What role can institutions play in developing new orders? • How does the era of poly-crises shape political identities?

• How does globalization impact current poly-crises?

• How have responses to poly-crises differed between the Global North and the Global South?

• How has the current poly-crises impacted global, national and local governance?

The submission deadline is October 29th, 2024. Interested authors should submit their manuscripts via the journal's homepage: https://www.ujpps.com/index.php/ujpps. All submissions must conform to the journal’s submission guidelines. Submissions will undergo a double-blind peer-review process and those selected by the UJPPS editorial team will be revised, finalized, and published in the 2024 issue of the journal. All submissions will be entered for the UJPPS Article of the year award. Questions pertaining to this call for papers should be directed to the UJPPS editorial team at [email protected].

We look forward to your submission.

2024 Editorial Committee

🎉 GIVEAWAY 🎉 Follow our Instagram and score the opportunity to win two 2024 UWSA Coming Home Music Festival with Swae Lee tickets! Details ⤵️

𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 & 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬:

👉 The contests/giveaways will begin on Friday, October 4, 2024 and will conclude on Sunday, October 20, 2024.
👉 Winners of the giveaway will be selected randomly and announced by post on the @uwinpol Instagram page and/or emailed at your UWindsor Email Address (for current students).

👉 You must be an active or former UWindsor Student to win.
👉 No purchase is necessary to enter or win.
👉 Winner will receive two (2) 2024 UWSA Coming Home Music Festival tickets valued at up to $135 Cdn.
👉 Prizes are not transferable or redeemable for cash and prize substitution will not be allowed.
👉 Chances of winning are dependent on the number of followers received.

Even though we have just started the academic year, many may be thinking about their Winter courses. To assist students, we have posted all the courses we plan to offer on the department bulletin board. The days and locations still have to be set by the Registrar’s office, but this will give you a head start on thinking about what courses to take in the next semester.

Drop by anytime to check out our course offerings for Winter 2025.