Ralph Bunche Summer Institute Scholars' Work Showcased at 2008 Annual Meeting

Nine outstanding students from the 2008 Ralph Bunche Summer Institute (RBSI) presented their research at this year's Annual Meeting in Boston, MA. The RBSI is a five-week intensive program hosted by Duke University, and co-sponsored and jointly funded by a National Science Foundation grant, Duke University, and The American Political Science Association. The Institute is directed by Paula McClain, professor of Political Science and Public Policy, and a Co-Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in the Social Sciences at Duke University.

While at the 2008 Annual Meeting, the RBSI scholars attended a breakfast orientation with APSA Executive Director Michael Brintnall and Kimberly Mealy, Director of the APSA Office for Educational, Professional and Minority Initiatives, and her staff, attended meeting panels and roundtables, and were able to meet with former RBSI scholars, current and past APSA Minority Fellows, faculty, and other APSA staff at the 2nd Annual RBSI and Minority Fellows Program Coffee hour. This year's APSA/RBSI Liaison was graduate student and 2006 RBSI alumna Porsha Cropper from Harvard University.

The following 2008 RBSI Scholars presented research posters at the 2008 APSA Annual Meeting:

Jeanette C. Bustamante, University of Colorado, Boulder
"Naturalized Latino Citizen Voter Turnout: The Effects of the Country of Origin’s Political System on the Citizen’s Previous Political Participation

Carolina Ferrerosa, University of Virginia
"'Welcome to the State of . . .' Contact Theory and Immigration Legislation in U.S. State General Assemblies"

Aisha Fukushima, Whitman College
"Privileged Minorities? Multiracial Americans, Racial Triangulation, Whitening and the One Drop Rule"

Chris Jarmon, Lamar University
"Differences in Religiosity and Political Participation between African American Generations"

Jimari Lee Jones, University of Georgia 
"Does Race Affect Attitudes on Foreign Policy?"

Sammone Kidd, Truman State University
"What Explains Variation of Women’s Representation in Sub-Saharan Africa’s Parliaments?" 

Yalidy M. Matos, Connecticut College 
"Pan-Latino Identity: Does it Exist?" 

Taneisha Nicole Means, John Carroll University
"The Effects of Demographics on Public Opinions about the Proper Roles of State Courts"

Breanca Thomas, University of Oklahoma 
"The Ignored Minority: Teachers’ Effects on the Low-Income White Student Achievement Gap in U. S. Public Schools"