The Centennial Center for Political Science and Public Affairs is an invaluable resource to political and social scientists. Since its opening in September 2003, the center has housed more than 100 scholars. The center, located in the APSA headquarters near Dupont Circle, provides a great base of operations for scholars researching in the DC metro area. The center offers visiting scholars furnished work space, telephone, fax, computers, Internet access, conference space, a reference library, and access to George Washington University's Gelman Library. Visiting scholar stays range from a few days to 12 months. Space is limited to APSA members and is available for faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, and advanced graduate students from the United States and abroad. Scholars are expected to cover their own expenses and a modest facilities fee for the use of the center. Prospective visiting scholars may apply at any time. Positions are awarded on a space-available basis.
As federal funding sources that support international research continue to diminish, the association would like to remind members that the Centennial Center endowed funds provide modest resources for international projects in addition to support for domestic travel and office space at APSA's Washington, DC headquarters (all applicants should note that APSA does not provide support for visa arrangements).
Recent Highlight at the Center
The Centennial Center regularly arranges briefings by its visiting scholars with the APSA Congressional Fellows and other invited guests from the neighboring scholarly community. Both the scholars and the guests benefit from these discussion in terms of potential new directions for their research and the insights gained by the audience. Occasionally, the event provides added benefits as it did in a March 2013 briefing by visiting Canadian scholar John C. Courtney, who added to the fellowship's US-Canada Parliamentary Exchange program. (Each year Canadians visit Washington DC and in May APSA Congressional Fellows visit Ottawa) Professor Courtney, Professor Emeritus of Political Studies and Senior Policy Fellow of the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan, is spending several weeks at the Centennial Center on a comparative study of Canadian and US parliamentary/congressional redistricting. While that was a major theme of his presentation, the discussion that followed ranged widely over a number of bilateral issues including the on-going consideration of the XL pipeline and its potential to carry tar sands refined oil to southern US refineries and ports. At the recent discussion with former press spokesman to President Clinton, Mike McCurry, Professor Courtney brought along two visiting Canadian friends–recent political science department chair at the University of Toronto, here in Washington on a German Marshall Fund-sponsored study of trans-Atlantic relations, and his journalist wife Stevie who is currently writing a book on the Canadian prison system.
About Prof. Courtney
Prof. Courtney holds degrees from the University of Manitoba, the University of Western Ontario, and Duke University. A former president of the Canadian Political Science Association and editor of the Canadian Journal of Political Science, he is the author or editor of 10 books and numerous refereed articles and book chapters on Canadian and comparative electoral redistricting, representation, electoral systems, party leadership, and party conventions. He has served twice as Visiting Scholar at Nuffield College, Oxford; the Halbert Chair in Canadian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Canadian Studies Chair at Philipps-Universitat University, Marburg, Germany.
Applying to the Center
Interested members can find an application form and more information on the 7 funds that support non-residential scholars at: http://www.apsanet.org/imgtest/ApplicationNonResident.pdf.
Full details on the center and the Visiting Scholars Program are online at http://www.apsanet.org/centennialcenter. You may also contact Veronica Jones at APSA: (202) 483-2512; vjones@apsanet.org.
