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EC Hosts Virtual State Association Conference

Elmira, NY (05/20/2021) — Elmira College recently hosted the virtual New York State Political Science Association annual conference. The conference included a welcome address from EC President Charles Lindsay and a keynote address from New York State Lieutenant Governor, Kathy Hochul.

During her address, Hochul emphasized the role her undergraduate education in political science played in her activism, both as a student and as an adult. The Lieutenant Governor also stressed the importance of young people getting a solid grounding in political science so that when they make choices in elections they understand the workings of the democratic system in which they are making those choices.

The Program co-chairs, Dr. Jim Twombly, EC professor of political science, and Dr. Joshua Meddaugh, associate professor of political science at Clayton State University in Georgia and alumnus of the Elmira Class of 2007, worked together to coordinate the presentation of 17 scholarly panels, four of which were "live," while the remainder had been prerecorded. Subject matter discussed at the conference ranged from Twombly's paper on "The Delegitimized Presidency" to Meddaugh's timely paper entitled "Massively Multi-section Online POLS Course (MMOPC): Designing and Instructing American Government for Student Success in the Age of COVID" to other papers addressing the politics and administration issues raised by the COVID-19 pandemic. While covering all the major foundational areas of political science, the conference also included three panels reserved for undergraduates to present their research.

Hosting the conference at EC was Meddaugh's idea.

"I suggested EC as host institution for a couple of reasons," said Meddaugh. "The most obvious is out of my sense of pride as a member of the Dazzling Class of '07 but also out of my love of the Southern Tier. Although I am greatly disappointed that COVID has kept me from making a return visit to my alma mater, and kept my NYSPSA colleagues from seeing the beauty of the area and EC, it has been a great experience working to help showcase the campus online."

Twombly also noted disappointment in not being able to showcase the campus to his political science colleagues in person.

"The end of April tends to show off the beauty of this place in a way other times of the year can't. With everything in bloom it's stunning."

Both Meddaugh and Twombly were pleased that President Lindsay extended an invitation to NYSPSA to return in the near future when travel and interaction are not so tightly restricted by COVID-19.

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Elmira College recently hosted the virtual New York State Political Science Association annual conference.

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