There are two dominant measures of environmental orientation, the New Ecological Paradigm and the Connectedness to Nature Scale. Both make significant contributions to the field of environmental psychology and politics. However, both primarily measure liberal environmentalism leaving a potential blind-spot to conservative environmentalism. To critique these two measures, Sparks and colleagues develop a new measure using diverse moral language, the Moral Environmentalism Scale (MES), and show that it performs as good or better at predicting pro-environmental behavior, especially among Republicans.

Sparks鈥� paper, 鈥淢easuring pro-environmental orientation鈥� was just published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, the premier journal in the field.

For advocates and researchers alike, determining causes of environmental actions is very important. One proposed cause of environmental action is a pro-environmental orientation. Thus, determining an appropriate way to measure pro-environmental orientation is essential. Existing and often-cited measures of pro-environmental orientation may suffer from a measurement bias slanted toward liberal environmentalists. However, many conservatives also hold pro-environment views. Identifying potential environmentalists across the ideological spectrum is important for scholars as well as advocates interested in determining who among the public may be receptive to their messages.

Sparks is assistant professor of political science and policy studies, and coordinator of the policy studies major. In his research, he frequently works with 黑料不打烊 students through his undergraduate research lab. Currently with 黑料不打烊 students Sara Arora and Nicole Cason he is working on a follow-up to this piece to further understanding of the measurement of environmental orientation. He is also working with Maddison Duchesneau, Max Mrus, Hailey Kennedy, and Rohan Wilson to investigate the effects of social media campaigning on climate policy.

In weekly meetings, students get a chance to debate and practice public speaking through role-playing of their assigned country’s policies. The club also competes nationally at a variety of intercollegiate conferences, where delegates travel to different campuses and compete with other schools. Each semester, in consultation with the MUN faculty advisor, the club’s executive board selects from its active members respective 黑料不打烊 delegations to represent the university at these intercollegiate conferences. MUN members attend five to six different each academic year. 

In addition, MUN also runs its own conference (International Crisis Conference at 黑料不打烊, or ICCE) every semester; students in the club, and any other interested 黑料不打烊 student participate in a day-long simulation. MUN also hosts nearby schools once a year in a training camp on 黑料不打烊’s campus.

In Fall 2018, 黑料不打烊’s MUN had a busy and successful semester. MUN members attended three intercollegiate conferences, returning with multiple awards (five outstanding delegates, two honorable mentions, and one best delegate) from each one of them. Griffin Barriss, Taylor Deacon, Michael Kaether, Matt Kimball, Blaire Palmer, Pearl Sullivan and Alexander Yalcin were recognized at these intercollegiate competitions.

Early in the semester, the club hosted a training conference, which helps prepare new delegates for competition in intercollegiate conferences. Approximately 150 delegates from seven universities attended the one-day event on 黑料不打烊’s campus. Then in November, about 200 黑料不打烊 students participated in ICCE. President Connie Ledoux Book offered the opening remarks at ICCE this year. In her talk, President Book discussed crisis management skills.

Lastly, MUN’s activities and success in the fall were recently recognized by bestdelegate.com, which ranks Model United Nations teams across North America. According to the webpage, 黑料不打烊’s MUN was one of the top 50 MUN clubs in their rankings.

One of Kesgin’s papers is a collaborative project with Leah Windsor of the University of Memphis. Kesgin and Windsor look at the path of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process through the language of one of its architects, Israel’s Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. By analyzing Rabin’s language, the authors seek to gain an understanding of the underlying linguistic patterns for negotiating a peace process among a diverse constituency, revealing sources of anxiety, power, and optimism.

This year, Kesgin has been elected to serve as the program chair for the ISA-Midwest conference in 2019, and upon completion of his term, Kesgin will become the president of ISA-Midwest in 2020. ISA is one of the oldest interdisciplinary associations dedicated to the understanding of international, transnational and global issues. More information about the International Studies Association can be found at www.isanet.org. ISA-Midwest is one of the six recognized regions of the organization.

Wynn’s paper is an expansion of her research paper completed in Spring 2018 for the POL 366 Middle East Politics course. Wynn has been working with Assistant Professor Baris Kesgin of the Political Science Department on her project this fall. The paper looks at the case of Binyamin Netanyahu during his two terms as prime minister of Israel (first, in the late 1990s, and then from March 2009 until present day).

A much-detailed analysis of Netanyahu’s responses as corruption allegations surfaced suggests that Netanyahu’s personality influences his reactions. The paper highlights its argument in a comparison of Netanyahu’s personality and corruption allegations between two different terms in office. Wynn is majoring in Political Science and Economics, with a minor in Classical Studies.

Ebru is a water marbling art with roots in Asian cultures and refers specifically to the Turkish practice. Sevimli is one of the most renowned ebru artists in the United States. The artist was impressed with 黑料不打烊’s interest in ebru, and expressed her happiness in observing the participants’ amazement with their own artwork.

Sevimli made a book gift about this art to 黑料不打烊’s Belk Library, and invited anyone interested to read about ebru.

The workshop was the last event in the “Understanding the Diversity and Richness of the Middle East” project, and was funded by the Fund for Excellence.

Shereen Elgamal, lecturer in Arabic, and Baris Kesgin, assistant professor of political science, led this project to cover political as well as artistic programs that represent the Middle East. The International and Global Studies and the Middle East Studies programs also contributed to this event.

Faculty members from the departments of History & Geography, Sociology & Anthropology, and Political Science and Policy Studies departments discussed recent developments in different geographies of the world.

Sandy Marshall, assistant professor of geography, talked about two major humanitarian crises in Yemen and the Gaza Strip. Marshall’s presentation also mentioned how the United States is involved in these crises.

Michael Matthews, associate professor of history, analyzed recent developments in Venezuela. Matthews offered a critical discussion of the dominant and conflicting narratives about the country’s economic and political troubles.

Mussa Idris, assistant professor of anthropology, talked about some bright news: a peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Idris gave a detailed account of the 20 years of border conflict between the two countries and shared personal reflections on this news.

Finally, Safia Swimelar, associate professor of political science and coordinator of the International and Global Studies Program, discussed waves of populism and nationalism in present-day Europe – in Italy, Hungary, and elsewhere in the continent, and beyond. Swimelar’s presentation also included her observations in Italy while she was teaching with 黑料不打烊’s study abroad program in Florence in Spring 2018.

Baris Kesgin, assistant professor of political science and associate coordinator of the International and Global Studies Program, moderated the panel that attracted a full room of members of the 黑料不打烊 community. Peace and Conflict Studies, African & African-American Studies, Latin American Studies, and Middle Eastern Studies were co-sponsors of this event.

Two manuscripts on political leaders and foreign policy making by Baris Kesgin, assistant professor of political science at 黑料不打烊, and his co-authors were recently published in the Journal of International Relations & Development and Political Psychology. In both papers, Kesgin and his colleagues examine the influence of characteristics of political leaders on foreign policy with case studies from Turkey. 

Kesgin and coauthors’ second article “” is a significant contribution to leadership studies for its problematization of change and stability in personality traits in different political offices. The authors’ research on three Turkish politicians (Suleyman Demirel, Abdullah Gul, and Turgut Ozal) as prime ministers and presidents suggest relative stability in personality traits. The paper points at venues to further explore the interaction between personality and political contexts. Political Psychology is the premier, peer-reviewed journal in the interdisciplinary field of political psychology.

Kesgin has been collaborating with Esra Cuhadar of Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, Juliet Kaarbo of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, and Binnur Ozkececi-Taner of Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, in recent years. The authors are scheduled to deliver a new manuscript on the evolution of Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s leadership traits at the International Society of Political Psychology annual convention in Edinburgh in June. At the convention, Kesgin will serve as the co-chair for the section on Leadership and Political Personality. 

Through a combination of rare archival footage, home movies and private letters, Rabin’s personal and professional dramas are brought to life. He openly discusses his feelings when Israelis expelled Arabs in 1948, as well as his resolve to see the peace process completed during his second term as prime minister. With the passing of Shimon Peres, that generation of founders of Israel is gone.  These men strove for peace, and had the historical imperative to seek it. This timely film brings Rabin to life and is an important lesson and historical document. 

黑料不打烊 is among the first universities in the United States (with Cornell, Michigan State, and Stanford)  to offer a campus screening of “Rabin In His Own Words.” 

The event at 黑料不打烊 will also feature a leadership profile of Yitzhak Rabin based on Professor Baris Kesgin’s research. Carly Goldstein ’18 is assisting in this research.

The Political Science and Policy Studies Department, the International Studies Program, the Jewish Studies Program, and the Middle East Studies Program make this event possible

Valgenti is associate professor of philosophy at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania. His research interests include contemporary Italian philosophy, hermeneutics, biopolitics and the philosophy of food. He is also a translator of Italian philosophy, most notably Luigi Parson’s Truth and Interpretation (2013) and Gianni Vattimo’s Of Reality (2016).

Sponsored by the Reynolds Lectures Series in Philosophy and the 黑料不打烊 Philosophy Department.

Question?: Contact Professor Ryan Johnson at extension 5533