Niagara University played host to the 65th Annual Conference of the New York State Political Science Association April 8-9, 2011.
The Program Chair and Vice President of the Association is Dr. Peter J. Baxter, Director of the Pre-Law Advisement Program and Associate Professor of Political Science at Niagara University.
NYSPSA is the largest state-level political science association in the United States and this year’s conference will host over 190 scholars, professionals, graduate students and undergraduate students from the Northeast United States, Ontario, Quebec and several countries.
This academic conference featured panel presentations and roundtable discussions in political science, history, sociology, gender studies and related disciplines. The Presidential Keynote Address at this year’s conference was made by Dr. Claude E. Welch, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor and member of the Department of Political Science at the University at Buffalo. The topic of his keynote was the “Issue of Human Rights in a Changing World.”
Dr. Welch’s academic specializations include African politics, the roles of armed forces in politics, and human rights. Welch has published widely on these subjects, with 14 books and close to 40 chapters and articles in academic journals. In 2006, he received the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award given by TIAA-CREF and the SUNY Research Foundation. During his career at Buffalo, which started in 1964, Welch has chaired or served on ~100 dissertation committees. He is known for his high-quality teaching, having received awards from political science students, the Undergraduate Student Association, and the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Dr. Baxter, having served for 10 years on the Executive Council of the New York State Political Science Association as its Webmaster and now its Vice President and Program Chair, will be President of the Association for the 2011-2012 academic year.
