Two professors in the Political Science Department at Clark University will spend time abroad beginning in the fall of this academic year, each to conduct research and teach courses as Fulbright Scholars, a program of the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Professor Mark C. Miller will hold the Bicentennial Fulbright Distinguished Chair in the North American Studies Department at the University of Helsinki in Finland for the 2014-15 academic year. He will teach courses such as Introduction to American and Canadian Legal Systems, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in the U.S., A Comparison of the U.S. and Canadian Supreme Courts, and Introduction to American Government and Politics. His research project will be examining how the Finnish courts and judges have adapted to Finland’s membership
in the European Union.
The University of Helsinki is the leading research university in Finland and consistently ranks among the top 20 universities in Europe. The Fulbright Bicentennial Chair was established in 1976 to institutionalize the teaching of American history, culture and language at the University. The Bicentennial Chair holder has played a crucial role in developing the interdisciplinary approach to American studies found at the University of Helsinki and at other Finnish universities with American studies programs. Today it is one of the most prestigious appointments in the Fulbright Scholar Program.
Miller’s research interests include the interactions between Congress and the courts; constitutional law issues involving the powers of Congress; and comparisons of judicial politics in North America and Western Europe. Miller also is director of the Law & Society Program and is the Pre-Law Advisor at Clark. He is the author of “Judicial Politics in the United States” (Westview Press), which is due out in August, and “The View of the Courts from the Hill: Interactions between Congress and the Federal Judiciary” (University of Virginia Press).
Associate Professor Michael Butler’s Fulbright Scholar grant will support a combined teaching and research appointment at the Institute for International Studies, University of Wroclaw (Breslau), Poland from September 2014 to February 2015. He will teach undergraduate and graduate seminars on International Security and U.S. Foreign Policy, while continuing work on his forthcoming book examining the problems of, and prospects for, military intervention in humanitarian crisis. Professor Butler will also provide support to the Institute regarding the development of a security studies program and curriculum.
Butler’s research and teaching interests converge in the areas of conflict and cooperation, foreign policy, and global governance. He specializes in the study of foreign policy, armed conflict and military intervention, and conflict management and resolution. Selling a Just War: Framing, Legitimacy, and US Military Intervention” (Palgrave Macmillan) and co-authored “Global Politics: Engaging a Complex World” (McGraw-Hill).
“The Political Science department is delighted that two of our professors have received these prestigious awards. It’s rare to have two faculty members in the same department awarded Fulbrights in the same year. We look forward to them sharing their expanded scholarship in their classrooms and through their research at Clark,” said Professor Kristen Williams, department chair.
The political science major prepares students for careers in the public, non-profit, and private sectors, including positions in local, state, and national government, in international and community organizations, and in business, journalism, and education. Some Clark University political science students go on to professional schools or graduate school programs and earn advanced degrees in fields such as law, management, urban planning, public administration, public policy, and political science. Click here to read about some of Clark’s political science alumni.
The Council for International Exchange of Scholars, the scholar division of the Institute of International Education, is well known for its expertise and extensive experience in conducting international exchange programs for scholars and university administrators. For the past sixty years, CIES (www.cies.org) has administered the Fulbright Scholar Program, the United States flagship academic exchange effort, on behalf of the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Founded in 1887 in Worcester, Massachusetts, Clark University is a liberal arts-based research university addressing social and human imperatives on a global scale. Nationally renowned as a college that changes lives, Clark is emerging as a transformative force in higher education today. LEEP (Liberal Education and Effective Practice) is Clark’s pioneering model of education that combines a robust liberal arts curriculum with life-changing world and workplace experiences. Clark’s faculty and students work across boundaries to develop solutions to complex challenges in the natural sciences, psychology, geography, management, urban education, Holocaust and genocide studies, environmental studies, and international development and social change. The Clark educational experience embodies the University’s motto: Challenge convention. Change our world. www.clarku.edu
