The following papers were given best paper awards for the 2018 ArkPSA meeting; the two day meeting was held at Arkansas State University in March 2-3, 2018.
Best Undergraduate Paper
- C. Taylor Summerville, Arkansas Tech University, Pakistan-India Territorial Disputes: Why do the tensions persist?
- The Indian subcontinent, also known as South Asia, has long since been an epicenter of diversity in culture, religion, and language; however, with large amounts of diversity and the appeal of this region, there is bound to be conflict among the neighboring countries. To what extent do nationalism, religiosity, and historical divides caused by decolonization effect the capability of India and Pakistan to reach a peaceful agreement regarding their territorial disputes? Furthermore, which of these three variables plays the most substantial role in the perpetuation of tense territorial disputes? The goal of this question is to focus on religiosity, historical divides, and nationalism can affect relations between nations and fuel the politics between neighboring countries. The historical divide created by the British during the decolonization of India in 1947 has contributed the most to the ongoing hostilities between India and Pakistan regarding their territorial disputes.
- Regan Williams, Arkansas State University, Jonesboro, Elitism in Feminist Scholarship: A stronghold for sexism in American society
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From antebellum America to the Internet age, feminism has remained a pertinent and necessary plight for equality in the United States. Feminism is pervasive; as Poovey put it, “The study of women entails the most spacious, yet subtle, reconstruction of our understanding of gender, culture, and society” (vii). Yet, despite the absolute necessity for this reconstruction in the everyday lives of women, the actual scholarship feminist theory produces reveals a thematic strain of elitism. In its early stages, American feminism was white and rich (expectantly, considering the social setting of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries). Thus, the earliest works of scholarship we have in the field are artefacts of incomplete — and sometimes problematic — ideologies. Yet, even as more-recent intellectuals have called for intersectionality and critiqued the outdated axiological hierarchy of feminist values, the gap between the ivory tower of feminist scholarship and the masses is still ever-expanding. Elitism is not unique to feminist scholarship, but throughout three tumultuous waves, it has been a loyal companion to American feminism. Thus, elitism is the last trace of the old skin that feminist scholars must shed in order to free ourselves from the restraints that have kept our goals unrealized. We must make elitism the antithesis of tomorrow’s feminism.
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Best Graduate Paper
- Eric D. Button, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville,Trends in Voting Behavior of Active Duty Military Spouses: A Study of Sophistication, Access, and Participation, with Anne B. Diallo.
Best Faculty Paper
- Patrick Stewart, Elaine Terrell, Alex M. Kareev, Blake Tylar Ellison, and Charini I. Urteaga, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, “gamifying” online American National Government: Lessons learned from developing “Citizenship Quest”
- This manuscript considers the development of an ongoing team-based project to incorporate a game into an online American National Government class. We start by suggesting that play, and the games that provide for play to occur, is the most natural way for individuals to learn. Technologies offered by online education provide the opportunity to introduce unique game-playing elements into introductory classes such as American National Government. We then consider developments in teaching of civics before discussing the goals established for this course and how we endeavored to achieve them through a fully self-contained and integrated game – Citizenship Quest – making use of the learning management system (LMS) the class was taught on. We next consider development issues dealt with by the instructor and the instructional design team in how Citizenship Quest – a simulation of the citizenship process – was scaffolded into this class before considering student evaluation of the game during its first large scale presentation. From there, we consider issues addressed during the development of the game, before discussing future development goals and drawing conclusions.