REU Site in Political Science: Ralph Bunche Summer Institute

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The Ralph Bunche Summer Institute (RBSI) is a program of the American Political Science Association (APSA) and hosted by the Department of Political Science at Duke University as a REU Site in Political Science. The RBSI is designed to expand opportunities for students-of-color by preparing black, Latino, and American Indian undergraduates to enroll in doctoral programs and become political science college and university professors. Intellectual Merit - The RBSI immerses undergraduates in the summer of their junior year in a five-week intensive program that includes graduate level course work, and the design, analysis, writing, and presentation of original research papers. The program simulates the graduate school experience and focuses on scientific analysis by introducing the students to research methods and statistics, and the research enterprise that is the lifeline of professional political scientists. Those students whose empirical papers are judged to be of high quality are invited to present their papers in a poster session at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association. Broader Impacts - The APSA initiated the Ralph Bunche Summer Institute in 1986, with the goal of increasing the number of black Americans pursing advanced degrees in political science. In 2000, RBSI was expanded to include other students-of-color. The numbers of students-of-color in doctoral programs in political science has waxed and waned over the years, but appears to be on an upward trajectory. The RBSI has played a major role in this increase. Nevertheless, the need for blacks, Latinos/as and American Indians with doctorates in political science remains. The ultimate goal of the RBSI is to increase the number of black, Latino, and American Indian political science faculty in U.S. colleges and universities. Results suggest that the RBSI is succeeding in increasing the numbers of students-of color in political science graduate programs, and the numbers of blacks and Latinos with doctorates in political science, but the need is so great, that more needs to be done. This REU site is co-funded by the Cross Directorate Activities and the Political Science Programs in the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences.