Westminster Professor Presents Two Papers at Conference

Dr. Andrea Grove, assistant professor of political science at Westminster College, recently presented two papers at the International Studies Association conference in Honolulu.

Her first presentation was "Simulating Global Politics, Stimulating Students: Pretending to Make Introductory IR Courses More Real."

"Employing simulation in the international relations classroom is an excellent method for engaging students in more active learning than often permitted by more passive approaches," Grove said.  "This technique, when carefully designed and executed, is especially useful for communicating to students the multidimensional and complex nature of diplomatic, military, economic, political and cultural relations among states.  My paper presents an argument for using a particular four-day simulation as a capstone to an introductory IR course, which I have used eight times in four years.  While the experiences of the students during active learning approaches are often a topic of discussion, teacher-scholars also need to spend time discussing appropriate methods for getting students to tie in the role-playing with themes from the preceding fourteen weeks of the course."

The second paper was titled, "Searching for Bellwethers: Examining Representations of Northern Irish, Palestinian, and Israeli Leaders."

"In this paper, I look at two protracted conflicts, Israel-Palestine and Northern Ireland, and show that the ways in which leaders of each community in both Northern Ireland and the Middle East had clear impacts on behavior initiated by the other side, but little impact on the behavior of their own side.  In this paper, there is a search for bellwethers , individuals or groups whose variations in verbal representations seem to be key to the path of conflict."

Grove, who has been with Westminster College since 2000, earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Georgia, her master's from Lancaster University, and her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University.

Contact Grove at (724) 946-7254 or e-mail gorveak@westminster.edu for more information.

Dr. Andrea Grove