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Department of Politics and Government

Annual Conference for Students of Political Science

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33rd Annual Illinois State University Conference for Students of Political Science

The Department of Politics and Government at Illinois State University invites you to the 33rd Annual Illinois State University Conference for Students of Political Science, which will take place on Thursday, April 16, 2026. Our conference will be held virtually through Zoom. All accepted papers receive individual presentation and discussion time as well as discussant and audience feedback.

We welcome papers from all sub-disciplines of political science from both undergraduate and graduate students. The proposal submission deadline for the conference is March 31, 2026. Final papers need to be submitted by April 10, 2026. Registration is free.

Particularly meritorious papers may be nominated by attending faculty for publication in Critique: a Worldwide Journal of Student Politics.

If you are interested in presenting your research at the conference, please submit an abstract through our online portal: https://conferencebit.com/33rd-annual-illinois-state-university-conference-for-students-of-political-science-2026

If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact Dr. Yusuf Sarfati (ysarfat@ilstu.edu).

This conference is sponsored by Pi Sigma Alpha, the Undergraduate Political Science Association, The Graduate Student Association, and The Department of Politics and Government at Illinois State University.

2025 Pi Sigma Alpha Best Paper Awards

  • Ellen Fogarty

    Creighton University
    State Policy Adoption: Examining the Influences of U.S. PFAS Drinking Water Policy

  • Abhey Guram

    Beloit College
    Asymmetric Power, Impatience, and the Climate Commons: A Game-Theoretic Approach to Climate Negotiations

  • John O'Neill

    Temple University
    Ghost in the Regime: The Institutional Persistence of Hydro-Hegemony in the Aral Sea Basin

  • Pranita Balusu

    Eastern Illinois University
    Do Labor Movements Affect Regulation on the Economic Impacts of AI? A Comparative Analysis

  • Thomas Mathews

    University of Central Florida
    Severity of Impacted Data and Cyber Public Attribution

  • Farah Shah

    University of Central Florida
    Terrorism in the Age of Globalization and Digitization

These papers can be found in the Critique student research journal.