Student Research

The department both encourages and participates in a variety of student-based research activities.

Many students have worked with Dr. Hoffman and Dr. High-Pippert on their research on citizen participation and community energy initiatives over the years. Students assisted in this research by coding qualitative data, ranging from meeting agendas and minutes to focus group transcripts, and a few students presented research at the student poster session of the Minnesota Political Science Association (MNPSA) Annual Conference. In 2010, political science major Daniel Carr presented a conference paper, "`If you Can't Do It Here': Institutional versus Community-based initiative in Energy Planning" with Dr. High-Pippert and Dr. Hoffman at the Midwest Political Science Association Conference in Chicago.

Other political science majors have presented their research at the student poster session of the Minnesota Political Science Association (MNPSA) Annual Conference each November.

If you are interested in either working with someone as a research assistant or developing a project of your own you should talk to individual professors or contact Dr. Hoffman, the department chair.