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Larisa Patlis and Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan Receive the PSA/APSA International Partnerships Award
The APSA-PSA International Partnerships Award honors political scientists engaged in collaborative and productive cross-national partnerships that make a significant contribution to the discipline in the areas of teaching, research, or civic engagement. Please read more about this inaugural award here.
Dr. Judithanne S. McLauchlan, Associate Professor of Political Science and Founding Director of the Center for Civic Engagement
Dr. Judithanne Scourfield McLauchlan (Ph.D. in Public Law, Rutgers University 2003) is the Frank E. Duckwall Professor of Florida Studies, an Associate Professor of Political Science and Founding Director of the Center for Civic Engagement at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, where she teaches courses in American Government and Public Law. McLauchlan is also the Lead Instructor for the USFSP YMCA Civic Fellows Program, a statewide civics education initiative in partnership with the YMCA Youth in Government Program.
Her book Congressional Participation as Amicus Curiae before the U.S. Supreme Court explores how Members of Congress attempt to influence Supreme Court decision-making in specific cases. McLauchlan is an active contributor to the scholarship of teaching and learning. She has published numerous articles and book chapters about the effects of integrating civic engagement into the curriculum and has presented those findings at regional, national, and international conferences.
McLauchlan was a Fulbright Scholar to Moldova (Constitutional Law, Politics, and the Judicial Process) in 2010, and in 2017, McLauchlan was awarded a Fulbright to Macedonia (Rule of Law and Civil Society). McLauchlan was awarded a Diploma from the Government of the Republic of Moldova, recognizing fruitful international cooperation and collaboration on research as well as the Medal of the Free University of Moldova (ULIM). She also received the Award of the City of Klos, Albania in honor of the promotion of democratic values, community engagement and volunteerism.
In addition to her scholarly activities, Professor McLauchlan has extensive experience in American government and politics. McLauchlan worked at the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the White House. She has also worked on seven presidential primary campaigns in New Hampshire, and now she teaches a course called The Road to the White House, in which she brings students up to New Hampshire for the primary.
Larisa Patlis, Interim Director of the Library and Information Science Department
Larisa Patlis currently is the Interim Director of the Library and Information Science Department and the United Nations and the European Union Information Centers Coordinator at Free International University of Moldova (ULIM). She also teaches courses in International Relations at the Department of International Relations, Political Science and Journalism ULIM, where she received her licentiate diploma and M.A. in International Relations (European Studies) in 2005 and 2006, respectively. She has conducted research and professional development visits in Poland (2008, 2009, 2013), Hungary (2009), Austria (2010), Lithuania (2010), Turkey (2011, 2022), Ukraine (2012) USA (2012/13), Georgia (2016), Germany (2018). Larisa Patlis was a Carnegie Fellow in the Department of History and Politics and the Bishop Center for Ethical Leadership and Civic Engagement at USFSP (for Fall semester 2012), conducting research on Devolutionary Trends in Moldova: The Case of Gagauz Yeri. In 2016 Larisa Patlis became a winner of the Carnegie Scholar Publication Program 2016 Competition for Alumni of the CRFP.
Citation from the Award Committee:
We commend the winners of this year’s PSA/APSA International Partnerships Award for their commitment to building collaborative cross-national partnerships. The Global Classroom created by Dr McLauchlan and Ms Patlis is a unique virtual learning partnership that offered undergraduate students from USA and Moldova an opportunity to collaborate on joint research projects while gaining exposure to cultural exchange. Although the war in Ukraine added unexpected challenges to the course it also provided context for the importance of comparative research and international partnerships. The Comparative Legal Research Assignment which McLauchlan and Patlis developed for the course can now be adapted to other Global Classrooms. Their experience exemplifies the contributions to political science research and teaching that can be made through collaborative cross-national partnerships.
Read the announcement from PSA here.
APSA thanks the Political Studies
Association (PSA) for its support of the award and the committee members
for their service: Professor Christina Schneider of University of
California and PSA Trustee Professor Amelia Hadfield from University of
Surrey.
