*ISA Blog

Member News: Herbert Kelman Awarded Gold Medal of Honor

Herbert C. Kelman, the Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics, Emeritus, at Harvard University, received the Gold Medal of Honor from the Federal Capital of Vienna, “in recognition of his significant achievements.” The medal was presented to him at a ceremony in Vienna’s City Hall on December 12, 2012. Professor Kelman was born in Vienna in 1927, escaped Nazi persecution with his family in 1939, and settled in the United States in 1940.

Resource: International Studies Online

ISA members, are you taking advantage of your free access to International Studies Online? This ground-breaking online resource brings together over 400 specially commissioned, peer reviewed essays, written and edited by an international team of the world's best scholars and teachers. Designed for scholars, instructors and upper-level students, International Studies Online is the most comprehensive reference work ever created for the fields of international studies and international relations.

Wiley-Blackwell is pleased to offer members of ISA free access to this resource until October 31, 2011. Please enjoy your free access by logging into International Studies Online through MyISA's Journal Access page (login required) and click on the Wiley-Blackwell icon.

In Memoriam: James Rosenau

ISA mourns the recent passing of past-president James Rosenau. Dr. Rosenau was University Professor of International Affairs at the George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs and he served as President of ISA from 1984-1985. The following was contributed by his colleague James Mittleman:

Jim Rosenau shaped the ideas of generations of students, some of them now top policymakers. A superstar in the field of international relations, he explained the  complexity of global order. His landmark books show what makes a world of globalization hang together and how it is rapidly changing.
 
With great clarity and sensitivity for historical change, James Rosenau piloted the journey from international to globalization studies. This lens focuses on truly global issues: environment, crime, migration, and security. Deeply committed to democratic values, Rosenau’s top priority was teaching. He radiated a love of learning. His enthusiasm rippled through the classroom and his writings. Family, friends, and students alike salute this pillar of the knowledge community.

Please feel free to share your memories of Dr. Rosenau using the comments link below.

ISA on Twitter

Are you using the Twitter social network? ISA has been using Twitter for some time now to share news and link with other academic associations and scholarly groups. Our Twitter feed is found here. You are welcome to follow us to receive frequent updates on ISA activities as well as links of interests. We "re-tweet" Twitter posts from journals, think-tanks, publishers and exhibitors that we think will be of interest to our community.

The social network also has a very useful feature called Twitter Lists that allow us to build curated lists focused on one particular subject. We currently offer the following lists to which you may subscribe/follow:

• ISA Exhibitors - tweets from our annual convention exhibitors, including publishers, institutions and think-tanks.
• ISA Cooperating Organizations - tweets from organizations we have accredited as Cooperating Organizations.
• Journals and Publishers - tweets from journals and publishers in the social sciences.

We plan to start a new Twitter List called ISA Members which will group ISA members on Twitter. This is an opt-in process, no one will be added to the list unless they specifically request it or they follow ISA on Twitter. Why opt-in? We know that although many scholars maintain Twitter accounts to share their professional interests, others have personal accounts for sharing with family and friends. We would like to respect the privacy of our members and we think an opt-in method does that. If you are a member and would like to be publicly associated with ISA on Twitter, please let Joel Davis know at joeldavis@isanet.org and he will add you to the ISA Member list.

We hope you enjoy our efforts to engage with social networks.

J. David Singer, Former ISA President, Dies at 84

ISA mourns the loss of a pioneer in international studies. J. David Singer, a globally recognized scholar of international politics and former president of ISA (1985-86), died Monday, December 28, 2009 in Ann Arbor.  He was involved in an auto accident on September 22 and had been hospitalized since. At the time of his death, David Singer was Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan, where he’d been on faculty since 1958 until retiring in 2002. He was 84 years old. Continue reading...

In Memoriam: John E. Turner

In Memoriam: John E. Turner, ISA Executive Director, 1970-73

    The International Studies Association lost one of its stalwarts when John E. Turner, Regents’ Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Minnesota, passed away.  Professor Turner took the leadership of ISA at a time when it really took off, expanding its interdisciplinary and international focus, and he played an essential role in leading ISA to the status that it enjoys today.

    Born in England, Turner’s family moved to rural South Dakota when he was quite young.  He did his undergraduate studies at Yankton College in South Dakota and, after service during World War II, he began graduate study at the University of Minnesota where he received his Ph.D. in Political Science in 1950.  Turner then spent his entire academic career at Minnesota, rising through the ranks from Instructor to Regents’ Professor, the title which he held at the time of his retirement in 1988.  Turner was a broad ranging scholar of comparative politics, but unlike many in that field his comparative work spanned the globe, with special interests in the politics of the United Kingdom, the United States, the Soviet Union, China, and Japan.  He is perhaps best known for his classic work with Robert Holt, The Political Basis of Economic Development: An Exploration in Comparative Political Analysis (Van Nostrand, 1966). 

    Turner became executive director of ISA in 1970 at a time of transition for the association.  His priorities included broadening the disciplinary base of its membership beyond political science and international relations to include comparative work cutting across a wide range of social science disciplines.  His other major priority was broadening the international visibility, participation, and focus of ISA.  It was during his term as Executive Director that the association held its first annual conference outside of the continental United States in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1971, an initial step in his vision that the association would one day become truly global in its reach and focus.

    At the same time, ISA was by present standards a very small organization literally operating on a “shoe string.”  With offices located in the basement of the “Peoples’ Church” (it was 1970 after all!) near the West Bank campus of the University of Minnesota, Turner labored tirelessly with only one part-time administrative assistant to run the organization virtually single-handedly.  Many of us who were his colleagues and graduate students “volunteered” our time and energy to assist him in this process.  Among the colleagues who got their first baptism in ISA during those years were colleagues Davis Bobrow (later an ISA President), Terry Hopmann and Bob Kudrle (later ISA Vice Presidents and ISQ Editors), and Brian Job (later ISA Treasurer and ISQ Editor).  Graduate students also spent frequent hours running the mimeograph machine on which the ISA Newsletter was produced each month (not only was this prior to the internet, but even high volume copying was too expensive for the association) and recording membership in a file box of 4 x 6 cards on which all membership records were kept.  These “volunteers” included Tom Volgy (current ISA Director), Don Sylvan at Ohio State, Barry Hughes at the University of Denver, Steve Chan at University of Colorado and many others who got their start in the ISA basement under Turner’s guidance and have since become leaders in the association.  John was a true “Stakhanovite” in his dedication to his work, and he threw all his energy during his time into his vision of a vibrant and global community of scholars working cooperatively to advance international studies.

    John’s last ISA convention was the 1993 meeting in Acapulco, Mexico.  Although his eyesight had almost failed him by this time, he was delighted to see what had become of his beloved association.  This meeting, attended by scholars from all over the world, co-sponsored by the Mexican International Studies Association, and conducted in both Spanish and English, represented for him the fulfillment of many of his dreams for ISA.  We only regret that his declining health prevented him from attending the first World International Studies Conference last August in Istanbul, an event in which he would have truly rejoiced.

    All of us who knew John Turner realize that we are unlikely to see his likes again.  And although most of us have forgotten the humble roots from which today’s ISA sprang,  there can be little doubt that ISA has become what it is today in no small part due to the tireless effort and dedication that John Turner put into the organization during his term as Executive Director.  All of his friends, and the entire International Studies Association, will miss him greatly.

    Terry Hopmann and Bob Kudrle

Obituary: Prof. Fred W. Riggs

Fred Warren Riggs, 90, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa professor emeritus of political science, passed away on February 9, 2008 in the Malama Ohana facility of Kaiser hospital Moanalua.  He is survived by his wife of 64 years Clara-Louise (Mather); daughter Gwendolyn “Wendy” Riggs-Cook; grandchildren Jackie Swain, Lisa Wright, and Denise Vail; sisters Elizabeth “Betsy” Parsons Hankin and Edith Clara Barakat.

A memorial Celebration for Fred Riggs Life will be held on March 7 at 10:00 AM at the Unity Church of Hawaii, 3608 Diamond Head Circle.  In lieu of flowers or other gifts, the family wishes that donations be made to the UH Foundation Political Science Alumni Fund with checks designated for “Fred Riggs Memorial”.  Funds will be used to help needy graduate students in political science.

Professor Riggs was born in Kuling, China on July 3, 1917, the son of agricultural missionary parents Charles H. and Grace (Frederick) Riggs.  He attended Nanking University, 1934-35; received a B.A. from the University of Illinois, 1938; an M.A. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, 1941; and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1948.  After serving as Distinguished Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Government at Indiana University, he joined the UHM political science faculty in 1967.  He retired from teaching in 1987 but continued prolific research, writing, publication, and service activities.  He was 2007-2008 president of the Faculty Retirees Association UHM (FRAUHM).

Fred’s creative scholarly career in the field of comparative public administration brought him worldwide recognition, especially in Asia where he contributed to development of public administration in India, Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Thailand.  He was awarded the Order of the White Elephant by the King of Thailand in 1983; and was honored in a major Festschrift by 20 authors published in India in 1992.  He was in Who’s Who in the World and in America.  His writings were translated into many languages, including Italian, French, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.  He lectured on every continent, including in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Tanzania.

He was an innovative leader in the American Society for Public Administration, the International Political Science Association, UNESCO, and other professional associations.

The vast scope of his life’s work is shared globally on his website.  It includes his autobiography and suggested epitaph based upon his snake year birth (1917).  “In the Chinese tradition a teacher born in the year of the snake is naturally gifted to learn from mistakes….When I die please put on my epitaph that I have learned from my mistakes and truly enjoyed learning.”

That joy is celebrated by all beneficiaries of his scholarly service for a better world.