Sept. 27, 2010

Contact:
Leah Seupersad, 404-413-1354 
University Relations  

ATLANTA—Georgia State University’s Department of Political Science will begin a new faculty and student exchange program with the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom in spring 2011.

Peter Ling, an American Studies professor at the University of Nottingham, will be the first faculty member to visit GSU through the new program to further his research on Martin Luther King Jr. and the financing of the civil rights movement. He will arrive in Atlanta in the spring semester.

“This is the fourth active international agreement for the Department of Political Science. It represents an invaluable opportunity for our students and research faculty to partner with one of Europe's top universities, and it is further evidence of Georgia State University's commitment to internationalizing our programs and enhancing our visibility across the globe,” said William Downs, chair of the Department of Political Science.

The College of Arts and Sciences and the University of Nottingham signed a five-year agreement to send up to 10 students annually each way in the reciprocal exchange, including those at undergraduate and graduate levels, Downs said.

The agreement will also permit faculty members and researchers from each university to take advantage of short-term joint research, participation in teaching programs, and collaborative research and teaching activities that can be pursued more fully by the faculty member during an extended stay.

Participants in the program will be drawn from the Department of Political Science in the GSU College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Politics and International Relations as well as the School of American & Canadian Studies at the University of Nottingham.

The University of Nottingham is a world-class research and teaching university, Downs said. It is ranked in the UK top 10, the European top 30 and in the top one percent of all universities worldwide. The School of American and Canadian Studies at the University of Nottingham is the largest American Studies unit in the UK.

“This new global connection complements our existing strengths in European Union Studies as well as comparative political analysis,” Downs said.