IAPSS World Congress in Paris: A Congress to Remember

Some 240 students from 51 countries attended the annual IAPSS World Congress of Political Science, held in Paris, France from April 24 to 28, 2018. The theme of this year’s edition was “Diversity and Globalization.”

On April 25, the traditional IPSA Lecture Series was delivered by Ilter Turan, President of IPSA, and Stephen Sawyer, Director of the Center for Critical Democracy Studies at the American University in Paris and Associate Editor of IPSA’s International Political Science Abstracts. More than 100 students attended the session and took part in a discussion on both lectures, titled (respectively) “Accommodating Diversity: Democracy and Its Problems” and “Contradictions of Democratic Thought and its Contemporary Relevance.”

In addition to the IPSA Lecture Series, the program of the Congress included a Keynote by Francoise Nicolas, lectures by Nonna Mayer and Mauro Calise, a high-level panel with the Dutch and Swedish Ambassadors, a book presentation by Ana Magdalena Figueroa and Issau Agostinho, and 22 student panels.

On the last day, the General Assembly elected a new Executive Committee for 2018-2019, which is to be led by re-elected President Kateryna Dyshkantyuk.

Originally planned to be hosted by Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, the World Congress had to be relocated at the last minute in the American Cathedral in Paris due to the current political environment in Paris.

The Chair of the World Congress, Eren Demirbaş, said: ”The IAPSS World Congress will be a congress to remember not only because of the logistical challenges, but also thanks to the academic discussions, a large number of paper presentations and new ideas.”

IAPSS currently welcomes offers from universities with an interest in hosting an academic student conference in 2019 and 2020. Please email the newly elected Chair of IAPSS World Congress 2019, Enrique Romeo worldcongress@iapss.org