Frequently Asked Questions

Thanks! Citing, of course you may. All papers should contain their presentation location and preparation date on the cover page of the paper; if not just ask and I can tell you where it came from. As for quoting, that's a bit of a different story. If it's published, you are welcome to quote from it. Please do not quote from unpublished papers (including conference papers) without asking first. The more specific you can be about what you'd like to quote, the more comfortable I can be with maybe saying yes. Conference papers are works in progress on which I wanted feedback; they are generally not as polished as I'd like them to be before they are passed around for widespread public consumption and/or possible publishing, even in snippets.

I'm not on the market, no. Instead I'm launching a dissertation coaching service alongside doing some research and working on a second edition of my book. I'll be presenting new research at MPSA '17 for the first time in ages, and I'm working on getting a previously written pedagogy item out the door to a journal. I also blog twice a month over at Active Learning in Political Science, mostly about research methods and integrating methods instruction into ordinary classes. I'm keeping an eye open for adjuncting opportunities, though; I'd love to get back into the classroom.

Those are Lady and Max, our terribly (spoiled) rotten beagles. They're the worst guard dogs ever, but they'll lick you to death if you try to sit on the couch without 'paying the toll.' They're fully grown and a bit large for the breed, but they're our babies.

The tradition in my family for a couple generations now is to give a handmade blanket when someone you know well gets married or has a baby. They're very nice, and they don't really take as long to complete as people might imagine. Full-size afghans can be finished in 4-6 weeks (particularly during football season); baby blankets are usually about 2 weeks. If I know you personally and you fall into one of those categories (expecting a wedding or baby), I'll probably ask you about preferred colors at some point. If I don't, and you have a request ("NO PINK" or "our bedroom is cream and blue" or the like), please say something! It takes the burden off me of having to decide between the gazillion patterns I've got and then picking colors. It's not presuming at all, and it makes my life easier.

I grew up in Ambridge, PA, a small blue-collar former mill town about 20 minutes from downtown Pittsburgh. My childhood memories are full of my parents camped out on the couch on Sunday afternoons, Terrible Towels and snacks and beer in hand, screaming for all they were worth. (Sometimes I suspect they could hear my parents up at the stadium, 15 miles away.) My high school memories include two trips to Steelers playoff games with the marching band, where we played the halftime shows. (All right, I'll be honest, I didn't care much about football at that point and at least one of those games, I smuggled in a fiction book in my band bag to read during the game. Sacrilege, I know. The older and wiser me shudders at the memory.) I don't live in the Steelers media coverage area right now, which makes getting all the games a bit difficult without going to a sports bar or paying exorbitant amounts for special TV channels. I don't forsee transferring my loyalties every four years when we move. But one thing a large number of commentators have noticed is that wherever you go in the NFL, the Steelers always have a huge fan contingent in the stadium at away games. Any major city has at least one bar where Pittsburgh fans gather on Sundays. People from this area bleed black and gold, and that doesn't go away when you move. The Steelers are one of the very few positive and successful memories many 40somethings and 50somethings have of this area from when they were growing up. The mills were closing, there were no jobs, unemployment was rampant; life as we knew it here changed. During all that terrible time, what happens? The Steelers develop into a powerhouse team and win 4 Super Bowls in just a few years. It's created a powerful emotional attachment for them and even for us younguns, who don't remember those years of closing mills as well but still have very few positive memories of the city. Opportunities for young people (and, to be frank, for older ones as well) are still very limited outside of a very small number of fields and regions. Our parents, who are among the last to be able to get jobs in the area, actively encourage many of us to get jobs elsewhere since there is no future for us here. Wherever we go, though, the almost-mythical story of the Steelers and their relationship with a collapsing city stays with us.

Jay, as he prefers to be called, is my husband. One of the great things about marrying a computer geek is the in-house technical support and purchasing advice. One of the other great things, though, is the Christmas presents. How many other people do you know who get a gorgeous new web site for Christmas???? :-D