Research Workshops

CSDP invites affiliated faculty and visiting scholars to organize small creative Research Workshops on topics related to democratic politics, broadly conceived. The rationale for Research Workshops is to promote a vibrant and innovative intellectual community at Princeton by supporting an interchange of ideas and intensive discussion of faculty research.

Research Workshops can take a variety of formats, including paper presentations, reading groups, or book manuscript conferences. They can be one-time-only meetings or a series of events. One-time-only workshops will normally run a half or full day. Workshop series meet several times per year.

To support Research Workshops, CSDP will provide:

• Organizational and logistical support in scheduling and advertising the event
• Coverage of travel and lodging expenses for up to two external participants per workshop or one external participant per semester (or summer) of workshop series
• Refreshments and working lunch or dinner

Research Workshops must be organized by a minimum of two Princeton faculty members or CSDP visiting scholars. At least two of the organizers have to be affiliated with CSDP.

Proposals for Research Workshops should be brief (no more than 2 pages) and include:

• A short description of the topic and proposed activities
• A list of faculty and student participants
• A commitment by at least 3 Princeton faculty members to attend the entire workshop (most meetings, for workshop series)
• A proposed workshop date (or dates) that fits the schedules of the workshop’s core audience

Please send your brief proposals to Daniel Rusnak [email protected] . 

Conferences

CSDP invites affiliated faculty to organize Conferences and small focused Mini-Conferences on topics related to democratic politics, broadly conceived. The rationale for Conferences and Mini-Conferences is to promote a vibrant and innovative research community at Princeton by supporting an interchange of ideas between Princeton faculty and scholars based elsewhere. 

The large Conference format is familiar to all, and may bring 10-15 outside participants to Princeton, with overall attendees numbering approximately 25-30. Mini-conferences will typically involve six or eight Princeton participants and four to six outside participants, meeting for one to two days at Princeton, to consider a highly focused topic.   The idea of Mini-Conferences is to get ten to twelve people – the right people – in the same room collaborating intensely on a matter of shared intellectual enthusiasm.  

Topics for Conferences should engage the interest of a sizeable proportion of the CSDP community. Topics for Mini-Conferences should be coherent and focused. Examples might include: the political economy of public education (not, Political Economy); Communication and Political Beliefs (not, Political Psychology); Fire-alarms and Congressional Oversight (not, Congress); Networks and Political Parties (not, Political Sociology).  

On the one hand, their tight focus and small size distinguishes a Mini-Conference from the typical Conference. On the other, the larger number of outside participants distinguishes a Mini-conference from a CSDP Research Workshop. Mini-conferences may employ any variant on the standard conference format that the organizers consider best for the topic. A Mini-conference will often be a one-time-only event. But, it might be envisioned as one in a series of linked Mini-conferences to be repeated over several years. CSDP will also consider partnering with another institution to support multiple Mini-conferences, alternating venues between Princeton and the partner institution.  CSDP Support To support Conferences and Mini-Conferences, CSDP will provide:

• Organizational and logistical support in scheduling the event
• Reimbursement of travel and lodging expenses for the outside participants
• Refreshments and working lunch (catered at the meeting location)
• Funding for one dinner for the Conference or Mini-conference participants. 

Conferences and Mini-conferences must be organized by a minimum of four Princeton faculty members or CSDP visiting scholars (in any combination). At least three of the organizers have to be affiliated with CSDP. Proposals for Conferences or Mini-Conferences should be brief (no more than 2 pages) and include:

• A short description of the topic and proposed activities
• A list of faculty and student participants from Princeton University and a list of outside invitees and alternates
• A commitment by at least three Princeton faculty members or CSDP Visiting Scholars to organize and attend the entire conference 
• A proposed conference date (or dates) that fits the schedules of the workshop’s core audience

Funding for Conferences and Mini-conferences is limited and subject to availability. Hence, ceteris paribus more economical proposals will likely have a competitive advantage over less economical ones.

Please send your proposal to Daniel Rusnak [email protected]. Selection of proposals for conferences and mini-conferences will begin in May of the prior academic year. We will continue to review proposals after that date but our funding is limited.

We are happy to work with you on putting together a compelling conference proposal.