AFRICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS EXPLORE POLITICAL SCIENCE CAREER THROUGH
BUNCHE SUMMER INSTITUTE AT U.VA. 

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., June 10 -- When top African-American
students have a world of options open to them, it's tough to persuade
them to pursue academic careers in political science, says Paula
McClain, chair of the University of Virginia's Woodrow Wilson
Department of Government and Foreign Affairs. 
	"Bright black students, when they think of grad school, tend
to think of professional programs, such as law school," McClain says.
"They're in for three years and then they're done.  They can get out
and make money.  They don't tend to think of political science as a
profession.  But this program is designed to show them that there are
careers other than law at which they can be successful and make a
living." 
	The American Political Science Association wants promising
African-American undergraduates to consider academic careers in
political science.  To that end, the organization sponsors the Ralph
Bunche Summer Institute, which was launched in 1986 by Southern
University, a traditionally black institution, and Louisiana State
University, a predominantly white institution, to acquaint a small
number of promising black students with the life of a professional
political scientist.  The institute moves from one university to
another every three years.  Before coming to U.Va. last year, it was
hosted by Emory University in Atlanta and co-sponsored by Spelman
College, Morehouse College and Georgia State University.
	Over the past decade, more than 200 students have attended the
institute, which honors Ralph Bunche, the first black American to earn
a doctorate in political science.  Students from the first group are
now completing their dissertations and entering the professorate. 
	The five-week institute, which runs from June 8 through July
10, will bring 15 rising college seniors, all political science majors
to Charlottesville from around the country. 
	The students will take two, three-credit, graduate-level
courses, one in research methods and analysis, and the second in race
and American politics.  Steven Finkel, a professor of government and
foreign affairs at U.Va., will teach the methods course, while McClain
will teach the course in politics.
	Political scientists from various colleges and universities
will round out the program. Among the speakers will be Jennifer
Hochschild, a professor of politics at Princeton University, who
recently wrote a book titled:  "Facing up to the American Dream:
Race, Class and the Soul of the Nation."  Also speaking will be
Distinguished Professor of Political Science Richard Payne, who
teaches international relations at Illinois State University;
Toni-Michelle Travis, associate professor at George Mason University,
who studies race and gender issues; Vincent Hutchings, an assistant
professor at the University of Michigan whose research focuses on race
and political representation, and Avon Drake, an associate professor
of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond,
who will discuss black political theory.
	The program will be filled out with cultural events at area
attractions and speakers on a range of related topics. 
	Students will be attending from a broad range of colleges and
universities, public and private, small and large, traditionally black
and racially mixed.  They include Mississippi Valley State University,
Lincoln University, South Carolina State University, the University of
Miami, Wellesley College, Providence College, the University of New
Mexico and the University of California at Los Angeles.
	Along with the American Political Science Association, this
summer's program is sponsored by the National Science Foundation and
U.Va.
###
June 9, 1997
	For more information, call Paula McClain, professor and chair
of the Woodrow Wilson Department of Government and Foreign Affairs,
(804) 924-3614; Steven Finkel, government professor and director of
the institute, (804) 924-6994; or April Hahn, assistant director,
(804) 924-3681.  Television reporters should call our TV News Office
at (804) 924-7550.