Best place for post-Soviet politics?

[deutsch1997bw]

What are the best places to study post-Soviet (specifically Russian) politics? 

[waterloo715]

Depends what you want to study. "Russianists" in poli sci are spread out. But there are probably a number of others whose main focus on substantive issues (e.g. IPE, federalization, etc) apply to the region and thus use Russia/FSU as a case study, though are not Russia scholars per se. 

Places to study Russian/FSU politics are places that generally have strong area studies departments, for instance: https://www.carnegie.org/news/articles/russia-area-studies/ and http://iseees.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/u4/FINAL-ASEEES-assessment-report.pdf.

George Washington's political science department is also good in terms faculty who work on the region. 

This list is by no means comprehensive, but it should give you a good idea of some scholars working on Russia and the former Soviet Union: http://www.ponarseurasia.org/members 

[deutsch1997bw]

8 minutes ago, waterloo715 said:

Depends what you want to study. "Russianists" in poli sci are spread out. But there are probably a number of others whose main focus on substantive issues (e.g. IPE, federalization, etc) apply to the region and thus use Russia/FSU as a case study, though are not Russia scholars per se. 

Places to study Russian/FSU politics are places that generally have strong area studies departments, for instance: https://www.carnegie.org/news/articles/russia-area-studies/ and http://iseees.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/u4/FINAL-ASEEES-assessment-report.pdf.

George Washington's political science department is also good in terms faculty who work on the region. 

This list is by no means comprehensive, but it should give you a good idea of some scholars working on Russia and the former Soviet Union: http://www.ponarseurasia.org/members 

Thanks. I am strongly considering IU-Bloomington because they are well-known for area studies. I've thought about attending George Washington's program, but they are ranked #40, and I am look for top 10-30 programs.

[guest56436]

Wisconsin has always had a strong focus/placement record for Russian politics. Gehlbach and Herrera are good.

Honestly though, in CP it's more about overall program strength + training plus a couple of substantive POIs than raw numbers of scholars who work on X area.

Edited May 5, 2017 by Comparativist

[tkid86]

1 hour ago, deutsch1997bw said:

Thanks. I am strongly considering IU-Bloomington because they are well-known for area studies. I've thought about attending George Washington's program, but they are ranked #40, and I am look for top 10-30 programs.

From what I've heard, experienced, and observed, I will say that GWU is fairly well thought of and quite competitive, despite being ranked #40. From what I've heard and observed, the symbolic and cultural capital, including the networking potential there, makes it an odd case for a non-T30 school.

[deutsch1997bw]

Since 2012, they have placed students in TT positions at the University of Oregon, James Madison University, and the University of Toronto, among others. I would be very happy at any of those institutions. I am a big fan of Henry Hale's work on elite political behavior (i.e., patronal politics) in Eurasia, and would be happy to work with him. 

I think the one of the things that makes GWU's program #40 is that they have a lot of adjuncts.