Published March 10, 2015
Four University of Louisiana at Monroe political science majors presented research
papers at the Louisiana Political Science Association annual conference held in Lafayette.
Erin Abney of Alexandria, Adam Karaminis of West Monroe, Caleb Fenn of Monroe, and
Josh Dean of Dallas, Texas, spoke on topics ranging from stolen art to Bitcoin. Students
were accompanied by Dr. John W. Sutherlin, program coordinator for political science.
From left: Fenn, Dean, Sutherlin, Abney, and Karaminis
Abney said, “It was very exciting to work with Professor Sutherlin and then present
my research to a group of political scientists from the state.”
Sutherlin typically selects a very small number of students to present their work.
The presentations were the result of many months of research, editing, and preparation.
“The topics seem to be all over the place, but they were developed in an international
political economy class last year and reflect the inability of domestic governments
to manage external, non-traditional threats,” commented Sutherlin.
“This [conference] showed me that I could compete at a higher level and now I am thinking
about research in a different way,” Karaminis added.
Sutherlin is the holder of the Tom and Mayme Scott Professorship of Teaching Excellence.
He said that he sees his role in this position as one that takes the learning experience
beyond the classroom and allows the student to find their own potential.
“I never put boundaries on students, and I try to encourage them to think bigger than
where they are or where they are from,” he said.
