Food For Thought

Dear Friends and Fellow Graduate Students,

As we all know, the main characteristic of political science and international relations graduate work  is the immense amount of reading that a student undertakes. Of course certain articles and books become an instant favorite and some just do not stick. Below is the list of sources that I have found helpful, funny, informative and above all enjoyable.

1) Rubenstein, Ariel. “10 Q&A: Experienced Advice for “Lost” Graduate Students in Economics,” The Journal of Economic Education 44, no. 3 (2013): 193-196          Now this is addressed to students studying economics however, it is still extremely relevant, super funny and just a joy to read through.

2) Sigelman, Lee. “Toward a Stupidity- Ugliness Theory of Democratic Electoral Debacles.” PS: Political Science and Politics 23, no. 1 (1990): 18-20          This one is just extremely absurd and funny and, it comes with a guarantee of loud laughter.

3) Anything by Gary King, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Ted Gurr, James Rosenau, Thomas Biersteker, Hayward Alker, John Odell, Colin Elman, James Caporaso, Patrick James, Ann Tickner, Andrew Linklater, Hidemi Suganami, Hedley Bull, E.H. Carr, Hans Morgenthau, Kenneth Waltz, Ariel Rubinstein, Robert Putnam … The list would go on for quite a bit and I will update frequently for the sake of comprehensiveness. However, the mentioned scholars are of epic intellectual proportions regardless of your IR tendencies. All of their works are eye opening and intellectually stimulating: so if you find yourself bored and not finding something to do remember J-STOR will cater to your every whim- unless the source is in an incredibly obscure or old journal. In sum, there are amazing academic works out there that are waiting to be read!

If there are any sources that you have enjoyed, please send it over as it will be greatly appreciated.