A-State Student Attends Political, Social Research Program

JONESBORO – Houston Swan, a senior political science major at Arkansas State University, immersed himself in hands-on learning during the 2025 Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) Program in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Swan, a Crossett native, completed two courses and attended multiple lectures during the program, which focuses on political and social science research, and has been held annually since 1962 at the University of Michigan.

ICPSR is typically designed for graduate students, doctoral candidates, and early-career faculty. Despite being an undergraduate participant, Swan said he felt well-prepared for the program's rigorous requirements.

"Because of the guidance and instruction from my professors here at A-State, I was more than prepared for the difficulty,” Swan said.

Swan completed coursework in regression analysis, as well as time-series, panel and longitudinal data analysis. He also attended lectures on Python, LaTeX, R, matrix algebra, calculus and probability.

The senior said his regression analysis course was especially valuable.

“I’ve already begun to apply the concepts and methods I learned during the program to my studies here at A-State,” Swan said. “The greatest takeaway was the firsthand experience of a graduate-level program. The content and structure of the courses were quite different from what I was used to as an undergraduate.”

Dr. Cameron Wimpy, department chair and associate professor of political science, calls ICPSR a perfect fit for the college senior.

“This was an amazing opportunity for Houston, as it exposed him to world-class graduate-level training and students from leading doctoral programs in our field,” said Wimpy. “He will be much more prepared for advanced graduate studies after taking advantage of this opportunity.”

Swan’s attendance at ICPSR was sponsored by the Department of Government, Law and Policy, and Academic Affairs and Research.

“This was a somewhat unique situation in which we were able to use department, college and provost’s office funds to make this opportunity possible,” Wimpy said. “Houston was awarded a prestigious fellowship that went unfunded due to changes at the National Science Foundation.”

Although one of the youngest participants in the program, Swan said he found it easy to connect with fellow attendees.

“The other students were friendly and curious about how I ended up at ICPSR as an undergraduate,” Swan said. “It was a great icebreaker.”

Swan said the experience helped solidify his career goals.

“ICPSR allowed me to learn what life is like for a Ph.D. student,” he said. “I became very close to my peers in the program, and they have become mentors and role models as I continue to pursue my goal of obtaining a Ph.D. in political science.”