Abigail Stevenson
Douglas M. Brattebo, Ph.D., J.D., associate professor of political science and director of the James A. Garfield Center of the Study of the American Presidency at Hiram College recently published a co-edited volume titled “Leadership and Legacy: The Presidency of Barack Obama.” The volume was published earlier this year by SUNY Press as a part of their “SUNY Series on the Presidency: Contemporary Issues”.
Brattebo and three co-editors, Tom Lansford, Robert P. Watson, and Casey Maugh Funderburk, worked with scholars in their field to craft content for various chapters. Once the team had secured writing commitments, each author went to work on their topic. When the chapters were complete, the four co-editors read them over, marked technical corrections, and provided feedback. After a round of revisions, the manuscript was off to SUNY Press. There, other scholars with expertise in each area completed a “blind peer-review.” After a few more revisions, based in SUNY Press feedback, the volume was ready for publication.
“The opportunity to see the creativity, hard work, and expertise of so many scholars is always inspiring,” said Dr. Brattebo. “It is also fun, in writing one’s own chapter, to start with the seed of an idea, dig into the research, and see where the process leads. I will add that it was a satisfying feeling to arrive home one snowy night in early February, after a long workday, and find a box from SUNY Press with four copies of the book, hot off the press! A moment like that, after more than a year of work, must be relished.”
So what’s next for this political science professor outside of his classroom? Presently, he is writing a chapter on the 2020 U.S. Senate election in his home state of Iowa, where one-term incumbent Joni Ernst defeated challenger Theresa Greenfield to secure another six-year term. That chapter will be published in a volume, edited by three scholars, focusing on the 2020 U.S. House and Senate elections and the present national strategic positions of the two main political parties. Then, he will turn his attention to writing a full book of his own.
