The Future of the IR Rumor Mill

Since there is a (temporary) lull in the job market postings and Fall 2007 jobs are beginning to be posted on APSAnet, this seems to be a useful time to solicit feedback on a number of issues regarding the future of the IR Rumor Mill.

The first question regards the utility of job announcements. Since most of the data comes from APSAnet in any case (and since most readers presumably have access either through their accounts or through a colleague's account), one question is whether it would be useful to continue individual posts as jobs come out. Since no one has complained since this practice was stopped in February, presumably this was not the most useful or popular feature. Additionally, although listings that expire cannot be searched for, direct links still work. Would a table of links and expiration dates still be useful?

The second question regards the scope of the blog. Originally this was set up as an IR-only blog. Given the large overlap between IR and comparative in job listings (somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3), it may make a good deal of sense to do both. (This, of course, requires additional work). Additionally, the American and Comparative blog seems to have done a good job of performing this function. Thoughts by readers of both would be appreciated.

The third question regards limitations on information posted. Unlike rumor mills in the physical sciences, this mill (and the other related political science ones) feature generally unmoderated, anonymous postings. The benefit is that information can spread quickly. The downside, of course, is that information that is outside of the remit of these blogs is posted without fear of being identified. While community policing seems to have worked fairly well here (and not so well in other cases), it is unclear where the boundaries should be set. We have had a policy of only deleting comments as requested by people discussed in those comments and guiding by exhortation rather than by fiat. Does this policy need to change, regarding either the types of information requested or the deletion policy?

Market Rumors: Summary Information

Readers will note that the expanding summary table still contains many gaps. We'd like the information presented here to be as complete as possible, even if that involves details about interviews after the fact. We've already had one academic contact us about using the data for an analysis of interview and hiring patterns in the discipline. We think this is an intriguing idea, but that kind of thing will only be possible if the Rumor Mill's information is both accurate and comprehensive.

Institution	Job	Status	Candidates	Accuracy	Denoument
American University (SIS)	Comparative	First-Round Interviews		Confirmed
American University (SIS)	Comparative	First-Round Interviews		Confirmed
American University (SIS)	Foreign Policy	First-Round Interviews		Likely
University of Arkansas	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Unconfirmed
Barnard College	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Confirmed	Likely Offer
Boston University	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	B. Atzili	Confirmed	Unconfirmed Hire or Hires
Brandeis	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Possible
Brown	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	M. Kroenig P. MacDonald Two Unknown Candidates	Confirmed	One Offer Rejected; Search Either Aborted or Postponed (Likely)
Bucknell	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Unconfirmed	Unconfirmed Offer
University of California, Riverside	Ethnic Politics	First-Round Interviews		Unconfirmed	Unconfirmed Offer
University of California, San Diego	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	J. von Stein E. Gartzke Baum	Possible	Offer to E. Gartzke
University of California, Santa Cruz	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Unconfirmed
Calvin College	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	J. Westra	Confirmed	J. Westra
Catholic University	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	J. Westra	Unconfirmed
University of Central Florida	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Unconfirmed
University of Chicago	Harris School (Senior International Relations)	First-Round Interviews	J. Pevehouse S. Brooks	Confirmed
University of Chicago	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	S. Brooks J. von Stein	Confirmed
Claremont McKenna	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	J. Grygiel D. Shulman J. Taw J. Westra	Confirmed	Unconfirmed Offer
University of Colorado, Boulder	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	T. Chapman	Unconfirmed	Possible Offers on All Positions; Likely Rejections; New Round of Interviews
Columbia University	IPE	First-Round Interviews	J. Gray J. Park	Unconfirmed
Columbia University	IR	First-Round Interviews	J. Von Stein	Confirmed	Offer to J. Von Stein
Concordia University	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	B. Mendelsohn	Confirmed	Likely Offer
University of Connecticut	US Foreign Policy	First-Round Interviews	S. Dyson M. Fanis D. Foster	Confirmed	S. Dyson
Cornell	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	M. Horowitz M. Kroenig	Confirmed	Both Candidates Declined Offers
University of Dayton	International Relations/Global Governance	First-Round Interviews		Unconfirmed
University of Deleware	International Relations/Global Governance	First-Round Interviews		Confirmed
Denison	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Likely	Likely Hire
DePauw	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Confirmed	Likely Hire
Dickinson College	International Relations (Middle East)	First-Round Interviews		Likely	Unconfirmed Offer
Duke	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	D. Leblang B. Walter R. Phare	Likely
East Carolina	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	C. Thyne	Unconfirmed	Unconfirmed Offer, Additional Interviews
Elizabethtown	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Likely	Possible Hire
Franklin and Marshall	International Relations/CP	First-Round Interviews		Likely	Likely Hire
Georgetown University	Security Studies Program (Junior)	First-Round Interviews	V. Felbab-Brown M. Horowitz S. Jones K. Kagan	Confirmed	V. Felbab-Brown
Georgetown University	Security Studies Program (Senior)	First-Round Interviews	Colin Kahl David Kang Barbara Walter	Confirmed	C. Kahl
Georgetown University	International Relations (Goverment)	First-Round Interviews	M. Kroenig S. Goddard V. Hui	Confirmed	M. Kroenig
George Washington University	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	M. Horowitz V. Hui M. Kroenig E. Saunders	Confirmed	E. Saunders
Georgia State	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Likely	Possible Hire
Hamilton	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	P. Vasquez	Possible
Harvard University	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	M. Bas T. Chapman K. Cunningham E. Saunders	Unconfirmed	Confirmed Offer
Haverford	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Possible	Process Continuing (Unconfirmed)
Hobart and William Smith	International Relations/Comparative Politics	First-Round Interviews	K. Hamayotsu T. Pachirat G. Seri S. Yadav V. Yadav G. Whitehall	Unconfirmed	S. Yadav and V. Yadav
Hofstra	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Confirmed	P. Fritz
Holy Cross	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Unconfirmed
Hope College	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	H. Jo P. Vasquez O. Armenau	Possible
Illinois State	International Relations/Foreign Policy	First-Round Interviews		Unconfirmed
James Madison University	Middle East	First-Round Interview	S. Yadav	Unconfirmed
Kansas State University	International Relations	First-Round Interview		Confirmed	Andrew Long
University of Kentucky	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Confirmed	C. Thyne
Lewis and Clark	China (Political Science)	First-Round Interviews		Possible
Lewis and Clark	International Organization	First-Round Interviews		Possible
Louisiana State University	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Unconfirmed	Possible Offer
Marietta	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Possible
Marquette	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Likely	Likely Offer
Marshall	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Likely	Likely Hire
University of Maryland	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	M. Bas T. Chapman	Likely	Offer to E. Gartzke
University of Massachusetts at Amherst	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Likely
MIT	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	M. Horowtiz B. Mendelsohn E. Saunders	Confirmed	Confirmed Offer; Offer Rejected; Status Unknown
McGill	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	T. Chapman P. Cottrell H. Jo V. Pouliot N. Simonelli	Likely	V. Pouliot
University of Miami	IR (Political Science)	First-Round Interviews		Unconfirmed
University of Miami	IR (International Studies)	First-Round Interviews		Likely	Narrowed to American Politics, Likely Offer
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor	IR	First-Round Interviews	A. Stam E. Bueno de Mesquita R. Dancygier G. Tsibelis (C) V. Yadav (C)	Confirmed (May be partial)
Michigan State University	"Muslim World"	First-Round Interviews	M. Gurses	Possible
Michigan State University	International Political Economy	First-Round Interviews	R. Packer M. Axelrod	Confirmed	M. Axelrod
Middlebury	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	R. Brown A. Yuen J. Castillo	Likely Hire
University of Missouri	International Relations (Political Science)	First-Round Interviews	M. Finley C. Thyne A. Yuen	Likely	Likely Hire
Naval Post-Graduate School	China, International Relations	First-Round Interviews	A. Kennedy	Likely
New School	International Affairs	First-Round Interviews	A. Onoma A. Lawrence R. Hayes T. Pachirat	Unconfirmed
Northwestern	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	B. Atzili J. Caverley	Confirmed	J. Caverley
Ohio State University	International Relations (Senior)	First-Round Interviews	B. Braumoeller E. Gartzek J. Pevehouse F. Adamson S. Prozorov	Some Confirmed, Some Likely	Possible Offer for One Position
Ohio University	International Relations (Senior)	First-Round Interviews	J. Westra J. Acuff	Confirmed
University of Oklahoma	International Relations/Area Studies	First-Round Interviews	S. Yadav	Possible
Oklahoma State	International Relations/Area Studies	First-Round Interviews		Possible
Oxford	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	M. Hallerberg	Likely
University of Pennsylvania	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	J.L. Broz T. Chapman M. Horowitz S. Pandya J. Pevehouse J. von Stein	Confirmed	M. Horowitz; Offer Outstanding to J. von Stein; One Senior-Level Offer Likely
University of Pittsburgh	Formal Theory	First-Round Interviews	T. Chapman	Likely
Princeton University	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	M. Horowitz J. Shapiro	Confirmed	Confirmed Offer
Purdue	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Confirmed	Likely Offer
Purdue Calumet	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Confirmed
University of Rhode Island	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	M. Hutchison P. Vasquez K. Young	Likely	M. Hutchison and Likely Comparative Hire
Ripon College	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Likely	Likely Hire
University of Rochester	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	T. Chapman H. Ho	Likely	process likely complete; status unknown
Saginaw Valley State University	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Likely	Unconfirmed Hire
San Fransisco State University	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	P. Howard A. Skonieczny	Confirmed	A. Skonieczny
Set Hall	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Confirmed
Swathmore	International Political Economy	First-Round Interviews		Possible	Canceled or Postponed Until 2007-2008 (Likely)
University of Texas at Austin	International Relations (Political Science)	First-Round Interviews	T. Chapman A. Kennedy M. Horowitz H. Jo	Possible	T. Chapman
University of Texas at Austin	International Relations (LBJ)	First-Round Interviews
Texas A&M	International Relations (Political Science)	First-Round Interviews	C. Thyne M. Bas V. Krustev H. Jo	Confirmed	Offer to E. Gartzke, possible other offers
Texas A&M (Bush School)	International Relations (Political Science)	First-Round Interviews		Confirmed	J. Castillo
University of Toronto	International Relations (Political Science)	First-Round Interviews	S. Autesserre A. Gheciu J. Hymans W. Wong	Possible
Tufts	International Relations (Political Science)	First-Round Interviews	K. Greenhill	Confirmed	K. Greenhill
Tulane	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	V. Hui B. Mendelsohn C. Thyne	Possible	Possible Offer
Vassar	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	H. Jo K. Young	Confirmed	Z. Mampilly
University of Virginia	International Relations	First-Round Interviews	J. Gray S. Pandya B. Walter	Confirmed	S. Pandya
University of Vermont	International Relations	Canceled (Administrative Budget Decision)		Likely
Washington and Lee	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Likely	Offer
Washington State	International Relations/Comparative Politics	First-Round Interviews		Likely	Likely Hire
William and Mary	Middle East	First-Round Interviews	D. Shulman G. Tezkur S. Yadav	Likely	D. Shulman
University of Wisconsin, Green Bay	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Likely	Possible Hire
Yale University	One of their initiatives or another	First-Round Interviews	J. Gray S. Radnitz J. Rubenstein	Likely
Yeshiva University	International Relations	First-Round Interviews		Confirmed	Confirmed Hire

• Our ability to assess rumors in the absence of documentation -- e.g., forwarded departmental emails, information from members of commmittees, or websites with lists of candidates -- is fairly limited. Such information will causes us to rate a rumor as "confirmed." Second-hand collaboration we consider to be reliable will be coded as "likely." Evidence based on commentators who vouch for the basis of their rumors will be treated as "possible." All other information will be designated as "unconfirmed." • The "Accuracy of Information" heading doesn't distinguish between the status of the search in question and the names of candidates. In the absence of named candidates, this assessment refers to the status of the search. In the presence of named candidates, it refers to the candidate list. • If a name appears in the "denouement" column,then this information refers to a confirmed hire. We do not post the names of candidates who have "merely" received offers. • Individuals may, at their discretion, contact us directly via email -- ir rumor mill at gmail dot com -- with rumors, denials, or confirmations of information. We promise to respect the privacy of all correspondents. • This is not an official list. Do not take any information found on the IR Rumor Mill as accurate. Caveat emptor. Hic sunt dracones. We assume no responsibility for the use or misuse of information found on the IR Rumor Mill.

Continue posting and discussing rumors.