Apr 3, 2012
MPSA 2012
Soomo is getting ready to head to Chicago for the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference April 13 – 15. If you’re going too, stop by booth #201 to pick up our fall catalog and get all your course questions answered by Maureen and Susan.
Hourly Giveaways!
This year Soomo will be holding drawings every hour to give away gift certificates for local restaurants, bars, stores, and cab service. Send us an email to enter your name in Thursday’s first drawing for a Palmer House gift certificate that can be used anywhere in the hotel. Stop by our booth to enter your name for the other drawings.
Handy Links
Check out this list of conference info and links for some of our favorite things to do in Chicago.
Read MoreMar 26, 2012
SCOTUS Considers Constitutionality of Health Care Law
No doubt you’ve heard that the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments this week about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The three days of hearings will focus on four separate issues that are nicely explained by C-SPAN on their new Supreme Court Oral Arguments on Health Care site devoted to coverage of these arguments. Surely there’s something here to share with students and get them prepped for some discussion. Here’s the schedule:
Mar 26, 2012
User Tip: Help! How Do I Find the Course I’m Using Now?
Don’t panic if you sign in and can’t see the course for your current class. It’s still there! I shared this tip at the end of the last semester, but think it’s a good idea to post again as professors are setting up their upcoming courses for either summer or fall. To switch between active courses, just click on “Courses” in the upper-left of the screen. An asterisk denotes which course you are currently viewing. Just select the current semester’s class, and you’ll be able to view the course you’re using with students now.
Do you have other questions about how to use or customize one of our courses? Contact the PoliSci Desk for more information. You’ll get an answer sooner than you think!
Read MoreMar 21, 2012
Cool Infographic: Change in Global Age Demographics
I recently came across this amazing set of infographics from Rand that illustrates four global population trends through 2050. The infographic contains interactive maps that show projected changes in working age populations, elderly dependency rates, youth dependency rates, and the rise in oldest old global populations. Hovering over individual countries reveals specific country data, so they’re easy to compare. The maps look super for teaching policy or comparative politics. What do you think? How can these maps be used for teaching?
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Mar 20, 2012
What People Are Saying about Central Ideas in American Government
Since many of you may still be considering which text you want to use this fall for your American Government classes, we want to let you know what professors and students are saying about our webtext, Central Ideas in American Government.
Below are listed just a few peer review and student survey comments from last fall. If you would like more survey data, just drop us a line.
Peer Review Feedback
• “My students do best when they are engaged. So this would surely work better for them than a basic book. They can get desired engagement and feedback as they absorb the chapter’s materials.” - Christopher Whitt, Augustana College
Read MoreMar 19, 2012
Cool Budget Infographic
Last week, I discovered this cool rollover infographic from The New York Times that illustrates President Obama’s 2013 budget proposal. The graphic uses bubble size to display the amount of money certain items receive while also organizing by color to indicate whether allocated funds increase or decrease for those line items. Hovering over a bubble displays additional information such as department and whether the spending is mandatory or discretionary. It’s very helpful for understanding exactly how $3.7 trillion dollars gets spent.
Tell us, what are your favorite budget tools to teach with?
Read MoreMar 16, 2012
Americans Governing with Textbook Media E-text
Soomo Publishing recently signed a distribution agreement withTextbook Media to distribute the e-text of American Government: Your Voice, Your Future 4e by Matthew Kerbel. The e-text is available with Americans Governing, our collection of online homework assignments. Students can easily access the e-text in the sidebar of each chapter of assignments. Americans Governing with the Kerbel e-text is only $50 for students and print options are available.
Check out the test drive to see how it works. If you’re interested in using this combo, click here to register as a new instructor and set up your free instructor account or email Maureen at the PoliSci desk and she’ll do it for you!
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Mar 16, 2012
New Americans Governing Correlation!
Last year we found out that Flat World Knowledge released its first political science title, American Government and Politics in the Information Age by Paletz, Owen, and Cook. We thought the free e-text would be even better with our Americans Governing assignments, so we created a brand new correlation. Students using it will find an easy link to the Flat World text in the side bar of each chapter.
Check out our test drive to see how it works. Students pay just $25 for both the assignments and the e-text. If they want a PDF or ePub version of the text, it’s an additional $29.95, and a print version is available for $34.95.
If you’re interested in using our new correlation, click here to register as a new instructor and set up your free instructor account or email Maureen at the PoliSci desk for more information!
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Mar 15, 2012
ISA’s Annual Convention 2012
It’s time again for the ISA conference! The International Studies Association’s Annual Convention will be April 1-4 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront in San Diego, CA.
Susan and Maureen will be hanging out in booth 502 and Zara will be attending conference panels, round tables, and discussions. The crew also put together a list of handy links for the conference and for the San Diego area.
We are all excited to catch up with you in person, so stop by the booth and say hi. And if you like to tweet, let everyone know about all the great things you are hearing and learning while at ISA 2012 by using the hashtag #ISA2012!
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Mar 6, 2012
Til We Have Suffrage
Just in time for Women’s History Month, Soomo is pleased to announce the release of our new parody music video, Bad Romance: Women’s Suffrage. The new video features Alice Paul engaging in the “militant” tactics of the latter years of suffrage movement and the dramatic ratification of the 19th Amendment. The video has such rich content that we feature it in two new assignments for our Americans Governing collection:
- The first assignment,“Til We Have Suffrage: The Amendment,” uses the passage of the 19th Amendment as the context for better understanding the constitutional amendment process. My favorite part of this assignment is the link to the digital copy of the actual letter written by Harry Burns’ mother telling him to “vote for suffrage.”
- The second assignment, “TIl We Have Suffrage: The Movement” focuses on the strategies and tactics of the women’s suffrage movement including the 1848 Declaration of Sentiments, the Suffrage Parade of 1913, Silent Sentinels, and more. Links to archival New York Times articles are fascinating and provide a glimpse into the newsmakers of 1917.
The new assignments are automatically included in all new courses. If you’d like to add them to your existing course just contact the Polisci Desk. If you have ideas for additional assignments featuring this video, please leave a comment!
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