Visiting Professor Joins Political Science Department

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Joshua Mitchell

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Joshua Mitchell has served as a visiting assistant professor in the department of political science in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences since 2010 while simultaneously serving as an online adjunct instructor for Indiana State University. As of this fall, he will join the department as tenure-track faculty. 

“Dr. Mitchell has an impressive record for so early in his career,” said Margaret Reid, professor of political science and chair of the department. “He has presented papers at nearly a dozen conferences around the country and has many papers ready for submission to peer reviewed journals.”

Mitchell has taught a variety of graduate level classes, with an emphasis on public administration and research methods. His undergraduate instruction includes Federalism and Intergovernmental Relations, Introduction to Public Administration and Law in American Society. Mitchell is also interested in political geography and worked on a Geographic Information Systems project while conducting his doctoral research. Knowledge of GIS has become a highly sought-after skill that can bring new methods of study, research and application to many fields of study. 

“I’ve enjoyed being part of the University of Arkansas and the political science department,” said Mitchell. “Our students are intelligent and engaging, and the faculty are exploring some exciting areas that have formerly gone unexamined.”

Mitchell is a member of Midwest Political Science Association, the American Political Science Association and Sigma Alpha Lambda National Leadership and Honors Association. He has contributed to several articles for the Encyclopedia of Campaigns, Elections, and Electoral Behavior (2008), an online database that allows users to access hundreds of articles on a myriad of topics relating to politics and political science.     

Mitchell holds a bachelor of science in sociology (2002) and a master of public administration (2004) from Murray State University in Kentucky. Over the summer, he successfully defended his dissertation, “Foundations for Innovations: An Exploration of Policy Diffusion in US Cities and Counties,” earning a doctorate in political science from Southern Illinois University (2012).