Welch writes a history of political science at UB

Claude Welch, SUNY Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus, has recently finished writing a history of the Department of Political Science. 

Welch’s 53 years at the university spanned, at the time of his 2017 retirement, the near entirety of the department’s existence. “PSC at UB: 1960-2020” is his personal perspective of that department which, from its inception, achieved national recognition built on the reputations of gifted scholars.

He writes from experience informed not only by his teaching and research, but further enriched through his administrative roles, including associate vice president for academic affairs; acting dean of the colleges; dean of the division of undergraduate studies; and as chair of the Faculty Senate, where he also chaired several of its committees.

“This involvement exposed me to a broader universe of choice and constraints than most of my fellow academics,” says Welch, an expert in African politics, human rights and democratization following authoritarian rule.

“PSC at UB” is a project that never sought a publisher but sprang instead from curiosity. Welch will print and distribute copies of the book himself.

“I wanted to reflect on what I contributed as a single faculty member over a long period of time to a changing university,” says Welch, who today lives in Newton, Mass., on the campus of Lasell University as a member of a continuing care residential community.

As residents, all community members must satisfy a specific number of credit hours each semester by participating in fitness activities, reading, taking classes, or in Welch’s case, researching and writing his book.

“I actually started writing 25 years ago, but during the pandemic, with daily activities disrupted, I finally had a chance to finish,” he says. “The book has basically been done since 2021.”

Welch came to UB in 1964 to accept a political science faculty position in a department created only one year prior to his arrival. Up until 1962, political science was contained in the combined history and government department, the seeds of which would grow into the self-standing Department of Political Science. 

The history and government department was comprised mostly of historians specializing in American and Western history. The department’s political scientists focused on what Welch calls orthodox subfields, such as American politics, comparative European politics, international politics and public administration.

A 1958 report by the Committee on Courses recommended a split of history and government. The committee concluded that political science wasn’t recognized at UB as a distinct field of study and that a serious coverage of courses required a separate department.

When the private University of Buffalo joined SUNY in 1962, the influx of resources shifted priorities and transformed the established model of history and government, where faculty faced heavy teaching demands with little time for detailed scholarly research, something perceived as a luxury, according to Welch.

“UB’s success is the result of good leadership from the top with vision that translated into effective day-to-day steps,” says Welch. “But Gov. Nelson Rockefeller was the guiding presence in greatly expanding and enhancing SUNY in the early 1960s.”

In lockstep with SUNY’s growth, the political science department developed with incredible speed. Research was elevated as a primary criterion for recruiting faculty; new doctoral programs were created; new facilities provided; and thousands of students were recruited. As its own department, political science grew to a maximum of 31 faculty members in just its first seven years.

“In the process, the department became one of the most efficient departments in the entire university in terms of scholarly output per faculty member and teaching ratios per faculty member,” says Welch, noting how all of these changes were occurring at a time of major national stress and campus unrest as the Vietnam War became an object of division between campus and community.

“Political science, like the university itself, has gone through dramatic changes,” says Welch. “This book is my insider, idiosyncratic history of that incredible story.

“I hope my multifaceted view makes the story that much more interesting.”

Having spent more than five decades at UB, having taught thousands of students and meeting countless colleagues, administrators and community leaders, how does he decide who gets a copy of the book? University Libraries is on Welch’s list, particularly University Archives, and the Library of Congress.

But who else?

“I’d rather not decide that until I find out the price of each copy,” he says.