Good Newses. It is always a pleasure to share good news, and I’ll take the opportunity of sharing some in today’s Newsletter. Graduating senior political science major Rita Maricocchi has won a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship, and will be on her way to Saxony in Germany (specific location to be identified) for the coming year. Jack English, senior double major in political science and civil engineering, is deciding between offers of graduate admission to the University of California at San Diego (for civil engineering) and to the University of Texas at Austin (for a dual MA degree in civil engineering and public policy at the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs). Julian Morimoto, a minor in political science (and a major in mathematics) is completing a POSC Capstone with the direction of Professor Elliot Posner. Julian has been admitted to Columbia and Harvard Law Schools, and has accepted admission to Harvard. And our alumnus, Kevin Reuning, has accepted a tenure-track position in the Department of Political Science at Miami University.
These are just a few of the good newses (as my daughter, in her early childhood, used to say about more than one item of good news) to share in the Newsletter. We congratulate these students (and our former student and future colleague in the discipline) and their accomplishments. We have already announced some of these happy newses, and I will be more than pleased to announce others, as our students (and our alumni) alert me to them.
Bittersweet News. Our department assistant, Anna Conboy, has secured a fulltime position at Fairview Hospital, and we congratulate her on her new job and wish her well. At the same time, we regret that she will be leaving us. I note that I announced Anna’s hiring two years ago, almost to the day. We were happy to have her join us then; we celebrate her happy news; and we wish her all the best in her new endeavor, even as we will miss her. Please stop by the office (Mather House 111) to thank Anna for her excellent work for our department, and to wish her well. Anna’s last day is a week from today, April 20.
Study Abroad and Summer School
The Department of Political Science has long encouraged our students to study off campus, preferably in another country. A study abroad experience can add significantly to our understanding of politics, the workings of government, public policy innovations and success, political behavior, and many other issues and institutions, that inform our general political knowledge and insight and our appreciation (both positive and negative) of our own citizenship (whatever that may be). Most of the faculty in the Department travel outside of the US for research purposes, including field research, external consulting, and seminar participation, among other purposes. Professor White is in the Netherlands during his sabbatical this semester, traveling back and forth to Paris; Professor Tartakoff may be in Argentina even as I write. Next fall, Professor Posner will spend his sabbatical year in France. In sum, as faculty, we work internationally as well as nationally, and we encourage students to study abroad.
As students think about study abroad opportunities, I strongly encourage them to meet with their POSC academic advisor to select their courses. There are some excellent courses offered at international universities that are not available at CWRU, including courses in political theory, country-specific government and politics courses (e.g. British Government and Politics, The German Political System), and policy-specific comparative courses (e.g. Comparative Employment Policy, Gender Equity Policies). There are also “overlap” courses (e.g. The Politics of the European Union, Comparative Electoral Systems) which can be taken abroad but which we also offer here at CWRU.
Courses taken at another institution, including abroad or in summer school other than at CWRU, may be transferred as CWRU-equivalent course credit. However, any course taken outside of our own department must be approved by the POSC Department Chair in order to receive POSC course-equivalent credit. This process involves the student providing the title and number of the course, the name and title of the instructor, and the full course syllabus (with reading list and identification of means of evaluating student work, including exams and papers). These are required to ensure that courses taken off campus have the intellectual integrity that we require of coursework in POSC here at CWRU. Please note that some courses taken off campus may not actually be POSC courses, but rather are courses in a discipline other than POSC (e.g. interdisiplinary courses or history courses). Our Department can offer credit only for POSC courses — and we are pleased to do so where it is appropriate.
Please note that our department does not identify or verify the number of credits transferred from Study Abroad, but only the course content as proper political science coursework. Undergraduate Studies authorizes the number of credits transferred, and not every course authorized as a POSC300-level course will transfer with 3 full credits. Again, I strongly encourage students to discuss study abroad plans with their academic advisor in our department; our faculty are apprised of the need to be attentive to these issues.
Finally, I encourage you to reflect on the truth that not everything one does in life merits academic credit. Learning for learning’s sake is often sufficient — and powerful — intellectual reward. Summer courses and study abroad, even without course credit, may be intellectually satisfying, inspire capstone topics, and provide unanticipated insights. Excellent coursework undertaken off campus, with approval by the POSC department chair, is the only way to get CWRU POSC course-equivalent credit, but it is not the only way to learn.
With all best wishes,
Karen
Karen Beckwith
Flora Stone Mather Professor
Chair, Department of Political Science
“Of all the joint ventures in which we might engage, the most productive, in my view, is educational exchange. I have always had great difficulty – since the initiation of the Fulbright scholarships in 1946 – in trying to find the words that would persuasively explain that educational exchange is not merely one of those nice but marginal activities in which we engage in international affairs, but rather, from the standpoint of future world peace and order, probably the most important and potentially rewarding of our foreign-policy activities …”
– J William Fulbright, The Price of Empire, 1989
General Announcements
- Stay up to date with the department by following our Twitter feed! Check it for day to day opportunities and information!
- Like us on Facebook! Our department will be regularly posting events, opportunities, and general information to our page!
Friday Lunch: People and Property
April 20, 12:30-1:45p.m., KSL Room LL06 (lower level, opposite elevators)
With Peter Gerhart J.D., Professor and Dean Emeritus, School of Law.
Film Screening and Discussion: They Shall Not Perish: The Story of Near East Relief
April 13, 6:30-8:30p.m., TVUC Ballroom A
This documentary details the unprecedented humanitarian efforts of thousands of Americans who saved a generation of orphans and refugees during the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and in the aftermath of the crisis that came to be known as the Armenian Genocide. The screening will be followed by a panel discussion led by History Professor Kenneth Ledford and will include the film’s Executive Producer, Shant Mardirossian.
The Continuing Salience of the Terrorism Prosecution
April 16, 4:30-5:30p.m., Moot Courtroom
Wadie Said, Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina School of Law, explores the emergence of a “terrorist exceptionalism” to normal rules of criminal law and procedure and questions whether the government has overstated the threat posed by the individuals it charges with these crimes, resulting in continuing violations of basic constitutional protections for criminal defendants.
Food as Moral Discourse in Contemporary Rural China
April 16, 5:00-6:00p.m., Mather Memorial 201
The Department of Anthropology is excited to announce the fourth guest lecturer of the new annual Anthropology Lecture Series. This lecture will feature Ellen Oxfeld, Gordon Schuster Professor of Anthropology, Middlebury College.
CCMV Views & Brews: Fighting for the Future: School Safety, Gun Control, and the March for our Lives
April 16, 7:00-8:00p.m., Suzie’s Dogs & Drafts, Youngstown
Join the City Club of Cleveland for a conversation with community leaders on school safety, preventing future gun violence, and the #NeverAgain movement.
Campus Equal Rights Amendment Day
April 26, 5:30-7:30p.m.
The Flora Stone Mather Center for Women and the Social Justice Institute invite members of the campus community to participate in the second annual Campus ERA Day on April 26, 2018. Together with the ERA Coalition, we aim to spread awareness of and gain support for the revitalized push to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution.
A viewing party of the short film 50/50 will be held in the Center for Women, followed by a livestream Q&A with Carol Robles-Roman (CEO of the ERA Coalition), Carol Jenkins (founding president of The Women’s Media Center and chair of AMREF USA, an African health organization) and others. The intent of the panel is to foster a nationwide discussion on the need for an Equal Rights Amendment and gender equity.
International Conference on Conflict Resolution
May 22-25, CWRU Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences
The International Conference on Conflict Resolution Education (CRE) is an opportunity to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration and research. Presentations will focus on innovations in the field that are making broad impacts in local, state, national, and international communities.
Internship and Fellowship Opportunities
Defense Intelligence Agency 2019 Summer Internship
Gain experience in research, report writing, briefing, policy writing, and intelligence analysis with this 10-12-week internship program. Applications are due April 13.
Summer on the Cuyahoga
Summer on the Cuyahoga (SOTC) offers students both a wide range of internships that reflect the diversity of Northeast Ohio’s economy, and a unique social and immersion experience into our community. Land a great internship with a great company and enjoy free, centrally located housing
The Washington Center’s Academic Internship Program
This program provides the opportunity to complete an internship, attend evening courses, participate in the LEAD Colloquium, and build a professional portfolio.
OCCDF Public Service Fellowship
The Ohio Conference of Community Development is now taking applications for three scholarships of $2,000 for students preparing to work in public service. Applications are due April 13.
Cleveland Neighborhood Progress
A number of career opportunities are currently available with Cleveland Neighborhood Progress.
Civil Conflict Management and Peace Science
June 6-July 27, University of North Texas
The Department of Political Science at the University of North Texas has initiated a unique program to provide undergraduate students recruited from across the country the opportunity to engage in graduate-level research in conflict management and peace science in a senior faculty-mentored, in-residence, eight-week, Summer Research Experience (SRE) that integrates training in civil conflict management with training in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and training in research ethics.
Public Service Weekend
June 7-10, University of Colorado Denver
Apply to attend this exciting weekend conference hosted by the University of Colorado Denver’s School of Public Affairs. Attendees will learn and network with prominent local, state and federal officials on how to prepare for and what to expect from a career in public service.
- Check out Professor Jonathan Entin’s latest article, “Bobbleheads and other free swag star in baseball tax dispute.”
- Celebrate Holi, the Festival of Colors on April 7 at Frieberger Field.