Opportunities and Announcements
for the Week of March 4, 2019
As we move this week from February to March, we also move from Black History Month (February) to Women’s History Month (March). First celebrated in 1926, Black History Month was recognized by President Gerald Ford in 1976, and since then, schools and universities (and other institutions) have celebrated the accomplishments of African Americans in the birth month of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. As President Obama remarked in 2016, “Black History Month shouldn’t be treated as though it is somehow separate from our collective American history…. It’s about the lived, shared experience of all African Americans, high and low, famous and obscure, and how those experiences have shaped and challenged and ultimately strengthened America. It’s about taking an unvarnished look at the past so we can create a better future. It’s a reminder of where we as a country have been so that we know where we need to go.”
Women’s History Month has been officially recognized in the US, by congressional legislation, since 1987, although celebration of International Women’s Day has a longer historical trajectory. First proposed by the American Socialist Party in 1909, International Women’s Day has been celebrated worldwide; the United Nations recognized the day in 1975, with its first World Conference on Women, in Mexico City. The UN marks International Women’s Day as “a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.” The 2019 International Women’s Day theme is Think equal, build smart, innovate for change.
As the official celebration of Black History Month concludes and official commemoration of Women’s History Month begins, we can recognize, as political scientists, work and activism by Black women. Next month Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle square off in the general election for mayor of Chicago, one of whom will be the first woman of color to become Chicago’s mayor. Representatives Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX30) and Maxine Waters (D-CA43) chair the US House Science, Space, and Technology, and Financial Services committees, respectively. Stacey Abrams narrowly lost the Georgia governor’s race in 2018, but has founded Fair Fight Action. Twenty-two Black women were elected to the US House in 2018; two of those women represent Ohio: Marcia Fudge (D-OH11) and Joyce Beatty (D-OH3). With the defeat of Mia Love (R-UT4), there is no Republican Black woman in the House.
Finally, as we celebrate Black History Month and Women’s History Month with a focus Black women, it might be a good time to read Min Jin Lee’s article, which joins both: “In Praise of bell hooks,” with its “starter kit” of reading. It’s a good segue from Black History Month to Women’s History Month.
Cheers,
Karen
Karen Beckwith
Flora Stone Mather Professor and Chair
Department of Political Science
General Announcements
- Our alumnus, Isaiah Ahn ’18, invites student and practitioner manuscripts for submission for the Yale Journal of International Affairs (YJIA). The journal is seeking article, op-ed, and book review submissions.
YJIA is a graduate student-run journal that aims to publish the best student and practitioner writing on international affairs. YJIA engages with the richness of its subject matter by elevating distinct perspectives and diverse areas of expertise among its writers and its editorship. YJIA seeks to embody the values and vision of the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs with which it is affiliated, chiefly by presenting arguments that address the real world and policy implications of the issues it covers.
Recent contributors to the Yale Journal of International Affairs include: Francis Gavin, Robert Jervis, John M. Owen IV, Marc Trachtenberg, Stephen M. Walt, David Cohen, Alexander Evans, Janet Napolitano, Oona Hathaway, Stanley McChrystal, Tony Blair, Paul Collier, Joseph Stiglitz, John Negroponte, and Mary Kaldor, among others.
YJIA was established in 2004 by graduate students at Yale University’s MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies. Since 2011, YJIA has been proudly associated with Yale’s The Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.
Events
Career Meetups for Humanities Students
March 1, 12:30pm, Clark Hall, Room 206
March 29, 12:30pm, Clark Hall, Room 206
Humanities students will receive resume development support, navigation tips for the Handshake career management system, and other helpful guidance for the career planning process.
#MeToo On Campus: How Can Universities Best Support The Telling, Listening, & Reliving Of Student Trauma Narratives?
March 1, 12:30-2pm, TVUC Senior Classroom
The next Diversity 360 Lunch and Learn session will feature a discussion and presentation with Danielle Bernat Sabo, advocate for gender violence prevention and response with Case Western Reserve University’s Flora Stone Mather Center for Women.
Cleveland Kurentovanje
March 2, 9am-6pm, Slovenian National Home
This festival celebrates the end of winter and beginning of spring with a 5k race, parade, musical and cultural performances, and food. The festival is free and open to the public.
Faculty Work-in-Progress – American Muslim Students during the Cold War
March 5, 12-1pm Clark Hall Room 206
In this lecture, Justine Howe, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, explores how the Muslim Students’ Association shaped U.S. religious politics as its members navigated the challenges and opportunities of Cold War America. An informal lunch will be served. Event is free, registration is required.
What Russia Wants (and What It Means for America)
Conversation: March 5, 3-4pm, Clark Hall, Room 206
Lecture: March 5, 6pm, Maltz Performing Arts Center
Students have the opportunity to participate in a conversation with journalist Julia Ioffe–RSVP here. She will be giving a free lecture as part of the Think Forum series–reserve your tickets here.
Public Policy Forum: The Immigration Acts of 1921 and 1924 and How They Changed Cleveland Forever
March 5, 7-8:30pm, TVUC
This event will also discuss Immigration in Cleveland in 2019.
Happy Dog Takes on the World: The Future of Energy Kingdoms: Oil, Politics, and the Persian Gulf
March 5, 7:30-8:45pm, The Happy Dog
WCPN’s Tony Ganzar will talk with Jim Krane, author of Energy Kingdoms: Oil and Political Survival in the Persian Gulf, about the history of oil’s influence on governance in the Persian Gulf and the region’s current energy conundrum.
Currency Chaos – A Survival Guide
March 7, 8:30am, KeyBank Campus
Join IBN for for this breakfast event that explores how trends in exchange rates and tariff battles impact on our relative competitiveness, and other current dynamics in international trade.
Friday Lunch: Victims, Perpetrators, and the Problems of Domestic Violence
March 8, 12:30-1:30pm, KSL Dampeer Room
Even people who think there should be limits on the idea that “the personal is political” must see a role for public policy to reduce “intimate partner violence.” Join us as Professor Laura Voith considers what her and other research tells us about the prospects for policies that could reduce the horrific toll of domestic violence.
Celebrating International Women’s Day!
March 8, 6-9pm, Ariel International Center
Join IPM for an evening of cultural celebration to benefit IPM’s life-changing work across borders of culture, faith, & economic circumstance with children, women, and youth to nurture justice, peace, & hope in our world. Student tickets are $20.
Check out our Political Science Events page for additional events happening on and around campus!
Summer Opportunities
Congressman Anthony Gonzalez
Applications are currently being accepted for summer internships with Congressman Gonzalez from OH-16.
International Climate Change Internship
Learning Streams International is hiring juniors and seniors for a 4-week internship to serve as undergraduate mentors to Pakistani and American high school students. The deadline to apply is March 6, 2019.
Center for American Progress Action Fund Internships
American Progress aims to inspire, train, and educate the next generation of progressive Americans. Several full- and part-time internships each summer and academic semester. Summer 2019 applications are due April 5, 2019.
2019 Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research Summer Program
The ICPSR Summer Program offers rigorous, hands-on training in statistics, quantitative methods, and data analysis for students, faculty, and researchers of all skill levels and backgrounds. More than 80 courses in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and 8 other cities across the US, Canada, and Europe. ICPSR offers four-week sessions, as well as short workshops. Scholarships, as well as expanded Diversity Scholarships are available. All scholarships are due on March 31, 2019.
Previously posted opportunities can be found on the department webpage. Please make sure to check regularly as to not miss approaching deadlines!
Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteer in Refugee Financial Literacy Classes
March 16, 23, 30, 9:30am-2pm
Volunteer to teach refugees basic finances. Volunteers are also needed who speak Swahili, Nepali, Arabic, Kurdish, Ukrainian, or Pashto to act as interpreters/translators.
Research Opportunities
All Politics is Local Conference
April 27, 8:30am-4:30pm, Walsh University
Undergraduate students interested in politics, international relations, political economy, or other subjects with political overtones are invited to present a paper or poster at the All Politics is Local Conference–but students do not have to present a paper or poster to attend. Registration for those presenting papers is due by April 8, 2019. We encourage registration as soon as possible so that we can begin forming panels. Papers are due by April 19.
Lodging is provided the night before, April 26, for students who are presenting their research and who need it. There will also be sessions for students on “What to Expect in Graduate School” and “What to Expect in Law School.”
Funding Opportunities
Benjamin A Gilman International Scholarship
This scholarship allows students to study or intern abroad during Summer 2019. Applications are due March 5, 2019.
Tolerance Means Dialogue Essay
As part of each Dialogue, undergraduate and graduate students compete for two $750 Tolerance Scholarships by submitting a 500-word essay on what tolerance means to them. Essays can be submitted here. The deadline to submit is March 20, 2019.
Post-Graduate Opportunities
PULSE
PULSE cultivates a community of young servant leaders to transform Pittsburgh by inviting talented university graduates to partner with Pittsburgh nonprofits for a year of service and leadership. Applications are due March 3, 2019.
Please note that the Department of Political Science alerts our students to a range of opportunities, including internships, fellowships, and jobs. We do not endorse or sponsor these, and leave it to the judgment of our students what is most useful and appropriate to them.