P&G Graduation ceremony, May 2014

Congratulations Alumni!  Click the link below for more pictures of this year's graduation ceremony.

Graduation Photos, May 2014

Alums: Look back for fond memories! Don't forget us!
Current Students: Get excited for your turn!

University of Notre Dame Politics Science PHD Program

This letter is part of our Department’s effort to recruit your top students into our Ph.D. program.  If you have students who are planning to do graduate work in political science, I hope you advise them to give us serious consideration.

Our Department is an exciting place for faculty and graduate students alike.  We now have more than 45 tenure-track or tenured faculty. We enroll 10-12 new graduate students each year.  Consequently, our students receive the attention that young scholars need to succeed in the discipline nationally. Students and faculty collaborate on research projects and publish articles and book chapters as coauthors.  In recent years our students have published articles, both on their own and with faculty co-authors, in the American Political Science Review, World Politics, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, and Comparative Political Studies, as well as many other journals.

We can train a graduate student for virtually any approach—comparative methods, new institutionalism, political behavior, quantitative analysis, and normative theory—and we do so with a rare spirit of collegiality.  Our internationally respected scholars cover most thematic and geographic areas in political science.  One characteristic sign of the strength and breadth of our Department is that we have National Science Foundation principal investigators as well as National Endowment for the Humanities awardees.  For more about our work, we refer you to descriptions of each subfield available at our department webpage, http://politicalscience.nd.edu.

Notre Dame, a university with substantial resources, is committed to our Department’s excellence.  We guarantee full tuition and stipend fellowships to all Ph.D. students for five years and can often provide support beyond that.  Students also have opportunities to secure generous funding for collaborative research, yearly conference travel, preliminary field research, and specialized summer training. A number of on-campus institutes and centers (e.g. the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, the Nanovic Institute for European Studies, the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, and the Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy) provide further support and intellectual community (information on these programs is attached). Our students routinely win national research grants.  During the past few years, our students have won grants or fellowships from the SSHRC, Javits (U.S. Department of Education), Mellon/ACLS, U.S. Institute of Peace, Fulbright, National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation, Belfer Center at Harvard, the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, and the National Science Foundation. Recent graduates have been appointed to tenure-track or tenured positions at Michigan State,

Baylor, University of Arkansas, Miami of Ohio, Oxford, Wake Forest, Villanova, City University of New York, University of Texas-Austin, University of Evansville and other fine institutions.

We encourage you to access more information about our program on our web page, http://politicalscience.nd.edu/graduate-program.  We look forward to applications from your best students!

Meet the Super Pac Woman

Logger continues making good. Nice piece on Ali (Weise) Lapp '96
 

http://atr.rollcall.com/2014-house-races-super-pacs-ali-lapp/?dcz=

Come to the Study Abroad Fair at WSC Rotunda- Tue 9/23, 10a-2p

See what the Office of International Programs has to offer in the way of study abroad program offerings! What an incredible opportunity! See you there...

CFR Conference Call: Confronting the Ebola Outbreak - Wed 9/24, 8-9a in WY326

RSVP Requested (scroll down to the bottom)...

On behalf of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), I invite you  to participate in the next session of the Fall 2014 CFR Academic Conference Call series on Wednesday, September 24, from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM in WY 326. Laurie Garrett, CFR's senior fellow for global health, will discuss the Ebola epidemic in West Africa and the evolving global response.

Ms. Garrett's expertise includes global health systems, chronic and infectious diseases, and bioterrorism. She received the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the Ebola epidemic in Kikwit, Zaire in 1995. During that epidemic she resided in Kikwit and tracked cases from village-to-village. Details of her coverage can be found in "Betrayal of Trust," published in 2000 by Hyperion. Ms. Garrett is the only writer ever to have been awarded the three Big "Ps" of journalism: the Peabody, the Polk, and the Pulitzer. She is the best-selling author of "The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance" and "Betrayal of Trust: The Collapse of Global Public Health." Ms. Garrett has written for many publications, including the "Los Angeles Times," "Washington Post," and "Foreign Affairs," and has also appeared on national television programs, such as ABC's "Nightline," "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," and "The Charlie Rose Show."

As background for the discussion, you may wish to review the following materials:

1) Laurie Garrett, "Epic Failures Feeding Ebola Crisis," Interview with Danielle Renwick, CFR.org, September 18, 2014.

http://www.cfr.org/public-health-threats-and-pandemics/epic-failures-feeding-ebola-crisis/p33465?cid=emc-ACC-Interview-092414

2) Laurie Garrett, "Can the U.S. Army Degrade and Destroy Ebola?" Foreign Policy, September 16, 2014.

http://www.cfr.org/public-health-threats-and-pandemics/can-us-army-degrade-destroy-ebola/p33456?cid=emc-ACC-pandemic-092414

3) Laurie Garrett, "We Could Have Stopped This," Foreign Policy, September 16, 2014.

http://www.cfr.org/public-health-threats-and-pandemics/we-could-have-stopped/p33398?cid=emc-ACC-we_could_have_stopped_this-092414

4) "White House Fact Sheet: U.S. Response to the Ebola Epidemic in West Africa," White House, September 16, 2014.

http://www.cfr.org/public-health-threats-and-pandemics/white-house-fact-sheet-us-response-ebola-epidemic-west-africa/p33440#?cid=emc-ACC-white_house_fact_sheet-092414

5) "World Health Organization: Ebola Response Roadmap," World Health Organization, August 28, 2014.

http://www.cfr.org/public-health-threats-and-pandemics/world-health-organization-ebola-response-roadmap/p33459?cid=emc-ACC-who_ebola-092414

Due to the unusual time of this call (8:00 AM), please let me know ASAP if you would like to attend.

Hope to see you there...

Seth Weinberger

Associate Professor

Department of Politics & Government

University of Puget Sound

Student PIRG Campus Organizer Job Description

Student PIRG Campus Organizer: 2015-2016 Job Description

Early Application Deadline:  October 19th

Students founded PIRG (Public Interest Research Group) over 40 years ago, based upon the simple idea that America has more problems than we should tolerate, and more solutions than we use.

Today, on any college campus, you can find students who feel driven to take on problems outside the classroom, whether it's global warming, big money in politics, or hunger and homelessness.

As a PIRG Campus Organizer, your job is to recruit these students to get involved -- and to train them to be effective leaders who can run campaigns that make an impact in the community, in the state capitol, in Congress, at the White House, or wherever it will make a difference.

We're hiring Campus Organizers to work on 40 campuses across America.

Early Application Deadline: October 19th

Responsibilities may include:

•      Recruiting hundreds of students to volunteer

•      Teaching students to plan and run effective campaigns through internship classes and on-the-ground training

•      Building relationships with faculty and administrators

•      Organizing news events and rallies, and generating the grassroots support it takes to win campaigns

•      During the summer, each Campus Organizer runs a citizen outreach office. This entails fundraising and building the organization, by canvassing and training others to canvass.

Qualifications:

•      Strong work ethic

•      Outstanding verbal and written communication

•      Proven leadership skills

•      Strong commitment to getting results

•      Passion for making positive social change

Training

As a PIRG Campus Organizer, you will participate in regional and national trainings run by experienced Student PIRGs staff, consisting of both classroom-style learning and hands-on experience. This training will supplement the valuable skills and hands-on experience you gain on your campus.

Find out more

Find out more information at jobs.studentPIRGs.org. If you have any questions you can contact Micaela Preskill, Student PIRGs Recruitment Director at (312)544-4436 ext. 304 or mpreskill@studentpirgs.org.

How To Apply

Apply online at jobs.studentPIRGs.org by October 19^th.

The Student PIRGs and all PIRG-affiliated organizations are equal opportunity employers and will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, age, handicap, pregnancy, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Critical Languages Scholarship

Application is online with a November deadline. Study this summer, on the government's dime, in the home countries of these languages: Arabic Azerbaijani Bangla Chinese Hindi Indonesian Japanese Korean Persian Punjabi Russian Turkish Urdu http://www.clscholarship.org/languages/

Scholarship Opportunity for Graduate Study in China

Schwarzman Scholars was inspired by the Rhodes Scholarship, which was founded in 1902 to promote international understanding and peace, and is designed to meet the challenges of the 21st century and beyond. Blackstone Co-Founder Stephen A. Schwarzman personally contributed $100 million to the program and is leading a fundraising campaign to raise an additional $250 million from private sources to endow the program in perpetuity. The $350 million endowment will support 200 scholars annually from the U.S., China and around the world for a one-year Master’s Degree program at Tsinghua University in Beijing, one of China’s most prestigious universities and an indispensable base for the country’s scientific and technological research. Scholars chosen for this highly selective program will live in Beijing for a year of study and cultural immersion, attending lectures, traveling, and developing a better understanding of China. Admissions will open in the fall of 2015, with the first class of students in residence by the summer of 2016. Learn more at www.schwarzmanscholars.org , like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SchwarzmanScholars and follow us on Twitter at @SchwarzmanOrg.

Vigil for Gaza

Tuesday, September 23rd 8:30 p.m.
Outside of Wheelock Student Center

UPS Undergraduate Philosophy Conference!

The Puget Sound Undergraduate Philosophy Conference is taking place on campus tomorrow Thursday 9/18 and Friday 9/19 thanks to the effort of a lot of students!

The keynote address for the conference “Moments of a Life: Some Similarities Between Life and Literature” will be delivered by Professor Marya Schechtman from the University of Illinois at Chicago at 5:30pm on Friday 9/19 in the Tahoma Room, Commencement Hall.  There will be a small reception with Marya Schechtman in the Northwest Lounge immediately following her talk.  You can read more about the keynote address and the conference here:  

http://www.pugetsound.edu/news-and-events/campus-news/details/1318

Students from various other schools will be coming to campus to present their papers and receive commentary from University of Puget Sound students.  The talks will be taking place on throughout the day on Thursday and Friday in Trimble Forum.  I am pasting the full schedule below but you can also find it on the conference website :  

http://www.pugetsound.edu/academics/departments-and-programs/undergraduate/philosophy/philosophyconference

Notice that there are talks in many areas of philosophy, including ethics, epistemology, political philosophy, aesthetics, philosophy of religion, and more.

Washington State Legislative Internship Program - Thursday 9/18, 5p in Wyatt 101

Peace Corps Campus Ambassadors - Deadline Friday 9/19

I am excited to let you know about a Peace Corps internship-like opportunity that opens this week, called Campus Ambassadors. Ambassadors will work closely with Peace Corps staff from mid-October through May as networking and social media experts on campus. This can be an opportunity for students to gain valuable experience while also learning about Peace Corps. Please take a look at the attached flyer as well as this quick article to learn more about the program, called 7 reasons to apply to the Peace Corps campus program you’ve never heard of.

The Details

·         The program: Campus Ambassadors, an internship-like opportunity to serve as networking and social media experts for the Peace Corps

·         How to apply: Through this application

·         Questions? Send them to diversity@peacecorps.gov

·         Deadline: Friday, September 19^th, 2014

If you know of any students who may be interested, please pass along these details and materials to them. The application should only take a few minutes, and it’ll be a wonderful, engaging professional development opportunity for them!

Campaign Internship and Volunteer Opportunities

As the South Sound representative for Congressman Adam Smith's (WA-09) reelection campaign, I would like to pass along the following information regarding internship and volunteer opportunities with Congressman Smith's reelection campaign.

The campaign is looking for responsible, hardworking, energetic and dedicated individuals who will help reelect Congressman Smith. With a strong focus on personal contact with constituents, communication skills are tremendously important. Interns and volunteers will be working with and supporting campaign staff by doorbelling, phone banking, assisting at events, and, at times, will support local candidates and their elections efforts. With flexible hours, this opportunity is great for the schedules of University students such as yourselves.

In addition to working with Congressman Smith's reelection campaign, there are two opportunities on September 22nd to get a feel for campaigning. The first is doorbelling for Jason Ritchie at Mirrormont Park in Southern Issaquah from about 3:30pm-5:-pm (Ritchie is running for the 8th Congressional House seat).  The second is in Auburn at 130 E Main St, where volunteers will be phone banking for Chris Barringer from 6-8pm (Chris is running for the 47th LD State House position).

If you have any interest in getting involved in anyway, please do not hesitate to contact Lucas Henken at lucas@electadamsmith.com.

Thanks,
Lucas