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The Department of Political Science
December 2018 Alumni Newsletter
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Neal Katyal and Ana Navarro spoke at the Fall 2018 Janus Forum on the topic “On the Docket: The Supreme Court and the Future of American Democracy.”
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| The generous support of our donors provides our students and faculty with the resources to take part in a variety of activities that would otherwise be impossible. Scholarships, special lectures, and support for student and faculty research projects enhance the academic mission of the Department of Political Science and the student experience.
This support is a vital component in our mission. Please take a few minutes and consider making an investment in the Department of Political Science.
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| Dear Alumni and Friends: We've had an incredible Fall season, stunning in color--with several of those picture perfect sunny days on Miami’s campus that will be etched in our collective memory. And of course this Fall also brought with it the midterm elections. Regardless of your view on the 2018 midterm elections, one thing that’s hard to argue with is that the midterms did bring heightened voter interest into the nation’s politics. Well, I’ll save my thoughts on the 2018 midterm elections for Winter College—I hope to see you there! Similarly, we continue to see growing excitement in our students about their courses and involvement in politics. And with this as we say in Harrison Hall, “it's a great day in the department of political science." Indeed, we’ve grown a notch or two since I last reported, we’re now over 900 political science majors and we’ve established a health policy administration track in the department that added twenty-five new majors (and growing) in its debut this semester. We’ve stayed incredibly busy with searches in cyber policy and in public administration—as Dr. Phil Russo transitions to retirement after a stellar forty-one year career with us. We wish him all the happiness in his retirement and you can read more about his impact on students and Miami as well as the scholarship we’ve established in his name here, Dr. Philip A. Russo Public Administration Scholarship. This fall we’ve also been lucky to welcome the return of many alumns back to campus. We’ve used the time to both celebrate with them, but also as an opportunity to help our students focus on their futures as the new wave of leaders developing solutions to societal challenges facing the next generation. I can’t thank all of you enough, whether its returning to campus to spend time with our students, mentor, or help us find internships, fellowships, careers, and/or other ways you’ve opened doors for our students. I see the impact from our alumns and am reminded daily of how much your efforts can affect their lives and the future of Miami. And all this keeps an energy underfoot and a smile on my face—your willingness to give back means so much to our students. Thank you for keeping us in mind, and I hope to see you back in Harrison Hall one of these days soon—there’s an open invitation to all of you. Here’s a bit more to give you an idea of what we’ve been up to this Fall.
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| Janus Forum: "On the Docket: The Supreme Court and the Future of American Democracy" Each semester, the Department of Political Science (in partnership with the Thomas W. Smith Institute for Political Economy) hosts the Janus Forum, a chance for the Miami community to engage in a high-level discourse on a salient public issue. This fall, the Janus Forum was focused on the Supreme Court of the United States. The speakers were Neal Katyal, Former Acting Solicitor General and Georgetown law professor, and Ana Navarro, GOP strategist and political contributor to CNN, ABC News, and Telemundo. The title was “On the Docket: The Supreme Court and the Future of American Democracy.” Read more about the Fall 2018 Janus Forum.
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| Constitution Day Lecture: Dr. Patrick Deneen For Constitution Day, we hosted a lecture by Patrick Deneen, who is the David A. Potenziani Memorial College Chair of Constitutional Studies in the Department of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. Deneen's recent book Why Liberalism Failed has been the subject of opinions columns and reviews in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, and Foreign Affairs. According to former President Barack Obama, Deneen's book "offers cogent insights into the loss of meaning and community that many in the West feel, issues that liberal democracies ignore at their own peril". Deneen expanded on these themes in his lecture on 'The Constitution as a Way of Life", arguing that many of America's contemporary political problems stem from the failure of our political institutions to foster a robust civic culture, and discouraging direct participation in politics by the majority of American citizens.
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| 7th Annual Darrell West Lecture: Benjamin Wittes Benjamin Wittes, a nationally renowned expert on legal and US national security policy and Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings Institution, came to Miami on September 26 to give the 7th annual Darrell West Lecture in American Politics.
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Visiting Scholar in Public Leadership: Congressman Steve Driehaus (’88) For his course, Driehaus discussed the partisan environment that characterized the legislative process during the passage of the ACA. He proposed a legislative problem to the students: how would you approach the public policy issue of the quality and opportunity to affordable healthcare in the United States? In response, students designed a healthcare proposal that they would have liked to see. Remarkably, what they came up with was a proposed piece of legislation and healthcare program that reflected most of the basic elements of the ACA.
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| Political Science 18 of the Last 9 Alumni The 18 of the last 9 Alumni Award program brings to campus eighteen Miami alumnae who graduated in the last nine years and showcases their outstanding achievements and impact in their communities. The 18 of the last 9 is now in its 6th year at Miami and has proven to be an invaluable opportunity to engage Miamians with students, faculty, and staff. This year, the Political Science Department had the great privilege of welcoming back five of our own (out of the eighteen!) back to Miami and the classrooms of Harrison Hall to share their time and perspective with current students. These honorees, pictured above from left to right, included three public administration majors—Lindsey Bullinger ’11, Heath Ingram ’11, Kevin McLaughlin ’09, one diplomacy & foreign affairs major—Una Hrnjak-Hadziahmetovic ’11, and one political science major—Kyle Denman ’16.
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| Emily Tatum: Humanitarian Affairs University Scholars Leadership Symposium Following an internship in Washington, D.C., senior Emily Tatum travelled to the Humanitarian Affairs University Scholars Leadership Symposium at the UN in Bangkok, Thailand this past August. After being selected by Global Initiatives and receiving the Department of Political Science’s sponsorship, Tatum and attended the Symposium as one of 1000 students from 87 different countries. Read more about Emily’s experience and the Miami delegation.
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| Jacob Bruggeman: 2018 Provost’s Student Academic Achievement Award (PSAAA) and Dinner for Western Civilization
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| Will McCown and Emily Tatum: Warsaw Security Forum At the end of October, with the support of the Political Science Department, Emily Tatum (introduced above) and Will McCown, senior political science major, traveled to Poland to attend the Warsaw Security Forum with Mr. Brigham McCown (1988, diplomacy & foreign affairs), who will be teaching political science courses at Miami in the spring.
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| Professor Matthews and Our Students Bring Back the Hardware from Moot Court Congratulations to Mackenzie Clark ('19), Margaret Hamm ('19), Bre Chambers ('19) and Ryan Reding ('20) for their outstanding performance competing against 30 teams from 11 different colleges and universities at the American Collegiate Moot Court Association Midwest Regional, November 16-17 at the College of Wooster. Mackenzie and Margaret reached the quarterfinals, Bre and Ryan reached the Sweet Sixteen round, and Ryan won the seventh best Individual Orator award. Congratulations!
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| College of Arts and Science at Miami University
© 2018 Miami University.
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