2023–24 Politics Department Year-End Digest
Congratulations to everyone for finishing another school year at USF! To wrap up the year, the Department of Politics has put together this year-end digest featuring highlights from the school year. We hope that all of our returning students enjoy the summer, and that our graduating seniors continue to contribute passion and intellect in their future endeavors!
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Dear Members of the Politics Department,
I hope this message finds you resting from a year of studies and engaged in some meaningful reflection about where you have come, and where you are going.
It has been an eventful year in the world, and it can be challenging to engage in the study of politics. I have found myself longing to be a specialist in medieval history or some subject that might be a little LESS dynamic over the past years. Yet, I also see quite clearly that we need to get our politics right if our collective existence is to thrive in the future. The challenging aspect of political work is that we all bring something different to the table. And I encourage each one of you to reflect on what you bring, and how you might improve our common understanding. All of you have distinctive passions and talents, and our goal in the politics department is to nourish all of them. Frankly, the world needs what you have to offer.
We have started planning for the fall elections, and how we might work to encourage involvement and understand what is at stake. Our department's viewpoint does not stop at the national borders, and we continue to create courses that help us understand how the global becomes local. Campus activism this year has underscored that our futures are intertwined, and that one person's liberation cannot be bought at the expense of another's.
We look forward to seeing you in the fall! We will have difficult and hopeful conversations, and continue to create a community that cares for and respects one another. It will be a momentous year for each of you in your own life, and our faculty are here to accompany you on your distinctive path.
Professor McBride
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CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR GRADUATING SENIORS! 🎓
Liyanos Alemu Abate
Kemelyn Virginia Hernandez-Alvarado
Forrest Henry Cameron
Pablo Ernesto Cardenas
Sarah Louise Chavez
lana Latricia Craig
Logan Mychal Damato
Raelee Ann Shine Dimon
Stacv Samantha Espinoza
Yvonne Alexandra Fernandez
Camryn Grace Fulcher
Cindy Hoang
Zachary Deron Hunter
Emily Lipkind
Zoey Maurine Little
Tevita Fakataha-Falemaama Mafi
Ava Simone Marcelo
Graham Theodore Marshall
Niki Mashhadialireza
Marly Mizrahi
Torrance Marie Montgomery
Jesireé Soriano Moral
Alyssa Maria Nelson
Hannah Grace Nelson
Lauren Marie Paterson
Kalena Gabrielle Peña
Lerisa Sherina Puckett
Riley Michael Ramirez
Angelo Caoile Resayo
Aaron Jake Ruiz
Kessa Walker
Wyatt George Zingus
We applaud you for all your hard work and wish you the best in your future endeavors!
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Throughout the year, several politics students were featured in the weekly newsletter under the "Student Spotlight" section. Here are a few students who were featured!
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Professor Elisabeth Friedman just celebrated her 20-year teaching anniversary at USF with four publications:
"I'm happy to report that my co-authored project on Latin American mass intergenerational feminist movements (case study of Argentina) has resulted in four publications in the last year, as listed below. Beyond the diversity of the peer-reviewed journals, which cover sociology, youth studies, and Latin American studies, I'm particularly pleased that two are in Spanish and two in English, a strategy we have used to circulate our work throughout the Americas. And speaking of circulation, three of them are open access."
- “Muchas disidencias y muchos feminismos”: La genealogía híbrida de las
activistas jóvenes en Argentina. (“Many dissidents and many feminisms”: The hybrid genealogy of young feminist activists in Argentina.) With Ana Laura Rodríguez-Gustá. European Review of Latin American and Caribbea Studies/Revista Europea de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe. No.117 (2024): January – June, pp. 65-82. - “Feminists, Popular Feminists, and Transfeminists: Young Argentine Activist Define Their Own Identities.” With Ana Laura Rodríguez-Gustá. Journal of Youth Studies published online Dec. 27, 2023.
- “Welcome to the Revolution: Promoting Generational Renewal in Argentina’s Ni Una Menos.” With Ana Laura Rodríguez-Gustá. Qualitative Sociology 46: 245-277 (2023).
- “’El viento arrollador’: la irrupción de las jóvenes en la protesta del Ni Una Meno de Argentina.” (“‘The whirlwind’: the eruption of young women in Argentina’s Ni Una Menos protest.”) With Ana Laura Rodríguez-Gustá. Perfiles
Latinoamericanos, 31:61 (2023).
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Professor and Chair Keally McBride was the editor of a special issue on "Ecological Marxism" for Emancipations: A Journal of Critical Social Analysis. Professor McBride published a response to planetary emergencies in an open-access piece entitled “ Politics and Other Miracles.”
She also has two forthcoming publications that work toward incorporating environmentalism into political theory. One is in The Oxford Handbook of Grounded and Normative Theory “Rethinking Materialism, Grounding Research,” and another for the Routledge Handbook on Ideology as Lived Experience on "Water and Ideology."
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Professor Stephen Zunes spent the year on sabbatical after he was awarded the Torgny Segerstedt Visiting Research Professor at the University of Gothenburg, but his expertise in Middle East politics and U.S. foreign policy has been in high demand! He has published dozens of articles and given dozens of interviews on Al Jazeera, KTVU, Al-Arabiya, and KPFA, throughout the year. Here is one particularly interesting piece putting student activism around Palestinian rights in a larger context, "Antiwar/Solidarity Activism on Gaza: New Generation, New Challenges."
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Professor Kathleen Coll was promoted to full professor this year!
Professor Coll and Professor Rachel Brahinsky co-authored an article, "'We Keep Each Other Safe': San Francisco Bay Area Community-Based Organizations Respond to Enduring Crises in the COVID-19 Era." Miranda Dotson and Alison Cohen were two additional authors on this project. Professor Coll also co-authored a piece with many community partners and other academic researchers entitled, "It's A Matter of Trust: How Thirty Years of History Prepared a Community-Based Organization to Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic."
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Professor Marco Durazo completed his dissertation and was awarded a doctorate in political science from UCLA.
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Professor Kessler-Mata continues her service as one of twelve tribal members on the California Truth and Healing Commission.
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Professor James Taylor continues to be featured as a political expert by local, state, and national news outlets, and completed his work on the African American Reparations Advisory Committee for the City and County of San Francisco.
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| Welcoming Back Two Beloved Faculty Members
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The Department of Politics is very excited to welcome two beloved faculty members back from extended leave:
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Professor Jeff Paller is a comparative political scientist specializing in African politics, urban development, and policy. He has been busy while on leave.
“I just returned from northern Ghana where I conducted fieldwork for a four-year project called "Political change and local governance in emerging cities," funded by the Swedish Research Council. The project involves focus groups, household surveys, and dissemination events in six cities across Ghana, Brazil, and Tunisia. In July, I will be conducting exploratory fieldwork for a project called “Building sustainable neighborhoods in African cities,” funded by FORMAS. I look forward to sharing preliminary findings at the American Political Science Association short course I am organizing called "Building sustainable cities: The politics of provision, implementation, and management.”
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Professor Ken Goldstein will be returning to his position in Washington, D.C., where he teaches in the USF in DC and Master of Arts in Public Leadership programs. A specialist in campaigns and elections, his return is well-timed to help us all through the fall.
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| Student Activism and Organizing
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As a response to major political events that occurred this year, our community has seen politics students and faculty contribute heavily to a vibrant campus response.
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Following the events of Oct. 7, students and faculty worked hard to educate our community on the situation in Israel/Palestine. Many demonstrations took place on campus, from walk-outs to candlelight vigils. The politics department co-sponsored a highly attended campus-wide teach-in around Israel/Palestine in October; and in May, students organized their own intersectional teach-in to help students make connections with other global conflicts and struggles at this time of unprecedented student mobilization.
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The Welch Field encampment will be remembered for years to come as a moment when USF students joined university students nationwide in solidarity. Many of our students made history by participating in some of the largest demonstrations seen at USF in decades.
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Several politics students frequently contribute editorials to the SF Forghorn. Below are a few opinion articles written by politics students during the school year!
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| Department Event Highlights
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We were lucky to host two alumni meet-and-greet events this school year. Students had the wonderful opportunity to talk with USF politics alumni in a casual setting and learn about the diverse paths politics students can take after graduation. Thank you to the faculty and returning alumni who made these events possible!
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To wrap up the fall semester, 14 students presented their findings from their semester-long capstone research projects. The student presentations covered a wide array of topics, ranging from income inequality to U.S. foreign policy, and reflected a commitment to academic rigor. Thank you to all the faculty and students who supported these seniors during the research process!
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Once again, the politics department co-sponsored this year's Global Feminist Forum at USF! Many events took place on campus from March 4–6 including lectures, teach-ins, workshops, and film screenings. The GFF organizes events at USF every year, so stay tuned for more next spring!
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Thank you to everyone who attended our year-end reception and senior dinner! Here are our award recipients for the 2023–24 academic year:
Politics Public Service Award:
Ryan Mak & Kemelyn Alvarado
Mauricio Romero Award:
Joshua Disneros
Robert Elias Academic Achievement Award:
Forrest Cameron
Ralph Lane Peace & Justice Essay Award:
Isabela Sandoval-Duran
And congratulations to all of the students who were recognized for graduating with honors in politics:
Liyanos Abate
Forrest Cameron
Sarah Chavez
Cameryn Fulcher
Cindy Huang
Emily Lipkind
Ava Marcelo
Alyssa Nelson
Hannah Nelson
Lauren Paterson
Kalena Peña
Wyatt Zingus
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Thank You
We appreciate you taking the time to read this digest and for looking over all of the weekly newsletters this year! For returning students, make sure to check your email in August to learn more about events and opportunities for politics majors and legal studies, criminal justice studies, and peace and justice studies minors! For those who have graduated, please keep in touch! And to everyone, have a great summer!
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