GV PS

Study Abroad Scholarship Winners

Two International Relations students, Matthew Brainovich and Sean Wooster, have been awarded prestigious, nationally competitive Boren Scholarships for Study Abroad; Wooster was designated as an alternate. Recently, Brainovich was also awarded a GVSU Padnos Scholarship to study in Russia, while Wooster was awarded a GVSU Padnos Scholarship for study in Romania.

IR student Mario Amaya-Velasquez has won a GVSU Murray Scholarship to study in Perugia in the summer and fall, and he won a Sister Cities Scholarship as well, as detailed in our previous post.  

The GVSU International Relations Program has also awarded $500 Study Abroad Scholarships to Sarah Bierlein (Jordan), Sheila Garcia (Japan) and David Gallagher (Spain).

Students Win Sister City Scholarships to Study in Perugia, Italy

Congratulations to GVSU students Mario Amaya Velazquez and Angela Tramontelli for winning Sister City Scholarships to Study in Perugia, Italy. Mario is an International Relations major. He will study at the Universitá per Stranieri and then spend a semester at the University of Perugia, as part of a trilaterial exchange that was established through the work of GVSU Political Science Professor John Constantelos.

Mario Amaya Velazquez and Angela Tramontelli 

GV Now article

Politics of Post-Communist Europe

Click on image for full-size version.

PLS 382 is offered in the fall and explores the politics of countries such as Poland, Latvia, Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Albania, etc. It fulfills your 300-level and World Perspective General Education requirement. It also counts for the Political Science and International Relations majors.  Sign up today!

 

 

Outstanding Graduates in Political Science and International Relations

Alena Hontarava is the recipient of the Outstanding Graduate Award for the International Relations Major for the 2011-2012 academic year. She graduated in December with a 3.9 GPA.  

Andrea Schedlbauer is the recipient of the Outstanding Graduate Award for the Political Science Major for 2012. She graduated in December with a 3.9 GPA. 

Hontarava and Schedlbauer will be recognized at GVSU's Annual Awards Celebration next month. Congratulations!

 

Arab World Awakening Revisited: One Year Later

Arab World Awakening Revisited: One Year Later

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

6-8 p.m.

Kirkhof Center, Room 2270

 

Roundtable Discussion:

 Professor Jim Goode, History and Middle East Studies

 Professor Sebastian Maisel, Arabic and Middle East Studies

 Professor Gamal Gasim, Political Science and Middle East Studies

 Professor Thomas Walker, Political Science and International Relations

 Wael Berjaoui, MD, Member of the Pi Sigma Alpha Honor Society

 

Chaired by: Professor Heather Tafel, Political Science

 

 Sponsored by 

 Kappa Phi Chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha -

The National Political Science Honor Society

Department of Political Science

 

Open to the public & GVSU faculty, staff and students

Contact information: Dr. Paul Cornish at cornishp@gvsu.edu or 616/331-3502

 

Mlive.com also featured an article on this upcoming event.

 

Eradicating Child Slavery and Exploitation in Ghana

James Kofi Annan will speak on eradicating child slavery and exploitation in Ghana. 

Wednesday, February 8

5-7 pm in Loosemore Auditorium (DeVos, downtown campus)

Co-sponsored by the Political Science Department via the Joseph Stevens Freedom Fund.

Click image for details.  

 

Spring and Summer Political Science Courses

POLITICAL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT

SPRING/SUMMER 2012 COURSES

SPRING SESSION (May 7 - June 20, 2012)

 

PLS 102 01 American Government & Politics

Tuesday/Thursday 12-3:20 p.m., 1116 Au Sable Hall

Faculty: Laura Schneider, Ph.D.

 

PLS 206 01 American Constitutional Foundations

Monday/Wednesday 12-3:20 p.m., 1143 Au Sable Hall

Faculty: Paul Cornish, Ph.D.

 

PLS 211 01 International Relations

Monday/Wednesday 8:30-11:50 a.m., 2132 Au Sable Hall

Faculty: Roger Moiles, M.A.

 

PLS 307 01 American Constitutional Law II

Monday/Wednesday 6-9:20 p.m., 410 Eberhard Center

Faculty: Mark Richards, Ph.D.

 

PLS 312 01 U.S. Foreign Policy

Monday/Wednesday 12-3:20 p.m., 2120 Au Sable Hall

Faculty: Polly Diven, Ph.D.

 

PLS 315 01 International Political Economy

Tuesday/Thursday 12-3:20 p.m., 2120 Au Sable Hall

Faculty: John Constantelos, Ph.D.

 

PLS 337 01 U.S. Political Thought

Monday/Wednesday 12-3:20 p.m., 323E DeVos

Faculty: Darren Walhof, Ph.D.

 

PLS 340 01 Mass Media & American Politics

Tuesday/Thursday 8:30-11:50 a.m., 2132 Au Sable Hall

Faculty: Erika King, Ph.D.

 

 

SUMMER SESSION (June 25 - August 7, 2012)

 

PLS 102 02 American Government & Politics

Monday/Wednesday 12-3:20 p.m., 1143 Au Sable Hall

Faculty: Whitt Kilburn, Ph.D.

 

 

PLS 103 01 Issues in World Politics

Tuesday/Thursday 12-3:20 p.m., 1116 Au Sable Hall

Faculty: Heather Tafel, Ph.D.

 

PLS 211 02 International Relations

Monday/Wednesday 6-9:20 p.m., 1143 Au Sable Hall

Faculty: Thomas Walker, Ph.D.

 

 

 

IR Major Awarded Saudi Arabia Winter Fellowship

Lizzie Heyboer, major in IR and minor in MES at GVSU, was recently awarded the Saudi Arabia Winter Fellowship, from the National Council on US-Arab Relations and the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education. Lizzie was one of eight college students in the U.S. who were chosen for this fully-funded trip to Saudi Arabia. To be eligible, students had to have participated in the Model Arab League program. The Saudi Arabia Fellowship program consists of a pre-departure orientation seminar in Washington, DC, followed by two weeks inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

 

Learn about Working in the Foreign Service and State Department

Exploring the US Foreign Service and State Department 
Thursday, January 19, 2012
7:15 pm
Murray Living Center First Floor Lounge and Classroom (next to Honors)
Featuring James Ellickson - Brown, Career Foreign Service Officer
Click on image for full-size image.

 

Alumnus Working in Peace Corps

Alumnus Lyndia McMullen has been working in the Peace Corps since June. She wrote this note to share her experience:

 

Dear Grand Valley,

I have been invited to go into the Peace Corps!  My assignment is Burkina Faso, to teach Information Technology.  I will be in Philadelphia on June 6th and in Burkina Faso on June 9th.  I will be gone for 27 months at least (three months training, two years working). 

Burkina Faso is a country slightly bigger than Colorado.  It is located in West Africa, above Ghana, Togo and Benin.  So take a map of Africa, go to Algeria, go south to Mali, and south again.  If you reach Ghana, you’ve gone too far.  Its capital is called Ouagadougou!  Isn’t that amazing?  I will spend my 11 weeks of training in a city a few hours north of the capital.  Its annual temperature ranges from 50 degrees to 104 degrees on average.  Northern Burkina Faso touches the Sahara; while the south has a greener environment.  There are a few mountains, but mostly it is flat. 

Burkina is a Francophone country; so I will be speaking French for the most part and an African language.  My toolkit online contains lessons for Moore, which is very different and amazing so far.  I will be teaching in French and if some students don’t understand, I will have to translate in the native language. 

I am nervous about being a teacher, especially Information Technology.  However, the Peace Corps will train me well, both in language and in technological stuff.  Don’t worry.  I won’t be screaming at my computer screen in frustration!   I don’t know if I will have access to many computers or what grades I will be teaching other than Secondary Education.  I will be trained in how to make lesson plans and tests.  During the school year, I will be teaching and during vacations, I will be working with various community programs and camps. 

As to safety, the country has to request Peace Corps Volunteers.  They want the volunteers to be there.  Then the PC evaluates the need to determine if the country, region, and village are safe for an American.  They aren’t going to put me in a position where the people don’t need or want me.  Added to that, I won’t be going into dangerous parts of towns.  I know not to travel by myself at night and they provide a list of trustworthy cabs if I need to get somewhere at night.  The Peace Corps also provides self defense lessons during Training.  There will be several other Volunteers within an hour’s journey and the Head Quarters is in a day’s journey.  I won’t behave in a way that makes me a target for thieves and worst.  Just like in Michigan, I have to know where I can go and how to remain safe.  My neighbors will help me to adjust to the village, languages, and culture.

The Peace Corps provides Trainees and Volunteers with Health Services in case I become ill.  I will take Malaria pills, purify my water, and make sure my rice/millet/grain doesn’t have bugs in it before I eat it.   

I am going to miss a lot of things when I leave, like cold water for drinking, hot water for baths, chocolate, cars, fast food and going to the movies.  I have no intention of missing snow or the Arctic wind that blows in your face no matter if you turn in another direction.    I am excited, scared, happy, nervous, and several other emotions at the thought of going to Africa.  But I know I want to go.  It will be challenging and far different from anything I have experienced in the United States, which is a big draw.  I also get to help people that need me.  Graduate school is still on the plan.  It was always there, and the Peace Corps will help me in grad school.  I still want to go to George Washington University.  Only now, I will have more experience and have traveled before I earn a Masters. 

Some sites if you want to know more about Burkina Faso:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uv.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1032616.stm

http://www.monburkina.com/ (It is in French, but it is a Burkina Faso website with pretty pictures.) 

Love,

Lyndia McMullen

Class of 2010