Political science students took part in the early evening commencement ceremony on Friday, May 17th. Students who participated graduated with BA and BS degrees in political science and Masters degrees in Global Studies and Public Administration. The highlight of the ceremony was the address by Dr. Donald Suggs, Publisher and Executive Editor of the St. Louis American newspaper.

Through the generosity of political science alumni Wayne Bischler, the department recognized our graduates and their families at a dinner on May 16th. Special guests included Dr. Victor Matthews, Dean of the College of Humanities and Public Affairs, recent kindergarten graduate, Benjamin Ondetti, and these future majors:

The Political Science Department is pleased to announce the following scholarship awards for the 2013-2014 academic year:

Dr. Alice Fleetwood Bartee Scholarship – Scott Lacombe
Olivia Bischler Scholarship – Ebony Gibbs
Andrea and Stephen Bough Scholarship – Inga Christensen
Curl Scholarship in Political Science – Juli Baldridge
Frank Dinka Scholarship – Matthew Cardoza
H.D.Harmon Scholarship – Emma Wilson
Horace Haseltine Memorial Scholarship – Shirlitta Johnson
Heinlein International Affairs Scholarship – Matthew Cardoza
Frank Mazzella Memorial Scholarship – April Stratman
Kant Patel Scholarship in Public Affairs – Juli Baldridge
Political Science Alimni Scholarship – Scott Lacombe
Judge Jack A. Powell Memorial Scholarship Brittany Perry

Using a hypothetical future scenario recently described by Gareth Stansfield in the Journal of International Affairs, Dr. David Romano created a simulation for his Foreign Policies of Middle Eastern States course this Spring. The simulation began with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) moving against Iraqi army units south of Kirkuk and taking full control of Kirkuk Governorate. He set up the simulation with a giant board of Iraq and its neighboring states in the style of the RISK board game, complete with little plastic figures representing military infantry, armor and artillery units.

Whether or not the simulation reflected likely Iraqi scenarios for such a crisis remains anyone’s guess. Dr. Romano noted, however, that rolling the “iron dice of war” starts a chain of events that no one can predict, no matter how many times they try and simulate the issue. In the real world, actual lives get eliminated rather than little plastic army pieces.

Political Science students participated in the Graduate College’s 20th annual Interdisciplinary Forum on Saturday April 27th, 2013.

The Graduate Interdisciplinary Forum is a venue allowing graduate students to share the research and creative work they have completed in their graduate programs with students and faculty from across campus and from area colleges and universities. The IDF includes oral, poster, and performance presentations.

The four underlying objectives of the IDF are to promote an understanding of research work done by graduate students across disciplines, provide an opportunity to the presenters to sharpen their presentation skills based upon feedback from people outside their discipline, facilitate discussion of graduate scholarly works across campus/community, and increase public awareness of scholarship activities on the Missouri State University campus.

Ellen Herrmann, Keith Bachman, Maggie Petersen, Aaron Kruse

This semester’s paintball outing is schedule for Saturday, May 4th at 10:00 AM at the Paintball Outpost. Join political science faculty and students, as well as friends and colleagues from other departments, as we trip the paint fantastic.

Join us on Tuesday, April 30 at 4:00 in the Meyer Library Auditorium for a lecture entitled “Chimeras of Political Identity: The Problem of the People in Revolutionary France”
that will be presented by Kevin Olson, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of California-Irvine. This lecture, which will address the concept of “the power of the people” and its origins in pre-revolutionary France, is sponsored by the Workshop for Critical Inquiry.
Olson’s poster

The Indian Students Association (ISA) at Missouri State University take immense pleasure in inviting you to “Tarang 2013”(Indian cultural show and dinner) at Missouri State University on the 20th of April 2013 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm at the Plaster Student Union Ballroom. The main focus of this event is to raise awareness about Indian culture, traditions and practices among Missouri State’s campus community as well as the surrounding Springfield Community.

Tarang 2013 Flyer

For more information, Isaac Balasundaram at 417-350-6164.

A group of four students from the Disaster Operations class assisted the Springfield/Greene County Office of Emergency Management in Operation Twisted Twister. Three assisted for several weeks in the development and implementation of a full-scale Emergency Operations Center exercise on April 11, 2013. The students on the development team were Robert Faulkner, Ellen Herrmann and Jennie Sahagun. The fourth student, Jennie Deppe, participated as a member of the Emergency Operations Center’s Planning Section Situation Unit along with Dr. David Johnson.

The Career Center will be hosting the College of Humanities and Public Affairs “Exploring Careers Panel” event on Wednesday, April 17^th in PSU 313 from 3pm-3:45pm. Panelists will discuss how to channel your skills into your post-college job.  The panelists include:

• Shem Johnson, Entrepreneur and Business Owner of Primal Fitness
• Jaime Trussell, Major Donor Relations Director for Convoy of Hope
• Dr. Holly Jones, Grants and Research Administrator at Burrell Behavioral Health
• Donovan Bankhead, Vice President of Springfield Music

Registration is available in JobTracks as Event ID 611!  Contact Dominiece Hoelyfield, Career Resources Specialist for any questions 417.836.4469 or Dhoelyfield@missouristate.edu.

Exploring Career Panels Flyer (2)