THIS MONTH'S HEADLINES:
- GRADUATING SENIORS
- POLSC MAJOR JENNA ALBERTI PROFILED ON BEHREND BLOG
- UKRAINIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT TO VISIT BEHREND ON APRIL 24
- POLSC STUDENT AWARD WINNERS APRIL 2024
- PI SIGMA ALPHA POLITICAL SCIENCE HONOR SOCIETY INITIATION
- CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN HARRISBURG
- SUMMER PLANS OF POLSC MAJORS
- NEW SOCIOLOGY FACULTY MEMBER HIRED
- LEGAL STUDIES MINOR NOW AVAILABLE ON LIONPATH
- FACULTY IN THE NEWS
- STUDENT GROUP NEWS
- POLSC SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES
- FINAL NEWSLETTER OF THE YEAR
1. GRADUATING SENIORS
If they complete all requirements, five Behrend Political Science majors will be graduating next month:
- Jenna Alberti
- Samiha Choudhury
- Madison Kwiecinski
- Devin Lockard
- Chaztin Reuling
In addition, Behrend Political Science Major Sydney Dunn plans to complete his degree this summer and participate in next month’s commencement ceremony.
Among the plans of our graduating seniors:
- Jenna Alberti plans to earn a graduate degree in homeland security.
- Samiha Choudhury will be attending St. John's University in New York City for their master's program in homeland security and criminal justice leadership and will then apply to law school.
- Chaztin Reuling will be attending The Master's Seminary in Los Angeles, California, to complete a four-year Master of Divinity degree. Upon completion, he plans to be a pastor back in Germany where he is originally from.
Congratulations to all of our graduating seniors, and we wish them the best with future plans!
2. POLSC MAJOR JENNA ALBERTI PROFILED ON BEHREND BLOG
Jenna was featured on the Behrend Blog’s “Standout Seniors” in the past month.
Jenna Alberti starring as Elle Woods in the Spring 2024 Production of "Legally Blonde, The Musical."
She also starred this month as Elle Woods in the Behrend Theatre production of "Legally Blonde, The Musical.”
3. UKRAINIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT TO VISIT BEHREND ON APRIL 24
Join us for a discussion on the Russian War on Ukraine with Oleksiy Honcharenko, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, on April 24 at 7:00 p.m. in Burke 180.
Oleksiy Goncharenko is a Ukrainian politician, member of the Ukrainian parliament, member of the Ukrainian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and Vice President of the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons.
He is a member of the "European Solidarity" group in Parliament and head of the caucuses "For a Democratic Belarus" and "For a Free Caucasus."
After the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Oleksiy Goncharenko joined the country’s civilian Territorial Defense Forces for the first month. Не has fought against Russian propaganda and publishes widely in international media to bring the truth to the world about Ukraine.
Contact Dr. Lena Surzhko-Harned with questions.
4. POLSC STUDENT AWARD WINNERS APRIL 2024
- School of Humanities and Social Sciences Writing Award: Alec Dennis (POLSC Major)
- Outstanding Political Science Major: Jenna Alberti
- Zachary T. Irwin Humanitarian Award: Justin Lopez-Beltran (POLSC Major, in photo with Associate Professor Emeritus Zachary T. Irwin)
Justin Lopez-Beltran accepted the Zachary T. Irwin Humanitarian Award in 2024 from Dr. Irwin.
5. PI SIGMA ALPHA POLITICAL SCIENCE HONOR SOCIETY INITIATION
Four Behrend Political Science Majors were initiated into the Pi Sigma Alpha national political science honor society on April 22 (seen in photo with previously initiated members)
- Alec Dennis
- Carlina Edinger
- Justin Lopez-Beltran
- Nicklas Richar
New members join old members at the April 2024 initiation into the Penn State Behrend chapter of the Pi Sigma Alpha national political science honor society.
Among the criteria of the national organization are a GPA among the top one-third of students on campus and junior or senior level status.
6. CAREER OPPORTUNITIES IN HARRISBURG
Penn State Behrend POLSC Alumnus Stephen Webb, a senior research manager for the Legislative Policy and Research Office in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, has sent us the following list to search for internship and career opportunities in Harrisburg.
- Internships with the House
- State Government Internships
- Lobbying Internships
- Job Postings for the House Democrats
- Job Postings for State Government
7. SUMMER PLANS OF POLSC MAJORS
Justin Lopez-Beltran will be interning this summer in the Washington, D.C., office of Rep. Guy Reschenthaler. Congressman Reschenthaler, who represents suburbs of Pittsburgh, is a Penn State Behrend Political Science alumnus who received his law degree from Duquesne University and served with the U.S. Navy JAG Corps in the Iraq War. On Capitol Hill, he is a member of the House Rules Committee and a member of the House Appropriations Committee and is part of the House Republican leadership team.
Alec Dennis, Kendall DeMarco, and Carson Rounds will be participating in a one-month Penn State study abroad course in Toronto, Ontario, in which Penn State students and Canadian students from Toronto Metropolitan University will share a classroom to learn about and compare Canadian and American government, politics, and policies and Canadian-American relations. Politics and Government minor Parker Yohe will also be participating in the Toronto program.
8. NEW SOCIOLOGY FACULTY MEMBER HIRED
We have hired Meghan Easter to teach SOC 1 during the Fall 2024 semester. Ms. Easter is a community school director at an Erie elementary school and has a master’s degree in sociology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
We are also in the process of hiring someone to teach SOC 12/CRIMJ 12 (Criminology) on campus during the Fall semester.
9. LEGAL STUDIES MINOR NOW AVAILABLE ON LIONPATH
Students are now able to enroll in the new Legal Studies minor on LionPATH.
The minor requires the following courses offered at Behrend for 18 total credits:
- PLSC 1 - 3 credits
- CRIMJ 100 - 3 credits
- Choose two of the following courses: PLSC 210N, PLSC 471, PLSC 472, PLSC 473 - 6 credits
- Choose two of the following courses: PLSC 419, PLSC 471, PLSC 472, PLSC 473, PLSC 480W, PLSC 482, PLSC 487 - 6 credits
Other courses offered at other Penn State campuses may also count toward the minor. The full list of approved courses, including those taught at other Penn State campuses, can be found in the Penn State Bulletin.
Students are also able to enroll on LionPATH in two other new minors offered at Behrend - Politics and Public Policy, and Latin American Studies. Students who want to complete the Latin American Studies minor should take PLSC 456 on Latin American Politics during the Fall 2024 semester and need to pass either SPAN 3 or PORT 1, along with other requirements.
10. FACULTY IN THE NEWS
Dr. Maggie Shum, assistant professor of political science, recently published a co-authored article “How Citizens Meet the State: Police Contact, Trust, and Civic Engagement” at Urban Affairs Review with Jacob Turner (University of Notre Dame). The paper investigates the relationship between the police, the most visible street-level bureaucrat of local city governments, and citizen political attitudes and behaviors toward local city institutions. They introduce a holistic conceptualization of police-citizen contact and examine how each type impacts citizen trust toward and participation in political institutions.
Dr. Robert Speel, associate professor of political science, was interviewed by the USA Today network for a news article about mail ballots in this month’s Pennsylvania primary. This week, he submitted a final manuscript titled “The Same Only Different: Understanding Canada and the United States” with co-author Greg Inwood of Toronto Metropolitan University that will be published later this year by Irwin Law Publishers in Canada.
Dr. Lena Surzhko-Harned, associate teaching professor of political science, was an invited speaker on April 11 at a meeting hosted by the Pi Sigma Alpha Chapter and the Ukrainian Students Club at University Park. Her talk was sponsored by a Consortium on Moral Decision-Making Seed Grant and the Department of Germanic and Slavic languages. She spoke to them about the Russian War in Ukraine.
11. STUDENT GROUP NEWS
The Behrend Political Society has chosen new officers for the upcoming year:
- President - Bella Eibl
- Vice President - Madyson Hall
- Secretary - Matt Wehler
- Treasurer - Karissa Will
To get involved, contact President Bella Eibl at [email protected].
12. POLSC SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES
All students and alumni are invited to like the Penn State Behrend political science Facebook page and get updated news and find out about events.
Photos and posters for upcoming events get posted on the Penn State Behrend political science Instagram page.
13. FINAL NEWSLETTER OF THE YEAR
This will be the final newsletter of the 2023-2024 academic year. Good luck with final papers and final exams.