THIS MONTH'S HEADLINES:
1. SPRING 2018 COURSES
2. NEW POLITICAL SCIENCE FACULTY MEMBER
3. C-SPAN'S STEVE SCULLY TO VISIT CAMPUS IN NOVEMBER
4. MINORS AND CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS
5. STUDENT GROUP NEWS
6. FACULTY IN THE NEWS
7. PRESENTATION TO THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE
8. FACEBOOK PAGE
Here is a list of Political Science and Sociology courses that will be offered at Penn State Behrend in Spring 2018.
Remember that all Behrend political science majors must take PL SC 001, PL SC 003, PL SC 014, and PL SC 007 or 017, as well as 24 other credits (usually eight other courses) in PL SC. Of those other 24 credits, at least 12 (four courses) must be at the 400 level, and at least 3 credits (one course) must be taken in each of the subfield requirements (American Government, Comparative Politics, International Politics, Government in Theory and Practice). Some courses can be used to fulfill either of two subfield requirements, but you cannot use the same course on your degree audit to meet both of those subfield requirements.
If you need help with scheduling or understanding the requirements of the major, please make an appointment to see your adviser.
Politics and Government minors must take PL SC 001, PL SC 003, and 12 other credits (four courses), including 6 credits at the 400-level.
Sociology minors must take SOC 001 and 15 other credits in SOC, including at least 6 credits at the 400-level.
Spring 2018 Courses
- PL SC 001 - Introduction to American National Government (GS)
- PL SC 002 - American Public Policy (American, Theory and Practice)
- PL SC 003 - Introduction to Comparative Politics (GS, IL)
- PL SC 014 - International Relations (GS, IL)
- PL SC 017 - Introduction to Political Theory (GS)
- PL SC 132 - Politics of International Intolerance (GS, IL, Other Cultures, Comparative, International)
- PL SC 155 - Understanding Tyranny (Theory and Practice)
- PL SC 178 - Organized Crime, Law, and Politics (American, Theory and Practice)
- PL SC 433 - Political Foundations of the Early American Republic (American, Theory and Practice)
- PL SC 467 - International Relations of the Middle East (International)
- PL SC 480W - Congress and the Presidency (W, American)
- PL SC 487 - International Law and Organizations (International, Theory and Practice)
- SOC 001 - Introductory Sociology (GS)
- SOC 005 - Social Problems (GS)
- SOC 013 - Juvenile Delinquency (GS)
- SOC 477 - Sociology of Sexuality
2. NEW POLITICAL SCIENCE FACULTY MEMBER
The political science program was pleased to add Lena Surzhko-Harned to our faculty this year.
Dr. Lena Surzhko-Harned received her Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 2011. Her primary research interests are in the fields of comparative politics, political behavior, nationalism and ethnicity, democratization, European politics, and politics of the post-Soviet space. Her work has been featured in such publications as International Research Quarterly, Journal of Common Market Studies, European Political Science Review, Studies of Ethnicity and Nationalism, and Nations and Nationalism. She is a member of a number of professional organizations including the American Political Science Association, the European Union Studies Association, and the Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism. She also serves on the editorial board of the Studies of Ethnicity and Nationalism. At Behrend, Dr. Surzhko-Harned teaches courses on comparative politics and international relations. She is looking forward to meeting all the students and sharing her experience and expertise with the Model UN team. You can find her at Kochel 149.
3. C-SPAN'S STEVE SCULLY TO VISIT CAMPUS IN NOVEMBER
Steve Scully, senior executive producer and political editor at C-SPAN in Washington, D.C., will be on the Penn State Behrend campus on the afternoon of Friday, November 10. He will speak and answer questions at a forum for students and the campus community. Details will be announced in the October newsletter. Scully, an Erie native, has been nicknamed "The Most Patient Man on Television," in several segments on HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
4. MINORS AND CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS
Spring 2018 courses in political science and sociology can be used to complete requirements in the politics and government minor, sociology minor, transnational perspectives minor, women's studies minor, civic and community engagement minor, and the new crime, law, and psychology minor, as well as the certificate programs in legal studies, global awareness, and crime, psychology, and public policy, and the secondary social studies education certification partnership with Edinboro University.
For details about each of these minors and certificates, visit the School of Humanities and Social Sciences' Academic Programs page.
The Political Science Society (PSS) is sponsoring a State of the Union debate between College Republicans and College Democrats on Thursday, September 28, at 6:00 p.m., in 57 Kochel. All the groups also will have voter registration tables set up in Reed Union Building and in Burke Center on October 3, 4, and 5. The PSS also will be raising money this year for UNICEF. Earlier this month, the PSS and College Republicans sponsored "An Evening with Three State Senators" on campus with State Senator Guy Reschenthaler of Pittsburgh, a Behrend political science alumnus, State Senator Dan Laughlin of Erie, and State Senator David Argall of Pottsville.
The Political Science Society meets every Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in 55 Kochel. There will be meetings for UNICEF every other week on Mondays at 7:00 p.m. in 41 Kochel, starting on October 2. For more details, contact President Jack Walker at [email protected].
Last week, College Republicans hosted Brad Moore, the director of U.S. Representative Mike Kelly's Erie office, at their meeting on campus. For details about upcoming meetings and events, contact President JP Jarecki at [email protected].
College Democrats meets every other week on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. in 55 Kochel. For more details, contact President Jillian Dunn at [email protected].
Model United Nations will be participating at a national conference at Harvard University next February. For details about getting involved, contact President Ricardo Rodriguez at [email protected].
Dr. John Gamble, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and International Law, attended the 30th Annual Meeting of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) held June 15-17 in Seoul, Korea. It was a fascinating meeting with the dangerous dispute between North Korea and most of the world on everyone’s mind. His official role was running a panel on “Island States in Global Governance.” This relates to his career-long interest in the law of the sea. He also discussed his sabbatical leave project, “Visualizing International Law,” with ACUNS officials in hopes of playing a role in their next meeting to be held summer 2018 in Rome.
Dr. Zachary Irwin, Associate Professor Emeritus of Political Science, has a new book chapter,”The Importance of Tolerance: Intolerance and its Consequences in the Yugoslav Successor States” in Building Democracy in the Yugoslav Successor States: Accomplishments, Setbacks, Challenges Since 1989, Edited by Sabrina P. Ramet, Christine M. Hassenstab, and Ola Listhaug, Cambridge University Press 2017.
Dr. Kilic Kanat, Associate Professor of Political Science, was promoted and received tenure from Penn State University during the summer. Dr. Kanat also moderated a panel about Syrian refugees in Turkey at the SETA Foundation in Washington, D.C. last week and participated in a SETA Foundation panel last month about the recent Middle East foreign policy crisis involving Qatar. He continues to write regular columns for Daily Sabah, an English-language newspaper in Turkey.
Those columns, of which the most recent is titled "Is it just a battle of words between Trump and Kim? I hope it is," can be found on the Daily Sabah website.
Dr. Robert Speel, Associate Professor of Political Science, was interviewed for an article in USA Today in August about President Trump's relationship with Congressional Republicans. Dr. Speel also was interviewed on the same subject for an article in the French daily newspaper, L'Opinion. On October 13, he will be speaking at the Jefferson Educational Society in Erie on the topic of "The Red and the Blue: Which Americans Vote for Which Party and Why?"
7. PRESENTATION TO THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE
On August 30, Nicole Shoenberger, assistant professor of sociology, and Robert Speel, joined by Political Science Majors Echo Seiersen and Andrew Tuznik, Psychology Professor Melanie Hetzel-Riggin, and Gannon University Criminal Justice Professor Julia Mack, organized a research presentation to Erie County officials at the Blasco Library about the potential for Day Reporting Centers in the county. Day Reporting Centers are a form of intensive supervision where offenders live in the community as an alternative to prison or jail, but report daily to officers and counselors and participate in mandated services.
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.