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2012 Political Science News Summary

Submitted by Arts & Sciences Web Team on December 31, 2012 - 5:00pm

Death of Emeritus Professor David Olson
(Seattle Times Obituary)

Ellis Goldberg in Foreign Policy, "Egypt's political crisis"

Ellis Goldberg writing about Egypt in Jadaliyya eZine, (three articles)

Luis Fraga in the Seattle Times, "Minorities' next move in politics"

George Lovell interviewed in UW Today, "This is Not Civil Rights"

Prof. Jack Turner's book Awakening to Race featured in UW Today

Matt Barreto in Arts&Sci Perspectives regarding the Latino vote 2012

Chris Parker in Arts&Sci Perspectives inteview about the Tea Party

Seattle PI cites WashingtonPoll as "State's Most Reliable Opinion Poll"

Profs. Matt Barreto and Christopher Parker talk the WashingtonPoll on KCTS 9 Connects

Mark Smith on National Public Radio

Mark Smith on the FiveThirtyEight web site

Political Science Major wins Rhodes Scholarship: Byron Gray -- a triple major in Political Science, Law Society and Justice, and International Studies -- has been named a Rhodes Scholar.  Byron was also named a Beinecke Scholar last spring.  When receiving that award, he noted that his three majors complement each other because they are united by an underlying interest in how people conceptualize the world and how these conceptualizations shape political and social struggles. Among many other things, Bryon has been a tutor in the Writing Center and the managing editor of the Orator Undergraduate Journal of Political Science.

Matt Barreto in the New York Times opinion pages, "Watch for ‘Sí Se Puede’ Signs at Obama Rallies"

Victor Menaldo on Burma Democracy in Foreign Policy, "Burma Can Bring It."

Christopher Parker's Winter 2012 class on patriotism featured in Art & Sciences Newsletter, Perspectives, "Who's Patriotism is This, Anyway?"

Victor Menaldo paper, "Rainfall, Human Capital, and Democracy" (with Stephen Haber), discussed in The Economist article, "Historysis: Can conquests centuries ago explain the democratic deficit in the Arab world today?"

Heather Pool has been selected as the 2012 College of Arts and Sciences Graduate Medalist for the social sciences. This award is recognition of an outstanding recent or upcoming Ph.D. in each of the divisions of the College. This notable accomplishment for Heather recognizes the quality of her scholarly work along with the numerous contributions she has made to the Department and College. In addition, she is being honored as part of the UW 150th anniversary celebration with a "Timeless Award" as part of recognition of past and future notables of the UW.

Peter May has been named as the 2012 recipient of the Marsha Landolt Graduate Mentor Award

Luis Fraga has been selected by the Fulcrum Foundation and the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle as one of five 2012 Champions of Catholic Education.  This recognition is for his leadership in helping to establish language immersion schools as a means of more fully incorporating immigrants and others into the educational system.  He will be recognized this week at the Foundation's Celebration of Light 2012.

Daniel Berliner is the recipient of this year's IPE Graduate Student Best Paper award. The title of Daniel's paper is: "The Impact of Freedom of Information Laws on Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries." The committee notes that "Daniel Berliner argues convincingly in this paper that democratic transparency is an important factor in the decision of foreign firms to engage in foreign direct investment (FDI) in developing countries.  He provides solid empirical evidence for his views.  The indicator of democratic transparency that he has selected is the adoption of freedom of information (FOI) laws.  Together with a general commitment to the rule of law, the adoption of FOI laws is strongly  correlated with inflows of FDI." Daniel Berliner will received a framed certificate and a check for $100 at the IPE section's business meeting in San Diego in April 2012.

Naomi Murakawa and Katherine Beckett (Sociology and LSJ) have received a UW Royalty Research Fund grant for their project, "The Shadow Carceral State:  The Hidden Politics of Penal Expansion."  Naomi has also been designated a UW Royalty Research Fund Scholar.  The combination of the grant and the scholar designation is a notable achievement.

Tony Gill's podcasts on religion in the UW Today.

James Long (University of California-San Diego) to join UW Faculty.

Lance Bennett presented the Annual Faculty Lecture in 2011-12.  This is the highest honor that UW faculty bestow on one of their own in selecting a distinguished UW scholar to deliver the annual faculty lecture.  In addition to honoring the recipient, the award is designed to increase awareness, both within and outside the University, of the nature and significance of original work being done by outstanding faculty members.  We have not had this honor bestowed on one of our faculty members since Donald Matthews was the lecturer in 1989. This is another stellar achievement for Lance and yet another indicator of the excellence of our department.  Lance was jointly nominated by us and by the Department of Communication.

Graduate Research and Related Grants in Political Science for 2012


Congratulations to the following students for their successful applications to theGraduate Research and Related Grants in Political Science for 2012

Ione E. Curtis Graduate Research Grant in Political Science
Will d’Ambruoso, “Asymmetric War Outcomes and Arms for the Weak”
Josh Eastin, “Natural Disasters and Civil Conflict in the Philippines”

Camden Hall Graduate Research Grant 
Kirstine S. Taylor, “Race and the Politics of Innocence in the New South, 1944-1972”

Bryan and Diane Jones Graduate Research Grant in American Politics
Allison D. Rank, “Factory Workers, Criminals, or College Students: Constructions of Youth in Twentieth Century America”

Robert Kaplan and Margaret Levi Civic Engagement Grant
Yuting Li, “Political Determinants of Public Housing Provision: Who is the government protecting?”

Peter J. May Graduate Research Grant in Political Science
Rachel Sanders, “The Color of Fat: The Racial Biopolitics of Obesity”
Milli Lake, 'The Politics of Punishment: explaining institutional responses to mass violence in South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo'.   

David J. Olson Graduate Research Grant in Labor and Subnational Politics
Amanda Clayton, “Institutionalizing Representation: The rise and efficacy of women’s electoral quotas worldwide”

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