The Spring 2012 Commence Address will be delivered by Political Science alumna Beth Morrison Klein, (B.A. 1983 Summa Cum Laude). She is an accomplished lawyer who chooses to dedicate her life and legal skills to end human trafficking. Her parents, Ralph and Lois Morrison, both graduated from Truman. Her grandfather, Ray Cooksey, and great-grandfather, Ulysses Sherman Cooksey, also attended Truman.

Margaret Edwards has joined the Political Science faculty beginning in Fall 2012.  Professor Edwards is a doctoral candidate at the Universityof New Mexico with broad expertise in Comparative Politics, International Politics, Methodology, Political Parties, Institutions, and Regime Change, in addition to her in-depth knowledge of Latin America.  Professor Edwards has been awarded a Fulbright Grant to study in Argentina, been an Americas Program Intern at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, and has spent 15 months doing field work in Ecuador and Argentina.

Michael Baharaeen, senior Political Science major, won a Pi Sigma Alpha Best Paper award at the 20th annual Illinois State University Conference for Students of Political Science.  Michael’s paper was entitled “The Medical Marijuana Program Act: A Critical Analysis of the Formulation of California’s Medical Marijuana Law.”  His faculty mentor for the project was Dr.Randy Hagerty.  Michael’s paper will also be published in the journal Critique.
 
Other Truman Political Science majors presenting at the conference were Laknath Dias, who  presented “New Social Movements and the Effective Mobilizations of Peoples” and Morgan Tucker, whose paper was entitled “Female Electoral Quotas and Closing the Gender Gap.”

The Truman State Chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, the national Honorary Society for Political Scientists, inducted nine new members during its initiation ceremony on April 5.  The new members are Michael Corey-Yares, Nicola Fish, Cody Hagan, Wyatt Hoffman, Alec Kelley, Ryan Kohler, Ryan Nely, Andrew Peake, and Michael Polwort.  The officers chosen for the upcoming academic year are Abigal Twenter (President), Michael Corey-Yares (Vice President), Ryan Kohler (Secretary) and Alec Kelley (Secretary).

Rachel Dicke and Emily Wagman presented papers at the 21st Annual Midwest Political Science Undergraduate Research Conference, which was held on the campus of Creighton University on March 30-31. Rachel presented on “European Integration and Relative Economic Strength.” Emily’s paper was entitled “The Effects of Foreign Aid Shocks on Civil Armed Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Dr. Randy Hagerty also attended the conference and served as chair and discussant for the panel “American Politics–Public Policy.” The MPSURC featured almost 50 student research presentations from the top liberal arts universities across the Midwest.

Adam Crews has been selected by the Political Science faculty as the Outstanding Student in Political Science for the 2011-12 Academic Year. Adam plans to attend law school after graduation, and currently has been accepted to law school at Harvard, Virginia, Duke and other institutions.

The Department of Political Science is pleased to announce the recipients of Department Honors for the Spring 2012 Commencement. Honorees will have this distinction noted on their permanent transcripts, and special notation of the award will be made in the commencement program. The 2012 Honorees are Jordan Bucheit, Amanda Ciecior, Adam Crews, Rachel Dicke, Daniel Giddings, Christian Johns, Kristin Marshall, Kyle Olmstead, Clair Reynolds, Clee Shy, Dylan Terry and Syed Zaidi.

Daniel Hammond has received Departmental Honors for the Fall 2011 Commencement from Truman State. In addition to earning a perfect grade point average, Daniel has served two internships for the U.S. Department of Justice, received the Outstanding Attorney Award at the National Mock Trial Association competition, and participated on the Truman Model UN Team that won the 2008 Outstanding Delegation Award.

The Truman State team won the “Outstanding Delegation Award “ for its representation of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the American Model United Nations International Conference held in Chicago, Illinois from November 19-22. Stephen Gott and Chelsea Rodriguez were noted for their outstanding performance in their roles. Mehdi Zaidi also was chosed by the World Health Assembly to present the final report on “Public Health, Innovation, and Intellectual Property” to the General Assembly. Samuel Kirschenheiter was selected to serve as a reporter on the International Press Delegation. He had four articles published throughout the conference an in subsequent editions of the American Model UN Newsletter.

Truman Political Science faculty and students will be active participants at the International Studies Association-Midwest Conference from November 11-13 at the Hilton at the Ballpark in St. Louis.  Professor Michael Rudy will present a paper that he co-authored with Wyatt Hoffman and Jeff Hunt entitled “Evaluating the Visegrad Battlegroup.”  Political Science Senior Dan Ritter will also present his paper on “Democratic Hegemons: Belligerent Boss or Gentle General?”