Graduate
Student Resources: Overview
Welcome to the Graduate Student Association home page. This page is intended
to provide information—academic, professional and otherwise—to the GVPT graduate
student body.
Here you will find links to valuable resources, including datasets, important
dates and events, grad student biographies, and the responses to our 2009-2010
Professional Development Survey.
If you have questions or suggestions regarding anything on the GSA
page, please contact webmaster Jesse-Douglas
Mathewson.
Graduate Student Association Contacts (2012-2013)
GSA Co-Chairs
Andy Jannet & Borjian Zic
Social Chair
Genny Mayhew & Dan Creed
Professional
Development Officer
David Prina & Peter White
International Student
Liaison
Hyo Joon Chang
Technology
Liaison
Konrad Mugglestone
Admissions
Raymond Williams, Nena Cavel & John Holland
Graduate
Studies
Anne Frugé, Ping Kuei Chen & David Prina
Undergraduate Studies
David Prina
Teaching Committee
David Prina
GVPT Awards
David Prina
DGSAC
Gilbert Nunez & Hayley Sullivan
American Politics
Candace Turitto
Comparative Politics
Anne Frugé
International
Relations
Katayoun Kishi
Political Philosophy
Dan Creed
Methodology
Jeff Taylor
American Politics, Political Philosophy and Public Law
The Almanac
of American Politics has information on congressional districts and members
of Congress including election returned for each district.
Avalon Collection:
digitized versions of major sources.
Census
Data
The Center for Responsive
Politics
The
Congressional Record
Joseph
Cooper’s Data: roll call voting data
Congressional Quarterly
EBSCO
databases
Federal Awards
Data
Frisch & Kelly
Data Page: the most comprehensive committee request data available.
Gallup
Brain
GPO Access
Homeland
Security Digital Library
ICPSR offers
more than 500,000 digital files containing social science research data. Disciplines
represented include political science, sociology, demography, economics, history,
gerontology, criminal justice, public health, foreign policy, terrorism, health
and medical care, early education, education, racial and ethnic minorities, psychology,
law, substance abuse and mental health, and more.
JSTOR
LexisNexis
National Archives digitial
collection.
Policy Agendas Project:
a great new project that has some interesting data coding the policy content
of legislation.
Presidency Data from
UC-Santa Barbara
Project
Gutenberg is has thousands of free ebooks to read on your PC or portable
device.
Roper
iPoll
Charles
Stewart has a lot of invaluable committees, election and nomination data
on his website.
Thomas: Information on
all bills considered by Congress.
Voteview is a clearinghouse
for roll-call votes, party polarization scores, individual party unity scores,
and nominate scores.
Westlaw
Campus Research
Comparative Politics and International Relations
Armed
Conflict Database
The Center for Systemic
Peace regularly monitors and reports on general trends in societal-system
performance, at the global, regional, and state levels of analysis and in the
key systemic dimensions of conflict, governance, and (human and physical) development.
CIAO:
Mostly full-text database which publishes a wide range of scholarship including
working papers from research institutes, occasional paper series from NGOS, policy
briefs, case studies, conference proceedings and papers, course packs, book chapters
and journal articles.
Cold
War Database: Primary and secondary sources in print, online, microform,
audio and video/film formats produced during, or about, the period in history
known as the Cold War.
Correlates of War
Economist
Historical Archive
GADM database of Global Administrative Areas: GADM is a spatial database of
the location of the world's administrative areas (or adminstrative boundaries)
for use in GIS and similar software.
Global
Terrorism Dataset
Gtopo30
Global Elevation Dataset: GTOPO30 is a global digital elevation model
(DEM) completed in late 1996 through
a collaborative effort led by staff at the U.S. Geological Survey's Center for
Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS).
Paul Hensel's
data clearinghouse page
Homeland
Security Digital Library
ICPSR offers
more than 500,000 digital files containing social science research data. Disciplines
represented include political science, sociology, demography, economics, history,
gerontology, criminal justice, public health, foreign policy, terrorism, health
and medical care, early education, education, racial and ethnic minorities, psychology,
law, substance abuse and mental health, and more.
International Conflict
Behavior
Keesing's
Record of World Events: Precise, detailed reports on political, economic,
and social events. 1931 to the present.
The Lijphart Elections
Archive is a static research collection of district level election results
for approximately 350 national legislative elections in 26 countries that was
maintained through 2003.
Minorities
at Risk
OECD
iLibrary
Political
Risk Services Country Data
Polity codes
the authority characteristics of states in the world system for purposes of comparative,
quantitative analysis (democracy scores).
Statesman's
Yearbook Archive: Provides the political, economic and social account of
every country of the world along with key facts and analysis.
United Nations
Uppsala Conflict
Data
World Bank Database
World
Constitutions Illustrated
World
Development Indicators Online
World
Maps collection at UT-Austin
Professional Development Survey: Introduction
In 2009-10, Professional Development Representative Molly
Inman solicited
responses to important and frequently asked questions regarding the GVPT graduate
student experience. The responses were informative and enlightening, providing
important information and advice for prospective, incoming and current
grads.
Feel free to browse the responses below or view the full PDF.
Comprehensive Exams
I think it’s different for everybody. Some people feel ready to
take them earlier than others. I took my first field the summer after my
second year, and then my second field, the following summer. It helped
that I took it at the same time that the three of the other four students in
my cohort took theirs- that was helpful for study group purposes. Personally,
I would have done badly had I tried to take mine earlier than I did. I
think the summers after 2nd and 3rd year are good. If you wait too long
then some of the faculty start to raise their eyebrows a bit.
It depends on the individual and his/her background coming into the program,
as well as one’s financial situation and funding commitment. Keep in mind
that you are preparing yourself to be competent in the field, not just going
through hoops to get your degree.
Talk to your mentors and the faculty you interact with. Typically they will
know if you’re ready. You, personally, will not believe you are ready when
you actually are. Remember that nobody fails their comps unless they cheat or
completely neglect preparation, and in the end nobody cares what your grade is
so long as you pass.
Anywhere between your third and fifth semesters for your first comp. I don’t
know if earlier is better, but don’t put it off if you’ve taken all
relevant course work. And, I’ve heard it’s best to take the second
comp the semester after you take the first one. Best to be done with these by
these somewhere in the third year.
I took mine really early (done by end of 2nd year). I don’t know that
this has really helped or hindered me. You will probably not fail your comps,
unless you cheat, but you want to impress your committee. Waiting into your 4th
year is a bad idea, though.
Take your time but take them before the third year.
Ceteris paribus, it is better to take them sooner rather than later. It’s
pretty hard to fail comps, but you do want to do a credible job, because many
of the people reading them are likely to be on your dissertation committee and
you don’t want to embarrass yourself in front of them. It is good
to get them out of the way, so you can focus on your prospectus. Also,
it is possible to take them both at the “same” time. For example,
if you are taking the August comp, you can take your first comp during the scheduled
comp period and the second either the week before or after. If you are
taking two subfields that overlap like IR and comparative, this isn’t a
bad plan.
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Other than your advisor, I don’t really think so. If your advisor
is a good one, he/she will go to bat for you if need be, though that was more
in the case of the oral defense, which they don’t do anymore. Honestly,
I think everybody passes their comp unless one of two things happens: 1) you
get at least one answer totally incorrect- like you use terms and theories incorrectly-
showing that you really did not pay attention at all in the course, or 2) you
don’t do a good job, and the professors are looking for a good reason to
encourage you to leave the program- like for example, you have taken no interest
in research projects that professors have offered you, you are on fellowship
but are doing extremely poorly for no apparent reason, you make no effort
to be an active part of the department.
Just select people who you think you might want on your dissertation committee.
You only have so much control. There are plenty of department politics to
consider, and plenty of people who don’t get along, personally or methodologically.
Maybe a good rule for when you should take your comp is when you’ve got
things enough figured out that you can pick 3 people who won’t fight and
have your back.
You only get to select two of the three readers on your comp. It is important
to keep your readers in mind when writing your answers. It probably makes sense
to have your dissertation chair be one of your readers as well.
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The best advice I got was to calm down about the comps! We all get (well
most of us) get really worked up and nervous about it, and there are a lot of
freak outs about not having done enough background work and getting questions
that you have no idea how to answer. Once you open that email with the
questions in it, and take a deep breath, you just start working and you get it
done. Don’t get me wrong- those two day really suck- but they are
not the end of the world.
The professors know that you only have a limited amount of time to get a lot
of writing done, so don’t waste a lot of time worrying about making sure
that the presentation is perfect like you would a seminar paper. As long
as you can present a logical answer using the important literature, you’re
fine.
First field American students, listen up: Go to the EbscoHost database
and look up the Annual Review of Political Science. Go through each volume,
and print the articles that are relevant to your subfield, and areas that you
think you need to know for your comp. These articles are reviews of the
literature for that area or subject. It is a fantastic source to build
a large number of sources to use for your comp answer.
Ask your readers and the field chair that semester what you should be studying
for. They may not give you direct answers but it will not hurt to ask. This is
especially important for exams in which you are one of a select few takers during
that exam period. There is no excuse for being surprised by an exam on which
you are the only test taker.
Use the old questions as study guides. If you ask Ann Marie for these, she
will give them to you. Also, having a study group to hold you accountable helps…even
if you are taking different exams.
Take time to exercise and sleep. Also, it’s just a hoop. A burning,
unpleasant, hoop.
Take good notes during your course and in readings you do.
Make sure to schedule time for sleep during the comp period. You get
the comp at 8 AM on day 1 and it is due by 4:00 PM on the second day. Build
in some time for sleep sometime during that period, otherwise, your answers are
going to tend toward the nonsensical the more sleep deprived you become.
Less is more. Stick to the page number guidelines; it is unlikely your
answer will be ground breaking or even something they haven’t either taught
you or heard before. For a lot of subfields, the questions likely to asked
are very predictable and you can write a substantial portion of them ahead of
time and your readers know this. Do not write 40 pages per question and
turn it in. Demonstrate command of the literature succinctly. Don’t
just regurgitate the literature; analyze it and give your position on it. If
you do a study group, don’t use each other’s outlines or write ups
verbatim on the comp.
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Two other students in my cohort were doing comps at the same time, so we had
a study group. Part of the time, we all looked up the same topic on our
own, and then came together and discussed what we thought were the main points
and the important literature. This worked really well, because we all usually
came at the same subject from different angles so we had three different ways
of looking at the subject now. The other times, we each took a smaller
subject, or a book or two off the booklist and then we got together and summarized
what we worked on for the other two. Group work really helps you feel like
you can cover a lot more ground, but be careful: a couple of years ago, some
students in a different field got in trouble, basically on claims of cheating,
using work that they had done in a study group, so just be a little more aware
of what are your words, and what are others.
You can get old copies of the comps from Ann Marie.
I’m not sure that anyone’s method better than anyone else’s.
Everyone’s study habits are different. I was successful cramming for a
month before my exam. Writing full abstracts rather than outlines showed me what
parts of the main argument I would miss without having to take multiple pages
of notes for each subject. Using a reference manager and saving my abstracts
in each reference made my work searchable on-demand. You will find out what you
need to focus on by obtaining older comps from Ann Marie, and by asking the field
chair what they will be including or changing this semester. You have a right
to ask if not a right to an explicit answer.
I studied by prepping for questions that reappeared year after year on comp
exams.
Everyone has different studying advice. For me it made the most sense to create
outlines of general topics within the subfield. This helped me organize my thoughts
on all the possible topics.
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Get a full night’s sleep. If you took enough notes before the exam,
you should have enough time to get a full eight hours during the exam taking
period as well. If you did take enough notes and you don’t get a full eight
hours, you are writing too much. Moreover, readers will tell you that anything
over 30-40 pages, double spaced, is too much. This may be more than they want
to read, but nobody is going to fail you for writing a long comp. In my experience,
short and critical is a maximizing strategy that is more work-intensive but will
allow you to receive a grade of Distinction. On the other hand, long and comprehensive
will not win you Distinction, but it’s a satisficing strategy that will
almost certainly guarantee passage.
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Honestly, I think I would have put a little more effort into studying for
them. By the middle of the summer I was tired and worn down from studying
and the stress of thinking about comps, so I more or less did the minimum amount
of work. Incidentally, I did just fine on both comps, but I could have
been more prepared with outlines, etc.
I wish I had more time to study. Taking the comp in January doesn’t
give you much time. August gives you more time to prep without the pressures
of a semester.
Relaxed a little more.
Nothing.
I wish I had studied less.
I passed both comps, but I wish I had studied a lot less for IR and more for
comparative.
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Funding and Assistantships
The best thing to do if you don’t have funding (I think) is to look
for a GAship somewhere else on campus. That way, you retain your tuition
remission and your health benefits. They are also 20 hour a week assignments. When
they are available, they are on the UMD Employment webpage in their own section.
There usually aren’t many on there until the summer when old students have
left and they are looking for new workers, and they finally know what their budget
is going to be so they know at that point if they can afford to take on a graduate
student worker. I don’t know of any source for external jobs that
are geared towards graduate students. Irwin or Ann Marie (usually both)
send out emails that the department receives from other schools about adjuncting
at local colleges, but they are usually looking for students who are ABD.
The graduate student listserv often has grad assistant listings
Graduate assistantships and other jobs are often available at the UHR webpage
(http://www.uhr.umd.edu/employment/listings.cfm?listing=30%20Graduate%20Assistant).
Most jobs come online between January and July. Most are full-year assistantships,
and many offer great opportunities for those who are proficient in second languages.
It probably also wouldn’t hurt to contact various departments around
campus to see if they have TAing needs. There are also other opportunities to
make money on campus including through the writing center (http://www.english.umd.edu/writingcenter).
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I never really thought about the assistantships in this regard, probably because
so few of them really have any connection to research interests anyway. Along
the way, almost all of us will TA for gvpt170 or some other class that has nothing
to do with what you are interested in studying. If you are able to get
an RA position, then that should correspond to your interests, but part of that
is out of your hands- it is the professors who make the final decision on who
is going to be their RA, and they obviously will pick a student who has similar
research interests.
It is ideal if you are interested in what you are doing, but probably not
crucial. I had a good experience teaching an intro course that actually turned
out to be very useful before taking the comps. There are a number of ways that
the assistantship can serve as a development opportunity even if it doesn’t
directly correspond to your research interests, and it is also important to work
with someone who is a good mentor. Additionally, it is important to have a schedule
that doesn’t cause you to fall behind in your own work or classes. The
assistantship is a means to an end; it is not the end of the world if you don’t
love yours.
I personally have never had an assistantship that corresponded with my research
interests, with the dubious exception of teaching GVPT 100, and I’ve held
nine separate assistantships. For me, this was not a necessity for my progress
in the program. However, for those of you who plan to work closely with faculty
members, an assistantship with one of these faculty serves as a means of fulfilling
your funding requirements while contributing to—rather than competing with—your
own research effort.
I think it’s good to be versatile within your broad area of study. Teaching
experience (no matter what class) will prove helpful in the future. I think
having a research assistantship in your area of interest is more important.
It would be ideal for your assistantship to correspond to your research interests
and if possible that should be something to try for. However, it is not always
even possible for this to be the case. Ultimately, you should try to get the
best assistantship you can, but not worry if it doesn’t match your interests.
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You have a good idea of who is going to teach what for the next semester and
who has RA positions available when Ann Marie sends out that form. You
can put down what you want, but the best way is to express your interest in the
position to the professor whom you will be working with. Once we as students
fill out those forms, the professors get a list of who asked for their TA or
RA and for the most part they get to pick who they want. A lot of times
the professors will ask students who they want to work with in advance if they
are interested in their TA or RA position.
If you have guaranteed funding, don’t be afraid to go and talk to the
professor with whom you want to work before the assistantship decisions are made
and make it clear you would like to work for them. That can go a long way to
getting you the assistantship you want.
The key is to get to know the professors, decide which ones you would like
to work with and let them know that you want to work for them before you fill
out your assistantship preference form. If you take a seminar with a professor
who teaches that class at the undergraduate level, it doesn’t hurt to let
the professor know how much you like the class and want to TA it for her while
you are still her student (presuming that you are doing well in the course). Remember
that the professors also fill out an assistant-preference form and if they don’t
know that you are interested in working for them then you stand a very slim chance
of having them request you.
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TA’s rarely work 20 hours a week, other than the weeks when papers are
turned in and exams are taken. Those weeks are hell to get the grading
done, but other than that, it’s just attending the class, leading the discussion
section (if there even is one) and then holding office hours that you rarely
have any students stop by for. You get to see professors in action, so
you can start to see some of the teaching strategies that work (and those that
don’t!); seeing a couple of different ways to approach teaching helps you
to start visualizing how you want to run your own classroom. RA’s hours
really depend on the professor you are working for. Some you work the 20
hours a week and then some, and others are much more laid back about the hours
as long as the data/work is done when they asked for it. RA’s mostly
do the “grunt work” spending hours on SPSS or STATA collecting and
analyzing data for the professor. Maybe not the most thrilling thing, but
good experience in doing research, and you are likely to get your name on a publication
when you are a RA.
Some people seem to favor the RA positions because there is no grading involved,
but some professors are more understanding than others about what is a reasonable
time commitment. I have enjoyed getting the teaching experience of being a TA
and getting to know the students.
TAing is an activity that, during most times, will only take up as much time
out of your week as you decide to put into it. However, during exam periods,
you will often work more than 20 hours in a given week grading exams and papers.
Final exam periods also tend to coincide with your own end-of-semester class
assignments. As a result, your schedule is often crowded and inflexible during
these periods; effective time-management is a necessity.
The perks of being an RA are possible publications and learning research skills
from tenured professors. However, your work schedule is very much at the mercy
of the professor you work for. I think you have more freedom as a TA, but grading
can be intense. You will be very busy at certain points of the semester and not
busy during others. You will probably have a steady flow of work as an RA.
RAships can be really demanding, but you often have a little more flexibility.
I guess you don’t get to work with students, or much experience standing
in front of a class. I find that my TAing made me a confident teaching my first
time out alone.
I think it really depends on the position. Some TA positions are more or less
work and some RA positions are more or less work. With TA positions you get the
benefit of getting experience teaching classes you might be interested in. With
RA positions you get the benefit of working on research with experience professors
and sometimes you get the opportunity to co-author papers. So, there are pros
and cons of both. Personally, I think RA positions are more beneficial for graduate
students because of the co-authorship potential.
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There is a reason for every single student to consider outside funding opportunities.
If you have a funding guarantee, you can seek outside assistantships and defer
your department funding until you need it, such as when you’re working
on your dissertation. If you are not one of the students lucky enough to have
a funding guarantee from the department, you should seek outside funding at least
as a backup to your department funding. If you do not receive funding at all,
these are opportunities you must pursue if you want a stipend and benefits. For
everyone, outside funding often provides year-round work and therefore more money
for the cash-strapped student. Some are more demanding, but some are far less
demanding. It’s in every student’s best interest to have as much
information and as many alternatives as possible to decide what’s best.
Working with faculty in the department, whether TAing or RAing is preferable
if you can make it happen, because those people will be a resource for you as
you continue in the program. If that is not possible, looking outside of
the department is a good alternative, but make sure you stay engaged in GVPT
as well.
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Those with 12 month assistantships.
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Publications, Research and Conferences
It is unbelievably important to publish – it’s the most important
aspect of your ‘total package’ as a job applicant in academia. Sadly,
I think there is way too much emphasis on publishing as compared to teaching,
but I’ll step off that soap box. I think your 2nd- 3rd year
is a good time to start thinking about projects that you can work on with a professor
that will hopefully end up as published work.
You should go to conferences when you can. They are a good way to see what
other work is being put out there in fields that you are interested in, and they
are a great place to network, which can be helpful when thinking about jobs. Having
said that, I would advise against someone presenting just for the sake of presenting. In
other words, don’t go to every conference with a poor paper to present
just so that you can add it to your CV. If you can afford it, it is nice
to go to a conference your first or second year where you aren’t presenting,
so that you can get an idea of what conferences are like and how the presentations
go.
You want to make sure that you are ready before presenting at an external
conference. Practice at a UMD workshop.
Graduating from the lower-end of the top tier of political science schools
will not guarantee you a job right out of the gate. Without publications you
cannot compete with students from Chapel Hill, Michigan, or Berkeley, who will
be going for the same jobs you will. This includes those who will obtain a position
at a teaching-focused school as a main preference or as a fall-back. Inasmuch,
you should publish by the time you go on the market, and this requires that you
present your work at conferences.
Do this as soon as you have a complete paper (meaning, something that is not
just a research design). It’s important to get out there and meet
people in the field. And, as silly as it sounds, the conferences make you look
and feel like a professional—something that’s hard to come by day-to-day
as a grad student.
Like everything else, the sooner the better. But there is almost no point
in pushing yourself the first year, unless you come in with some work you want
to develop. This varies from field to field, and is a place to really get your
advisors to talk to you about.
Publishing is the most important thing for graduate students to be doing with
their time. One should start working towards conferences and publication immediately.
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Usually you can go to a professor with your idea for a paper and you can ask
them for their advice on what you are trying to do and if they would like to
work with you on it. There can be benefits to having a well established professor’s
name on your paper when it gets sent to journals.
Sometimes the professor whom you share research interests with will be presented
with an offer for a book chapter or to submit an article for a special edition
of a journal, etc., and they ask you if you are interested in working on it with
them. In this case, even if you have no interested whatsoever in doing
this, you should have a really good reason to give them as to why you can’t
do it (the fact that you are dying under coursework, and another project or two
that you are working on counts as a good reason—just not responding to
the offer or turning down a really good opportunity ‘just because’ doesn’t
really fly with the faculty)
If you want to coauthor with another student, you can do that on your own
time, but you should get a professor to give the okay and keep them updated on
your progress. This way, you will know from the start if what you are working
on is feasible and a good idea. Some professors will let you coauthor a
class paper if you are prepared to write a paper that is much better than your
average seminar paper (one whose goal is to be eventually be published), but
that’s something to ask at the beginning of the course when you first start
thinking about the paper.
I think the dynamic here can vary greatly depending on if you are working
with another student or a faculty member, or if you are considered a primary
or secondary author.
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The American Politics WS is important to attend, especially when you are a
first or second year student. It is a good way to see the faculty that
you will be working with (and who will eventually be writing you recommendation
letters). It is billed as the “fourth class” you have. It
is a good way to see how a paper moves from ideas to an actual publishable paper.
I don’t really find it all that important to present at the APW. If
you have a paper and you want feedback on it, then yes, it’s a good thing
to do. But if you don’t do it, I don’t think you are missing
out. I guess I would say, it doesn’t hurt, but in the long run, it
doesn’t really help all that much either.
The APW is not what it used to be. At one time, it truly was a workshop
for both professors and students to come with works in progress, and to get good
feedback and some of the earlier stages of a paper. People still have an
actual paper to present, but it was an early draft, so there was still time for
the author to integrate really good ideas that they received. The past
few years, it has become very professionalized, to the point where it seems like
professors are more or less showing off their work that is for the most part
ready for publication the way it is, or at least very close to that. I
think it has intimidated students into not wanting to present their work, when
they have to try and compare their seminar paper that needs a lot of work to
a professor’s nearly finalized paper, which is unfortunate.
It is very important to attend workshops, because it is an opportunity to
get to know the other faculty in the field, who you may not take classes with.
It is also a professional courtesy, since you will need the feedback of others
at some point, too. If you don’t get to know and work with other graduate
students, you are putting yourself at a disadvantage when you are working on
a paper or going on the market.
Relationships with faculty in your subfields are an indispensable source of
professional capital. You will need these people, so it’s important for
them to know who you are. However, it’s not just about showing up, but
about contributing. Act as a discussant, attend and speak up, and present your
work—but only if you have something meaningful to contribute.
I think the workshop is tops. You get feedback in a safe environment, and
you make sure that people in the department know who you are.
It is extremely important and useful to attend workshops. You get more feedback
than a regular conference.
It is important to attend and present at subfield workshops. Attending allows
students to observe and practice giving and receiving feedback on original research.
In American Politics it is a de facto requirement that students attend the subfield
workshop.
In the American Politics field it is absolutely necessary to attend the subfield
workshop. Most graduate students, do not present their own papers until
they are working on dissertation chapters (if ever) but attendance is very important. The
professors take note of who is attending workshop and expect that if you are
not coming then you are not taking the program very seriously. If you have
an assistantship or other conflict that makes you miss the workshop then tell
your advisor why you are not there. This is very important! In addition
to making a good impression, the workshops are also an excellent way to learn
professional skills and read papers on a variety of topics in the field. The
discussion and critiques generated in the workshops is much better than any at
professional conferences you will attend. It is a great learning experience.
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A reference manager is software that collects and stores all of your bibliographic
information so that when you are writing papers and you cite a source, the software
automatically writes up the citation for you so you don’t have to hassle
with it. When people first started talking about it a year or so after
I got here, Endnote was
the one that everybody had. At this point, I think there are numerous choices. As
far as I know, you have to buy a version of it (I’ve never seen it offered
by OIT). Of course, you can easily ‘find it’ amongst other
grad students. That is what usually happens. I have no problems with
that (that’s how I got the version that I had) but beware: some of the
professors are a little touchy about copying software, so just make sure you
know for sure if they are alright with it before you ask for copies of software
from them.
I use Zotero (free shareware)
and it has changed my life. It is amazingly useful for organizing sources
for papers and projects and comps. It kind of has the same interface and
intuition as iTunes and makes bibliographies a breeze among other things, and
I don’t even use half of its features.
Personally, I was excited when I got Endnote, because I thought it would be
great, and a terrific help when I did my comps. I used it to store a lot
of sources that I thought I would need for my comps. I didn’t open
it once for the four days of comps that I have taken (two days for 1 and 2 fields)
and I have not used it for any other paper, and I’m not currently using
it for my dissertation. It just didn’t seem all that helpful after
I had it for a while, so if you don’t like using it, don’t worry
about it, you’re not missing out on anything.
It will save all of the reference information from a source, so you can develop
a reference page easily. A great resource for comps.
Start learning LaTeX and BibTeX immediately.
They are free and the output looks perfect.
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You can apply for awards that are giving out by the department (which are
usually geared towards specific fields), and the university gives away some awards. There
are also some awards/fellowships available from foundations, think tanks, etc.,
that may specialize in what you are working on.
NSF has dissertation development
grants.
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To travel to conferences, you can get forms from Ann Marie to get reimbursed
for part of your expenses. You have to fill out the paper work before you
go on the trip.
You need to get a faculty sponsor and fill out some paper work before you
go to the conference to apply for the funding. After the conference you need
a fill out an expense report and provide receipts for everything you claim on
the report.
In addition to university and department funding, many of the conferences
will offer funding for graduate students who are presenting a paper. Be
sure to check the website for these opportunities as soon as you find out that
your paper was accepted. Most grad students need the money so you want
to get your application in as soon as possible. Most of these grants require
a letter of recommendation from your advisor (university and department travel
grants do also) so you may want to give your advisor a heads-up when you submit
your paper so they have plenty of time to write the letter.
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Prospectus and Dissertation
If you are worried about being too broad or to specific, lean more towards
the broad side. Your committee will let you know if you are being too broad
and give you suggestions on how to narrow your dissertation down.
Treat it as the first chapter of your dissertation.
Don’t try to make the prospectus perfect. It is more important just
get your idea and plan down on paper and present it to your committee. Your thinking
is most likely going to change during the subsequent two years you spend working
on the dissertation anyway.
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I would say pick people who have some connection to your topic, if possible. Only
my advisor studies what I am writing about, but I chose other faculty for my
committee who I knew had life experience in the topic that I am writing about. It
helps, if possible, to pick people that you already have a good working relationship
with.
Topical focus is important, but not everyone will have specific expertise
in your topic (if they do, your topic probably isn’t interesting or specific
enough). Pick a committee that A) has at least one member, preferably your chair,
whose expertise is in the vicinity of your work, that B) includes as few professional
conflicts amongst themselves as possible, and C) is sympathetic to your methodological
and epistemological orientations.
I think you have to strike a balance among three things: (1) Pick faculty
who do work similar to your topic; (2) Pick faculty who you work with well; (3)
Pick faculty who might have a variety of opinions on your topic.
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This has been the hardest part of writing my dissertation. Once your
classes are over and you have what seems to be an abundance of free time, it
is really easy to take ‘a few days to relax’ and then before you
know it, it is has been two weeks since you’ve done any work. The
best advice someone gave me about grad school in general was to treat it like
a job, 9-5. But that can be hard to work on the same project eight hours
a day for months at a time. If you tell yourself that you will work at
least one hour a day on your dissertation, you will do alright. Most days
you will do much more than that, but even on days that you only get an hour done,
you will still be hitting the goal you set for yourself.
Setting deadlines for yourself is important.
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Shrinks & Drinks (Social, Emotional and Psychological
Support)
Both the Counseling
Center and
the Health
Center provide
psychological and emotional support. I have personally found the Health Center
to be more competent in this regard, and they have psychiatric (pharmaceutical)
support that the Counseling Center does not. The Counseling Center has free one-on-one
talk therapy, while the Health Center costs $15 a visit (which is still very
cheap and deductable through insurance). Group therapy at both centers is free.
Friends?
Colleagues? Pets? I hear the counseling center is great and many gvpt grads use
it. Reach out. Isolation is not good for graduate students, but an easy trap
to fall into.
The best source of emotional support comes from the friends you make here
in graduate school. No one will understand what you are going through here
more than they will.
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Most people go to DC for fun, but you should also consider Baltimore if you
have an open weekend or time in the summer, etc. There are a lot of museums
and galleries in Baltimore as well.
You should also pay attention to the grad student announcements that they send
out in email- there are usually opportunities for cheap activities offered to
grad students in those announcements.
The Co-op in the basement of the student center. Hoff
movies. Gym. Piney
Branch or Rock Creek Park Trails. Smithsonian, Zoo,
monuments, etc.
The graduate student website has a
whole list of services and discounts just for us.
You can get cheap beer at Town
Hall, good beer at Franklin’s.
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General Advice
I truly believe that a great strength of our department is the commitment
of the faculty to work with students and to help them out as much as possible. Also, the friendliness of the students with
one another is a definite plus.
The department produces very well respected research, particularly in the
fields of conflict studies and American politics. Other fields and research areas
have problems that seem to go unaddressed. Political theory is suffering from
faculty vacancies. There seems to be a tension between channeling resources
into the areas that the department does well, and not causing the other fields
to be totally inadequate.
In terms of looking for academic rather than professional or research guidance,
some professors are good mentors and provide strong guidance, and some aren’t
and don’t. You need to get to know them in person in order to decide. None
of them will come to you—you must go to them and (politely) demand their
time. The best mentors for navigating the department are the ones who have some
experience but don’t have so much that they are on their way to retirement.
This means associate professors more than assistant or full professors. These
are also the busiest mentors, however.
The graduate student atmosphere is very friendly and not at all cut throat
competitive.
We have a collegial
group of grad students and a mostly collegial group of faculty. We have a decent
reputation and wide range of interesting work going on. In my opinion, we are
moving in a methodologically rigid direction which fails to appreciate the range
of approaches to the study of politics. We treat theorists, or those who do not
pursue large-N studies, like they are from another planet. We do not support
grad students enough, whether this is in terms of funding, mentoring, teaching
opportunities or democratic input into the department. We alienate our best faculty,
who move on to other institutions. We do not support language studies.
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ICPSR is valuable, and necessary if you want to have a second field in methods. I
think it would help anybody in American politics, but it is not necessary. You
can also take stats/math courses in other departments, and we have faculty/grad
students who excel in statistics and are very helpful.
If you are interested in selling yourself as a certain type of job candidate
with certain types of methods training, then these are important.
Attend ICPSR. Learn math. Take calculus classes at math department here.
ICPSR is indispensible for students interested in quantitative methods. I
think it is a must if you plan on having a second field in quantitative methods.
It is also worth attending if there is a specific method you need to learn about
for your dissertation.
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You have to talk with Irwin Morris about the second field, and if you get
the okay, you have to write up your own 2nd field proposal, which is mostly a
literature review and some specifics about your interest in the subject. (I
did public policy which is a very common 2nd field, so if you are choosing something
that is not done very often, then it may involve more steps).
You should talk to someone in the department who does work in that field about
what classes it would be important to take in such a field. You should also ask
that person if they would support you in creating that second field. You should
also talk to the graduate director about whether or not it will be feasible to
create that second field. You will also have to write a field proposal before
you take the comp. The proposal will detail why a second field in that topic
is important to you and what classes you took and how they apply to the field.
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The American Politics field has a 2nd year paper requirement that is highly
encouraged (and probably mandatory in the future). It is presented in a
conference-style workshop at the end of the spring semester. Your second
year is the most stressful year of grad school because of the heavy load of classes,
comp preparation, and the expectation that you will be writing conference papers
outside of class. For this reason, it is very helpful to take a seminar
paper from your first year (or first semester of your second year) and turn it
into the 2nd year paper that you’ll present. This will save you time
and you’ll already have some feedback from the professor who graded it
the first time that you can use to make it better for the presentation.
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Your dissertation advisor is extremely important. You have to find someone
who has full confidence in your topic and who you have a good relationship with
that you can work with.
Your advisor is very important for giving you honest and critical feedback
(particularly whether you need to work more or advance on a paper or idea), and
for introducing you to people who are doing work in your research area. But really
finding someone who you want to work with is more critical during the application
period so that you enroll in a program where you will get the support you need.
If you arrive without an advisor you have more work to do to build the professional
relationship, since some professors have already committed themselves to working
with a primary set of students.
It is important that you have one, and that you have one who is still invested
in this program but is also somewhat established in the field—this means
professors who will be at least partially tenured but not retired by the time
you plan to graduate. However, I have found my informal relationships with professors
far more edifying than the formal one the department assigned to me. It is not
important that you settle on who your advisor is right away. You can change
this at any time. The only times you need to specify a mentor is on forms for
comps and defenses, and you can (procedurally if not practically) change your
chair any time up until you apply to defend your final dissertation. Unless your
mentor has exceptionally invested their time in you, they will not mind you leaving
them for another. They will typically be glad that you lightened their work load.
Early on, the first year, your advisor isn’t that important. You can
change your advisor by talking to the grad director first, and then taking his/her
advice on where to go from there. I think the advisor will prove to be invaluable
during the prospectus/dissertation phase.
Extremely important.
Your advisor is very important. You should keep in regular contact with your
advisor and talk to them about your research and your progress. I do not think
there are any formal steps in changing your advisor if you are in the pre-prospectus
stage. I changed during this time and was told I didn’t have to do anything.
When you make your prospectus/dissertation committee just make sure you have
the person you want as your chair. However, if you do decide you want a new faculty
member to be your de facto advisor, make sure you have a conversation with both
your former and new advisor to make sure it is ok with everyone.
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In my experience, the only rigid administrative requirements are those which
you need to fulfill your course requirements (and even these are negotiable),
and how quickly you must defend your prospectus and dissertation (both of which
are negotiable with a letter from your mentor). While you shouldn’t use
the fluid aspect of departmental structure as an excuse not to get work done
on time—it’s already too fluid for all but the strongest self-starters—don’t
let departmental structure impose additional stress on your professional and
personal life. Everyone works at their own pace, and this has nothing to do with
how good a grad student you are. It is a marathon, not a sprint, and finishing
quickly is less important than finishing period.
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Important
Events: Summer 2012
Grad Biographies: Alphabetical
Carla Abdo
Seth
Abrams
X
BA: University of Michigan (History, 1996)
JD: University of Michigan (2000)
Expected graduation: 2013
First field: Political Theory
Second field: CP4
Research interests: My main interest is exploring
the functioning and development of power and authority. Specifically, this includes
new techniques and methods of power in contemporary society. I am currently doing
some work on government advertising—particularly the work of the Ad Council
(Smokey Bear, Woodsy Owl)—and how these messages are used to govern. In
addition, I am interested in exploring conceptions of freedom as well as historical
approaches to the study of political science.
Other interests: Board Games, especially Scrabble,
Risk, and Trivial Pursuit; College Football and Basketball; Rockies Baseball;
Racquetball; "Good" TV, i.e. "Dexter", "Mad Men", and "The Price is Right."
Words of wisdom: "Artistry is in having an insight
into what one sees around them. Generally putting things together in a way no
one else has before and finding a way to express that to other people." —Steve
Jobs
Email: sabrams at gvpt•umd•edu
Benjamin J. Appel
Jacob Aronson
X
BA: University of California, Santa Cruz
Expected graduation: 2012
First field: International Relations
Second field: Security Studies
Research interests: Links between conventional war,
guerrilla war and terrorism; COIN; civilian targeting in non-conventional conflicts;
U.S. grand strategy; offensive realism; quantitative methodology; free market
economics
Email: jaronson at gvpt•umd•edu
Stephen Arves
X
Hometown: Naperville, IL
BA: University of St. Thomas
Expected graduation: 2015
First field: Political Theory
Second field: Comparative Politics
Research interests: Human Rights, Ethics, Development, Political Psychology
Other interests: Reading, running, and the Green Bay Packers
Email: sarves at umd•edu
Melissa Bell
Daniel R. Biggers
Brittany Houtz Bramlett
Jonathan N. Brown
Matthew J. Burger
X
BA: Western
Maryland College (Political Science and History, 2001)
MPP: The George Washington University (Education
Policy and Policy Formation, 2004)
Expected graduation: December 2010
First field: American Politics
Second field: Public Law
Research interests: Political Geography, American
Political Culture, Elite Theory and Political Communication, Religion and Politics,
Constitutional Law (Free Exercise and Establishment), The Presidency, British
Politics, Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy.
Avocations: Hiking and Outdoors, Reading (Hemmingway,
Conrad, C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton), Smoking good tobacco, Drinking good Scotch,
and of course Jesus!
Words of wisdom: "Always remember others may
hate you but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you
destroy yourself." —Richard Nixon
"Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for Liberty, but it is Religion
and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can
securely stand. The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure Virtue, and
if this cannot be inspired into our People in a greater Measure than they have
it now, They may change their Rulers and the forms of Government, but they will
not obtain a lasting Liberty. They will only exchange Tyrants and Tyrannies." —John
Adams
"You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it." —G.K.
Chesterton
"Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions." —G.K.
Chesterton
Email: mburger at gvpt•umd•edu
I-wei Jennifer Chang
X
BA: Georgetown University (2003, International Relations
/ Asian Studies)
MA: University of Maryland (2005, Journalism)
First field: International Relations
Second field: Comparative Politics
Research interests: U.S.-China relations, Sino-Middle Eastern relations, Chinese foreign policy, China’s oil security, ethnic/religious conflict, and U.S. foreign policy
Other interests: Learning languages, Asian Americans in politics
Email: ichang at gvpt•umd•edu
Ping-Kuei Chen
X
Hometown: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
BA: National Chengchi University, Department of Diplomacy, Taiwan, Taipei
MA: Ohio University, Department of Political Science
Expected Graduation: 2015
First field: International Relations
Second field: Comparative Politics
Research interests: Military alliance, interstate war, Politics of East Asia
Words of wisdom: With the first link the chain is forged. The first speech censured and the first thought forbidden. The first freedom denied. Chains us all irrevocably.
Email: pchen at gvpt•umd•edu
Daniel P. Creed
X
Hometown: Tyngsboro, MA
BA: University of Hartford (2010 Politics and Government)
Expected graduation: 2016
First field: Political Theory
Second field: American Politics
Research interests: Democratic Theory, Social Justice, American Thought
Email: dcreed umd•edu
Heather M. Creek
Jill Curry
X
BS: SUNY
Brockport (Political Science, 2006)
MA: University of Maryland (Political Science,
2009)
Expected graduation: 2011
First field: American Politics
Second field: Quantitative Methods
Research interests: U.S. Congress, Political
Leadership; History and Politics
Other interests: The usual...taming tarpan and
'rasslin gators
Words of "wisdom": "Ancient Rome declined because
it had a Senate, now what's going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?" —Will
Rogers
CV: /gvpt/jcurry/docs/curry_cv.pdf
Website: /gvpt/jcurry
Email: jcurry at gvpt•umd•edu
Emma Davies
X
BA: University of Delaware (International Relations,
2006)
Expected graduation: 2014
First field: International Relations
Second field: Comparative Politics
Research interests: Ethnic conflict, evolution of
insurgencies, U.S. military strategy
Other interests: Riding horses, running, traveling,
Philly sports
Email: edavies at gvpt•umd•edu
Maria Dimitriu
X
Hometown: Caracal, Olt, Romania
BA: Economics and International Business
MA: Military Strategy and Geopolitics
Entered program: 2006
First field: Political Theory
Second field: Formal Theory
Research interests: Modern Political Theory; critical
theory; aesthetic theory; religion and politics; the study of the following concepts:
Enlightenment, Modernity (in an interdisciplinary sense), reification, time,
history, good and evil, religion, and fear; British and French literary movements;
Symbolism, the nature of symbols, and the migration of symbols across time and
disciplines; institutional theory and social choice.
Other interests: experimental film, experimental
movies, using creativity in new ways, playing guitar, writing fiction, the outdoors,
various crafts, and taking care of my hibiscus plants.
Email: mdimitriu at gvpt•umd•edu
Emil Dzhuraev
X
Hometown: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
BA: American University in Kyrgyzstan (2000, International
Relations)
MA: Indiana University, Bloomington (2002, Political
Science)
Entered program: 2007
Expected graduation: 2012
First field: Political Theory
Second field: Comparative Politics
Research interests: Political regimes and institutions,
democracy and democratization, constitutionalism and republicanism, regimes of
political memory; institutional theory and institutional crafting.
Email: edzhuraev at gvpt•umd•edu
Bryan Gervais
X
BS: Mercyhurst
College (Political Science, 2004)
MA: University of Maryland (Political Science,
2009)
Expected graduation: 2011
First field: American Politics
Second field: Quantitative Methods
Research interests: U.S. Presidency, U.S. Congress,
Political Parties, Statistics, U.S. Judiciary, State and Local Politics.
Other interests: Running, ice hockey, cooking.
Words of wisdom: "Democracy is a device that
ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve." —George Bernard
Shaw
CV: /gvpt/jgloekler/documents/cv.pdf
Website: /gvpt/jgloekler
Email: jgloekler at gvpt•umd•edu
Ashley Gorham
X
BA: Oberlin College (2004 High Honors, Politics)
Expected graduation: 2014
First Field: Political Theory
Second Field: Comparative Politics
Research interests: Theories of democratic participation and the influence of globalization and technological advancements on these trends. Also, communism and its methods of coercion in the former Soviet Union through the lens of Hannah Arendt's theory of evil. Other research interests include political philosophy, international ethics, and international associations.
Email: agorham at gvpt•umd•edu
Nicholas Grossman
X
BA: Wesleyan University (2003)
Expected graduation: June 2011
First field: International Relations
Second field: Security Studies
Research interests: Asymmetric warfare, terrorism,
insurgency, guerrilla warfare, game theory, IR theory
Email: ngrossman at gvpt•umd•edu
Rabih Helou
Jonathan Hensley
Agatha S. Hultquist
X
BA: University of Connecticut (Political Science, 2000)
MA: University of Denver, Korbel School of International Studies (International Studies, 2005)
Expected graduation: 2014
First field: Comparative Politics
Second field: International Relations
Research interests: Ethnic conflict, international conflict, post-conflict peacebuilding, democratization
CV: /cv/ahultquist.pdf
Email: ahultquist at gvpt•umd•edu
Molly Inman
Tara Innes
X
BA: University of the Pacific, School of International
Studies (International Environmental Policy)

Expected graduation: 2012
First field: International Relations
Second field: Comparative Politics
Research interests: Environment-Conflict Linkages,
Constructivist Approaches to Security, Assymetrical Conflict
Other interests: Gender theory, queer studies, rowing,
cooking
Email: tinnes at gvpt•umd•edu
Jeremy Janow
X
BA: University of Maryland (Government & Politics, Philosophy, 2002)
MA: University of Maryland (Government & Politics 2008)
Expected graduation: 2012
First Field: Political Theory
Second Field: Public Law
Research interests: Democratic Theory and Practice, Constitutionalism, History of Political Thought, Institutional Design, Civic Studies, Public Law, Comparative Constitutional Law, Civil-Military Relations
Related Experience: Managing Editor, The Good Society (2008-Present); Pre-Law Advisor, University of Maryland (2010-Present)
Carter Johnson
Roudabeh Kishi
X
Hometown: Atlanta, GA
BS: Georgia Institute of Technology (Psychology,
Minors in International Affairs and French)
Expected graduation: 2014
First field: International Relations
Second field: Methods
Research interests: International Development; Foreign Aid; African Politics
Other interests: Traveling and good food
Words of wisdom: The earth is what we all have in
common.
Email: rkishi at gvpt•umd•edu
Katie Kruger
X
BA: California
State University, Long Beach (English Literature, 2005)
MA: California State University, Long Beach (Political
Science, 2008)
Expected graduation: 2013
First field: American Politics
Second field: Public Law
Research interests: Institutional dynamics of
the US Supreme Court, inter-branch relationships and presidential power
Other interests: Any and all things relating
to movies, music, and theatre
Words of wisdom: "I believe that man will not
merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures
has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion
and sacrifice and endurance." —William Faulkner
Email: kkruger at gvpt•umd•edu
Mike Lebson
X
First field: International Relations
Second field: Comparative Politics
Website: mikelebson.com
Email: mlebson at gvpt•umd•edu
Anthony Marcum
Shana Marshall
Jesse-Douglas Mathewson
Michael McDonald
Darragh McNally
X
BA: University College Cork (2005, Philosophy and
English)
MA: University College Cork (2005, Philosophy)
Expected graduation: 2014
First field: Comparative Politics
Second field: Political Theory
Research interests: Democratic Theory, Ethnic Conflict,
Social Justice
Words of wisdom: "You may say I'm a dreamer, but
I'm not the only one…" —John Lennon
Email: dmcnally at gvpt•umd•edu
Sanaz Sayfi Mirzaei
X
BS: Georgia Institute of Technology (2004)
MS: Georgia Institute of Technology (2005)
Expected Graduation: 2012
First field: International Relations
Second field: Public Law
Research interests: International law, compliance,
rule of law
Other interests: Traveling, cooking, playing with
my daughter
Words of wisdom: "None but our minds can set us
free" —Bob Marley
Email: smirzaei at gvpt•umd•edu
Konrad Mugglestone
X
Hometown: Charleston, SC BA: Furman University (2011, Political Science, History)
MA: California State University, Long Beach (Political
Science, 2008)
Expected graduation: 2013
First field: American Politics
Second field: Methods
Research interests: The Presidency; Senior Staff; Executive Orders
Other interests: Music and Travel
Benjamin Newton
Gilbert David Nuñez
X
Hometown: Dearborn Heights/Detroit, MI
BA: University of Michigan (Political Science)
Teaching Certificate: Eastern Michigan University, 2009 (Secondary Social Studies, Political Science)
Expected graduation: 2016
First field: American Politics
Second field: Public Policy
Research interests: American presidency, institutions and power, (presidential) elections, political parties and polarization, celebrity politics of the 21st Century, public opinion
Other interests: The piano, drawing, movies
Allison Patch
X
Hometown: Dubuque, IA
BS: University of Iowa (2010 Political Science, International Studies)
Expected Graduation: 2015
First field: Comparative
Research interests: Institutions and Conflict
Other interests: Ultimate Frisbee
Email: apatch at umd•edu
Jason Petrucci
Sung-Wook Paik
X
Hometown: Seoul, Republic of Korea
BA: Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea (2003, Political Science)
MA: Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea (2005, Political Science)
Entered program: 2005
Expected graduation: 2011
First field: Political Theory
Second field: Public Law
Research interests: Modern and Contemporary Liberalism, Democratic Theory, Constitutionalism, Institutional Design and Civic Development, Comparative Constitutional Law
Words of wisdom: If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid with regard to external things. —Epicetus
Email: swpaik at gvpt•umd•edu
Mary Kate Schneider
Jeffrey A. Taylor
X
BA: St.
Mary's College of Maryland (Political Science, May 2008)
Expected graduation: 2013
First field: American Politics
Second field: Methods
Research interests: State politics, legislative
institutions, state campaign finance; the interplay between state-level political
parties and state legislative institutions; how legislative structure shapes
campaign contributions and expenditures
Other interests: Photography, hiking, sailing,
skiing, and the culinary arts
Email: jtaylor at gvpt•umd•edu
Antonio Rodriguez
X
BA: Southern
Illinois University, Carbondale (2007)
MA: Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
(2009)
Expected graduation: 2014
First field: American Politics
Research interests: Latino (Hispanic) politics, minority political behavior, political psychology,
survey methodology, public opinion, mass media and politics, and urban politics
CV: /cv/arodriguez.pdf
Email: anrodriguez at gvpt•umd•edu
X
BA: Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (2006)
MA: Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (2007)
Expected graduation: 2014
First field: American Politics
Research interests: Minority political behavior,
Latino & immigrant politics, social networks, political communication
CV: /cv/arodriguez.pdf
Email: anrodriguez at gvpt•umd•edu
Alison Staudinger
Hayley Sullivan
X
BA: Connecticut College (2011, Government with honors)
Expected graduation: 2016
First field: American Politics
Research interests: Legislative politics, political institutions, and women and U.S. Politics
Other interests: Tutoring, running marathons, and triathlons
Words of wisdom: "If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly
to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike
share in the government to the utmost." —Aristotle
Candace Turitto
X
BA: James Madison University, Political Science

Expected graduation: 2015
First field: American Politics
Second field: Methods
Research interests: Campaigns, Institutions, Voter Psychology & Behavior
Other interests: Tap Dancing!
Words of wisdom: Ask me in 2015...
Email: turitto at gmail•edu
Peter Voitsekhovsky
Sihan Wang
X
BA: Peking University, China
MA: New York University
Expected Graduation: 2014
First field: Political Theory
Research interests: Critical theory, intellectual history
Email: swang at gvpt•umd•edu
Peter White
X
Hometown: Belmont, MA
BA: Near Eastern Studies, Princeton
Expected Graduation: Spring 2015
First field: International Relations
Second field: Comparative Politics
Research interests: Domestic Politics and Conflict, Terrorism and
Insurgencies, Middle East Politics
Other interests: Arabic, Middle East Area Studies
Email: pwhite at gvpt•umd•edu
Raymond Williams
X
Hometown: Greenville, NC
BA: Political Science- East Carolina University
Expected graduation: 2015
First field: American Politics
Research interests: Campaigns and Elections, American Presidency, Institutions, Public Policy
Words of wisdom: "I want young men and young women who are not alive today but who will come into this world, with new privileges and new opportunities, I want them to know and see that these new privileges and opportunities did not come without somebody suffering and sacrificing for them." —Dr. Martin luther King Jr. "To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success" —Ralph Waldo Emerson
Email: rawilliams at gvpt•umd•com
Robinson Woodward-Burns
X
BA: College of William and Mary (2010, Government and Philosophy)
Expected graduation: 2015
First field: Political Theory
Second field: American Politics
Research interests: American political thought and development, liberalism and party realignment
Jatia Wrighten
X
Hometown: Woodbridge, VA
BA: Virginia Commonwealth University (2006, Political Science)
Expected graduation: 2014
First field: American Politics
Second field: Public Policy
Research interests: Race, education policy, gender
Email: jdwrighten at gmail•com
Stephen Yoder
X
BA: Ohio
Wesleyan University (History, 1998)
Certificate in Scholarly Publishing: Arizona
State University (2001)
MA: Arizona State University (History, 2005)
MA: University of Maryland (Government and Politics,
2009)
Expected graduation: May 2012
First field: American Politics
Second field: Public Policy
Research interests: Political behavior and participation;
state and local politics; immigration policy; scholarly publishing
Other interests: Running marathons, ice hockey,
softball, brewing
Website: /gvpt/syoder
Email: syoder at gvpt•umd•edu
Dror Yuravlivker
American Politics
Melissa Bell
Daniel R. Biggers
Brittany Houtz Bramlett
Matthew J. Burger
X
BA: Western
Maryland College (Political Science and History, 2001)
MPP: The George Washington University (Education
Policy and Policy Formation, 2004)
Expected graduation: December 2010
First field: American Politics
Second field: Public Law
Research interests: Political Geography, American
Political Culture, Elite Theory and Political Communication, Religion and Politics,
Constitutional Law (Free Exercise and Establishment), The Presidency, British
Politics, Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy.
Avocations: Hiking and Outdoors, Reading (Hemmingway,
Conrad, C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton), Smoking good tobacco, Drinking good Scotch,
and of course Jesus!
Words of wisdom: "Always remember others may
hate you but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. And then you
destroy yourself." —Richard Nixon
"Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for Liberty, but it is Religion
and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can
securely stand. The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure Virtue, and
if this cannot be inspired into our People in a greater Measure than they have
it now, They may change their Rulers and the forms of Government, but they will
not obtain a lasting Liberty. They will only exchange Tyrants and Tyrannies." —John
Adams
"You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it." —G.K.
Chesterton
"Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions." —G.K.
Chesterton
Email: mburger at gvpt•umd•edu
Heather M. Creek
Jill Curry
X
BS: SUNY
Brockport (Political Science, 2006)
MA: University of Maryland (Political Science,
2009)
Expected graduation: 2011
First field: American Politics
Second field: Quantitative Methods
Research interests: U.S. Congress, Political
Leadership; History and Politics
Other interests: The usual...taming tarpan and
'rasslin gators
Words of "wisdom": "Ancient Rome declined because
it had a Senate, now what's going to happen to us with both a House and a Senate?" —Will
Rogers
CV: /gvpt/jcurry/docs/curry_cv.pdf
Website: /gvpt/jcurry
Email: jcurry at gvpt•umd•edu
Bryan Gervais
Jonathan Hensley
X
BS: Mercyhurst
College (Political Science, 2004)
MA: University of Maryland (Political Science,
2009)
Expected graduation: 2011
First field: American Politics
Second field: Quantitative Methods
Research interests: U.S. Presidency, U.S. Congress,
Political Parties, Statistics, U.S. Judiciary, State and Local Politics.
Other interests: Running, ice hockey, cooking.
Words of wisdom: "Democracy is a device that
ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve." —George Bernard
Shaw
CV: /gvpt/jgloekler/documents/cv.pdf
Website: /gvpt/jgloekler
Email: jgloekler at gvpt•umd•edu
Katie Kruger
X
BA: California
State University, Long Beach (English Literature, 2005)
MA: California State University, Long Beach (Political
Science, 2008)
Expected graduation: 2013
First field: American Politics
Second field: Public Law
Research interests: Institutional dynamics of
the US Supreme Court, inter-branch relationships and presidential power
Other interests: Any and all things relating
to movies, music, and theatre
Words of wisdom: "I believe that man will not
merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures
has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion
and sacrifice and endurance." —William Faulkner
Email: kkruger at gvpt•umd•edu
Konrad Mugglestone
X
Hometown: Charleston, SC BA: Furman University (2011, Political Science, History)
MA: California State University, Long Beach (Political
Science, 2008)
Expected graduation: 2013
First field: American Politics
Second field: Methods
Research interests: The Presidency; Senior Staff; Executive Orders
Other interests: Music and Travel
Gilbert David Nuñez
X
Hometown: Dearborn Heights/Detroit, MI
BA: University of Michigan (Political Science)
Teaching Certificate: Eastern Michigan University, 2009 (Secondary Social Studies, Political Science)
Expected graduation: 2016
First field: American Politics
Second field: Public Policy
Research interests: American presidency, institutions and power, (presidential) elections, political parties and polarization, celebrity politics of the 21st Century, public opinion
Other interests: The piano, drawing, movies
Hayley Sullivan
X
BA: Connecticut College (2011, Government with honors)
Expected graduation: 2016
First field: American Politics
Research interests: Legislative politics, political institutions, and women and U.S. Politics
Other interests: Tutoring, running marathons, and triathlons
Words of wisdom: "If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly
to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike
share in the government to the utmost." —Aristotle
Jeffrey A. Taylor
X
BA: St.
Mary's College of Maryland (Political Science, May 2008)
Expected graduation: 2013
First field: American Politics
Second field: Methods
Research interests: State politics, legislative
institutions, state campaign finance; the interplay between state-level political
parties and state legislative institutions; how legislative structure shapes
campaign contributions and expenditures
Other interests: Photography, hiking, sailing,
skiing, and the culinary arts
Email: jtaylor at gvpt•umd•edu
Candace Turitto
X
BA: James Madison University, Political Science

Expected graduation: 2015
First field: American Politics
Second field: Methods
Research interests: Campaigns, Institutions, Voter Psychology & Behavior
Other interests: Tap Dancing!
Words of wisdom: Ask me in 2015...
Email: turitto at gmail•edu
Antonio Rodriguez
X
BA: Southern
Illinois University, Carbondale (2007)
MA: Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
(2009)
Expected graduation: 2014
First field: American Politics
Research interests: Latino (Hispanic) politics, minority political behavior, political psychology,
survey methodology, public opinion, mass media and politics, and urban politics
CV: /cv/arodriguez.pdf
Email: anrodriguez at gvpt•umd•edu
Jatia Wrighten
X
Hometown: Woodbridge, VA
BA: Virginia Commonwealth University (2006, Political
Science)
Expected graduation: 2014
First field: American Politics
Second field: Public Policy
Research interests: Race, education policy, gender
Email: jdwrighten at gmail•com
Raymond Williams
X
Hometown: Greenville, NC
BA: Political Science- East Carolina University
Expected graduation: 2015
First field: American Politics
Research interests: Campaigns and Elections, American Presidency, Institutions, Public Policy
Words of wisdom: "I want young men and young women who are not alive today but who will come into this world, with new privileges and new opportunities, I want them to know and see that these new privileges and opportunities did not come without somebody suffering and sacrificing for them." —Dr. Martin luther King Jr. "To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success" —Ralph Waldo Emerson
Email: rawilliams at gvpt•umd•edu
Stephen Yoder
X
BA: Ohio
Wesleyan University (History, 1998)
Certificate in Scholarly Publishing: Arizona
State University (2001)
MA: Arizona State University (History, 2005)
MA: University of Maryland (Government and Politics,
2009)
Expected graduation: May 2012
First field: American Politics
Second field: Public Policy
Research interests: Political behavior and participation;
state and local politics; immigration policy; scholarly publishing
Other interests: Running marathons, ice hockey,
softball, brewing
Website: /gvpt/syoder
Email: syoder at gvpt•umd•edu
Dror Yuravlivker
Comparative Politics
Carla Abdo
Agatha S. Hultquist
X
BA: University of Connecticut (Political Science, 2000)
MA: University of Denver, Korbel School of International Studies (International Studies, 2005)
Expected graduation: 2014
First field: Comparative Politics
Second field: International Relations
Research interests: Ethnic conflict, international conflict, post-conflict peacebuilding, democratization
CV: /cv/ahultquist.pdf
Email: ahultquist at gvpt•umd•edu
Carter Johnson
Shana Marshall
Darragh McNally
X
BA: University
College Cork (2005, Philosophy and English)
MA: University College Cork (2005, Philosophy)
Expected graduation: 2014
First field: Political Theory
Second field: Comparative Politics
Research interests: Democratic Theory, Ethnic
Conflict, Social Justice
Words of wisdom: "You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one…" —John Lennon
Email: dmcnally at gvpt•umd•edu
Allison Patch
X
Hometown: Dubuque, IA
BS: University of Iowa (2010 Political Science, International Studies)
Expected Graduation: 2015
First field: Comparative
Research interests: Institutions and Conflict
Other interests: Ultimate Frisbee
Email: apatch at umd•edu
Mary Kate Schneider
Peter Voitsekhovsky
International Relations
Benjamin J. Appel
Jacob Aronson
X
BA: University of California, Santa Cruz
Expected graduation: 2012
First field: International Relations
Second field: Security Studies
Research interests: Links between conventional war,
guerrilla war and terrorism; COIN; civilian targeting in non-conventional conflicts;
U.S. grand strategy; offensive realism; quantitative methodology; free market
economics
Email: jaronson at gvpt•umd•edu
Jonathan N. Brown
I-wei Jennifer Chang
X
BA: Georgetown University (2003, International Relations / Asian Studies)
MA: University of Maryland (2005, Journalism)
First field: International Relations
Second field: Comparative Politics
Research interests: U.S.-China relations, Sino-Middle Eastern relations, Chinese foreign policy, China’s oil security, ethnic/religious conflict, and U.S. foreign policy
Other interests: Learning languages, Asian Americans in politics
Email: ichang at gvpt•umd•edu
Ping-Kuei Chen
X
Hometown: Kaohsiung, Taiwan
BA: National Chengchi University, Department of Diplomacy, Taiwan, Taipei
MA: Ohio University, Department of Political Science
Expected Graduation: 2015
First field: International Relations
Second field: Comparative Politics
Research interests: Military alliance, interstate war, Politics of East Asia
Words of wisdom: With the first link the chain is forged. The first speech censured and the first thought forbidden. The first freedom denied. Chains us all irrevocably.
Email: pchen at gvpt•umd•edu
Emma Davies
X
BA: University
of Delaware (International Relations, 2006)
Expected graduation: 2014
First field: International Relations
Second field: Comparative Politics
Research interests: Ethnic conflict, evolution
of insurgencies, U.S. military strategy
Other interests: Riding horses, running, traveling,
Philly sports
Email: edavies at gvpt•umd•edu
Nicholas Grossman
X
BA: Wesleyan
University (2003)
Expected graduation: June 2011
First field: International Relations
Second field: Security Studies
Research interests: Asymmetric warfare, terrorism,
insurgency, guerrilla warfare, game theory, IR theory
Email: ngrossman at gvpt•umd•edu
Rabih Helou
Jacqui Ignatov
X
BA: San
Francisco State University (International Relations)
MA: University of California, Santa Barbara (Global
Studies)
Expected graduation: 2013
First field: International Relations
Second field: Environmental Politics
Research interests: Social movements, international
political economy (especially critical and feminist perspectives), indigenous
politics, critical geography, politics of extractive industries, food politics,
environment and development, non-state actors
Other interests: Traveling and planning travels,
hiking, yoga, cooking, swimming in the ocean, reading, making and appreciating
art, music (partial to guitar and percussion), people and animal-watching
Words of wisdom: "If you only read the books
that everyone else is reading, you can only think what everyone else is thinking." —Haruki
Murakami
Email: jignatov at gvpt•umd•edu
Molly Inman
Tara Innes
X
BA: University of the Pacific, School of International Studies (International Environmental Policy)

Expected graduation: 2012
First field: International Relations
Second field: Comparative Politics
Research interests: Environment-Conflict Linkages,
Constructivist Approaches to Security, Assymetrical Conflict
Other interests: Gender theory, queer studies, rowing,
cooking
Email: tinnes at gvpt•umd•edu
Carter Johnson
Roudabeh Kishi
X
Hometown: Atlanta, GA
BS: Georgia
Institute of Technology (Psychology, Minors in International Affairs and French)
Expected graduation: 2014
First field: International Relations
Second field: Methods
Research interests: International Development; Foreign Aid; African Politics
Other interests: Traveling and good food
Words of wisdom: The earth is what we all have
in common.
Email: rkishi at gvpt•umd•edu
Mike Lebson
X
First
field: International Relations
Second field: Comparative Politics
Website: mikelebson.com
Email: mlebson at gvpt•umd•edu
Anthony Marcum
Shana Marshall
Jesse-Douglas Mathewson
Michael McDonald
Sanaz Sayfi Mirzaei
X
BS: Georgia
Institute of Technology (2004)
MS: Georgia Institute of Technology (2005)
Expected Graduation: 2012
First field: International Relations
Second field: Public Law
Research interests: International law, compliance,
rule of law
Other interests: Traveling, cooking, playing
with my daughter
Words of wisdom: "None but our minds can set
us free" —Bob Marley
Email: smirzaei at gvpt•umd•edu
Peter White
X
Hometown: Belmont, MA
BA: Near Eastern Studies, Princeton
Expected Graduation: Spring 2015
First field: International Relations
Second field: Comparative Politics
Research interests: Domestic Politics and Conflict, Terrorism and
Insurgencies, Middle East Politics
Other interests: Arabic, Middle East Area Studies
Email: pwhite at gvpt•umd•edu
Political Theory
Seth Abrams
X
BA: University
of Michigan (History, 1996)
JD: University of Michigan (2000)
Expected graduation: 2013
First field: Political Theory
Second field: CP4
Research interests: My main interest is exploring
the functioning and development of power and authority. Specifically, this includes
new techniques and methods of power in contemporary society. I am currently doing
some work on government advertising—particularly the work of the Ad Council (Smokey Bear, Woodsy Owl)—and
how these messages are used to govern. In addition, I am interested in exploring
conceptions of freedom as well as historical approaches to the study of political
science.
Other interests: Board Games, especially Scrabble,
Risk, and Trivial Pursuit; College Football and Basketball; Rockies Baseball;
Racquetball; "Good" TV, i.e. "Dexter", "Mad Men", and "The Price is Right."
Words of wisdom: "Artistry is in having an insight
into what one sees around them. Generally putting things together in a way no
one else has before and finding a way to express that to other people." —Steve
Jobs
Email: sabrams at gvpt•umd•edu
Stephen Arves
X
Hometown: Naperville, IL
BA: University of St. Thomas
Expected graduation: 2015
First field: Political Theory
Second field: Comparative Politics
Research interests: Human Rights, Ethics, Development, Political Psychology
Other interests: Reading, running, and the Green Bay Packers
Email: sarves at umd•edu
Daniel P. Creed
X
Hometown: Tyngsboro, MA
BA: University of Hartford (2010 Politics and Government)
Expected graduation: 2016
First field: Political Theory
Second field: American Politics
Research interests: Democratic Theory, Social Justice, American Thought
Email: dcreed umd•edu
Maria Dimitriu
X
Hometown: Caracal,
Olt, Romania
BA: Economics and International Business
MA: Military Strategy and Geopolitics
Entered program: 2006
First field: Political Theory
Second field: Formal Theory
Research interests: Modern Political Theory;
critical theory; aesthetic theory; religion and politics; the study of the following
concepts: Enlightenment, Modernity (in an interdisciplinary sense), reification,
time, history, good and evil, religion, and fear; British and French literary
movements; Symbolism, the nature of symbols, and the migration of symbols across
time and disciplines; institutional theory and social choice.
Other interests: experimental film, experimental
movies, using creativity in new ways, playing guitar, writing fiction, the outdoors,
various crafts, and taking care of my hibiscus plants.
Email: mdimitriu at gvpt•umd•edu
Emil Dzhuraev
X
Hometown: Bishkek,
Kyrgyzstan
BA: American University in Kyrgyzstan (2000, International
Relations)
MA: Indiana University, Bloomington (2002, Political
Science)
Entered program: 2007
Expected graduation: 2012
First field: Political Theory
Second field: Comparative Politics
Research interests: Political regimes and institutions,
democracy and democratization, constitutionalism and republicanism, regimes of
political memory; institutional theory and institutional crafting.
Email: edzhuraev at gvpt•umd•edu
Ashley Gorham
X
BA: Oberlin College (2004 High Honors, Politics)
Expected graduation: 2014
First Field: Political Theory
Second Field: Comparative Politics
Research interests: Theories of democratic participation and the influence of globalization and technological advancements on these trends. Also, communism and its methods of coercion in the former Soviet Union through the lens of Hannah Arendt's theory of evil. Other research interests include political philosophy, international ethics, and international associations.
Email: agorham
at gvpt•umd•edu
Jeremy Janow
X
BA: University of Maryland (Government & Politics, Philosophy, 2002)
MA: University of Maryland (Government & Politics 2008)
Expected graduation: 2012
First Field: Political Theory
Second Field: Public Law
Research interests: Democratic Theory and Practice, Constitutionalism, History of Political Thought, Institutional Design, Civic Studies, Public Law, Comparative Constitutional Law, Civil-Military Relations
Related Experience: Managing Editor, The Good Society (2008-Present); Pre-Law Advisor, University of Maryland (2010-Present)
Benjamin Newton
Sung-Wook Paik
Jason Petrucci
X
Hometown: Seoul, Republic of Korea
BA: Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea (2003, Political Science)
MA: Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea (2005, Political Science)
Entered program: 2005
Expected graduation: 2011
First field: Political Theory
Second field: Public Law
Research interests: Modern and Contemporary Liberalism, Democratic Theory, Constitutionalism, Institutional Design and Civic Development, Comparative Constitutional Law
Words of wisdom: If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid with regard to external things. —Epicetus
Email: swpaik at gvpt•umd•edu
Alison Staudinger
X
BA: Seattle University
MA: Seattle University (2005)
MA: University of Maryland (2008)
ABD: University of Maryland (2009)
First field: Political Theory
Second field: Public Law
Research interests: Democratic Theory, Constitutionalism,
Citizenship, Global Civil Society, Hannah Arendt
Email: astaudinger at gvpt•umd•edu
Sihan Wang
X
BA: Peking University, China
MA: New York University
Expected Graduation: 2014
First field: Political Theory
Research interests: Critical theory, intellectual history
Email: swang at gvpt•umd•edu
Robinson Woodward-Burns
X
BA: College of William and Mary (2010, Government and Philosophy)
Expected graduation: 2015
First field: Political Theory
Second field: American Politics
Research interests: American political thought and development, liberalism and party realignment
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