Tag Archives: government

FEATURED
The College Bubble: A Higher Ed Round-Up

Elizabeth Warren continues to be a powerful force in the campaign to fix the student loan system. Warren spoke at a recent hearing for the Health, Education, Labor & Pensions committee, saying that although the  interest rate necessary to cover the cost of the student loan program without making a profit would be about 2.5%, the government is charging students nearly twice that amount for undergraduate loans, and even more for graduate and direct loans.  But Warren has come under fire from critics who say that the figures she is using in her argument are wrong.

In the follow-up to the controversy surrounding the suspension of Northeastern‘s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine by the school, 

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EVENT
The Missing Piece in the Affordable Care Act

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Chair of the Government Department Professor James McGuire, folks:

Join us for a talk on the Affordable Care Act by Professor Joseph White, Luxenburg Family Professor of Public Policy at Case Western Reserve University

Four years after its passage, the Affordable Care Act makes no credible promise to meet the goal that most voters most desired — which was not to expand coverage to the previously uninsured, but to reduce the out-of-pocket costs of paying for health insurance. Why did the Democrats pass legislation that was not explicitly designed to reduce health insurance costs? The answers involve interest group politics, regional divisions in the Democratic Party, and the politics of the health care policy community.

Date: Thursday, April 3rd
Time: 4:15-5:30pm
Place: PAC 002
Cost: Free

EVENT
Symposium: Archaeology and Politics

From Ali Rosenberg ’15:

Come to the Archaeology and Politics Symposium featuring:

  • Epistemology and Ethics of an Activist Science at the African Burial Ground (Michael Blakey, College of William and Mary)
  • The Role of Archaeology and Community: The Shared Past of Israelis and Palestinians in the Present (Ann E. Killebrew, Pennsylvania State University)
  • The Politics of Naming and Knowing: Repatriation and Indigenous Identity (Dorothy Lippert, Smithsonian Museum)
  • The Politics of Protection (and Destruction) of Archaeological Sites in Contemporary India (Carla M. Sinopoli, University of Michigan)

Sponsored by the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, the Archaeology Program, the Government Department, and Jewish and Israel Studies.

Date: Friday, November 8
Time: 1:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Place: Allbritton, Room 311

EVENT
Government Department Open House

The Government Department will be hosting an Open House this Wednesday, October 16th, in PAC002 at 4:15PM. The Department encourages prospective Government students to attend and hear about the wonders of becoming a Government major, the requirements and concentrations, the Government Majors Committee, and to ask any questions about the major that you might have.

Date: Wednesday, Oct 16
Time: 4:15PM to 5:30PM
Place: PAC002

EVENT
CT General Assembly Legislative Internship Program Info Session

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From Civic Engagement Fellow Jelisa Adair ’13:

This is an information session about this spring 2014 for-credit internship in Hartford and about careers affecting state-level policy change for students who might consider applying for the internship by the November 1 deadline or those generally interested in learning more about our legislative system.

Lunch provided for those who pre-register by October 9.

The Connecticut General Assembly Legislative Internship Program provides an educational opportunity outside the traditional academic setting, bringing on college students as legislative aids to acquaint them with both the formal and informal aspects of the legislative process. Interns do bill analysis and tracking, spot and in-depth research, drafting of news releases and speeches, liaison work, constituent casework, and more. Applications for Spring 2014 are dueNovember 1.

Mary Cyriac ’02 is a Policy Analyst in the Senate Democrats’ Office of the Connecticut General Assembly. At Wesleyan, she majored in History, and went on to attend law school. Mary has work at various non-profit organizations, providing free legal services as well as advocating for policy change. Jackson Ulrich ’14 was a Legislative Intern in Spring 2013. He will talk about his experience in the program.

Date: Thursday, October 10th
Time: 12pm-1pm
Place: Allbritton 022
Cost: Free
Link: Register here by October 9th to get free lunch!

EVENT
Prospective Thesis Writers in Government

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And you thought #THESISCRAZY was over. No, my friend, you are mistaken. According to Amy Davis ’13, it has only just begun:

Considering a thesis in Government?

The Government Majors’ Committee is pleased to invite all prospective thesis writers to gather with this year’s writers and Government professors in PAC 421 4:30-5:30pm on Friday, April 19 to discuss the challenges and rewards of the thesis process. Struggling to find resources? Trouble narrowing your topic? This informal event will allow you to have your questions answered one-on-one by professors with extensive research experience and by students who have just completed the process. Light refreshments will be served.

Date: Friday, April 19th, 2013
Time: 4:30 PM
Place: PAC 421
Cost: Your entire senior year, and then some.

FEATURED
Counter-WesleyingSpeak: There Are Larger Issues Than Facebook

This post is in response to Tragedy and Facebook Statuses, a recent “WesleyingSpeak” by tuna.

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My mother texted me Friday morning with news of the Sandy Hook shooting. At first I was just kind of numb. I combed through all my usual news sources, hoping to find more information. At this point, only the shooter had been confirmed dead. I went to lunch and continued to study for my film final.

However, about an hour before I took the test, “confirmed” reports started emerging: Around 26-28 people were murdered, most of them children, all of them shot down by a single, initially misidentified man. Again, I was overtaken by numbness. I tried to put the tragedy out of my head as I worked through my final, and afterwards I just sort of collapsed in my room. My mom called to tell me she loved me, and I watched Obama’s speech. I cried.

I thought about all of those kids who wouldn’t go home that day. I tried to think about what I was doing at that age. Little six-year-old me would’ve been swinging in the backyard, watching Scooby-Doo, and begging her mom to read me just one more picture book. I couldn’t help but think about the lives of these children, past, present, and future.

And then I wrote a Facebook status:

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EVENT
Government By and For Millennial America Workshop


Event post by and for Amy Davis ’13:

Do you believe our government reflects values of democracy, efficiency, equality, and flexibility? Do you think we need to change
how we govern ourselves in the 21st century? On Inauguration Day 2013 the Roosevelt Institute will submit to the White House a report compiled from campuses around the country on what we, the Millennials, think the role of our government should be. Make sure Wesleyan’s voice is heard! By participating in a Government By and For workshop you will provide invaluable data and new ideas for the final report. Help us get the conversation started about what our generation wants to see from our leadership! For more information, watch the video, click here, or contact Amy (aedavis@wes) or Joel (jhochman@wes).

Date: Tuesday, November 27
Time: 8:00 pm
Place: PAC 107
Cost: Free

EVENT
Election Night Results Screening

Amy Davis ’13 invites you to do this before you do this (or this):

The American Studies Majors’ Committee and the Government Majors’ Committee are pleased to invite one and all to count down to our next president Tuesday Nov. 6 at 9pm in the Woodhead Lounge! There will be snacks (feel free to bring your own too!), games, and lots of anxious fingernail biting. Bring your friends, stop in or stay a while, and celebrate (or mourn) the night away with us!

Date: Tuesday, November 6
Time: 9 pm
Place: Woodhead Lounge
Cost: Free

EVENT
Government Department Open House

From Amy Davis ’13:

The Government Department is pleased to invite all prospective Government majors to our open house on Thursday, Nov. 1 12pm-1pm in PAC 002. You’ll have the opportunity to learn about major and concentration requirements, meet the faculty and the majors’ committee, and ask lots of questions! In short, Government is awesome. Come.

Date: Thursday, November 1
Time: 12pm
Place: PAC 002