1. DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE – UC SAN DIEGO
In a joint collaboration with the
University of San Diego School of Law,
UCSD Political Science majors recently had
the opportunity to intern at USD School of
Law’s centers: the Center for Public
Interest Law, the Children’s Advocacy
Institute, and the Energy Policy Initiatives
Center. Political Science/Political Theory
major Lavinia Osilesi completed an
internship at the Center for Public Interest
Law this past fall.
____________________________
While an intern, Lavinia furthered her
passion for public interest work by
drafting public records act requests,
attending regulatory hearings of California
regulatory boards, and tracking legislation
for California’s 25 regulatory agencies.
Her keystone project at CPIL involved
researching the recent North Carolina
Dental Board of Examiners v. Federal
Trade Commission Supreme Court case.
Lavinia says, “The NC v. FTC case opened
my eyes to far reaching effects that the
law can have on the day to day life of
Americans. I am most grateful for my
supervisors, advisors, and mentors at CPIL
who challenged, encouraged, and
developed my legal research skills. My
internship at CPIL was a valuable
experience that I will use in my future
legal career.”
A POLITICAL SCIENCE MAJOR
GOES TO THE UC,
SACRAMENTO PROGRAM
Amy Nguyen, a Political Science major,
spent the Winter 2016 quarter
participating at UC Center Sacramento.
Amy interned in the Governor’s Office of
Planning and Research (OPR). She
describes that office as a “very unique
and bustling work environment” where
she was “very surprised to see how many
different independent projects are
floating around the office.”
In 2015, Sandy Chang graduated with a
double major in Political Science/
International Relations and Management
Science. After graduating, she went to UT
Austin to pursue a degree of Master of
Professional Accounting. Afterwards, she
received an offer from a
Houston Forensics Advisory service,
Pricewaterhouse Coopers.
Sandy believes that one of the main
reasons she received such a good
opportunity was because of her
background in Political Science and
Economics and the passion that the
faculty members put into teaching.
Their passion in different policy arenas
and generous encouragement to students
have definitely made a great impact on
her life.
During her interview, she was asked
about her publication of the Time to Phase
Out the One Child Policy, which was a
policy brief she wrote for her class POLI
122 “Politics of Human Rights“ in 2012.
She is happy to report that she recently
saw in the news that the Party in China
repealed the one-child policy with a two-
child policy, which was exactly her policy
recommendation after detailed research
and analysis.
SPOTLIGHT:
UNDERGRADUATE
ALUM
When we met up
with her, Amy said
that she was
“involved in
multiple projects,
some of which
include updating
the California
General Plan
Guidelines, improving the planning and
implementation of the California National
Security Mission, and conducting
independent original research about
global reporting platforms for
greenhouse gas emissions.”
Beyond her projects, Amy’s co-workers
and supervisors have been instrumental
in her success in the program. “My
supervisors and co-workers have always
made themselves available in case I
needed their input or help,” she said. “By
initiating continual conversations with my
supervisors about my project ideas and
interests, I’ve been able to cultivate good
relationships while simultaneously
building my own credibility.”
Amy notes that the UC Sacramento
program is appealing in its combination
of rigorous coursework and professional
work experience. Amy noted, “Learning
through a textbook is definitely not the
same as living the textbook; information
certainly sticks better when you can see
how it’s applicable to real life. Some
examples of skills I’ve learned are CEQA
document processing, data gathering and
compiling, networking, and public
speaking…I also learned about
quantitative research methods in order to
supplement my independent research
project.”
Please join us in congratulating current
graduate student Elaine Denny, who is a recipient
of the 2015/16 Barbara and Paul Saltman
Distinguished Teaching Award for Graduate
Students. Granted by the Academic Senate, this
award is a rare recognition of outstanding
teaching.
We asked Elaine about her teaching
philosophy and she says she sets high but
attainable expectations for her
students. They are expected to approach
their learning with integrity, professionalism,
and a willingness to engage. She does not,
however, expect perfection. Elaine says that
research suggests that often what we
commonly consider “intelligence” or
“aptitude” is not hard-wired, but rather is
the result of long-term effort, hard work,
and practice. Her courses are a learning
environment in which students have the
space to try and fail, to safely make mistakes
and learn from them. Congratulations,
Elaine!