Category Archives: Alumni Spotlight

Applications now being accepted for The Hertog Foundation Fellowships and Seminars

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The Hertog Foundation is pleased to announce its 2018 fellowships and seminars for undergraduates and recent grads.

Visit hertogfoundation.org to learn more and apply.

As you can see on our website, the Foundation offers various fellowships on public policy and political thought in Washington, DC. Each carries funding for travel as well as housing accommodations. Fellows study with master teachers and hear from distinguished speakers drawn from academia, politics, journalism, and business. Current lecturers include Yuval Levin (National Affairs), General John Allen (Brookings), Robert Bartlett (Boston College), Vickie Sullivan (Tufts), Frederick Kagan (AEI), and many more.

We have four offerings next year: Continue reading →

Teaching in China: Spotlight on Ian Clogston

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After graduating from UWT in 2016 with a major in Politics, Philosophy and Economics and another in History, Ian Clogston wondered what was next. Graduate school? But in what?  Work?  He wound up applying to a job in China teaching English to college students.  Now at Wuyi University in Jiangmen, Guangdong Provence, Ian talks about his experiences below:

It is one thing to know about language barriers, it’s another thing to actually experience it yourself. It is a lot more difficult to communicate with people in another language than you would think. It is also more difficult to communicate with people who already speak some English, which I found to be surprising. It turns out we use a lot more cultural references and idioms in our language everyday than we realize.  Continue reading →

PPPA Alumni publishes article

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Tyler Curley (IAS 2006, MAIS 2008) recently had an article published in Perspectives On Politics, one of the top journals in the discipline. In “Models of Emergency State Building in the United States,” Tyler contests the three dominant models in the field to offer what he calls a “discursive institutionalism” as a better alternative. Tyler is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Southern California. See Tyler M. Curley  “Models of Emergency Statebuilding in the United States,” Perspectives on Politics, 13 (2015): 697-713.

UW Tacoma student and alumni accomplishments

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2015 Rangel Scholar – A UW Tacoma first

Omer AdamHuge congratulations to UW Tacoma student Omer Adam–one of fifteen Rangel Scholars nation-wide. He will be spending his summer in Washington D.C. participating in the Rangel International Affairs Summer Program. There, he will learn about current issues in international affairs and acquire valuable skills to prepare him for a career in the field.Omer is most interested in how religion shapes foreign policy and hopes to improve relationships between the US and Muslim countries. Continue reading →

Alumni feature- Colin McCann

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Colin McCann_photoColin McCann came to UW Tacoma in the fall of 2011 as a transfer student from TCC. After taking advantage of the Running Start program in his high school, he was only 19 when he first arrived on campus. A self-professed “political junkie,” McCann chose to major in PPE (Law & Policy track), with a Human Rights minor. He was also a member of the Global Honors Program.

McCann attributes a great deal of his intellectual, personal, and academic growth to his experiences at UWT,  noting that nearly everyone he encountered—from professors to fellow students—challenged him “intellectually, and encouraged me to broaden my perspectives.” He claims that he can’t speak highly enough of UWT’s culture of learning and encouragement of academic discourse. “It helped me develop into the person I am today.” Continue reading →

2013 Alumna – A Husky once again

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Tacoma native Dee Sonntag, a former PPPA student and UW Tacoma alumni (winter, 2013) is about to begin her last year at the University of Washington School of Law.

Dee SonntagBut that’s not where she started her legal education. She spent the 2013-14 academic year at the University of Idaho College of Law. “I traveled to Moscow, Idaho by myself, while my husband, Joey, and daughter, Jade (8) remained in Tacoma.” Although it wasn’t easy to be separated from her family, Sonntag noted, “I really enjoyed my studies at the COL. My professors and friends made the time away meaningful and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. As the regional mediation champion, I got to travel to Miami to complete in the ABA National Mediation Competition. I was also the Student Bar Association Representative for my section.” Continue reading →

More alumni news:

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Passing an Initiative – As a communications staff member of the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility, Tallman Trask worked to pass Initiative 594, one of the few progressive success stories of the 2014 election cycle. Primarily responsible for being the eyes and ears of the communications department, as well as various media and press work, Trask played an important role in taking steps to reduce gun violence in Washington through the passage of common-sense background checks for all gun sales. Trask was a member of the class of 2013, graduating with a degree in Politics, Philosophy & Economics.

Applying for a Fulbright Scholarship – Lizeth Garcia recently submitted her application forLizeth Garcia photo the 2015-2016 Fulbright ETA program. As an advocate for education, Garcia decided to apply to the Fulbright ETA program to empower students in Mexico with the ability to speak English. As a tutor with a local Hispanic organization, she has gained valuable skills that will prepare her for a Fulbright ETA assignment.  She is currently working as a legislative aide for King County Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer.  Garcia believes the skills she is developing through her employment with KCC and community involvement stand to be useful tools as she pursues a graduate program upon her return from a Fulbright assignment.

Garcia states, “I encourage students who are considering applying for Fulbright to start early. The application process can be quite rigorous and demands a lot of time. It’s a daunting task, but is very rewarding. It’s important to develop strong relationships with professors and gain experience in extracurricular activities. These will be vital parts of your application. Additionally, don’t be discouraged if you don’t have an ideal GPA. Fulbright is interested in students who are passionate about making a change. Lastly, have fun. It was neat to see how much I learned about myself through this process.”

We wish her all the best as she awaits the results of her application.                              (The above photo was taken in Trinidad, Cuba at the Manaca Izuaga Watch Tower.)

 

Congratulations to our 2014 graduates!

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Congratulations to all our 2014 graduates!  We’re proud of this year’s UW Tacoma graduates who have majored in Politics, Philosophy & Economics or Law & Policy.

Politics, Philosophy & Economics graduates:
Jaime Ray Dalit Arreola, Imanjit Singh Bains, Miguel Angel Balderamma, David Allen Barnes, Nicholas Bradford, Brynn J. Brooks, Raymond Brooks, Jacob Alan Bush,
Fu-Yen Chan, N01_-_Mortar_Board142Annie Songyie Choi, April A. Coberly, Lauren Catherine Conley, Patrick Courtney, Brant Robert Delarme, Yahye Y. Dineh, Semone Dover, Kevin James Drugge, Nicolas J. Dunning, Alex-Jon Earl, Kaycie Elwess, Thomas Gregory Farrow, Erin Barbara Gaede, Uuriintuya Erika Ganjargal, Brandon Green, Cristina M. Hakansson, Shane Gregory Hall, Janessa India Harris, Thomas L. Harris,  Katrina Ann Honrade, Tzu Yang Hsu, James D. Jagger, Aaron Robert Jones,
Michael A. Jordan, Sheetal Kavita, Elliot J. Klavuhn, Aaron C. Knapp, James Koo,
Feipang Lam, Wei Li, Arely Lopez, Colin W. McCann, Jason Frederik McCausland,
Carley N. Metcalf, Jason M. Michaud, Dominique Andrew Miles, Chantell Munoz,
Megan Kimberly Nation, Martin Nderi, Jason Michael O’Neill, Madeleine Broxton Park,
Alycia Lorraine Patterson, Yessica M. Perez, Jeremy Scott Peterson, Stacilynn Mae Rambow, Julian Lavar Richards, Laura C. Richardson, Jeremy Bradon Rothschild,
Michelle Santos, Janaia Marie Seacrest-Holden, Arianna Elizabeth Shorey,
Ronald Smith, Liliya A. Stakhovich, Jesse Jameson Strege, Madhav Subedi,
Milena Summers, Tallman Harlow Trask IV, Thanhhong Thi Vu-Smith,
Perrin J. Walker, Nicole Nadean Wilcox, Tremicka Nicole Williams, Rees T. Yaden, and
Dennis E. Zuleta-Dupleich

Law & Policy graduates:
Mohamed Hassan Ahmed, Sharon-An B. Athey, Grady Heins, Jordan Emma Katherine Jones, Ramon Ralph Maddox, and Michael Wotherspoon

PPPA students graduate with honors

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This year for the first time, one of our students are graduating with honors in PP&E. Kaycie Elwess (pictured below) is the first UW Tacoma student to graduate with this distinction.

In addition to PP&E honors, several PPPA graduates have also been awarded Baccalaureate or Faculty Honors. Baccalaureate honors include summa cum laude (the top 0.5% of the program), magna cum Kacie Elwesslaude (the next 3%), and cum laude (the next 6.5%); faculty honors are given to acknowledge students with a grade point average equivalent to baccalaureate honors, but who have not completed the minimum 90 UW credits.

Students graduating Magna Cum Laude include Kaycie Elwess, Thomas Gregory Farrow, Erin Barbara Gaede, Arianna Elizabeth Shorey, and Michael Wotherspoon (who also earned IAS honors)

Ryan Walter Begg, Jacob Alan Bush, James D. Jagger, Colin W. McCann (also, Global Honors), Laura C. Richardson, Tallman Harlow Trask IV (also  IAS honors) are graduating with the Cum Laude distinction.  Brandon Green earned faculty honors. 

Congratulations for work well done!