SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
NOVEMBER 2009 POLITICAL SCIENCE NEWSLETTER
PENN STATE ERIE, THE BEHREND COLLEGE
THIS MONTH'S HEADLINES
1. COURSE FEES FOR TRAVEL, INCLUDING TORONTO, CAN NOW BE PAID WITH CREDIT CARD
2. GRANT MONEY STILL AVAILABLE FOR STUDENTS WHO TAKE TORONTO COURSE
3. NORTH AMERICAN POLITICS COURSE TO BE OFFERED IN TORONTO IN SUMMER 2010
4. TENTATIVE SUMMER 2010 COURSES
5. INTERNSHIP NEWS
6. FACULTY IN THE NEWS
7. STUDENT GROUP NEWS
8. HAPPY THANKSGIVING
1. COURSE FEES FOR TRAVEL, INCLUDING TORONTO, CAN NOW BE PAID WITH CREDIT CARD
Students who need to pay course fees related to travel or lodging for a School of H&SS class can now do so with a credit card. Students can either use their own credit cards or have parents fill out and sign a form to use their credit cards. In the past, such expenses could only be paid through cash, check, or money order. Students should be aware that there will be a 3% surcharge added to the course fee for any amount paid via credit card.
Course fees include those involving any expenses or deposits related to the Toronto course, the Washington DC trip course (next scheduled for Spring 2011), or trips to Spain or Italy organized by other faculty members in H&SS. To pay a course fee by credit card, please see Jackie May in the H&SS School Office, 170 Kochel Center.
2. GRANT MONEY STILL AVAILABLE FOR STUDENTS WHO TAKE TORONTO COURSE
Due to a grant from the Canadian Embassy in Washington DC and a donation from Penn State Behrend political science alumna Barbara Welton, an Erie attorney, the first ten students who enroll in the North American Politics course in downtown Toronto, to be taught in Summer 2010, will not need to pay most of the costs of living in a Ryerson University residence for a month.
The first ten students to submit applications for that course, PL SC 299/499, and have their applications accepted will only need to pay a $200 non-refundable deposit for the cost of their month-long residential stay, and the grant and donation will pay the remainder of the residential costs. So far, students have submitted applications to claim half of those first ten spaces. It is possible that the remaining spaces among the first ten will be filled soon after Thanksgiving, so students who are seriously considering the course should submit applications with deposits as soon as they can.
Students whose applications are not among the first ten to be received and accepted can still take the course, but will need to pay the full cost of their residence ($930CDN) for a month. More details about the course are in the news item that follows.
3. NORTH AMERICAN POLITICS COURSE TO BE OFFERED IN TORONTO IN SUMMER 2010
The Course
PL SC 299/499 - North American Politics, 3 credits - will take place in downtown Toronto between May 9 and June 5, 2010. The class is an official Penn State Education Abroad course that can be used to fulfill requirements for the political science major or minor at any PSU campus, the international politics major at UP (PL SC 499 only), and requirements in some majors for an Education Abroad component, including the international business major at Penn State Behrend. The course may also meet requirements in other majors and minors.
The course will be co-taught by Dr. Robert Speel, associate professor of political science at Penn State Behrend, and by a Ryerson University professor. The class will take place on the Ryerson campus in downtown Toronto and will include students from Penn State and Ryerson in the classroom together. American students from Penn State and Canadian students from Ryerson will participate together in class discussions and on class excursions and will take the same exams. Penn State students will be graded by Dr. Speel.
The course focuses on the comparative politics of the United States and Canada and on international relations between the two countries. Among the topics to be discussed will be a comparison of the development of separate political cultures in the two countries, comparisons of government institutions, election systems, federalism, and regionalism, and comparisons of each country's policy approaches toward the economy, health care, gun control, same-sex marriage, language, free speech, abortion, and the role of religion in public life. Issues important in international relations between the two countries will also be discussed - this includes trade, border security, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and control of the Arctic. Class excursions will visit the Ontario Parliament Buildings and Fort York, site of an important battle in the War of 1812.
The grade for PL SC 299 will be determined by exams and class participation. An additional research paper will be assigned for students who enroll in PL SC 499 - the paper will be due a few weeks after the course is over.
The class begins the week after final exams at Penn State Behrend, and the class ends the week before Behrend's seven-week summer session begins, so students who wish to take any other summer classes on the Behrend campus will be able to do so. The class will meet four days a week, Mondays-Thursdays, between 2-5 PM for fourteen days over four weeks, with a final exam on Friday, June 4. Students will have the option of staying in the Ryerson University residence an additional few days until June 8. Weekends will be free for students to explore Toronto on their own.
The Ryerson University Residence and Location
Students will live during the month in the International Living Learning Centre (ILLC) student residence on the Ryerson campus. Students will each have their own motel-style single rooms with television, air conditioning, and private bathrooms. Each floor of the residence also has a kitchenette, laundry machines, and a television lounge area. The residence is located next door to a 24-hour supermarket and to a 24-hour grocery store.
The ILLC residence is located just two blocks from Yonge Street, the Eaton Centre, and Dundas Square. Yonge Street contains miles of restaurants and retail shops. The Eaton Centre is a large downtown mall on several floors that contains many stores and two fast food courts. Dundas Square, patterned after New York City's Times Square, offers frequent free live performances by musicians and buskers and is surrounded by restaurants, stores, a new movie theater, and many large electronic billboards. The ILLC is also a short walk from subway lines and streetcar lines to take you to other parts of Toronto. Toronto contains the tallest structure in the Western Hemisphere (the CN Tower), the second largest zoo in North America, a large variety of ethnic neighborhoods, Canada's largest museum of world cultures and natural history (Royal Ontario Museum), several prominent art museums, the hockey hall of fame, and the Harbourfront Centre, which is located on Lake Ontario and contains cultural attractions, shopping, boat cruises, and pedestrian walkways. Penn State students will visit several of these locations as a group while in Toronto outside of class time.
Over half of all residents of Toronto were born outside of Canada, and over half of the residents of Toronto's largest suburbs were also born outside of Canada. Because immigrants to Toronto have come in large numbers from every part of the globe (East Asia, South Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, Africa), Toronto is considered by many to be the most international city in the world.
You can view photos from last year's course at:
http://www.pennstatebehrend.psu.edu/academic/hss/degrees/polsc/Torontocourse.htm
Applications, Costs, and Financial Aid
To take the course and participate in the Education Abroad program, students will need to fill out some application forms, pay a $200 non-refundable deposit and pay Penn State tuition for 3 credits next summer. The exact amount of tuition depends on your class year, college of enrollment, and major. However, there is widespread financial aid available to assist with the costs of tuition. Behrend and Penn State offer many tuition scholarships and grants for Education Abroad students, and students who take at least 6 credits of summer classes next year will also be eligible for federal financial aid. Application forms for the scholarships and grants are included in application packets - Ruth Pflueger at the Learning Resource Center on the second floor of Lilley Library can also offer more information about financial assistance with tuition.
The cost of a room at the Ryerson ILLC residence for the month in downtown Toronto will be $930Canadian. At the current exchange rate, that is about $880US. However, due to a grant we have received from the Canadian Embassy in Washington DC and a donation we have received from Barbara Welton, an Erie attorney and a Penn State Behrend political science alumna, the first ten students to submit application forms and the $200 deposit and have their applications accepted will not need to pay any additional money toward the cost of the Toronto residence for a month - the grant money and donation money will cover the rest. Students will need a minimum 2.5 GPA to be accepted into the course, though exceptions can be made - talk to Dr. Speel for details about that.
Additional costs include $24 for mandatory health insurance coverage while in Canada. All adult Americans now need a passport to travel to Canada and return to the USA, so students will need to get one if they don't have one already. And students will be responsible for their own food costs and personal items - because each floor of the residence has a kitchenette and supermarkets are next door, students will be able to eat inexpensively while in Toronto. Students will also need to find their own form of transportation to get to Toronto, though we can offer suggestions to help with that. Toronto is about a 3 1/2 hour drive from the city of Erie.
Students who are not among the first ten students to submit applications and deposits can still enroll in the course and join the group in Toronto, but will need to pay the full cost for their room in the Ryerson University residence. The deadline for submission of applications and deposits to register for the course is March 1, 2010.
Application form packets are available at the Learning Resource Center (LRC) on the second floor of Lilley Library and at Dr, Speel's office, 159 Kochel. Application forms and the $200 deposits should be turned in at the LRC. The first ten students whose applications are accepted will have the remainder of their residential costs in Toronto covered by the grant and donation. Deposits in the form of checks or money orders should be made out to Penn State University. Deposits in the form of cash or credit card payments should be brought to Jackie May in the School of H&SS Office at 170 Kochel.
If you have any questions about the course, residence, application forms, or financial assistance, please visit or contact Dr. Speel or Ruth Pflueger at the LRC.
4. TENTATIVE SUMMER 2010 COURSES
May Session - May 9 - June 5, 2010
PL SC 299/499 - North American Politics (taught in Toronto)
Penn State Education Abroad course
Can be used to fulfill requirements in the political science major or minor
Counts in the areas of Comparative Politics or International Politics for political science majors
August Session - July 26 - August 12, 2010
PL SC 014 (GS, IL) (taught on campus in Erie)
5. INTERNSHIP NEWS
A. Internships can be undertaken for either academic credit or just for the valuable experience they provide. Internships are strongly recommended (but not required) for every political science major. For details about obtaining academic credit for internship work, visit the website at:
http://www.pennstatebehrend.psu.edu/academic/hss/degrees/polsc/index.htm
Students who wish to obtain academic credit for internship work must have their internship approved by a faculty member before they begin work at the intern site.
B. Free booklets titled Studying in Washington: A Guide to Academic Internships in the Nation's Capital are available. Contact Dr. Speel to obtain one.
C. The Erie office of Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper is seeking interns. This is a great way to find out what happens in a congressional office and to meet people who play a significant role in local and national politics. For more information, contact Dr. Speel.
D. The Finnegan Foundation offers paid Harrisburg internships every Summer. Applications are due by February 6, 2010. One former Behrend student, who now works in Harrisburg, won this internship award earlier this decade. For details go to www.finneganfoundation.org or read the brochure posted on the large political science bulletin board next to Dr. Cook's office
E. The Political Science Society expects to host a forum to discuss internships in the Erie area in the near future.
6. FACULTY IN THE NEWS
Dr. Robert Roecklein, Lecturer in English, who has a PhD in political science and who teaches some of our political theory courses, will be presenting a paper on "Plato's Refutation of Indivisible Body in the Parmenides," at the meeting of the Northeast Political Science Association in Philadelphia on November 19.
Robert Speel was interviewed by the Erie Times-News for three articles about local elections this month - one about Judge Domitrovich's retention election campaign, one about Mark Divecchio's record as Erie County Executive, and one about the results in this year's race for Erie County Executive.
7. STUDENT GROUP NEWS
College Democrats and College Republicans are planning a debate for Wednesday, December 2, at 6:30 PM in Bruno's. Last year's debate was lively and controversial with lots of audience participation, so attend if you can. Usually, some free pizza is provided.
After the December 2 debate, College Republicans will be going downtown to Erie County Republican headquarters to meet with 3rd district congressional candidate Paul Huber. Free pizza will be offered at that event as well. Rides can also be arranged for interested students by contacting College Republicans.
The Political Science Society is planning events related to internships and government jobs next semester.
For information about any of the organizations, contact their presidents:
College Republicans - Brett Miller bzm5068@psu.edu
College Democrats - Josh Snyder jss5166@psu.edu
Political Science Society - Zack Goncz zag102@psu.edu
8. HAPPY THANKSGIVING
We hope that you all have a happy Thanksgiving and are able to enjoy food, family, and football over the next week.
October Newsletter
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April Newsletter
March Newsletter
February Newsletter
January Newsletter
Program Chair: Dr. Robert Speel
814-898-6206; rws15@psu.edu