Taylor Ramirez

What Drives a Sports Fan? Researching the Rise of ‘Ultras’ in European Soccer

Andrew J Schappert — Thu, 27 Oct 2022 15:11:03 +0000

What Drives a Sports Fan? Researching the Rise of ‘Ultras’ in European Soccer Andrew J Schappert Thu, 10/27/2022 - 11:11

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Eric McGlinchey

Jennifer N. Victor

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Andrew Strasberg. ‘His work has the potential to become integrated into a broader body of literature,’ said mentor Jennifer N. Victor.

For Andrew Strasberg, the game of soccer has always been a focal point of his life. When the Schar School senior was tasked with completing a research project for a graduate level research class, his topic of choice was a rather easy decision.

Strasberg, a bachelor of science in public administration major, combined his love of soccer with his interest in politics in a unique way. His project, “Hooligans or Honchos? Developing a Political Theory of European Ultra-ism,” explores the sociopolitical phenomenon of ultras, a type of sports fan renowned for ultra-fanatical support. Strasberg explores the existing research on ultras and proposes new methods of analysis to develop “a causal explanation of ultra-ism and its associated violence in Europe,” he said.

Strasberg’s project came into fruition with the help of Schar School Associate Professors Eric McGlinchey and Jennifer N. Victor. Strasberg created his proposal in fall 2021 while taking GOVT 500, a graduate scientific method and research design class taught by McGlinchey, who offered valuable mentorship. (��AV allows undergraduates to take 500- and 600-level courses with an instructor’s permission. “I was just interested in the class,” Strasberg said.)

While working for Victor in the Schar School’s Undergraduate Research Assistant Program (URAP), she encouraged him to submit his proposal to the Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) for consideration and served as his mentor throughout the latter half of the year.

Victor says that Strasberg’s timely work is important, now and in the future.

“The study of political violence and the ways in which humans get attracted to groups that become violent is a very important topic,” she said. “His work has the potential to become integrated into a broader body of literature that helps us understand the conditions under which people turn to violence to achieve political goals.”

After his project was accepted, Strasberg joined Victor and other Schar School faculty in Chicago at the MPSA conference in April 2022. He presented his research during an undergraduate poster session and met other like-minded students also exhibiting important work.

Victor says it is rare for undergraduates to present at political science conferences such as the MPSA meeting. Strasberg said the experience allowed him to meet informed academics who offered invaluable feedback on his work.

He advises prospective or current Schar School students interested in research opportunities to pursue them.

“Do it!” he said. “Look for projects that allow you to push the boundaries of what you know and can do already. A lot of people don’t realize how willing and able professors are to help, and will go out of their way to see you succeed.”

Strasberg is now including his successful proposal in his personal statement for PhD applications. He said his class with McGlinchey and the entire URAP program provided “professionalizing resources” and gave him confidence in future endeavors.

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Schar School Alumna Begins Political Organizing Position at Blue Future

Andrew J Schappert — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 12:56:22 +0000

Schar School Alumna Begins Political Organizing Position at Blue Future Andrew J Schappert Thu, 09/01/2022 - 08:56

Maria Hernádez: ‘I will forever be grateful for the Schar School and every single lesson it taught me…’

For Class of 2022 Schar School of Policy and Government graduate Maria Hernández, politics has always been personal. Her family migrated from Venezuela to Miami in the 1990s, and she says seeing and hearing Barak Obama, a presidential candidate of color speaking positively about Latinos and immigration, was “special.”

More specifically, her passion for political organizing began her senior year of high school and continued during her freshman year of college. Born and raised in the Coral Springs/Parkland area of Florida, which was directly impacted by the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018, Hernández says, “my community will never be the same.”

She is working to change that.

After earning her degree in Government and International Politics with a minor in Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Hernández now channels her interest and passion in what she describes as her “dream job” as the executive director of organizing at Blue Future.

A national program run out of the Youth Progressive Action Catalyst and part of the largest political action committee in America, Blue Future works to engage, mobilize, and connect young people to progressive political campaigns and equip them with resources to be effective volunteers, organizers, and community leaders.

Hernández’s job includes leading a candidate training program called Generation Run, hosting training sessions, reviewing applications, and choosing cohort members. She will continue the relationship Blue Future’s founders instilled by handling partnership calls, managing social media, and co-hosting a podcast, Stride: Organizing with Purpose.

Hernández says she will use the skills gained during her time at the Schar School for the rest of her career.

“Taking advantage of those resources, our location, and skills taught by the greatest and most notable political scientists in the field truly prepared me to obtain my postgrad dream job barely one month after I graduated from Mason,” she said.

She describes the Schar School as a competitive and challenging space “that puts you out of your comfort zone over and over again—but in a good way!” Stepping out of that comfort zone, Hernández worked with March for Our Lives, Brady United against gun violence, Students Demand Action, Change the Ref, and other gun violence prevention organizations.

“I will forever be grateful for the Schar School and every single lesson it taught me, the relationships I will cherish for the rest of my life and the location, environment, and opportunity of a lifetime,” she said.

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Graduate Students Get a Hands-On International Security Experience in South Korea

Andrew J Schappert — Tue, 16 Aug 2022 14:28:12 +0000

Graduate Students Get a Hands-On International Security Experience in South Korea Andrew J Schappert Tue, 08/16/2022 - 10:28

In This Story

Ellen Laipson

The Schar School delegation poses at the War Museum of Korea during the late May visit.

Just two days after President Biden completed his diplomatic visit to South Korea in late May, 16 Schar School graduate students followed in his footsteps and embarked on the trip of a lifetime.

Schar School Professor Ellen Laipson, director of the Schar School’s Master’s in International Security degree program, led a cohort of ��AV students on the visit to the country. The team, made up of students from various Schar School programs—including International Security, Biodefense, Public Administration, and Public Policy—explored Busan, Incheon, Seoul, and the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

This study abroad program was the first for graduate students. Originally intended to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Korean War in 2020, the course finally launched when South Korea lifted its COVID-19 restrictions for foreign travelers.

The course, according to Laipson, was designed to expose Schar School students to the complexities of the Korean peninsula and the security challenges posed by North Korea, China's rise, and some uncertainties in recent years in the U.S.-Republic of Korea security alliance.

“President Biden's trip to Korea in late May, on the eve of the course, really focused attention on the alliance, and made the discussions with Korean experts even more pertinent,” Laipson said.

Beginning with a visit to the growing Mason campus in Songdo, academic activities included attending an international symposium at the Center for Security Policy Studies and a half-day crisis simulation involving President Harry S. Truman's decisive National Security Council meetings in 1950.

The students also had opportunities while in Seoul to visit the National Assembly, the Korean War Museum, and Yongsan Park.

“This was the first time I've ever left the country so getting to dive in and understand more of the culture, background, and issues in that part of the world was really special,” said international security student Meaghan Mackey. “All of the things we talk about and learn about are real issues and not just in a book. There are real people who are affected by these policies every day. I enjoyed getting that perspective.”

Near the end of the trip the students received a guided tour of the DMZ, which Riggs Ordonez, also an international security student, said was a highlight for him.

“It was such an eye-opening experience,” he said. “I actually thought it was really beautiful and it was hard to believe this place carried so much history—and tension.”

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Incoming Schar Professor Earns Emerging Scholar Award from the American Political Science Association

Andrew J Schappert — Tue, 09 Aug 2022 18:05:16 +0000

Incoming Schar Professor Earns Emerging Scholar Award from the American Political Science Association Andrew J Schappert Tue, 08/09/2022 - 14:05

Ashley Jardina: ‘I’m interested in understanding what racism looks like and what its political consequences are.’

Growing up just south of Richmond, Virginia, "race just felt like an ever-present, salient issue in the area all the time," said Ashley Jardina.

Her interest in studying race and politics continued as she earned both an undergraduate and doctoral degree from the University of Michigan. She has spent the last six years at Duke University teaching as well as working on her own research.

Jardina is now an associate professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government, teaching a graduate-level course on race and politics as well as instructing an undergraduate honors thesis course.

She describes the Schar School as a perfect fit for her expertise. “There’s a diversity of scholarship happening,” she said. “There’s such a diversity of faculty at ��AV that brings so many different strengths to the school, and so many opportunities for students.”

As for her field of study, it could not be timelier, or more important.

“I study the nature of white racial attitudes in the U.S.,” she said. “I’m interested in understanding what racism looks like and what its political consequences are.”

Her successful and unprecedented research, which includes the award-winning 2019 book White Identity Politics (Cambridge University Press), has earned her a prestigious award from the American Political Science Association (APSA). Jardina was nominated by fellow political scientists and is one of two recipients of the 2022 Emerging Scholar Award. This award is given by the Elections, Public Opinion, and Voting Behavior section of the APSA to top scholars within 10 years of earning their PhD.

Through both her teaching and her research, Jardina aims to answer several key questions about political behavior. “I’m interested in why people have the attitudes that they have, why they vote for whom they vote for, why they support the policies they support,” she said. “These questions are a really central part of understanding politics.”

Jardina said she looks forward to being close to Washington, D.C., in her new position at the Schar School and continuing her research in the political epicenter of the nation. She will also continue to be involved with the nonprofit organization Opportunity@Work, where she looks at racial disparities within the labor market to increase job opportunities for those who do not have college degrees.

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Leaders Look Back at the Schar School Democracy Lab Inaugural Year

Andrew J Schappert — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 14:59:26 +0000

Leaders Look Back at the Schar School Democracy Lab Inaugural Year Andrew J Schappert Thu, 07/07/2022 - 10:59

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Peter Mandaville

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Democracy Lab students at their primary residence, Adams Hall. Photos by Buzz McClain/Schar School of Policy and Government

Some 70 first-year college students with common interests in government and politics lived and studied alongside one another for a year. The idea was to foster a different kind of connection between like-minded students that may not be made in class. Overall, the inaugural year of the Schar School Learning Community, Democracy Lab, was a success.

Resident Advisors (RAs) and fellow Schar School of Policy and Government students Ethan Thomas and Molly Reed were eager to reflect on the events of the year. Both government and international politics majors, Thomas and Reed supervised students in Mason’s Adams Hall throughout the year and facilitated community activities alongside the Schar School.

“I have been an RA for three years and I love the impact I can make on a resident's first-year experience, even if it is small,” Dallas-native Reed said. “I knew this would come with its own set of challenges, but I was excited at the idea of tailoring my work to something I was passionate about.”

Thomas, who hails from Chicago and will complete a congressional internship in Illinois this summer, was eager to help newer students with the transition to life at the Schar School and Mason. The RAs, Thomas observed, came to rely heavily on each other throughout the new endeavor. “A lot of being an RA is learning from experience,” Thomas said, “and having people there to support you the whole time has been extremely helpful.”

In addition to sharing a Fairfax Campus residence hall, the Democracy Lab students were encouraged to take part in frequent on- and off-campus activities. The RAs, Thomas said, balanced responsibilities between the Schar School and the university’s Housing and Residence Life department when tailoring events for political science- and government-minded students. “It sometimes requires more work from us as RAs,” he said, “but it’s cool because we can also curate required housing events into a political lens so our residents will enjoy them more.”

Mason President Gregory Washington, right, meets with Democracy Lab leaders. Resident Advisors Ethan Thomas and Molly Reed are to Washington’s immediate left. Former faculty community director and Associate Professor Peter Mandaville has his back to the camera.

The RAs worked closely with Schar School faculty and staff—including former faculty community director and Associate Professor Peter Mandaville and undergraduate programs manager Gretchen Curry—to plan the Democracy Lab curriculum. “They’re our student perspective, so we rely heavily on their input,” Curry said of the collaboration.

Activities throughout the year consisted of debate watch parties, final exam study clinics led by the RAs, and attending a lecture by American philosopher and academic activist Cornel West. The highlight event of the year was the Democracy Lab’s trip to nearby Washington, D.C., where they visited the memorials of George Mason, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Luther King, and Abraham Lincoln. The students engaged in conversations with Mandaville about Mason’s role as a slave owner and his status as the “forgotten Founding Father,” as well as with a representative from the White House Historical Association about Thomas Jeffersons complex legacy.

Reflecting on their year leading the Democracy Lab, Thomas said, the learning community “offers people an opportunity not only to get connected to the Schar School itself by providing them opportunities to meet faculty members and to get involved in research opportunities, but it also gives them the opportunity to talk with other students in a more relaxed setting.”

Reed added that members of the Democracy Lab “are able to build community with other students passionate about political science and learn how to coexist with people with a variety of viewpoints. The Schar School has a responsibility to teach us to be promising political science scholars, but the Democracy Lab creates responsible neighbors.”

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A Stranger No Longer: Meet a Syrian Immigrant Who’s Made Washington His Home

Andrew J Schappert — Tue, 05 Jul 2022 19:36:46 +0000

A Stranger No Longer: Meet a Syrian Immigrant Who’s Made Washington His Home Andrew J Schappert Tue, 07/05/2022 - 15:36

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Jad Makdissi at the Middle East Institute in Washington.

Jad Makdissi came to America from Syria with a unique story and a global perspective. Today, he’s using his time at ��AV’s Schar School of Policy and Government as a catapult to explore Washington, D.C.—and discover his purpose.

The son of a prominent spokesman for the Syrian Foreign Ministry, Jihad Makdissi, the younger Makdissi is no stranger to international diplomacy. At 20 years old, he has lived all around the world, including in Belgium, England, Lebanon, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates. His family circumstances—his father fled Syria in 2012 in protest of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime—brought him to the United States in 2017. But it was his unique global experiences that led him to Mason in 2020.

“��AV strikes the perfect balance between affordability and academic opportunity,” he said. The biggest perk of being a Mason student, he said, “is that whether you’re on the Fairfax or Arlington campus, you are studying literally only 30 minutes away from the world's most important capital city—Washington, D.C.”

Now a rising senior majoring in government and international politics, Makdissi is beginning to make a name for himself in Washington. “In the two years I've been here, I've taken full advantage of Mason's prestigious location,” he said.

In a short time, Makdissi has served as a government relations assistant through an internship at the Washington law firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough. He was also a research assistant at the Arab Studies Institute in Fairfax and an executive assistant at the Middle East Institute in Washington. This summer, he will hold a Congressional internship in the office of U.S. Rep. Richard Hudson (R) of North Carolina.

Makdissi has taken full advantage of on-campus opportunities as well, including selection into the competitive Global Politics Fellows program at the Schar School and freelance writing for the student-run newspaper, the Fourth Estate.

After graduating in 2023, Makdissi plans to take a gap year and pursue more internship opportunities and explore the region further before turning his sights toward law school.

He hopes to eventually work for the federal government in the Foreign Service. His desire to serve the American government and people comes from the sense of belonging he feels in the United States. He added that one of the downsides of living around the world is struggling with his identity, and he wants to work for the country that he loves and identifies with most.

“Before I moved to America, I’ve never lived in one country for more than five years—America to me is my home,” he said.

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Student Spotlight: She’s Studying to Be President—of Perú

Andrew J Schappert — Tue, 19 Apr 2022 15:34:03 +0000

Student Spotlight: She’s Studying to Be President—of Perú Andrew J Schappert Tue, 04/19/2022 - 11:34

García Inga, at Incan ruins near Cuzco, Perú

Ana Belen de Abril García Inga grew up in Lima, Perú, dreaming of someday becoming president of that South American country.

Her reason was simple: “I just want to improve Peruvian lives and help my home.”

García Inga knew if she wanted to fulfill her goal, she needed to take a risk, and an international one at that. She is now more than 3,500 miles from home studying in the Schar School of Policy and Government at ��AV with hopes of returning to serve her country.

The freshman government and international politics major chose Mason due to its proximity to Washington, D.C., and the opportunities afforded by a location near the seat of American government. “I wanted to go somewhere that has faculty with more experience in international relations and be close to everything happening in the world,” she said.

García Inga became interested in government and economics at a young age.

“Growing up, it was easy to see the complicated politics of Perú and I wanted to learn more about it and how to someday hopefully fix it,” she said. She added that studying international relations and government is not as common in Perú and she wanted to attend a school where she knew she would have access to the best resources available.

After attending a Model UN conference in the U.S., she knew this was where she wanted to pursue her education. So far, the university has exceeded her expectations.

“George Mason gives you so many connections to important people in the government, and what better place to study about the world than in Washington D.C., one of the most important cities in the world?”

As for her American education, “the professors in the Schar School are really passionate about what they are teaching, which helps make me more interested in the class and they really care about their students,” she said, adding that she already feels more passionate about what she’s studying—if that were possible.

In the future, García Inga looks forward to finishing her degree and attending a graduate program or work for an international organization.

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