Schar School News for February 2024

Schar School Featured Stories

Students visit Richmond to advocate for Mason at annual Mason Lobbies event

Colleen Rich — Fri, 23 Feb 2024 19:26:59 +0000

Students visit Richmond to advocate for Mason at annual Mason Lobbies event Colleen Rich Fri, 02/23/2024 - 14:26

More than 70 ��AV students traveled to Richmond on Thursday, Feb. 15, to advocate for Mason’s legislative priorities during Mason Lobbies.

Mason students Charlotte Bell (left) and Adila Aghayeva (right) visited Delegate Holly Seibold (D-12). Photo provided

The eager group was welcomed to the General Assembly by Mason President Gregory Washington and Mason alumni—Majority Leader Charniele Herring (D-4), BA Economics ’93, and Senator Jeremy McPike (D-29), BA Government and Politics ’97.

Sporting their trademark green and gold scarves and filled with Patriot Pride, students dispersed through the legislative offices prepared to discuss their agenda items with lawmakers and their staff.

^{Mason Lobbies is an opportunity for students to use their voice to improve our university and learn about the Virginia legislative process,” said Adila Aghayeva, a first-year student from Azerbaijan studying government and international politics.}

The primary ask was for an additional $18 million to address historical underfunding concerning appropriations aid for undergraduate students, echoing the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia’s recommendation.

From left Mason student Honestie Kern, Delegate Patrick Hope, and Mason students Isabela Vieira and Griffin Crouch met during annual Mason Lobbies event. Photo provided

Other agenda items included additional funding for the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependent Education Program, increased funding for Mason’s 26 Small Business Development Centers serving the commonwealth, capital investment for the proposed Student Innovation Factory on the Fairfax Campus and Life Sciences and Engineering Building at Mason’s SciTech Campus, and maintenance reserve support funding.

Charlotte Bell, a first-year student studying government and international politics, visited Delegate Holly Seibold (D-12). Bell shared the insights she gained from participating in the lobbying campaign. “Lawmakers are working on many different bills and resolutions simultaneously, just like Mason’s Student Government. They’re also very open to listening to our voices and opinions.”

Legislators said they value the opportunity to meet with constituents.

^{As lawmakers, we need to hear from you,” Seibold said. “We need to know what’s important to you and how our work impacts your life. These visits are very critical to our work.”}

Student Government Vice President Nell Palumbo, a junior government and international politics major, helped plan last year’s Mason Lobbies. “Mason is extremely valuable to the commonwealth, and legislators know we are underfunded,” she said. “After having many great conversations with legislators, I think we are making actual progress toward closing the funding gap for Mason. Every year we get a little bit closer to our goal. I’m proud to be part of that change.”

Zayd Hamid, a senior studying public administration who is pursuing an accelerated master of public policy degree, said he believes students have a role in advocating for Mason. “A great deal of student complaints related to the cost of attendance, building conditions, etc. can be ameliorated through increased support from the commonwealth. Advocating for and ensuring the passage of Mason’s legislative priorities is important to me as a student. Students succeed when the university succeeds.”

Hamid said he encourages more students to get involved with next year’s event. “Help Mason achieve its goals, and it will be in a better position to support you.”

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General Assembly

Schar School Student Spotlight

A Day in the Life of Student, Teaching Assistant, and Congressional Intern Maaz Abbasi

Andrew J Schappert — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 16:54:48 +0000

A Day in the Life of Student, Teaching Assistant, and Congressional Intern Maaz Abbasi Andrew J Schappert Wed, 02/21/2024 - 11:54

‘My favorite part of the internship is interacting with constituents, engaging in what they have to say, proving answers, providing help.’

This is part of the Schar School's student-to-student story series where undergraduates are interviewed and profiled by their peers.

Maaz Abbasi, a senior government and international politics major at the Schar School of Policy and Government at ��AV, is a master juggler. He attends classes full time and works as a teaching assistant and legislative intern for Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA). Below he shares a typical (busy) day as an intern and a student.

Internship days – Tuesday and Thursday
6 a.m. | Get ready and head to work

My day starts at 6 a.m. I work in the office of Congressman Gerry Connolly in Virginia’s 11th district as a legislative intern. Capitol Hill is a very formal environment, so interning there requires me to wear a suit and tie. I leave my house around 7:45 a.m. and take the Silver Line for 1 hour and 10 minutes to D.C. During that time, I catch up with assignments or plan my Friday teaching lessons.

9 a.m. | Go to Capitol Hill internship

Right now, because of recent international events, we are very busy. The first thing I do is check any emails or messages from my supervisor. Then, I will be given an assignment, which can be working on a letter. The other day I worked on a Supreme Court reaffirmation letter. I wrote the letter from scratch, which spoke about the need for change in the Supreme Court after multiple corruption cases were revealed within the body. Writing this letter was important because court corruption can affect the body’s decisions and American’s lives. I was able to bring analytical skills while referencing the congressman’s opinions. I was able to do research for it and what the congressman has supported. A lot of my time is spent on research and answering calls from constituents. They call for a huge range of things, so you need to be prepared to answer EVERYTHING. Yesterday, I answered a call about UFOs and then another about Vietnam War veteran benefits.

I go to different events. So, if an organization wants to lobby for a certain bill, the congressman’s office will send me to an event to take notes. For example, I’ve gone to a Save the Whales event, or a Gambling Addiction event and take notes for staff, so maybe they can get the congressman to support it or not. I also lead tours in the Capitol and share its history. Learning history is a big part of the job because if you know the history of Capitol Hill you will be much more respected and engaged in what is going on there.

My favorite part of the internship is interacting with constituents, engaging in what they have to say, proving answers, providing help. Assisting people on the phone is very rewarding because, sometimes, people just want to be listened to, and giving them the opportunity to voice their opinions is what democracy and freedom of speech is all about.

The most unexpected thing is the amount of work the office of a congressman does. It’s a lot. There are two offices, the district one and the Washington one, and they all do so much to help the congressman succeed, write legislation, find what legislation to sponsor, help constituents, and just be there to support him. There are a lot of functions that require a huge time commitment.

5 p.m. | Head home

It takes me one hour to get back to Ashburn. I mostly decompress and read a book or watch a movie. When I get home, I will check my class, check if any student has emailed me regarding the 103 class I assist with, and answer any questions they might have. I am also a member of the No Lost Generation club, a student club at Mason, which is dedicated to expanding refugees’ access to higher education opportunities. Currently, I serve as the director of policy advocacy as it facilitates contacts throughout my internship because the congressman is a big supporter of refugees.

School days – Wednesday and Friday
7 a.m. Wake up

I wake up and get ready for the day. I finalize lesson plans and make sure all activities are ready to present to the class.

11 a.m. | Arrive on campus

I hold office hours before class and then teach the 50-minute class. Then, I go to club meetings and interact with people on campus and professors who might have office hours. As a teaching assistant to Professor Jennifer Victor, I give input on the lesson, helping by providing examples and answers to the students. Some of my specific tasks are teaching recitations, answering questions about the textbook or the class, providing support for review sessions, and being a point of contact for students.

My favorite class is GOVT 332 Politics in the Middle East with Associate Professor Bassam Haddad. I like this class because it builds from GOVT 345 Islam and Politics, which I had taken before. When you take out religious perspective, you get a deeper understanding when you don’t focus on only one thing. Also, the way Professor Haddad teaches, he starts off looking at your own biases and perspectives and then analyzes them.

5 p.m. | Leave campus

I enjoy hanging out with friends, going to the gym, and reading. I like to read political books about places and communities that are not talked about. 

In This Story

Jennifer N. Victor

Bassam S. Haddad

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Schar School BA in Government and International Politics

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Schar School ’06 MPP Alumna Lewis is 2023 ‘Washingtonian of the Year’

Andrew J Schappert — Tue, 20 Feb 2024 18:50:33 +0000

Schar School ’06 MPP Alumna Lewis is 2023 ‘Washingtonian of the Year’ Andrew J Schappert Tue, 02/20/2024 - 13:50

Studies show that one in five undergraduate college students is a parent, a situation that makes them 10 times less likely to complete a degree program than nonparents. Meanwhile, fewer than 2 percent of teen mothers who have a baby before age 18 earn a college degree before they turn 30.

Nicole Lynn Lewis: ‘My two years in the [Schar School] program really opened me up to looking at the issues that I was most passionate about through a policy lens…’

Nicole Lynn Lewis has spent the last 14 years trying to change those odds—because it wasn’t so long ago, she was among those unwed, pregnant teens trying to finish her senior year of high school and then attend college.

Fourteen years later, Lewis has helped some 450 young families in the Washington, D.C., metro region reach their education goals with financial assistance and mentoring through Generation Hope, the nonprofit she founded in 2010 after earning a 2006 Master of Public Policy degree at ��AV’s Schar School of Policy and Government.

In January, Lewis was named Washingtonian of the Year for 2023, one of 10 awards presented by the magazine to community leaders in various fields. It’s not the first major honor the author of Pregnant Girl: A Story of Teen Motherhood, College, and Creating a Better Future for Young Families has won: In 2020, Lewis was one of 31 inaugural awardees of the Black Voices for Black Justice Fund, an initiative of actress Kerry Washington and philanthropist Wes Moore, now the governor of Maryland.

My two years in the [Schar School] program really opened me up to looking at the issues that I was most passionate about through a policy lens, and understanding the role that legislation plays in shaping the lives of all of us—but especially of marginalized people who are under-resourced in our in communities,” she said of her experience at Mason.

While helping individuals in need was the driving force, lessons learned at the Schar School taught her about the implications of larger-scale policy.

“It really helped open my eyes to the systemic impact of what young families are navigating every day,” she said. “I also remember looking at policy holistically and understanding that policies don't always do what they're intended to do. It's important to really be intentional and thoughtful about not only crafting policies, but the way that they're rolled out.

“And I think that was really helpful in looking critically at policy and understanding that the intention of a policy is one thing, but what’s really important is how it plays out in the lives of the people it’s purporting to serve.”

The Schar School’s Master of Public Policy program prepares students to become leaders in influential positions in the policy world. The program addresses a vast range of public concerns and “big problems,” including terrorism, human trafficking, gender studies, environment, and others. More information can be found at the Master of Public Policy website.

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India-China Fulbright Scholar Wraps Up Visit to the Schar School

Andrew J Schappert — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 14:21:48 +0000

India-China Fulbright Scholar Wraps Up Visit to the Schar School Andrew J Schappert Wed, 02/14/2024 - 09:21

Visiting Fulbright professor Raman: ‘You can never say you have achieved everything but I’m going back with good memories.’

��AV is known for helping students and scholars achieve Fulbright fellowships at prestigious postings around the world. The university is also known for being a destination for those chosen to participate in international academic exchange, which is how Gundumella Venkat Raman came to teach—and learn—at Mason’s Schar School of Policy and Government for six months beginning in August 2023.

“In India we have the United States-India Education Foundation which, along with the U.S. State Department, works for the exchange of Fulbright fellows every year,” said Raman, who is on the faculty of humanities and social sciences at the Indian Institute of Management Indore in central India. “I came here as part of the exchange of mid-career professionals. The idea is to encourage mid-career professionals who have a certain kind of leadership and credentials to conduct research and teach.”

Raman, a sinologist with a focus on China’s interface with global governance, taught a course called The China Challenge for master’s and PhD students; he also studied “the current American political discourse related to China across various constituencies,” with a focus on climate change and technology, he said.

Raman chose the Schar School specifically, he said, because of its proximity to decision makers in nearby Washington, D.C.

“The area has lots of think tanks which make it easier for me to reach out and have interactions with them,” he said.

Once his teaching was done, he became familiar at the Wilson Center, the American Enterprise Institute, the Peterson Institute of International Economics, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the RAND Corporation.

Raman’s visit, which included excursions six U.S. states and stops at San Jose State University in California, Wake Forest University in North Carolina, and the University of Texas-El Paso, provided opportunities for interaction with colleagues and students and deliver talks about India’s China policies.

“The idea of a Fulbright scholarship is not merely academic,” he said. “The idea is to encourage scholars and scholarship exchanges, and also perhaps develop in visiting scholars a certain sense of cultural understanding of the America society.”

To that end, Fulbright organized a four-day enrichment seminar for many current Fulbright fellows in Cleveland, Ohio, on the topic of public health in America.

“We were introduced to some of the public health concerns and the various debates and discussions, critical issues that envelop this whole issue of public health in the United States,” Raman said.

“Given all this,” he concluded, “it’s been a frenetic pace of activity for the last six months. You can never say you have achieved everything but I’m going back with good memories. And it has been very enriching. I am more well informed about some of the things that are happening over here [in the U.S.].”

As he prepared to depart, he learned that Washington, D.C.'s new cricket team, the Washington Freedom, is interested in building a temporary cricket stadium on Mason's West Campus.

“Oh my gosh,” he said. “I think I came a year early.”

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A Switch from STEM to Government Fit This Schar School Scholar

Andrew J Schappert — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 22:02:22 +0000

A Switch from STEM to Government Fit This Schar School Scholar Andrew J Schappert Mon, 02/12/2024 - 17:02

This is part of the Schar School's student-to-student story series where undergraduates are interviewed and profiled by their peers.

Ruthu Josyula discovered a passion for government as a senior in high school through her involvement in speech and debate. She knew she wanted to attend college in Virginia and investigated universities with government programs. Fairfax proved far enough away from home but still near bustling Washington, D.C., so ��AV and the Schar School of Policy and Government felt like a good fit.

Schar School student Ruthu Josyula has explored her career goals through a wide range of school activities. Photo provided

Not only was it in the perfect location, but Mason provided me with all of the tools I needed to begin delving into government,” she said.

Josyula attended a magnet high school, which focused on math and science. She had planned to be an architect, but switched to a government and international politics major because she was fascinated to learn about how government works and what role it plays in everyday life.

As a freshman, Josyula applied to the Democracy Lab, a first-year residential learning community, led by Associate Professor Jennifer Victor. As a member of the Democracy Lab, students live with peers who share a passion for learning and civic action. Students enroll in a government course, take part in customized field trips to important institutions in the Washington, D.C., area, and hear from prominent guest speakers. All of these opportunities build a strong network of students, professors, mentors, and advisors that contribute to students’ future success.

I was so nervous to enter a completely different area of study, but Democracy Lab was an essential step in my smooth transition,” she said. “I have met my closest friends through the program.”

Josyula had such an eye-opening experience with the Democracy Lab that, as a sophomore, she joined another learning community, the International Relations Policy Task Force, led by Associate Professor Eric McGlinchey, where sophomores, juniors, and seniors engage deeply in pressing worldwide challenges.

“This learning community will give me insight on how governments interact on a global scale,” she said.

Not only is Josyula fully immersed in Schar School programs, but she is also on the executive board of several clubs, most notably Bridge. As the name suggests, Bridge’s mission is to encourage civic dialogue on campus; it is strictly nonpartisan and specializes in mediating.

Josyula’s passion, when she is not leading a Bridge meeting or discussing international relations with Professor McGlinchey, is traveling. Another factor that led to her choosing Mason was the Global Gateway program, which allows first-year students to study abroad. She chose to travel to Morocco.

“I was shocked that I had the chance to leave the country as early as my first year,” she said. “It was a transformative adventure, and I plan to continue traveling the world.”

Having learned so much from her professors and peers, Josyula is excited for the next stage of her academic career. She plans to seek an internship in Washington, D.C. While internships are highly competitive, Josyula feels confident that she has gained marketable collaboration skills through her involvement with the Schar School’s learning communities.

In This Story

Jennifer N. Victor

Eric McGlinchey

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Schar School Student Spotlight

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Democracy Lab

For Mason professors, NEH grants are personal

Colleen Rich — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 15:47:19 +0000

For Mason professors, NEH grants are personal Colleen Rich Mon, 02/12/2024 - 10:47

Two ��AV faculty members received year-long grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), part of 260 grants worth $33.8 million from the NEH this year for humanities projects across the country.

Jo-Marie Burt. Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

Jo-Marie Burt, an associate professor in the Schar School for Policy and Government, was awarded a $60,000 fellowship to further her research for a book she will write that examines four war crimes trials that took place in Guatemala between 2013 and 2022.

Arthur Romano, an associate professor in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, was awarded $148,022 for the recovery of documentation and to collect oral histories of racial violence in Forsyth County, Georgia, for the purpose of creating educational materials, a video library, and an online viewing portal.

“Very happily surprised,” Romano said of the grant.

Said Burt, “I jumped up and down for quite a long time.”

Though their research of consequence is focused on different parts of the world, Burt and Romano will investigate something similar: accountability.

For Romano, it is an opportunity to hear the voices and recollections of those whose families were part of a Black community outside Atlanta, and were driven out by terrorizing White mobs in 1912.

For Burt, who previously wrote a book about political violence and authoritarianism in Peru, it is a chance for another deep dive into a Latin American country besieged by internal armed conflict, with the military, she said, primarily responsible for the violence.

“I believe that impunity, in other words the failure to investigate or prosecute those responsible for those abuses, erodes democracy,” Burt said. “It erodes the social contract. It perpetuates the idea that some people are less citizens, are less worthy than others.”

It’s not so much about relitigating the past, Romano said, as it is, in the case of Forsyth, Georgia, about giving voice to descendants of the victims. Romano's co-principal investigator is Margarita Tadevosyan, executive director of Mason's Center for Peacemaking Practice. The stories they record will be housed at the Truth Telling Project, which, among other things, helps document the impacts violence has on families and communities.

Arthur Romano. Photo by Cristian Torres/Office of University Branding

While there has been some reporting about what went on in Forsyth, Romano said the incident has been under-researched. He said his inquiry will provide descendants “the space to grieve and share their experiences without a media spotlight on it, where people can just share about the ways they are hurting and what they’re hoping for in the future.”

Romano is the founder of the Carter School’s Program on Urban Peacebuilding, and his book Racial Justice and Nonviolence Education is about ways to disrupt cycles of violence by recognizing that people impacted by violence can be effective educators.

For me, that’s a big part of what this is all about,” he said. “Not only understanding past harms, but what are the echoes of that and how it affects who we are today. It’s part of building a framework of repair and reconciliation for us to be able to function better and be better together and actually live out the values we hope to build.”

Burt said she has been interested in human rights violations in Latin America since college. Her book Silencing Civil Society: Political Violence and the Authoritarian State in Peru came out in 2007, the same year former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori went on trial for corruption and human rights abuses committed from 1990 to 2000.

Burt attended the first week of the Fujimori trial with the help of a Mason grant. She then secured a grant from the Open Society Foundation to monitor the trial in its entirety. Fujimori was found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison, an outcome regarded as a historic ruling for international justice.

Her research in Guatemala will include the trial of retired army general Jose Efraín Ríos Montt, who came to power in a military coup in March 1982. Human rights organizations estimate 10,000 people were killed in the first three months of his government, which remained in power until August 1983. Ríos Montt was convicted of genocide and sentenced to 80 years in prison, though higher courts nullified the proceeding.

“These are crimes that occurred many years ago, but they’re not in the past,” Burt said. “Especially for the victims, they are very much in the present.”

And also, in a way, for Burt.

I just got hooked into this dynamic of searching for justice, for accountability, for mass atrocity crimes,” she said. “Can trials, which normally focus on perpetrators’ needs, take into account the victims’ needs, perspectives, and rights? Over the years, I began to think about trial monitoring not just as a research tool but as a tool to support and advocate on the behalf of victims.”

In This Story

Arthur Romano

Jo-Marie Burt

Topics

National Endowment for the Humanities

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Research