A Review of the Spring
Dear Friends of the Politics Department,
The 2023-24 academic year is coming to a close, and the department has had another excellent semester filled with events and accomplishments by politics majors, faculty, and alumni. You can learn more on our news and events page and on our X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram feeds.
A number of these were made possible by donations to the department’s Annual Fund. If you’d like to support the Fund or help the department in other ways, you can learn more here.
As always, if you have any items to contribute to our next newsletter, please do not hesitate to send them to me (greenm@cua.edu). Spaghetti (who is busy with his own personal spring cleaning) wishes everyone a relaxing summer!
Matthew Green
Professor and Vice Chair
Department of Politics
Faculty Retirements and New Additions
Two of our long-time faculty members retired from the university at the end of 2023. John White, who joined the department in 1988, authored numerous books and articles (including one that just came out; see below) and mentored many undergraduate and graduate students over the years. Dennis Coyle joined the department the same year and, among other accomplishments, served two terms as chair and was the long-time advisor for students in the pre-law track. We are deeply grateful for their many contributions to the department and wish them the very best in their future pursuits.
A pair of new faculty joined the department this academic year. Sarah Gustafson received her Ph.D from Harvard University and has taught such courses as Introduction to Political Theory and Anxiety and Restlessness in Western Political Thought. Michael Promisel, who received his Ph.D from the University of Wisconsin, joins us from Coastal Carolina University where he taught courses in political theory, American political thought, and critical thinking. Join us in welcoming Professors Gustafson and Promisel to the department!
Our Faculty
Recent faculty achievements include:
- Jakub Grygiel, department chair, wrote an essay in Orbis about U.S. foreign policy, wrote the editorial “Europe has More to Fear Than Trump” in the Wall Street Journal, and coauthored “5 Rules for Superpowers Facing Multiple Conflicts” in Foreign Policy magazine.
- Justin Litke delivered a lecture entitled "Tocqueville, Publius, and Henry Clay on Compromise" for the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville in March.
- Maryann Cusimano Love lectured at the University of Trento (Italy) on artificial intelligence and nuclear weapons and participated in negotiations at the United Nations on behalf of the Holy See on the Treaty to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons.
- John Kenneth White published a new book, Grand Old Unraveling: The Republican Party, Donald Trump, and the Rise of Authoritarianism with the University of Kansas Press.
- David Walsh published a chapter in Eric Voegelin’s Late Meditations and Essays: Critical Commentary Companions and delivered a lecture on "The Person as the Key to Catholic Social Teaching" at the University of Wisconsin in March.
- Andrew Yeo was interviewed on NPR’s Weekend Edition to discuss North Korean Weapons and sanctions evasion.
Campus Events and Student/Alumni Achievements
- Professors Bianca Adair and Jon Askonas moderated panels at a one-day conference on campus in January on generative artificial intelligence and national security.
- The department hosted its annual Presidents Day student-faculty mixer, which included various refreshments and a presidential trivia game.
- David Sollenberger (Ph.D. 2018), Assistant Teaching Professor in Philosophy at Penn State University, delivered a talk entitled “David Walsh as American Philosopher” on February 6.
- Joseph St. George (B.A. 2011) was selected as this year's recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award by the department’s Pi Sigma Alpha chapter.
- Politics senior Molly Kate Mullin was chosen as the recipient for the department's Joseph A. Amoddio Award (for public service and civic responsibility), and politics senior Caitlin Regan was chosen as the recipient for the department's James E. Dornan Award (for the most distinguished politics major).
Helping Our Students
Are you an alumnus who would like to meet other alumni, or want to help a current politics student figure out their career options? CUA’s new networking service Cardinal Connect allows students and alumni to connect, share their expertise, and help achieve their career goals. To learn more, click here.