Missouri Universities

Summary

The US onAir Network will be working with volunteers from Missouri universities, colleges, and nonprofit organizations to oversee the curation and moderation of posts, aircasts (online discussions), and in person events for the Missouri onAir Hub … related to federal, state, and local elections and government.

Our first outreach will be to University of Missouri partly because of its proximity to the state capital. We have identified many of University of Missouri ’s civic engagement, academic, internship and research programs related to making democracy and civic responsibility a focus of higher learning on their campus … for students, faculty, staff, and local community. This post, over time, will have similar information on other collaborating organizations in the state.

Contact ben.murphy@onair.cc for more information on how to involve your organization.

About

The University of Missouri’s onAir chapter will initially focus on training interested undergrad and graduate students on how to curate Missouri onAir content especially submitting Top News articles, events, videos, and information and moderating forums in each post they curate.

Student curators will also work with state senate and house committee chairs to produce aircasts on issues being discussed and bills being proposed in their committees.

During election season, students with other other organizations like the League of Women Voters, will coordinate and produce aircasted debates with candidates.

University of Missouri

Source: About Mizzou

WHAT MAKES A TIGER

Respect

We commit to acting ethically, welcoming difference and exchanging ideas openly.

Responsibility

We are accountable to ourselves, each other and the public we serve.

Discovery

We foster the lifelong process of seeking knowledge and greater understanding.

Excellence

We reach for excellence through diligent effort and collaboration.

History & Tradition

OUR STORY SINCE 1839

HISTORY

Since 1839, groundbreaking research and comprehensive academics have defined our story.

Our History

TRADITIONS

From Homecoming to Tiger Walk, Black and Gold to Truman the Tiger, our traditions unite us through generations.

Our Traditions

Civic Engagement Programs

Source: Office of Service-Learning

SRV_LRN 2021/2021H – 3 credit hours

Sponsored by the MU Office of Service-Learning, this course encourages a lifetime of leadership and public service in undergraduates of all majors and disciplines. It is a required course for both the Minor in Leadership and Public Service as well as the Peace Corps Prep program. This course offers students the opportunity to engage in academically based community service while learning about issues of social justice, civic engagement, the ethics of service and the policy framework connected to social issues. Students select one of two labs: Public Health or Youth: Mentoring, Literacy, and Early Childhood. Students attend lecture twice a week and lab once a week while serving in the community. Students serve 3-5 hours per week at a local service site, focusing on youth development, public health, or community development/social justice.

Note: Available to Honors and Non-Honors Students, Writing Intensive, Service Designated

Programs Offered during academic semesters:

Youth Program:

Undergraduates serve as mentors, tutors, and role models for at-risk youth in our community. Service includes working with Head Start children, tutoring in public schools, providing enrichment activities in after-school programs in low-income neighborhoods, and mentoring 12 to 16 year old youth who are at risk of dropping out of school or not attending college.

Public Health Project:

Pre-nursing, pre-med, and public health students serve in free clinics, the Veteran’s Hospital, and various health education sites.

Community Leadership Seminar:

Student leaders raise funds and create long-term projects in the community. Student leaders have developed the Tiger Service Corps.

Student Government

Source: Missouri Students Association

About Us

The acronym MSA stands for the Missouri Students Association, the recognized undergraduate student government at the University of Missouri. We represent students of the university and are committed to representing their interests and advocating for issues they face. MSA provides students with many opportunities to experience social and cultural activities as well as a range of services and programs by working with other student organizations and bringing activities and speakers to campus.

Internships

Source: Internships & Study Abroad

Internships & Study Abroad

To get the important practical, real world experience that many employers expect people new to the job market to have, many of our students participate in internships in Columbia, Jefferson City, Washington, DC and all around the world.

Internship opportunities:

prosecutor’s and public defender’s offices
on the staffs of state legislators
state agencies
on the staffs of members of the House of Representatives and U.S. Senate
interest groups
U.S. embassies in exciting cities such as London, Stockholm, Madrid, and Dublin

Kinder Scholars Program in Washington DC
The Kinder Scholars D.C. Summer Program is offered through The Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy. This program provides rising sophomores, juniors and seniors at the University of Missouri with an opportunity to immerse themselves in a course of study on the American constitutional and democratic traditions that uniquely weds theory, history and practice.

In order to provide participants with an opportunity to supplement their coursework with practical experience, the Program curriculum also requires students to intern Monday-Thursday (min. 25 hours per week) at an organization in D.C. whose mission relates to their academic study of the theory and history of American constitutional democracy.

Study Abroad
Students are also encouraged to include a study abroad experience as part of their undergraduate studies. We offer a department-sponsored program “Developing Dynamics of Democracy” where students learn about democracy in Prague for 4 weeks over the summer. Students will earn Pol Sc 4840 credit for this experience.

Political Science Programs

Source: Department website

Undergraduate Program

Program Overview:

Political Science can help you learn to be a better communicator, analyze complicated issues, solve problems, and become a better citizen.

The Department of Political Science offers a wide range of courses and various means of attaining specialization in the field. Political Science courses are divided into four areas of concentration:

American Politics/Public Policy
Comparative Government
International Affairs
Political Theory/Methodology

Our graduates pursue careers in

law
business and finance
government and politics
public relations, advertising, and journalism
lobbying
international relations

4+1 Program

Truman School of Public Affairs and the Department of Political Science have teamed up to offer Mizzou students an exciting new opportunity to earn their Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Master of Public Affairs in just 5 years.

The newly approved accelerated course of study allows undergraduate political science students who have completed 90 credit hours with a GPA of 3.5 to begin taking masters level classes in year four of their undergraduate studies.

Because up to 15 graduate level credit hours can be shared between the BA and MPA, students can obtain both degrees by taking normal course loads.

Students still earn their BA at the end of year four, but then with only one additional year of coursework, they can also earn their Master of Public Affairs.

The MPA is a professional degree combining rigorous coursework and experiential learning opportunities to prepare students for ethical leadership in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

Graduate Programs

Our department is organized into the traditional major subfields of political science (including American politics, public policy/administration, international relations and comparative politics). Beyond that, we focus on a number of research cores on the cutting edge of political science research including race and ethnic politics, voting behavior, political movements, civil wars, American political institutions, and conflict management. We offer comprehensive methodological training in quantitative techniques, formal modeling and game theory, and qualitative techniques (such as interviews and archival research). Students are trained in state-of-the-art methodologies such as experiments, spatial econometrics, and techniques to collect and analyze big data (including automated data collection and text analysis). We are looking for promising students to help us answer important research questions with the most advanced techniques.

At Mizzou, we provide opportunities for collaborative research projects with faculty members who are experts in their area. Our small and vibrant department features professors who publish their research in top academic journals and university presses, edit leading journals in the discipline, and teach classes on advanced techniques at international methods institutes. The result is that our PhD students consistently publish in top academic journals while in graduate school. Nationally, it is somewhat rare to see students graduate with multiple publications, both solo and co-authored with faculty members; at Mizzou, it is the norm.

Coursework in our program consists of small seminars, allowing for intensive study of political science concepts and research, close interaction with faculty, and individual attention to student progress. Advised by graduate faculty, students at MU are encouraged to become active scholars capable of conducting independent analysis and research of political and social phenomena.

Mizzou Political Science maintains a low graduate student to faculty ratio, a commitment to student success, and a high rate of retention and graduation.

Research Initiatives

Source: Graduate Research

Graduate Research

Our PhD students have strong publishing records in top political science journals as solo authors and in co-authored pieces with department faculty, other graduate students, and colleagues from outside institutions. Publications by our current students and recent graduates include:

Kim, Gidong. “Analyzing Public Opinion and Emotions Using Tweets and Online-Comments toward Candidates in 2017 South Korean Presidential Election.” Korea Observer, Forthcoming (with Na Kyeong Lee and Jae Mook Lee).

Drolc, Cody. Forthcoming. “Taking Time (and Space) Seriously: How Scholars Falsely Infer Policy Diffusion from Model Misspecification.” (with Christopher Gandrud and Laron K. Williams), Policy Studies Journal.

Sato, Yuko. 2019. “Elite Coordination and Popular Protest: The Joint Effect on Democratic Change.” Democratization (with Michael Wahman).

Kim, Gidong. 2018. “Social Media and Regionalism in South Korean Voting Behavior: The Case of the 19th South Korean Presidential Election.” Issues & Studies 54(3), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1142/S1013251118400064 (with Jae Mook Lee and Youngdeuk Park)

Yazici, Emir. 2018. “Nationalism and Human Rights” Political Research Quarterly. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912918781187