PHOTO BY RIK ANDERSON
Andrea Findley
Editor
Taking his interest in government abroad, Dr. Dave Rausch, associate professor of political science, will head to Germany in June for the 2009 Fulbright German Studies Seminar.
The Fulbright Seminar will be an intensive learning experience about German government titled, “German’s Future: New Parties—New Solutions?”
The 14 individuals chosen to go will begin in Berlin, then travel to Erfort and end their experience in Frankfurt am Main.
Rausch will spend two weeks in Germany, discussing common voting practices, the role of the Bundestag, or Germany’s parliament, and also the country’s decisions with immigration.
Participants will also learn about new social and cultural trends in Germany, tackling issues such as education, demography, environment and energy policies.
“I’ve always been fascinated with Germany,” Rausch said. “I applied because I wanted to learn more about the new political atmosphere that is occurring in Germany right now.”
Rausch plans to incorporate the knowledge he gains while at the seminar into his classes.
“Germany is one of the three big players in Europe, along with France and Great Britain,” Rausch said.
Knowing more about Germany helps me build a good comparison of these three countries. Germany has an interesting election system where you vote twice, once for an individual candidate and then for a party. It will be interesting to take a close look at their election system and then use that in my parliamentary government class.”
Rausch joined the department of political science and criminal justice in 1998.
Dr. James Calvi, political science professor and Rausch’s colleague, said that Rausch continually tries to engage his students.
“He’s one of those people that eats, sleeps and breathes political science,” Calvi said. “It shows in the classroom that he loves what he is doing. Even in his online classes he tries to get students involved in their local government by having them attend meetings such as school board or city commissioner meetings.”
The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 and enables scholars to teach, research and learn about other countries. The program is designed to build mutual understanding of international issues.