News
GVSU Students Participate in the National Security Seminar
August 14, 2019
From May 12-23, 2019, eight GVSU students participated in the National Security Seminar organized by The Washington Center in Washington, DC. The national seminar was attended by 85 students from across the U.S., and consisted of lectures, seminars, and daily site visits to national security offices. The GVSU group was led by Professor of Political Science, Polly Diven. Participating students were: Katelyn Bleau, Hadley Christensen, Emily Eaton, T.J. Freidgen, Robert Heilig, Lauren Moine, Hannah Sage, and Hunter Streling.
In morning sessions, students attended lectures by experts from government security and intelligence offices, think tanks, academia, and nonprofit and media organizations. Daily themes included topics such as cybersecurity, military preparedness, violent extremism, armed humanitarianism, nuclear weapons, and diplomacy and security. In the afternoons, the GVSU group went on site visits to security, intelligence, and defense organizations in DC. Students also attended classroom sessions with Professor Diven, in which they discussed daily readings, lectures, and site visits. The GVSU group was hosted by alumni who arranged visits to the Supreme Court (Kim McKenzie), Senator Stabenow’s office (Devin Rittenhouse), and the Center for Strategic and International Affairs (Rick Rossow).
Student participation in the seminar was supported in part by the CLAS Dean’s Office and the PLS/IR Fund for High Impact Learning Opportunities. The Office of Undergraduate Research Academic & Professional Enrichment helped fund student travel.