“If you had asked me when I graduated from high school what I would be doing a decade later, I never would have said ‘college professor,’” says Asst. Prof. Bruce Desmarais (political science). But as his college career at Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU) developed, Desmarais became captivated with the social sciences and teaching. Today his research focuses on political methodology, American politics, and an emerging cross-disciplinary field, Computational Social Science.

On February 13, 2013, the Department of Political Science welcomed seven alumni back to campus to participate in the speed-networking event, Life After UMass: Careers in Political Science and Legal Studies.

“Political Science and Legal Studies prepare students for a wide variety of careers,” says Brian Schaffner, Department Chair. “The Department wanted to showcase the plethora of opportunities for our students and provide specific examples of how the skills students learn in our classes translate into exciting careers.”

Bruce Desmarais, Assistant Professor of Political Science, has been named a Research Fellow at the Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute (SAMSI) for the academic year 2013-2014.

Professor Desmarais will be in residence at SAMSI during this time to participate in their Computational Methods in Social Sciences program. 

Lauren McCarthy, Assistant Professor of Legal Studies, has received a Kennan Institute Fellowship which will allow her to spend the Spring 2013 semester in residence at the Wilson Center in Washington DC. McCarthy will use this time to write a book about how Russian law enforcement agencies have responded to human trafficking.