.

POLS NEWSLETTER
Year 2, Issue 6

Fall 2015

The Global Refugee Crisis:

An Opportunity?
Many journalists, politicians, and even some scholars, consider the huge
inflow of immigrants from Syria and other countries of North Africa to be
a big problem. According to Tomas Strazay of the German Marshall Plan of
the USA (http://www.gmfus.org/blog/2015/10/28/european-refugee-crisis-not-problem-challenge),
the so-called refugee crisis and adoption of redistribution quotas has
divided Europe, since four EU members from Central Europe do not agree
with the proposed solution. It is hard for leaders of those nations to agree
with the plan simply because the number of refugees is almost unimaginable:
about 12 million Syrians have been displaced, four million abroad, since
2011. In Iraq, more than three million have been displaced since Dec.
2013 (Boehler, Patrick and Sergio Peanha, The Global Refugee Crisis,
Region by Region. The New Y ork Times. August 26, 2015. Also refer to the
map below). After the ISISs attack in mid-Nov. against innocent civilians in
France, a possible pain relief for the refugees, especially those coming from
Syria and Iraq, vanished: now some politicians in several refugee-destination
countries, including USA, are reluctant to accept their quota of refugees
under the assumption that some of these refugees may be terrorists (ISISs
members).
What does this crisis tell us, in the Political Science field? What a good
thing does this crisis encourage us to do in our locality? These questions
invite us to think about the refugee-immigration situation not as a crisis or a
problem, but as a challenge and opportunity for us to get involved, to serve
others.

Kurdish women and children from Syria

at a Turkish military checkpoint near
Kobani, a Syrian town badly damaged by
the war last year. Bryan Denton for The
New York Times

Included in this Issue

The Global Refugee
Crisis
Fall Commencement

01

Faculty Activities
Dem. Symposium
Student Participation

03-05

Faculty Involvement

11-14

Certificate in Latin
American Studies
Critical Thinking:
A Workshop
HOGAR

15-17

Study Abroad,
Argentina

20-22

02

06-10

18
19

For any suggestion and/or

additional information,
contact:

Syrian refugees

TURKEY
1.9 million

IRAN

Dr. Clemente Quinones,

Newsletter editor.

LEBANON
1.1 million

SYRIA
7.6 million

250,000

cquinone@ggc.edu
IRAQ
3.1 million

JORDAN
629,000
EGYPT
132,000

A-1168

People displaced inside

their home country

678-777-1265

GEORGIA GWINNETT COLLEGE:

FALL COMMENCEMENT
GGC Graduates More Than 300
GGC surpasses 3,000 alumni at Fall 2015 commencement
December 17, 2015
Excellent! More than 300 students received their bachelors degrees at our commencement
ceremony, held on December 17, 2015 at the Infinite Energy Forum (formerly the Gwinnett
Center) Exhibit Hall. The final students to graduate during GGCs 10th anniversary year, this
group included the colleges 3000th graduate, Rodica Kajanovic, a brilliant Political Science
student.
This milestone is one of many we have encountered during
GGCs amazing, first 10 years, said GGC president Stas
Preczewski (On the right), as he discussed the colleges
innovative approach.
Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp was the ceremonys
keynote speaker. He recalled voting on the bill that formed
the college in 2005. During his 2002-2006 service in the
Georgia Senate, he served in committee leadership roles including chair of Public Safety and
Homeland Security and vice-chair of Higher Education. He encouraged the graduates to set
high goals and aspirations as they will be working in their office, If you really appreciate the
support and sacrifice that others have made for you, you must demonstrate it by seizing every
opportunity to excel, said Kemp. There is literally no goal too big to shoot for in America, he
concluded.

We, the faculty of the Political Science discipline, proudly congratulate our Political Science students:
Christopher Jerry Amos
Keri Ann Daly
Rodica Kajanovic (Magna cum laude, 3,000th GGC graduate)
Devin McLeod
David Alexander Mosquera
Tekena S. Nyananyo
Tyler Nguyen Vining
Congratulations,
A Massage To Keep Our Desire for Change Alive
Rodica, for your
The following are excerpts from the speech that President Salvador Allende gave to the Universidad de Guadalajara
Magna Cum Laude
Students in Mexico in December 1972
specially, and also for
...there are young old people who do not understand that to be a university student, for instance, is an extraordinary
being the 3,000th
privilege in the enormous majority of the countries. Those young old people believe that the university has been
GGC graduate.
created to train technicians and they think that they should be satisfied with merely acquiring a professional title. The
degree gives them social status and boosts them on their way up the social ladder. Caramba, how terribly dangerous, the degree is, an
instrument that gives them more income and better living conditions than the majority of the rest of our fellow citizens...there are many
doctors who do not understand or who do not want to understand that good health can be bought; and that there are thousands of men and
women . who cannot afford good health. Today, almost all of our countries have been politically independent for more than one and
one-half centuries, but where is the data that shows how much of our dependency and exploitation remains? A lthough potentially rich
countries, the vast majority of our nations are poor.

POLS FACULTY ACTIVITIES I

Democracy
Symposium
Amazing!
According to the Democracy
Symposium coordinator, Dr.
Michael Lewkowicz (Political
Science), held on Nov. 17 -18 at
GGC, was a great success: I know
that the GGC students and faculty
would rise to the challenge, but
your performance during this
symposium exceeded even my
highest expectations.

The goal of the symposium was to

examine the state of representative
democracy in the USA and in other
countries. We did this analysis via
5 panels (one featuring our
wonderfully informed an eager
students) and a round table .

From Dr. Michael Lewkowiczs

On behalf of the democracy symposium planning committee, I consider the event to be a success on every
level. In particular, I was impressed by the performances of the panelists and the guest speakers, who did a
great job of addressing the key themes of the symposium, as well as the audience members (most of whom
were GGC students) who asked sharp and insightful questions for the symposium participants. I wish to
thank everyone involved, from the guest speakers and panelists, to the faculty members who encouraged
their students to attend, to the student volunteers to the various GGC administrative officials and offices
whose support helped make this symposium a grand success. Their combined contributions could not have
made me any prouder of this school than I am at this moment.
I would like to specially thank:

Dr. Lois Richardson, Acting Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs/Provost

Dr. Adolfo Santos, Dean of the School of Liberal Arts

Dr. Funwi Ayuninjam, Director of Internationalization

Laura Walsh, President of POLIS and Student Member of the Planning Committee
Whose unconditional support and invaluable contribution were essential to make this even a tremendous
success.

POLS FACULTY ACTIVITIES II

An Example of Collaborative Work
Our Democracy Symposium would not have been a successful story without the support, help, and participation of our colleagues in the disciplines
of History, Geography, and Anthropology.

Dr. Michael Lewkowicz

Immigration Policy Round Table

Congratulations
and A Big Thank
You
Dr. Lewkowicz:
From left to right: Dr. Linda Mancillas, Political Science; Dr. Clemente Quinones, Political
Science; Dr. Todd Lindley, Geography; Dr. Jenna Andrews-Swann, Anthropology; and Samuel
Aguilar, Representative of GALEO.

Argentina: Macri

Chile: Michelle Bachelet

Panel 3: Democracies to Dictatorships

Congratulations! Your
leadership, dedication,
passion, and talents were
fundamental for the
success of our Democracy
Symposium. By following
your lead, it was easier for
us, all the members of the
symposium committee, to do
our part. You made our
work easier. It was an
honor and a great pleasure
to work with you. Once
again, Dr. Lewkowicz,
CONGRATULATION,
FOR THE WELL-DONE
JOB!

From left to right: Dr. Clemente Quinones, Political Science; Dr. Mazin Tadros, History;
Dr. Bernard Bongang, Savanna State University; Dr. Eugene Berger, History; and Dr. Todd
Lindley, Geography;

POLS FACULTY ACTIVITIES III

We were fortunate to have several
outstanding guest speakers for the
Democracy Symposium

Dr. Bernard Bongang,

Savannah State University
Guest Speaker

Jerry Gonzalez, Georgia

Association of
Latino Elected Officials

What difference does it make to the

dead, the orphans, and the homeless,
whether the mad destruction is wrought
under the name of totalitarianism or the
holy name of liberty or democracy?
Mahatma Gandhi

Charles Shapiro,
President of World Affairs
Council of Atlanta and
former Ambassador to
Venezuela

Javaughn Waller

SCUSA 67: Confronting Inequality

Wealth, Rights, and Power
POLS Students Participation
"Due to his tremendous academic achievement, Political Science Senior Javaughn Waller was selected to attend
the West Point Conference in Washington D.C. on November 4 -7). Javaughn was selected by the Office of the
Provost, Dr. Lois Richardson with the input of Political Science faculty member Dr. Paul Grant.

What is it?
The Student Conference on US Affairs (SCUSA) is an annual four day conference hosted at The United States
Military Academy at West Point. The purpose of the conference is to facilitate interaction and constructive
discussion between civilian student delegates and West Point cadets in order to better understand the challenges
that the United States faces in an increasingly interconnected global society. SCUSA delegates attend panel
discussions, hear from high-profile keynotes speakers, and develop policy recommendations over the course of
four roundtable sessions. Roundtable sessions covering regional and topical demographic issues put delegates on
the forefront of national issues, exposing them to complex problems facing leaders today. Delegates conclude the
conference by submitting a policy recommendation to their peers, the best of which are published in the
Undergraduate Journal of Social Sciences.
In addition to be very enjoyable and funny, the conference is very formative, as Javaughn says: Essentially the
purpose of the conference was to find productive ways to challenge inequality which exists in our country and
around the world. Some of the specific round tables included the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

North America - Separate but Unequal?

South American Inequality.
Europe - Common Defense, Disjointed Security.
Russia - The Bear's Matryoshka.
Middle East - The Gamble of Democracy.
Africa - The Inverse Care Law.
Global Economic Inequality.
Democratization - The Uneven Spread of Democracy.
Demographics - Of Populations and Power.

The students attending the conference have the opportunity to meet current or past
high level government officials. Given their governmental experience, it is
worthy to listen to their speeches. For this past conference, former secretary of
state Madeleine K. Albright was the Keynote Speaker. She was the 64th Secretary
of State of the United States. In 2012, Dr. Albright received the Presidential Medal
of Freedom, the nations highest civilian honor, from President Obama.

Dr. Paul Grant, Congratulations for this amazing coordinating job that you are doing now for
several years in a row. Our students appreciate this way of serving them.
We, your colleagues in POLS, deeply appreciate this coordinating effort
that you are doing for our students, despite other GGC commitments that
you have, for example, your work in the GGC Sustainability Committee.

0000-00000

On October 9, GGC students (see picture

on left) attended The Power of Latina
Leadership sponsored by the Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce and hosted by UPS
at their National Headquarters.
Community leaders spoke on Latina
success in the Georgia business environment.
Attendees: Esteban Gonzalez, Ana Bedon, Vanesa Panaj, Emelyn
Ochoa, Ivan Ramos, Christan Ruiz., Kris Pena, Jonathan Delgado with
Linda Mancillas.

Dr. Linda Mancillas joined this dedicated

group of our GGC students.

000000000000

Dr. Mancillas:
Congratulations and thank you for your
unconditional and invaluable support to
our students.

The students in POLS 2401-Current Global Issues did amazing presentations of their local project: each student
selected a global issue (from the course list of issues) and talked on how that issue affects us locally. Here we have
from left to right first row: Milton Conde who presented Global Warming and Dr. Quinones, the class, and Olga
Muanda.
Second row, from left to right: Judy Park presenting The Rise of Global Crimes, Suarau Akanmu whose topic was
Proliferation of weapons, and David Buckley with the topic of Origins of Instability.

Here, from left to right: Ashley Henry presented Human Trafficking; Anna Davidson presented Oil Americans
Are Affected At Home Because The U.S. Is Stuck With The Middle East; Samuel McLaughlin and Tylek Mcneil
whose topic was on immigration; and Jasmine Neal presented on Poverty Affecting Children.
Flurim Aliu and Melissa Hiciano did their presentation on How the Syrian Refugee Crisis Affects us Locally.

Erika Dillingham, New Administrative Assistant,

Center for Teaching Excellence

Erika Dillingham is a brilliant, former Political Science student.

She graduated with honors in May, 2015 with Bachelors degrees
in English Writing and Rhetoric and Political Science-Comparative
Politics.
Erika began working for GGCs Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) in November, 2015.
At the center, she supports the administrative functions of the office and assists with various
special projects. She encourages GGC faculty to visit the CTE and take advantage of all the
Centers faculty support and training services.

As student, Erika complimented her brilliant academic work with some internship jobs that
provided her with additional and special skills and knowledge that she may apply at her
work and/or in graduate school. During her final semester, she worked as an intern for The
Carter Centers Global Access to Information Program and, after graduation, stayed on at
The Carter Center to complete a second internship with Art and Volunteer Services.
Her future plans include applying to graduate school in 2016. Currently she is exploring
Masters degree and PhD programs in Public Policy and International Affairs. Her ultimate
goal is to work in public policy research and analysis with a specialization in International
Policy. She also hopes to eventually become certified in alternative dispute resolution. She
values her time as a dual major in Political Science and English and hoping to combine her
training in both disciplines as she continues her career and educational pursuits.
In her down time, Erika enjoys spending time with her family, assisting with animal rescue,
and finding hidden treasures at local thrift shops. She also enjoys blogging about life as a
soccer mom, and dabbling in art and writing projects.

Erika, we, the Political Science Facultyespecially those who were your teachers
enthusiastically congratulate you for your position as Administrative Assistant for the
CTE. We are pretty sure that you will do an excellent job as you did as a GGC student.

GGC's Chief of Staff Mr. Dan Nolan Visits Dr. Linda Mancillas POLS 1101- Introduction to
American Government Class
Responding to Dr. Mancillas invitation, on Oct 20 GGC's Chief of Staff Mr. Dan Nolan visited Dr.
Mancillas Pols 1101- Introduction to American Government class. The class was studying the
Presidency and there was a quiz that Mr. Nolan also took. According to Dr. Linda Mancillas, it was
a grand experience for the students and they seemed to enjoy Mr. Nolan's presence and comments.

Dr. Mancillas was invited to serve as Moderator for the "Why Not a Women"
event in Gwinnett County
On October 1, Dr. Mancillas was invited to serve as Moderator for the "Why Not a Women" event in Gwinnett
County. Panel participates were GA House Minority Leader, Stacey Abrams; Helen Ho, Exe. Dir. & General Counsel
for Asian Americans Advancing Justice; Melinda Ennis-Rough ton, Co-Founder of Georgia Gun Sense Coalition and
Former Executive Director, Georgia's WIN List. The panel and audience discussed the challenges facing women
running for office and strategies for mobilizing more women to become candidates and community leaders. GGC
students Amber Pinkerman, Courtnee Speller, Diana Garcia, Milan Crump, Kennedy, Dickerson, Ivan Ramos and
Louis Edwards from Linda Mancillas' Pols 4230 Women and Politics attended this event. These students actively
participated in the discuss and made GGC proud.

Dr. Erik Wilk, Congratulations!

Dr. Eric Wilk just co-authored an interesting and challenging research study, "Fair Housing Enforcement in the South
and Non-South, in Social Science Quarterly. Congratulations, Dr. Wilk for your well-done job, we, in Political
Science, are proud of you!
This is an abstract of Dr. Wills study: the purpose of the study was to compare outcomes in racial discrimination
fair housing complaints processed by southern state and local civil rights agencies to those handled
by state and local agencies outside the South and the federal agency, HUD (Department of Housing
and Urban Development). The Methods used to test the hypothesis were as follows: Based on data
obtained directly from HUD, Dr. Wilk and his colleagues relied on a xed effects logistic regression
model with cluster-correlated standard errors. According to the results, first, southern local agencies
are signicantly more likely to provide outcomes favorable to complainants in racial discrimination
fair housing cases than are local agencies outside the South. Second, state and local agencies in the Deep South
provide favorable outcomes to the same extent as their non-southern counterparts. Third, southern local agencies are
more likely to provide favorable outcomes than is HUD, whereas southern state agencies provide favorable outcomes
at roughly the same rate as HUD. Variations within the South partially explain these ndings. Conclusion. We nd
evidence of progressive changes in southern fair housing enforcement, although those changes occur in an uneven
fashion depending on the state or locality.

Standard Bearer:
CONGRATULATIONS to Dr. Paul Grant for his designation as the bearer of the banner for the GGC Standard
of Creativity at the Fall, 2015 commencement ceremony. Dr. Grant has also been proudly participating in the
GGCs Sustainability Committee for several years. Below, the members and a summary of the committees
purpose and activities.

Sustainability Committee Members

Ms. Brigitte Clifton

Assistant Prof. of English
School of Liberal Arts
bclifton@ggc.edu

Dr. Amy H. Erickson

Associate Prof. of Math
School of Science and
Technology
aerickso@ggc.edu

Dr. Elizabeth Sudduth

Assistant Prof. of Biology
School of Science and
Technology
esudduth@ggc.edu

Dr. Paul Grant

Assistant Prof. f POLS School of
Liberal Arts
pgrant@ggc.edu

Mr. Gene Ruffin

Director of Library
Library and Learning
Center
fruffin@ggc.edu

Dr. Robert Mason

Assistant Prof. of Econ.
School of Business
rmason@ggc.edu

Mr. Rex M. Kizzort

Director of Campus
Planning, Design and
Construction Facilities
rkizzort@ggc.edu

Dr. Katharine Page

Assistant Prof. of Curriculum
and Instruction
School of Education
kpage2@ggc.edu

Dr. Jenna Andrews-Swann

Assistant Professor of
Anthropology
School of Liberal Arts
jandrew2@ggc.edu

Mr. Ian Thomas Rodgers

Assistant Directory of
Outdoor Adventures
Program
Wellness and Recreation
irodgers@ggc.edu

ex-officio
Ms. Jessica Estep
Assistant Professor of
English
School of Liberal Arts
jestep@ggc.edu

ex-officio
Mr. Joshua Cuneo
Instructor of Information
Technology
School of Science and
Technology
jcuneo@ggc.edu

The purpose of the

Sustainability Committee is to
drive and create awareness of
campus sustainability initiatives
and to promote environmental
sustainability as an institutional
way of operating.
The committee members work
to holistically integrate all
individuals and ideas of the GGC
community to shape a legacy of
ecological stewardship on our
campus and beyond.
Current Major Projects
Communicating streamlined
campus recycling efforts
Promoting the many sustainable
practices our campus currently
takes part in Incorporating
sustainable features in C3
addition planning Assisting with
planning and communication
for campus electric-vehicle
charging stations.

Congratulations, Dr. Grant,

for well-done job you are
doing!

Once again, Dr. Grant, your colleagues in Political Science congratulate

you for your hard work and thank you for representing us properly in
the GGC committees that you proudly participate in.

Dr. Clemente Quinones Interviewed by Telemundo on Diplomatic Immunity

December 16, 2015

Foreign diplomats in the USA have been involved in several felony incidents.
For example, In January 1997, Gueorgui Makharadze, a high-ranking
Republic of Georgia diplomat, caused a five-car pileup in Washington,
D. C., which killed a 16-year-old girl.
Makharadze's claim of diplomatic immunity
created a national outrage here in the United
States. But recently, on Dec. 15, 2015, the
Mexican Consul in Atlanta was driving
while intoxicated. In the case of Mr.
Makharadze, Georgia revoked his immunity,
and he was sentenced to 7 years in prison. The Mexican Consul, however, was
sent home by the police once he presented his credentials.

The case is that Dr. Quinones was interviewed by Luis Estrada from
Telemundo Atlanta, a premier Spanish-language television station providing
award-winning local news and programming, to explain how the diplomatic
immunity works. For a diplomatic, suspect of committing a possible crime, to
be accused, judged, and sentenced, her/his country has to revoked her/his
immunity. Then the corresponding authorities of the host country may apply
the legal procedures for the now-former diplomat to be charged, judged, and
sentenced according to the judicial system of the host country. The full
interview is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQGFGoI0vBY&feature=youtu.be
This is the second time that Telemundo interviews Dr. Quinones. In 2012, he talked on Telemundo
about the positive and negative sociopolitical implications of the presidential election in Mexico. In the
near feature, Dr. Quinones will speak on Telemundo about the possible impact of the Latino vote in Georgia
during the USA General Election, next year. The question is: does still voting matter even though the
chances for the democratic candidate to win Georgia are very low? This assumes that most Latinos vote
democrat. How can we make the Latino vote count?

"Every semester, the Political Science discipline holds a meeting of majors and potential majors to
address a variety of issues, concerns and opportunities within the discipline. The fall 2015 semester
meeting was held on Thursday, November 12, and included the following speakers:
Dr. Scott Boykin gave a presentation about the benefits and opportunities of earning a degree in
political science.
Part-time instructor Steven North discussed how a political science degree benefited him in his role
as the assistant city manager of Lawrenceville.

Dr. Clemente Quinones presented information on the Certificate in Latin-American Studies.

Dr. Kristina Mormino addressed the requirements and opportunities provided by the Certification
in global studies.
On behalf of the political science faculty, we wish to thank all of the speakers and the attendees for
making the fall semesters meeting a success.

Special thanks to Dr. Amir Azarvan for the video on Political Science that
he produced and was presented at the Political Science Majors meeting
on October, 28, 2015. Dr. Azarvan, thank you for the time you put in it.
We appreciate your invaluable effort.

A Brief History of the Certificate in Latin American Studies

At GGC.
Developed by the Americas Council and the University System of Georgia, the Certificate in Latin
American Studies (CLAS) was introduced back in 2012. Ever since, CLAS has been offered through
our School of Liberal Arts, and it is available to students in any bachelor degree program. The
certificate recognizes knowledge and understanding of a region of growing importance, both economically and culturally. The course of study is designed to be interdisciplinary and complementary to
existing undergraduate programs (see a full description in the next pages). U.S. relations with Latin
America have been altered significantly by global and economic diversification and growth, as well as
with the wave of democracy in Latin America since the early 1980s. The southeast is one of the U.S.
regions most integrally linked to rapidly evolving Latin American nations. By 2014, an estimated
853,689 Latinos were living in Georgia, representing 8% of the total GA population. Meanwhile, in
Gwinnett County, the Latinos are 162, 035 or 20% of the county population (suburbanstats.org: https://
suburbanstats.org/population/how-many-people-live-in-georgia).
During the summer (2015), Dr. Funwi Ayuninjam, Director of the Office of Internationalization
convoked a group of GGC faculty members to a meeting to find a clearer and more effective way to
promote the Certificate in Latin American Studies. The group included Dr. Luis Mora, Assistant
Professor of Spanish and current Coordinator of the Certificate in Latin American Studies; Dr. Kristina
Watkins Mormino, Associate Professor of French and Interim Coordinator of the Global Studies
Certification; Dr. Justin E. Jernigan, Dean of the School of Transitional Studies and Associate Professor
of English for Academic Purposes; Ms. Cele Blair, Assistant Director of Education Abroad in the Office
of Internationalization; Dr. Clemente Quinones, Assistant Professor of Political Science; and Dr.
Ayuninjam himself.
Some of the outcomes of this meeting included: the creation of a committee with some professors of
Liberals arts, Business, and Science. The objective of this Committee was to get guidance, help and
restructuring for the Certificate in Latin American Studies so that more students could (and can)
complete the certificate. A second result was restructuring the six credit-hour language requirement, as
an effort to offer alternative avenues for students to complete the foreign language requirement. A third
outcome was to include more courses in the list of course that students may take to complete the
program. For this purpose, we contacted all the GGC faculty members whose courses or one of their
courses have/has some Latin American content, or they have a Latin American (family) background, or
they have an academic Latin American background.

CLAS: The Committee Members

Certificate in Latin American Studies: The Restructuring

To apply for acceptance into this program, a student must first complete 30 credit hours, maintain a 2.8 GPA (or
above) and complete one 3-credit hour course that focuses on contemporary Latin America or a 3-credit hour course
on Latin American culture and civilization. Applications are available from the CLAS coordinator.
To earn a CLAS, students must complete 18 credit-hours in specific courses. Three credit-hours must be in a foreign
language (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole or Quechua) at or above the 2000-level. The remaining 15
credit-hours must be in courses that focus on Latin America.
Language requirement (three credit-hours)
Students pursuing a CLAS must:
Complete three (3) hours of Spanish at the 2000-level or above with a minimum grade of C. These hours can be
chosen from the following courses:
SPAN 2001 Intermediate Spanish 1
SPAN 2002 Intermediate Spanish 2
SPAN 3020 Latin American Cultures and Civilization
SPAN 3010 Spanish Conversation and Composition
SPAN 4020 Survey of Latin American Literature

Certificate in Latin American Studies: The Restructuring...continued

These hours also may be taken as part of an approved study abroad program as long as the course is beyond the intermediate level; or
Demonstrate written and oral proficiency in Spanish, Portuguese, French, Haitian Creole or Quechua.
Demonstration of language proficiency above the intermediate level as defined by ACTFL (or CLEP) standards through examination or successful completion of an oral and written examination evaluated by a qualified University System of Georgia faculty member.
Latin American studies requirement (15 credit-hours)
Students pursuing a CLAS must:
Complete one 3-credit hour course that focuses on contemporary Latin America or a 3-credit hour course
on Latin American culture and civilization. Options include:
History 3507
History 4670
ANTH 3000
SPAN 3020

History of Modern Mexico

Social Revolutions in Modern Latin America
People and Culture of Latin America
Latin American Cultures and Civilization

Complete three 3-credit-hour courses (nine hours) in Latin American studies. Two of these must be outside
the students major. All of them must fall within the following guidelines:
Any upper-division Latin American courses offered in the University System of Georgia
Six (6) hours may come from courses that have a minimum 25 percent Latin American component
No more than 6 (six) hours from study abroad or internships.

Options include:
ANTH 3000
BIOL 3050
BIOL 3450
English 3561
Film 3180
HIST 2500
HIST 3500
HIST 3507
HIST 3510
HIST 4575

People & Culture of Latin America

Tropical Biology (Costa Rica)
Conservation Biology (Ecuador)
Studies in the Lit. of the Americas
International Film: Latin America
Survey of Latin American History
The Atlantic World
History of Modern Mexico
Colonial Latin America
The Atlantic Slave Trade

HIST 4670 Social Revolutions in Modern Latin A.

HIST 4990 Special topics in History: Modern L.A.
MUSIC 2000 Latin American Music
POLS 4040 Comparative Foreign Policy
POLS 4050 Comparative Political Institutions
POLS 4220 Topics in Comparative Politics
SPAN 2001 Intermediate Spanish 1 (area C)
SPAN 2002 Intermediate Spanish 2 (area C)
SPAN 3010 Spanish Conversation and Composition
SPAN 3020 Latin American Cultures and Civilization
SPAN 4020 Survey of Latin American Literature

Dr. Clemente Quinones will facilitate a workshop on Critical Thinking during the Spring Semester 2016 through the
School of Transitional Studies. The workshop will be offered in two 1-hour long sections. The specific days and time
will be announced at the beginning of the spring semester (January 2016). Open to the whole GGC community, the
work shop will have the Comparative Foreign Policy students as the primary recipients since the workshop will be
obligatory for them.
The School of Transitional Studies (STS) is dedicated to the academic and intellectual success of every student
enrolled at GGC.
Each semester, the AEC Workshop Series offers students helpful advice on critical areas that affect academic
performance, including:

Note-taking

Time management

Forming study groups

Test-taking skills

APA, MLA and Turabian citation styles

Grammar for writing

Contacting the School of Transitional Studies

Dr. Justin E. Jernigan

Building B, Suite 2400

678.407.5879
Library, Room 2150
678.407.5143

Dean, School of Transitional Studies;

Associate Prof. of English for Academic
Purposes
678.360.8379; jjerniga@ggc.edu

Ms. Denise Dolan

Coordinator, Writing
Academic Enhancement Center
678.407.5364 ddolan@ggc.edu

HOGAR is an initiative that was introduced by Dean,

Dr. Adolfo Santos. The goal of HOGAR is to increase student
retention rates and persistence to graduation with a focus on
academic success and achievement through early intervention
and systematic tracking of undergraduate students. For this
purpose, Latino students and Latino parents are recruited to
participate initially in any of the seven workshops designed to
provide training and information for the Latin students to know how to stay in, graduate from, and succeed in
college (specifically GGC). The Latin parents receive training and information on how to provide the motivational
support their students need to succeed at Georgia Gwinnett College. The first session was presented in September
26, the second one was held on October 24, and the third meeting happened one Nov. 14. The next session will
take place on January 30, 2016. Dr. Luis Mora is in charge of the program as Principal Investigator. Below some
pictures of the last session.

This is a great opportunity for you as a POLS student or for any GGC student in general. The Office of
Internationalization has a very well organized and structured study abroad program that includes trips to Argentina,
Ecuador, Costa Rica and countries of other regions of the world. This summer, Dr. Federica Goldoni will take a
group of GGC students to Argentina. If you are not interested in joining this group for any reason you may have now,
or if you think that you cannot afford it, hold on until you finish reading the information in the following three pages.
Join us for a Study Abroad program to Buenos Aires, Argentina next May (16-31). You can take both Spanish and
Music classes and get up to 6 credits! Both are i-courses and can count towards the Global Studies Certification and
the Peach Corp Prep Program. Study Abroad is also a wonderful way to boost your resume.
We have put together a PowerPoint (https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8kfkx4s4pr32dl4/
AAACTTcDxq4NJUf221PnXkDXa?dl=0). In the PowerPoint Dr. Goldoni provides more details about the trip, plus
further information about the places we will visit in Argentina and Uruguay. She has been there many times and has
picked her favorite places for us to visit.
If you are concerned about how to finance the trip, help is available. The Cole Blasier Award for Latin America
($1475) and the GGC Study Abroad Office Scholarship ($500) are possible options. Click here for more details:
http://www.ggc.edu/academics/academic-opportunities-and-support/office-of-internationalization/study-abroad/
scholarships/