In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Evan is joined by Professor Michelle Schwarze to learn about Scottish philosopher and political economist Adam Smith amidst the 250th anniversary of his book "The Wealth Of Nations." Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/5GLz...

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Evan sits down with Laura Miller, poli sci alumna and former mayor of Dallas, to discuss her career as an investigative journalist, her transition to city politics, and her environmental and volunteer work. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/6m8c...

In one of many graduation week events that we can't stop thinking about, our commencement guest speaker, former Dallas mayor and UW poli sci alum Laura Miller, sat down with poli sci students and members of the GreenHouse Learning Community over lunch for an invaluable career conversation.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Evan is joined by Professor Daniel Kapust to discuss his upcoming class on the Declaration of Independence, the document itself, the political theory behind it, and more! Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/1PVs...

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Evan sits down with Professor Emeritus Dave Weimer to take a look back on his incredible decades-long career, and discuss the challenges faced, the progress in his field, the memories made, and what the future might hold. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/0rNb...

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Nama and Evan sit down with Professor Benjamin Márquez to reflect on his time at UW-Madison as he prepares to retire at the end of the semester. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/6Yjp...

Last week, Professor Benjamin Márquez delivered his last lecture as he prepares to retire at the end of the semester. Professor Márquez has been a staple in the department for decades, and we'll miss him dearly. We wish him the very best in his next chapter.

On this episode of 1050 Bascom, Nama and Evan are joined by the newly appointed Provost John Zumbrunnen to learn about his path to, and perspective on the position. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/6jSf...

Please join us in congratulating poli sci major Miranda Garcia-Dove on receiving the 2026 Truman Scholarship. Miranda has impressed us time and again through her work in BridgeMadison and beyond. Read more here: news.wisc.edu/now-a-truman...

On this episode of 1050 Bascom, Nama sits down with Anna Haensch, Research Associate Professor at the Data Science Institute at UW-Madison, to discuss her experience at the intersection between AI, Data Science, and Public Policy. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/5Q7V...

Familiar faces flocked to North Hall on Friday for another wonderful Board of Visitors meeting! Thanks so much to our board for taking the time to meet with us and for all you do for the department!

The results are in, and our Day of the Badger campaign was a tremendous success! Thank you to everyone who participated, whether by giving a gift, joining the events on campus, or even keeping us in their thoughts. With your help, we were able to raise $52,075 for the department! On, Wisconsin!

This week on 1050 Bascom, Evan, Nama, and Lauren are joined by Terence Roehrig, a lecturer in the department, to discuss his background as a professor at the U.S. Naval War College, his perspective on the political climate of East and Southeast Asia, and more! open.spotify.com/episode/5q6K...

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Heewone, Nama, and Evan are joined by Colleen Shogan, who served as the 11th Archivist of the United States, to talk about her nonprofit work, her path to leading the U.S. Archives, her work as an academic, and more! open.spotify.com/episode/6B1C...

It's Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week! We're so grateful for all of our hardworking graduate students. Two of whom, Rachel Tan and Lisa De Sousa Dias, were among those featured by the Graduate School to kick this week off! See more here: grad.wisc.edu/current-stud...

Please join us in congratulating Professor Jon Pevehouse as one of four professors to receive the 2026 Hilldale Award in recognition of his contribution to teaching, research, and service! news.wisc.edu/meet-the-win...

We're so proud to announce that three of our incredible graduate students have received 2025-26 Teaching Assistant Awards! Ikhyun Lim - Early Excellence in Teaching Award Rachel Tan - Advanced Achievement in Teaching Award Ethan vanderWilden - Capstone Teaching Award grad.wisc.edu/2026/03/23/2...

This week, Evan is joined by Landis Varughese, a senior at UW and Chair of the Associated Students of Madison, to talk about his path to leading ASM, lessons he's learned along the way, what he's most proud of from his tenure as chair, and more! Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/7unH...

In this week's episode of 1050 Bascom, Evan is once again joined by Professor Emeritus Howard Schweber, this time to answer questions regarding the developing conflict in Iran, and to offer his opinion on potential causes, consequences, and outcomes. open.spotify.com/episode/6piq...

Professors Steven Brooke, Yoshiko Herrera, Andrew Kydd, and Jon Pevehouse will be speaking at UW Now Live: War in the Middle East and Global Consequences on Tuesday, March 17 from 7:00 to 8:00 P.M. To watch the event live and interact with the chat, register here: www.uwalumni.com/events/uw-no...

Exciting news for us in the Poli Sci world as professor John Zumbrunnen has officially been named the new provost after serving as interim provost since last June! news.wisc.edu/john-zumbrun...

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Evan and Nama are joined by Dr. Elizabeth Covington, Executive Director of the European Studies program at UW, to discuss her background, the European Union, the European economy, and more! Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/4NZa...

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Heewone and Evan are joined by Professor Jason Kido Lopez of the Department of Communication Arts to discuss the inherent political nature of sporting events, sports betting as a phenomenon, and more! Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/0N7Q...

This week on 1050 Bascom, we welcome Jasper Bernstein, a UW senior and campaign manager for gubernatorial candidate Kelda Roys, to talk about his path to campaign management, the lessons he's learned, and the skills necessary for anyone interested in campaign work. open.spotify.com/episode/7ga9...

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Lauren is joined by Professor Ana Oaxaca to discuss her college experience, her path to UW-Madison, and more! Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/0vak...

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Evan, Nama, and Heewone are joined by Alfred McCoy, the Harrington Professor of History at UW, to discuss his background and his new book, "Cold War on Five Continents: A Global History of Empire and Espionage." Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/4oG9...

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Heewone, Evan, and Nama are joined by professor Kathryn McGarr of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, to discuss her background in journalism, her Ph.D. in history, and more! Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/3CoO...

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Lauren is joined by Andrew Trexler, a new Assistant Professor in the department who specializes in political communication, to discuss Andrew's background, what led him to UW, and his current and forthcoming classes. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/5TEY...

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Evan and Lauren sit down with Ethan vanderWilden, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science, to discuss his research and his upcoming class - PS 401: History and Politics. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/2X4s...

Recently, the department celebrated the end of the semester with a get-together featuring fun music, good food, and great friends. We hope everyone has a safe and restful break!

The end of the semester marks a bittersweet sendoff to professor Dave Weimer, who is retiring after 25 years in the department. Pictured are moments from Dave's last lecture on December 10th. Thank you for helping make the department everything that it is, Dave. We'll miss you!

Many congratulations to newly minted PhD Khasan Redjaboev, who just defended a superb dissertation on the legacies of forced labor in Eurasia! @uwpolisci.bsky.social @yoshikoherrera.bsky.social @asiandemocracy.bsky.social

Recently, we held our second Resume and Headshot workshop. Students came in to get their professional headshots taken, and received valuable resume advice from our peer mentors. We're grateful to have the opportunity to provide these workshops for our students, and we look forward to the next one!

In this week's episode of 1050 Bascom, Evan is joined by professor Jon Pevehouse to discuss his background in international relations, and the relationship between domestic affairs, foreign policy, and international trade. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/1Rdt...

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Evan sits down with Professor Jeffrey Church, a new faculty member at UW-Madison, to discuss his background in political theory and his upcoming course in the spring, PS400: Left, Right, and Center. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/5vSb...

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Evan and Nama are joined by new professor Andres Uribe, to discuss his background in comparative politics, his ongoing class PS 401: Threads to Democracy, and his forthcoming class PS 400: Political Violence. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/5Ehf...

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Lauren and Heewone are joined by Professor Anton Strezhnev, a new faculty member in the Department of Political Science, to discuss his background and experience teaching PS-170 this semester! Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/4g08...

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Evan is joined by Dr. Daniel Mark, a professor of Political Science at Villanova University, to discuss his work regarding the philosophy of law and the relationship between politics and religion. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/0OIJ...

In today's episode of 1050 Bascom, Nama and Evan are joined by UW Junior Tony Jing to discuss his background and how he came to found the new student org CIRA - the Contemporary International Relations Association. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/0HNp...

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Nama, Lauren, Heewone, and Evan sit down with former Deputy National Security Advisor, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough to discuss his experience in the White House and beyond. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/4Tit...

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Lauren and Nama are joined by Hamni Park, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Political Science, to discuss the course she's teaching this semester: PS 400 - Ancient Ideas: East and West. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/1YiE...

A big thank you to our Board of Visitors for taking the time out of their busy lives to attend our meeting last week. We're so grateful for all you do for us!

We want to extend a huge thank you to both Denis McDonough for taking the time to speak with us last week, and to everyone who attended the event! We had much higher turnout than we expected, and we're so grateful to everyone for making the event such a smashing success.

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Heewone, Evan, and Nama are joined by Professor Barry Burden to discuss his background in the study of electoral politics and the ERC's October 3rd event - Election Matters 2025: Money, Politics, and the First Amendment. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/09Tt...

Cheers to everyone who came out in support of the Department of Political Science at Fill the Hill last week, whether by giving a gift, planting a flamingo, or playing any of the games around campus! It's thanks to you that the department is able to be what it is, and we'll never forget it!

Please join us in congratulating Zoe Kukla on receiving the Elaine C. Davis Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement!

In this episode of 1050 Bascom, Evan is joined by Professor Kathryn Hendley to discuss her roots in studying Russian law, and her work as the Director of Lawyers and Democratic Decline (LADD), a new research project at the UW-Madison School of Law. open.spotify.com/episode/3AiA...

On this week's episode of 1050 Bascom, Nama and Lauren are joined by new faculty member Matt Pietryka to discuss his research and teaching in Political Behavior, Political Psychology, Social Network Analysis, and R Programming. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/6WX0...

We were blown away by the turnout at our Eat and Greet event with the La Follette School of Public Affairs last week. So many students turned up to learn from and network with alumni in their desired career paths. We had so much fun seeing it all come together. Thanks to everyone who attended!

Last week, the department teamed up with the Multicultural Student Center to host an ice cream social where students could take a break from studying, meet with faculty, and have some delicious Babcock ice cream! Thanks to everyone who attended!