Department of Government and International

Studies

Academic Year 2013-2014

Academic Year 2013-14 was a highly successful year. The faculty in this
department produced 5 books and numerous scholarly
articles and other publications, and received other
recognitions, including elections to professional
organizations. Dr. Peter Lawler was honored by
alumni and other interested parties by the establishment
of the Peter Lawler endowed scholarship to be awarded
each year to a deserving government major. Dr.
Chaitram Singhs two novels (The Flour Convoy and
The February 23
rd
Coup ) were both shortlisted for the
Guyana Prize for Literature and The Flour Convoy was
awarded the prize for the Best First Work of Fiction.

Students also exemplified the achievement
orientation of the department by garnering
scholarships and earning places in graduate
schools. Stephanie Tomys, not only
received the Peter Lawler endowed
Scholarship but also won a national Phi
Kappa Phi fellowship
for $5,000; Matthew
Murphy was named a national Intercollegiate Studies
Institute Honors Fellow; Kate Farrar was named a John Jay
Fellow, a year-long program that combines study with an
internship in public policy; and Ian Nugent will be a founding
faculty member with the Atlanta Classical Academy, a
charter school being set up by a leading expert in educational
reform. Eleven students and several recent graduates applied
to law school this year and all were successful in gaining admission to at least one
of their chosen schools. Even more impressive was the amount of financial aid
offers many of these students were offered with their acceptances. Two students
Dr. Kirsten Taylor, Associate
Professor & Department Chair
Stephanie Tomys
alone received over one million dollars each in scholarship offers to various
schools.
Department faculty held an array of very interesting classes, employing a variety of
teaching techniques, including debates. Beginning
in the fall, class composition showed football players
among the eager scholars as the College
enthusiastically thrust itself into its first season of
college football, and faculty became even more
engaged in the academic preparation of student
athletes.

The department redoubled its efforts to refine its methods of
assessment and to project
teaching schedules in
anticipation of redefined
teaching loads. One new
initiative, adopted by the
department, proposes to provide travel
assistance for students seeking to present
papers at scholarly conferences. Separately
funded but characteristically well prepared,
Berrys Model United Nations performed
superbly at the National Model United
Nations Conference in New York in April
2014.

The annual spring cookout, held on the lawn
adjacent to the Evans Building, was an
appropriate celebration of a successful year,
and captured the spirit of cooperation and
harmony that characterized the conduct of the affairs of the department throughout
the year.






Dr. Chaitram Singh
Gund Professor
Newsletter Editor
Dr. John Hickman
Professor
























Dr. Peter Lawler
Dana Professor
Dr. Michael Bailey
Associate Professor
Ms. Darla Fox, Department
Secretary Dr. Eric Sands
Associate Professor
Biotechnology Conference






















Faculty: Professional Activities

Dr. Michael Bailey

Articles

Michael Bailey (co-authored with Chaitram Singh),
Praetorian Democracy, Illiberal but Enduring: Pakistan
as Exemplar, Southeast Review of Asian Studies, Vol.
35 (Fall 2013).

Work in Progress

Consociationalism in Latin America, lead author, with Chaitram Singh and John
Hickman












Dr. John Hickman
Articles
John Hickman. McCains Mind-Boggling Hypocrisy
on Crimea at the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee Conference. Informed Comment. March
5, 2014.
John Hickman. What the Crimean Crisis Reveals
About the Tensions in American Foreign Policy. E-International Relations.
March 13, 2014.
John Hickman. WHY THE NEW GUANTANAMO HUNGER STRIKE EUPHEMISMS?
Like the Dew. March 16, 2014.
John Hickman. THE BEAM OUT OF THINE OWN EYE
Like the Dew. Mar 5, 2014.
John Hickman. AND WHEN YOU ASK THEM, HOW MUCH SHOULD WE GIVE? OOH,
THEY ONLY ANSWER MORE! MORE! MORE! Like the Dew. Mar 2, 2014.
John Hickman. SLINTE! IDEOLOGY AND ALCOHOL. Like the Dew. Feb 2, 2014.
John Hickman. DEAR NOB AKIMOTO: HONESTY IS IMPORTANT. Like the Dew. Jan
31, 2014.






John Hickman. OBAMA SHOULD LISTEN. Like the Dew. Sep 9, 2013.
John Hickman. WHY SHOULD OUR TAX DOLLARS PAY FOR JOURNALISM WITH AN
EDGE? Like the Dew. July 1, 2013.

Interview
Interview with Professor John Hickman The
Moderate Voice. Dec 13, 2013.

























Dr. Peter Lawler

Books:
A Political Companion to Walker Percy, edited
with Brian Smith (University Press of
Kentucky 2013).
Allergic to Crazy: Quick Reflections on
Politics, Education, and Culture (St.
Augustines Press, 2014).
The Science of Modern Virtue, edited with
Marc Guerra (Northern Illinois University
Press, 2013).
The Future of Liberal Education, edited with Timothy Burns (Routledge),
forthcoming.
Science, Virtue, and the Future of Humanity, edited with Marc Guerra (Lexington
[trade book]), forthcoming.
Book Chapters:
Locke, the Puritans, and America. Natural Rights and Political Philosophy, ed.
L. Ward and A. Ward (Notre Dame, 2013).
Locke, Darwin, and the Science of Modern Virtue, The Science of Modern
Virtue (reference above).
Walker Percy, Alexis de Tocqueville and the Stoic and Christian Dimensions of
American Thomism, A Political Companion to Walker Percy (referenced above).
Defending the Person Today, Reason, Revelation, and the Civic Order, ed. P.
Dehart and C. Holloway (Northern Illinois University Press, 2014
The Future of American Liberal Education, The Future of Liberal Education
(referenced above).
The Personal Logos and the Christian Idea of
Marriage, Pope Benedict and the Politics of
Modernity, ed. M. Guerra (Routledge, 2014)..
The Conservative Defense of Human Liberty, Science, Virtue, and the Future of
Humanity (referenced above).
The State of Our Liberty is Confusing, Science, Virtue, and the Future of
Humanity (referenced above).
The Best Kind of Learning, The Best Kind of College, ed. J. Seery and S.
McWilliams (SUNY Press, forthcoming)
Articles
Whats Wrong with Our Meritocracy,
Minding the Campus, June 17, 2013.
Deinstitutionalizing the Humanities,
The University Bookman, Summer, 2013.
Defending the Humanities, The Weekly
Standard, June 17, 2013.
Deinstitutionalizing the Humanities,
The University Bookman, Summer, 2013.
Honor, Love, and Being a Father in Full, Ethika Politika, June, 2013.
The Conservative Case for Girls, The Intercollegiate Review, Fall, 2013.
The Future of American Liberal Education, Perspectives on Political Science,
Fall, 2013.
The Truth About Political Science and the NSF, Law and Liberty, September 4,
2013.
The End of Disrupting in Higher Education, Minding the Campus, September
20, 2013.
How to Fix the Humanities, Minding the Campus, September 29, 2013.
Locke, Darwin, and the Science of American Virtue, Society,
September/October, 2013. (This
issue includes nine responses by prominent scholars to my article.)
Tyler Cowens Vision of a More Perfect
Meritocracy, Law and Liberty, October 9,
2013.
How to Think About the Birth Dearth, Law
and Liberty, October 16, 2013.
The Downside of MOOCified Disruption, Minding the Campus, October 20,
2013.
Reading Plato with the Man of Steel, The City, Fall, 2014.
The Conservative Defense of Liberty Education, Modern Age, Winter, 2014.
Southern Discomfort, The Claremont Review, Winter, 2014.
Why Grade Inflation Hurts Social Mobility, Minding the Campus, December 22,
2013.
Tocqueville and Keeping our Countercultural Churches, Ethika Politika, January
9, 2014.
Race, Family, and Song in Three Recent Films, The Federalist, January 26,
2014.
The State of Our Liberty is Confusing, Law and Liberty, January 30, 2014.
Harvards President Faust Explains It All, Minding the Campus, February 5,
2014.
Downton Abbeys Astute Nostalgia,
Intercollegiate Review, February 10, 2014.
A Conservative Defense of Tenure, Chronicle of
Higher Education, February 11, 2014.
The Dystopian Seductiveness of Her, The Federalist, February 14, 2014.
Among the Snake Handlers, First Things web exclusives, February 27, 2014.
The Thoroughly Modern Marriage, The Weekly Standard, March 4, 2014.
The Idiocracy and Its Discontents, Law
and Liberty, March 11, 2014.
Plato, Rawls and the Liberal Comfort
Zone at Harvard, Minding the Campus,
March 23, 2014.
How to Be a Postmodern Conservative,
Intercollegiate Review, March 23, 2014.
Downton Abbeys Astute Nostalgia, The Intercollegiate Review, Spring, 2014.
Post-Modern Marriage and Our Relational Longings, Law and Liberty, April 7,
2014.
The Voracious Nought, First Things web exclusives, April 8, 2014.
Scholarships and the Berry Bubble, Vital Speeches of the Day, April, 2014.
The State of Our Religious Liberty is Confusing, The Federalist, April 16, 2014.
The Conservative Road to Serfdom, First Things web exclusives, April 22, 2014
Deconstructing the Transhumanist Impulse,
Law and Liberty, April 30, 2014.
Saving Higher Education from Middle-Class
Tyranny, The American Interest, May, 2014.
A Simple Fix for the M.B.A., Minding the
Campus, May 6, 2014.
American Heresies and our Techno-Future, The New Atlantis, forthcoming
The Future of the Free and Relational Person in America, National Affairs,
forthcoming.
Presentations:
Privileges and Responsibilities, The ISI National
Honors Program, August, 2014
The Case for the NSF Defunding of Political
Science, American Political Science Association,
September, 2014.
Strauss and Kojeve, American Political Science Association, September, 2014.
Honor as an American Counterc ulture, Conference on the Honor Code, Webb
School, September, 2014.
Being Personal These Days, University of West Florida, October, 2014.
Teachable Moments in Lost in the Cosmos, University of West Florida, October,
2014
Relational Autonomy and the Supreme Court, Brigham Young University,
November, 2014.
Marriage, Being a Person, and Todays Legal Environment, ISI West
Conference, November, 2014.
Burke and Strauss, Conference and Claremont University, December, 2013.
Human Freedom vs. the Machine, First Things Conference on Technology and
Theology, March, 2014.
Tocqueville on Individualism, Koch Foundation Lecture, Oglethorpe University,
March, 2014.
Scholarships and the Berry Bubbles, Scholarship Night, Berry College, March,
2014.
Liberal Education vs. the 21
st
Century Global
Marketplace, LeFrak Lecture, Michigan State
University, March, 2014.
The State of Our Liberty is Confusing, Eastern
University, April, 2014.
New Recognition:
Reappointed executive editor of the scholarly quarterly Perspectives on Political
Science.
Name to the Georgia Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil
Rights.
The Peter A. Lawler Endowed Scholarship
Peter Lawler endowed scholarship established at Berry College. The Peter A.
Lawler endowed scholarship has been established at Berry College. The
scholarship is funded by alumni of Berrys Department of Government and
International Studies and Berry Trustee Pete Roberts. The scholarship is given
each year to a deserving government major. The first recipient was Stephanie
Tomys, and both Stephanie and Dr. Peter Lawler gave keynote talks at Berry
Colleges annual scholarship night in April 2014. The recipient for the 2014-15
scholarship is Matt Murphy.
Berry Colleges Model United Nations
Berry's Model United Nations team performed
superbly at this year's National Model United
Nations Conference, held last week in New York
City. Berry represented Lithuania in the simulation
of several United Nations bodies: four General
Assembly committees, the Organization for the
Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the
World Health Organization (WHO), and the UN
Environmental Program (UNEP).
The week began with a briefing by Political
Coordinator for Lithuania's diplomatic mission to
the UN. This was a fantastic opportunity, especially
since Lithuania (and the foreign service officer
briefing us) had participated the previous evening in
the Security Council meeting called by Russia to
discuss the situation in the Ukraine. This was an
amazing learning opportunity for our students!
The whole Lithuanian delegation was recognized
with an Honorable Mention Award for their
successful efforts to engage in diplomacy throughout the week. Additionally, Devan Estevez and
Rebekah Ingram won the outstanding delegation award in their committee (WHO) and Ashley
Jones and Conrad Sharpe won an outstanding position paper award in their committee (OPCW),
recognizing their pre-conference preparation.
The following students participated in the Conference:
Lainey Battles; Leah Cobb; Devan Estevez; Mary-Thomas Hart; Rebekah Ingram; Sabrina
Ishrat; Ashley Jones; Matthew Murphy; JT Kieffer; Rachel Renaud; Conrad Sharpe: Lydia
Schlitt; Matt Seib; Emily Tedesco

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Kirsten Taylor
Dr. Eric Sands

Publications

Dr. Sands published four essays for the
Encyclopedia of Social Media and Politics in
addition to several book reviews.

Pre-Law Program
This year featured the greatest number of
students applying to law school since Dr. Eric Sands has been in charge of the Pre-
Law Program. Eleven students and several recent graduates applied this year and
all were successful in gaining admission to at least one of their chosen
schools. Even more impressive was the amount
of financial aid offers many of these students were
offered with their acceptances. Two students
alone received over one million dollars each in
scholarship offers to various schools.
These students also benefitted, however, from
improvements that have been made in Pre-Law
advising and assistance in preparation for the LSAT and law school
applications. In the fall, Dr. Sands conducted a mock LSAT for students preparing
for the test and offered feedback sessions for each individual student. He also
offered help sessions on LSAT preparation
including introductions to LSAT preparation
materials, assistance in planning study
schedules, and tutoring on specific areas of the
test, resulting in the highest average LSAT
scores of any year since Dr. Sands joined the
Berry faculty.



Guest Teaching
Dr. Sands continued his guest teaching
associations with Ashland University and Oak
Hill. He offered a course on Constitutional Law
during the Summer and a course on Sectionalism
and the Civil War during the Spring Semester for
the Master of Arts Program at Ashland and taught
a course on Contemporary Political Issues for the
Senior Scholars Program at Oak Hill during the Spring as well.
Dr. Sands was certified as a pistol
instructor this past year and has been
offering classes and competing in pistol
events.
















Dr. Chaitram Singh

Articles

Chaitram Singh & Michael Bailey, Praetorian Democracy, Illiberal but Enduring:
Pakistan as Exemplar, Southeast Review of Asian Studies, Vol. 35 (Fall 2013).

Chaitram Singh, Suriname and the Limits of
Consociationalism, Journal of Third World Studies
(Spring 2014).

Interview

Interviewed on Wednesday, May 14, 2014, by
Petamber Persaud for NTN, Guyanas national TV
station for the program, Between the Lines. The
interview focused on the two novels, The Flour
Convoy, and The February 23
rd
Coup.


International Recognitions

1. Awarded the Guyana Prize for Literature for the novel, The Flour Convoy,
in the category, Best First Work of Fiction.






















2. The novel, The February 23
rd
Coup, was the runner-up for the Guyana Prize
for Literature in the category, Best Work of Fiction.







3. Selected to give the address on behalf of all prize winners at the Guyana
Prize for literature Awards Ceremony,
Sunday, September 15, 2013.


4. Invited to give readings from both novels at
the Georgetown Public Library,
Receiving the Prize for Literature
from President Donald Ramotar
Georgetown, Guyana. The event was reported on in the Guyana Chronicle.

Field Research

Conducted field research in Guyana, May 10 May 18. The first objective was to
gather materials for a new novel; the second was to write an article on civil-
military relations in Guyana. For the
civil-military research component, he
interviewed President Donald Ramotar
(May 12), Presidential Advisor Gail
Texeira (May 12), Finance Minister Ashni
Singh (May 14), and Army Chief of Staff
Brigadier Mark Phillips (May 14).




Research for the new novel took him the New River
Triangle in southeast corner of Guyana, territory
claimed by neighboring Suriname. Transportation
was arranged by Brigadier Mark Phillips, Chief of
Staff, Guyana Defense Force.







Guest Speaker

Dr. Singh was a guest speaker at the Senior Command Staff Course of the Guyana
Defense Force, Camp Stepehenson, Timehri, Guyana. He held a two and a half
hour seminar on thesis preparation. He was also the lunch guest of senior officers
overseeing the course.
May 12, 2014 Meeting with President
Donald Ramotar
With Army Chief of Staff, Brigadier
Mark Phillips









Back at Berry



















Dr. Kirsten Taylor

Conference Paper
Taylor, Kirsten. Ramsars Wise Use Norm: The
Evolution of Wise Use Policy in Wetland
Management and Protection, Paper Prepared for
Presentation at the International Studies Association
South Conference, Charlotte, NC, October 2013.
Article reviewer, International Studies Perspectives
Recognition
Chair, Department of Govt & International Studies
Faculty Advisor, Berry College Model United Nations
Elected an officer, International Studies Association,
South












































Department Picnic, Spring 2014