Welcome!

I'm collecting here writing - some published, some unpublished - on politics, the media, and political science. I'll also include relevant professional background and recent work.

Second-career Academics

I am one of those people who started out in one profession - and made the transition to another in mid-life.

My first career was in journalism, where I made my living as a newspaper editor & reporter for a couple of decades, both in the USA & abroad. In the late 1990s I began to move out of that world, although I was not aware of this fact at that time. I had been working in Russia during the Yeltsin administration, and when the whole economic system collapsed in 1998, I found myself wondering about my understanding of the subject that I was covering. I had been writing about business in that strange & wild new world of post-Soviet capitalism, but my own education in economics was limited to a couple of introductory classes I took as an undergraduate years earlier.

I enrolled in an international relations program at Syracuse University, earned a master's at the Maxwell School, & headed back to Russia, where I worked in Khabarovsk for Institute for Sustainable Communities. It was a wonderful job, working with new community organizations, but my interest in political science had been piqued after a class on political economy at Syracuse. I returned to the States, enrolling in the doctoral program in political science at Binghamton University.

Since then, I have occasionally written for publication, but I haven't earned my living at it for more than a decade. I may post a few links to these pieces later.

For now, here's a brief account of how my experience in journalism enriches my current college teaching.

Taxation Game

From time to time, I will play a game or create an exercise to get my students thinking about a subject in an experiential way. I find it prompts discussion and opens the door to understanding a topic on an intuitive level. I'm also interested to see economic or political principles demonstrated within a group that may be as small as 20 students.

The game that I played with two groups of students this week was an attempt to work with these principles in a very simple way. I thought of it as I was running, and pondering a panel discussion that I had attended for the 30th anniversary of the Journal of Democracy.  At that event, there were all sorts of theories & conjectures posited about democracy around the world - but very little discussion of the role that income & wealth inequality play in establishing & maintaining democracy. To my way of thinking, on factor in the international crisis in democratic institutions that we see occurring around the world is the yawning gap between the poor & the wealthy. The problem is touched on here by Ariel Dorfman, the wonderful Chilean journalist.

Here's the game.

........................

First Game

1.     Every student gets 10 – 12 dollars.

2.     The task is presented:

a.     The bridge connecting the town needs to be rebuilt. The cost will be 30 dollars. If the bridge is rebuilt, the economic impact of the project will result in an additional 50 dollars for the whole community.

b.     The players must vote how to fund the project.

                                               i.     Choices:

1.     Each player contributes an equal share to the fund the project

2.     Each player contributes a proportional share of wealth to fund project

                                             ii.     Players can opt not to participate, but if they don’t, they cannot reap benefit

c.     If a group of students can decide agree to fund the project without the participation, they can.

d.     Suppressing the vote is possible with private militia forces.

e.     Private militia forces cost $20.

Second Game

1.     All but two students get three dollars.

2.     Two students get $84.

3.     Task is presented.

a.     The bridge connecting the town needs to be rebuilt. The cost will be 30 dollars. If the bridge is rebuilt, the economic impact of the project will result in an additional 50 dollars for the whole community.

b.     The players must vote how to fund the project.

                                                        i.     Choices:

1.     Each player contributes an equal share to the fund the project

2.     Each player contributes a proportional share of wealth to fund project

                                                      ii.     Players can opt not to participate, but if they don’t, they cannot reap benefit

c.     If a group of students can decide agree to fund the project without the participation, they can.

d.     Suppressing the vote is possible with private militia forces.

e.     Private militia forces cost $20.

Questions to be asked.

1.     What – roughly - were the results in the two different games?

2.     How do you explain the results?

3.     What truths about politics do you think the results reflect?

4.     As a policy advisor, can you make any recommendations to make this process work better?

.................

After the students have submitted their reflections on the assignment, I will give them this article by Carles Boix to read. They haven't been introduced to the Exit, Voice, Loyalty Model yet, but I think many of them will be capable of the intuitive understanding of the principle behind the game. 

Curriculum Vitae

Eric Schwartz
16 E. Salisbury St. Williamsport, MD 21795
Phone: 240-500-2409 (office); 
828-832-6598 
Email: eschwartz@hagerstowncc.edu

Education

Ph.D., Department of Political Science, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY. 2010. Dissertation: “Conflicts of Interest: How Media Pluralism Protects Democracy and Human Rights.”
Master’s Degree, Department of Political Science, Binghamton University. 2007. Primary Field: Comparative Politics. Secondary Field: World Politics.
Master’s Degree, Maxwell School of International Relations. Syracuse University. 2007. Thesis: “Examining the Roots of Russia’s Ruble Crisis.”
Bachelor’s Degree, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI. 1984. Majors: Journalism and Russian. Minor: Spanish.

Teaching Experience
College instructor, 2012-Present
Currently a tenure-track instructor in political science at Hagerstown Community College, Hagerstown, MD. Courses taught include American politics, international relations, comparative politics, constitutional law, mass media and politics, American history and world history.
Adjunct and Full-time lecturer
Taught journalism, research methods, communication ethics, and introduction to mass media in Department of Communications, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. 2009-2011.
Teaching Assistant
As teacher of record, developed and taught “Media and Democratic Poitics” for three terms in the Department of Political Science, Binghamton University. Also awarded teaching assistantship in political science, supporting faculty in instruction of classes in American Politics and International Political Culture. 2004-2007.

Journalism Experience
Chief of Party/Azerbaijan, International Center For Journalists. 2008-2009
Established programs to train investigative reporters in Lenkoran and Gance, Azerbaijan.
Students in program published pieces about subjects such as environmental pollution, corruption, and education.
Managed annual budget of roughly $400,000.
Submitted regular budget and activity reports to US Department of State. Delivered journalism training and lectures in English and Russian.
Knight Journalism Fellow, International Center For Journalists. 2007-2008 Established journalist-training programs in Russia and across Azerbaijan.
Focus in Russia: Newsroom training and coordination. Focus in Azerbaijan: New Media usage and investigative reporting.
Organized the first pre-election forum in Azerbaijan. October 2008.
Delivered journalism training and lectures in English and Russian. Media Trainer, Institute For Sustainable Communities. 2003-2004
Established media strategies for grassroots organization in the regions of Khabarovsk and Vladivostok, Russian Far East.
Contributed program narratives for USAID reports.
Provided training for local journalists and grassroots leaders.

Journalist
Freelance and staff writer. 1982-2008.
Partial list of publications for which I have written: Boston Business Journal, Central New York Business Journal, Boston Herald, St. Petersburg Times, Moscow Times, Russian Business Review, North Shore Weeklies, and Syracuse New Times.

Book Author
Superpower: Americans Today, Crossing the Seas: American Form an Empire, World Contender: Americans on the Global Stage, Central American Immigrants: Refugees from Unrest, Latino Economics in the United States, and What Makes America America? All books published by Mason Crest Publishing, Broomall, PA. 2005-2006.

Professional Service
Co-chair Committee on the Status of Community Colleges in the Profession, American Political Science Profession 2018 - present
Current editor of Community College Corner, a section of the Political Science Education newsletter. Published by American Political Science Association. Published biannually
Participated in annual meeting of the National Capital chapter of the American Political Science Association. Sept. 15, 2017.
HCC Ad Hoc Faculty Peer Review Committee. 2018
HCC Faculty Load Promotion and Tenure Committee. 2017-2018
HCC Curriculum Committee. 2014-2016
HCC Communications Committee. 2014.
Served on HCC Self-Study on Institutional Research, Planning, Allocation, and Renewal Workgroup. 2013-2014.
Peer reviewer, providing critique, evaluation, and analysis on papers submitted to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference in St. Louis, MO. August 2011.

Recent Academic Presentations and Papers
“How the knowledge I gained in my first career enriches my teaching at a community college.” Journal of Political Science Education. Spring 2019. 

“Navigating Partisan Differences in Class Discussions.” PS Now. January 2019

“Protectionism, Neoliberalism, and Electoral Wins: An analysis of how Americans form opinions on trade and politics.” Co-written with Dr. Gayane Torosyan, Department Chair, Department of Communications at State University of New York- Oneonta. Midwest Political Science Association annual conference, Chicago. April 7, 2018.

“War Attitudes with Domestic Correlates.” Discussant. Midwest Political Science Association annual conference, Chicago. April 8, 2018.

"Interest Groups and the Congress." A Concise Guide to Modern Economics. Ed. Robert Cunningham. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2015. Gale Researcher. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.

“The Political Impact of Social Media: A Reassessment and a Prediction.” One-day seminar presented at the Hutchinson Center of the University of Maine, Belfast, ME. Feb. 9, 2012

“Social Means for Political Ends: An Analysis of Social Media and the Organization of Anti-Authoritarian Resistance.” Presented at annual meeting of Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, 2011.

“An Imperfect Mirror: How Nationalistic Media Coverage Affects Peace Initiatives.” Co-written with Dr. Gayane Torosyan, Department Chair, Department of Communications at State University of New York-Oneonta. Presented at annual meeting of Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, 2011.

Supervised Internships
Campaign Intern for Doug Mastriano, candidate for Congress, 9th Congressional District-PA; Congressman John Delaney’s Office, Summer 2014, Fall 2016; Washington County Sheriff’s Office, Spring 2015; Frederick County Commissioner’s office, Fall 2013; Hawk Newspaper editor, Spring 2013

Professional Awards
Knight International Journalism Fellow: 2007-2008
Binghamton University Teaching Assistantship: 2004-2007 Binghamton University Political Science Faculty Scholarship: 2004 Maxwell School Tuitionship Award: 2000

Professional Organizations
Midwest Political Science Association American Political Science Association Academy of Political Science

The Pentagon Capers

This cover story was published in the Syracuse New Times in the April 23-30, 2003 edition. The article detailed the opposition to the activities of the Department of Defense on the campus of Syracuse University.

The article was written at a time of the increasingly controversial preparation for the invasion of Iraq by the administration of George W. Bush. While that effort had its supporters on campus, many within the university also strongly opposed it. Syracuse University is home to the Maxwell School, one of the nation's premier institutions for training foreign policy professionals, and the wisdom of this military action was argued and protested on campus and in the city of Syracuse.