Date: Mar 30, 2012

Hofstra Students to Study, Work at National Conventions

Four will witness history at 2012 Presidential Conventions

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY – Four students will study and work as interns at the Democratic and Republican presidential conventions this summer as part of Hofstra’s Debate 2012 – Pride, Politics and Policy initiative – a slate of programs and events planned around the university hosting of the second presidential debate in the fall.

Two undergraduate students will attend each convention to participate in the Campaign 2012 National Convention Seminars, sponsored by the Washington Center, a non-profit organization that offers programs and seminars for credit for college students. The center has offered the convention seminar program since 1984, and Hofstra sent four students to the seminar in 2008, when the university hosted the third and final presidential debate.

The seminars combine formal instruction, guest lectures, panels, tours and fieldwork with a variety of convention related organizations to give students a chance a behind-the-scenes look and understanding of the nominating process.

“These convention courses are lively, educational and a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience for our students,” said Meena Bose, director of the Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the American Presidency.

The students attending the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. from Aug. 25-Sept. 7, 2012 are: Jesse Crosson, a junior political science major, and Marina Pino, a senior history major. The students attending the Republican Convention in Tampa, FL, from Aug. 18-31, 2012 are: Sidney Madden, a sophomore broadcast journalism major, and Simran Nanda, a sophomore political science major.

“I am interested in getting an insider’s perspective on how political parties work, and I hope this opportunity will help me prepare for my own future political career,” said Simran Nanda, who wants to be an attorney and one day, run for Congress.

Marina Pino is looking forward to seeing how the hotly contested Republican presidential primary plays out at the convention. “I am interested in learning how the primary election season will affect the significance of the convention.”

Sidney Madden is eager to meet reporters who have been on the trail with candidates. “I want to meet the people who have been field correspondents,” she said, “because that’s what I want to do when I graduate.”

Debate 2012 – Pride, Politics and Policy is a series of educational programs and events designed around the second presidential debate on Oct. 16, 2012, which will be held at Hofstra that includes guest speakers such as journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, who broke the Watergate story and Newark (N.J.) Mayor Cory Booker and panel discussions on topics such as the presidency and foreign policy, and the increasing importance of suburban independent voters in presidential elections.

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution of higher education where more than 12,000 full and part-time students choose from undergraduate and graduate offerings in liberal arts and sciences, business, communication, education, health and human services, honors studies, a School of Law, a School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine.

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