CLJC Summer Newsletter | From the Director

Dear Students, Faculty, Alumni, and Friends,

I hope that your summers are off to a wonderful start! As we all settle into our summer routines, I want to take a moment to thank all of you for being part of the Center for Law, Justice & Culture community, and to celebrate all of our accomplishments over the past academic year.

CLJC Announcements

We extend our warmest welcome to new faculty member Kirstine Taylor, who will begin a joint appointment as Assistant Professor in the Political Science Department and the Center for Law, Justice & Culture in fall 2016. Kirstine received her Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 2015. Her dissertation is titled Racial Violence and the Politics of Innocence: From the Postwar South to Post-Racial America. Since completing her degree, Kirstine has been a Postdoctoral Lecturer and Postdoctoral Prize Fellow at the University of Washington. She will teach Politics of Race and Black Political Thought in fall 2016. We are looking forward to working with her at Ohio University!

Next year Ursula Castellano (Sociology-Criminology) will join the Executive Committee with Thomas Costello (Communication Studies), Haley Duschinski (Anthropology), Larry Hayman (Pre-Law Specialist), and Marina Peterson (Interdisciplinary Arts). The CLJC Curriculum Committee will consist of Duschinski, Hayman, Bruce Hoffman (Sociology-Criminology), Kathleen Sullivan (Political Science), and Kevin Uhalde (History). Thanks to all of these committee members for your service – and to all faculty for your participation, engagement, and student mentorship over the years.

Larry Hayman is preparing to launch the Summer Law & Trial Institute from July 10-22. This completely free two–week residential program provides high school juniors and seniors from Southeastern Ohio the opportunity to learn about law and its possibilities from faculty and alumni across the state. It is made possible in part through a grant from the Ohio State Bar Foundation. A few slots are still available, so please spread the word!

CLJC Certificate Students, Class of 2016

We are very proud to recognize and celebrate the achievements of OHIO students graduating with the CLJC certificate in Law,  Justice & Culture:

• Gabrielle Bacha graduated with a major in Political Science. She was Student Senate President in 2015-16. Her senior honors thesis, Individual and Community Rights Within University Conduct Systems, focused on student conduct systems, and the rights of individuals going through that system as well as the rights of the community in that system. She will attend the M.A. program in Higher Education at Loyola University in Chicago in fall 2016.

• Eric Boomershine graduated with majors in Political Science Pre-Law and Sociology – Criminology with a minor in Psychology.

• Katie Conlon graduated with a major in History (HTC), a minor in Political Science, and a certificate in War and Peace Studies. She received the Leadership Award from the Honors Tutorial College. Her thesis, “Neither Men nor Completely Women”: The 1980 Armagh Dirty Protest and Republican Resistance in Northern Ireland Prisons, examined collective tactics of resistance among republican women prisoners of Armagh Gaol and their 1980 No-Wash Protest in the context of the Troubles. She will attend the M.A. program at the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation and Social Justice, Queens University in Belfast, Northern Ireland in fall 2016.

• Caleb Covert graduated with a major in Sociology Pre-Law.

• Alexander Davis graduated with a major in Political Science Pre-Law and a minor in Psychology. He was Associate Director of Students Defending Students and Learning Community Leader of the Law, Justice & Culture Pre-Law Learning Community in fall 2015. He will attend New York Law School in fall 2016.

• Destiny Fordham graduated with a major in Sociology – Criminology.

• Luke Kubacki graduated with majors in Political Science and Global Studies – Africa and a minor in English. He is moving to New York City in fall 2016.

• Phalen Kuckuck graduated with a major in Sociology – Criminology and a minor in Political Science. He will be Campaign Manager for the campaign of Riley Moore for West Virginia.

• Philip Moncla graduated with a major in Political Science. He carried out an internship with Southeast Ohio Legal Services in summer 2015. He will attend the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University in fall 2016.

• Angelina Moore graduated with a major in Business Administration (HTC). Her thesis, Attorney-Client Privilege and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, looks at the complications associated with in-house counsel SOX whistleblower cases. Angelina served on the Center for Student Legal Services Board of Directors, the Ohio Women in Business Executive Board, among others. She will attend the University of Chicago Law School in fall 2016.

• Madeline “Maddie” Rettig graduated with majors in Anthropology and Political Science Pre-Law. She received the Anthropology Outstanding Graduating Senior Award, and she carried out an internship with Marion Correctional Institution in 2014-15. She is working for  Marion’s re-entry program, Healing Broken Circles, as an Outside Event Coordinator this summer. She will attend law school at the Moritz College of Law at The Ohio State University with a full-tuition Michael E. Moritz Merit Scholarship in Law in fall 2016.

• Juliana Scheiderer graduated with majors in Spanish and Journalism News and Information. She was a member of the OHIO Mock Trial Team.

• Lydia Weiant graduated with a major in Anthropology (HTC) and a minor in Political Science. Her undergraduate honors thesis, When Law Falls Short: Informal Justice in West Belfast, focused on how local actors claim authority over crime, conflict, and crisis as they work to provide access to justice outside the parameters of the formal legal system in West Belfast, Northern Ireland. She is moving to Asheville, NC, for a gap year working for a backpacking organization based out of Clayton, GA, before attending law school in the fall of 2017.

• Sarah Welch graduated with a major in Music (piano), minors in Mathematics and Physics, and a certificate in Italian Studies. A member of the OHIO Mock Trial Team, she received the Best Attorney Award at the opening round competition as well as the regional competition of the American Mock Trial Association.

We are also proud to offer updates on recent CLJC certificate alumni: Daniel Berens (B.A. Psychology and Sociology Pre-Law 2015) is starting his second year at the University of Dayton School of Law. Heather Brody has completed her MSW degree in Social Work at New York University. She recently completed an internship with the Office of the Appellate Defender in New York. Alexandria Cooke (B.A. Political Science 2014) is starting her third year at University of Dayton School of Law. Emily Fish (B.A. Sociology Pre-Law 2014) is continuing to study at the University of Toledo College of Law. Rachel Lantz (B.A. Political Science 2014) is starting her second year at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Sarah Lilly (B.A. Political Science and Sociology – Criminology 2014) is the Coordinator of Public Programs at Equal Justice Works in Washington, DC. Olayemi Olurin (B.A. Political Science Pre-Law 2015) is serving as a law clerk to Justice Robert Miller in the New York Supreme Court this summer and will begin her second year at St John’s University School of Law in the fall. Andrew Radin (B.A. Communication Studies 2014 is beginning his second year at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. He will be a Fellow at the Ohio Innocence Project. Ted Sorrell (B.A. Political Science Pre-Law 2015) has recently completed a position as Outreach Intern at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, DC. Jack Spicer (B.A. Political Science Pre-Law 2014) will begin his third year at Vermont Law School. He has been a Research Assistant at the Water and Justice Program, a Staff Editor at the Vermont Journal of Environmental Law, and a Student Clinician at the Energy Clinic at the Institute for Energy and the Environment. Beau Wenger (B.A. Political Science Pre-Law 2014) is beginning his third year at Capital University Law School. Bekki Wyss (B.A. English 2015) will attend University of Michigan Law School in fall 2016. She is completing her internship at Cabrini Immigrant Services in New York.

Many other recent graduates have engaged with CLJC outside of the certificate program:

Katie Bialas (B.A. Psychology and Sociology – Criminology) will begin the MA program in Sociology at Ohio University in fall 2016. Hannah Caldwell (B.A. History), who won several Best Witness awards as a member of the OHIO Mock Trial Team, will attend Case Western University School of Law in fall 2016. Kaleb Carter (B.A. Journalism), former Undergraduate Student Associate for CLJC in 2015-16, will work as a sports reporter for Creston News in Creston, IA. Sierra Causey (B.A. Political Science Pre-Law), a member of the OHIO Mock Trial Team, will attend law school at the University of Cincinnati. Lizy Cychosz (B.A. Anthropology and Journalism 2015), former President of SLJC and Undergraduate Student Associate for CLJC in 2014-15, will carry out an internship with Healing through Remembering in Belfast, Northern Ireland as part of her M.A. program in Peace and Justice Studies at the University of San Diego. Danielle Fultz (B.A. History 2014) is currently Program Coordinator at the Institute of International Education (IIE) in Washington, DC. Hannah Oster (B.A. English 2015) is serving as a law clerk this summer at the Cuyahoga County Public Defender’s Office and will begin her second year at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in the fall. Kyle Serrott (B.S.S. Race, Gender and Law in American Society 2015) is interning this summer at the National Youth Law Center in San Francisco and will begin his second year at Capital University Law School in the fall.

Congratulations to all of these alumni, especially students in the Class of 2016! We wish you well in your life after Ohio University, and we hope that you will continue to stay connected to the Center for Law, Justice & Culture.

We are looking forward to seeing you in the fall!

Haley Duschinski
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Director of the Center for Law, Justice and Culture