Political Science Graduate Student Association
About PSGSA
The Political Science Graduate Student Association (PSGSA) is an organization geared towards graduate student advocacy, news, and assistance for the Department of Political Science and International Relations.
The Fall 2024-Spring 2025 office holders are:
- President: Jiwon Nam
- Vice President: Daria Blinova
- Secretary/Treasurer: Toms Ratfelders
- First Year Mentor Coordinator: Natalie Standridge
The director of graduate studies serves as the PSGSA's faculty advisor. PSGSA always welcomes any graduate student in the department who wishes to help out in organizing and undertaking its activities.
Our Mission
Our mission, as stated, is first and foremost graduate student advocacy in the department: giving a voice to student concerns, prerogatives, and achievements. In service of this mission, the PSGSA will hold a number of town hall-style meeting open to student discussion throughout the fall and spring semesters.
PSGSA places at the top of its agenda the construction of a mentorship program for first-year students and assistance in designing a graduate student professionalization seminar for first and second-year students.
Mentorship Program
The PSGSA mentorship program aims to better integrate first-year graduate students within their new environment, concentrating on the team of graduate students, the department, the University of Delaware and the city of Newark. The program intends to match each first-year student with a senior graduate student (in their 2nd, 3rd or 4th year) according to similar academic interests. The main role of the mentor is to answer the new students' questions and guide them throughout the first months of the program. Mentorship activities, once students have been admitted, will also serve as a further recruitment tool; new students are given an orientation in acclimating them to the department, the University and Newark. Incoming students are able to come on campus, visit the department and have lunch or contact their mentor if they have any questions regarding their future life in Newark.
By extension, the mentorship committee also ensures that former graduate students of the department continue to mentor current students, encouraging alumni to come home and share with us their professional experience and advice for our own career development.
The PSGSA will also advise the department about designing a graduate student professionalization seminar. This course will be required for first-year graduate students to inform them of the many nuances of success in graduate school and the career of an academic. Furthermore, PSGSA will assist the department with any revisions to the graduate student handbook, curriculum, and/or clarifications of the requirements of the graduate program.
With these efforts, the members of the PSGSA hope that this organization will effectively advocate and express the needs and wishes of the department's graduate students. We hope these efforts will spark interest and greater involvement among the department's graduate students in crafting their experience at the University of Delaware.
For more information on PSGSA, please contact: Jiwon Nam
For more information on the mentorship program, please contact: Natalie Standridge
Meet the Board
President Jiwon Nam
Jiwon Nam is a sixth-year Ph.D. candidate specializing in international relations and comparative politics. Her particular interests are connected to climate change and the effects of populism in international climate change negotiations. Prior to joining the Ph.D. program at the University of Delaware, Jiwon earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Master of Arts in Global Policy, and a Master of Business Administration. She also worked as an intern at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in New York City, and at the Korea Economic Institute (KEI) in Washington D.C.
Vice President Daria Blinova
Daria Blinova is a third-year PhD student in the department with diverse interests intersecting international relations and comparative politics. Daria is particularly interested in autocratic survival tactics with a focus on the Russian case, global environmental politics, and other topics such as international sanctions, conflict forecasting, and more. Daria also enjoys learning statistics in her free time and favor text analysis. Daria is thrilled to serve as the Vice-President of PSGSA this year and happy to contribute to students' success in our department.
Secretary/Treasurer Toms Ratfelders
Toms is a fourth year Ph.D. student specializing in the international relations of the Middle East.
First Year Mentor Coordinator Natalie Standridge
Natalie Standridge is a second-year doctoral student specializing in American politics and methodology. Natalie's research interests are within the realm of political psychology, including conspiracy theories, political extremism, and political violence. Prior to joining the department in 2023, Natalie received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Chapman University.
