MSU students intern in Canadian Parliament, meet Prime Minister Trudeau
Three Morehead State University Political Science majors, Emily Ball of Morehead, Colby Birkes of Winchester and Hanna Stettner of Worthington, recently completed internships in the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, Canada.
Each student was assigned to a Member of Parliament (M.P.) based on their academic policy interests. Ball interned for M.P. Ruby Sahota, a Liberal Party member representing Ontario. Stettner served in the office of M.P. Jenny Kwan, a New Democratic Party member representing British Columbia. Birkes interned for M.P. Judy Sgro, a Liberal Party member from Ontario.
The students lived at the University of Ottawa during their time in Canada and participated in a wide variety of parliamentary activities during their five-week internship. This year, they met the leaders of their M.P.’s political parties, attended House of Commons committee hearings and assisted in the drafting their M.P.s’ House of Commons speeches, communications to their constituents and statements to the Canadian press.
The students met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, other Canadian party leaders and foreign diplomats and dignitaries, including Ambassador Kelly Craft, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada and President Emanuel Macron of France, who was attending the G-7 world economic summit.
The students prepared for their internships by taking POLS 336, North American Politics: United States and Canada. They also wrote research proposals under the mentorship of Dr. William Green, MSU professor of government, who has recruited and prepared 69 MSU students for the Canadian Parliamentary Internship Program since 2000.
While in Canada, the students had a unique undergraduate experience. They used their research proposals to conduct interviews of public officials and collect primary documents. In the Fall 2018 semester they will write papers based on their Canadian research and present them at MSU’s 2019 Celebration of Student Scholarship and the Kentucky Political Science Association's 2019 annual meeting.
Additional information about the Canadian Parliamentary Internship, please contact Dr. William Green at w.green@moreheadstate.edu.
For more information about the MSU's Department of History, Philosophy, Politics, International Studies and Legal Studies, visit www.moreheadstate.edu/hpil.
