October 2007 Newsletter Contents

1. From the Director (Renate Holub)

It's Midterm Season, and we're already half way through the Fall Semester - I can't believe it. Let me briefly report to you what activities have taken place in our Major over the past few weeks: read more ..

2. ISF Advice (Dawn Strough)

A question that comes up often is "Can I double major?" The answer is almost always "Yes!" However, the more important question is "Should I double major?" This is not so easy to answer read more ...

3. Opportunities & Events

• Opportunities
  

  1. Career Counseling for ISF Students:Starting to think about life after college? Wondering how to market your ISF degree to graduate schools or employers? Come to 344 Campbell Hall on November 14th read more ...

• Events
  

  ISF Application Work Shop: Are you having a difficult time getting started on the ISF application? Getting ready to turn in your ISF application but have some questions about the statement of purpose? Know you need to declare your major to enroll in Spring '08 courses? Want to simply get more information about ISF? read more ...

4. Student Research

• Nelli Martirosyan: Nelli moved from Armenia to the U.S. in 1999. She transferred from LA Valley College to UC Berkeley in Fall 2006. Now in her senior year at Cal, her biggest goal in life is to earn a doctorate in the US in Education Policy read more ...


• David Hwu: After two and a half years in Electrical Engineering, David Hwu transferred into ISF with an area of focus on Globalization and East Asia. In his creative thesis, titled "Hu Jintao off the record: Where China plans to be by 2025," he assumes the role of the Chinese President read more...

5. Senior Thesis and Faculty Profiles

• Rene Flores is a fifth year majoring in ISF. Originally from Mexico City, he came to the U.S. when his University in Mexico was shut down due to a student strike. While at Berkeley, Rene conducted a study of the Jehovah Witnesses Church in Mexican Communities read more ...


• Rene's mentor is Professor Irene Bloemraad of the Sociology Department. She studies the nexus between immigration and the political system. Her recently published book, Becoming a Citizen, compares immigrants' acquisition of citizenship read more ..


• Dr. Andrew L. Barlow has been a teacher and practitioner of sociology for 25 years. He received the PhD in Sociology from Harvard University in 1979, and has taught at the University of Massachusetts, Wellesley College, Boston University. read more...

6. Alumn Profiles

• After graduating in the summer of 2005, Jon Kristian van den Akker left the University of California with a dream: he was not sure how, but he knew that he was destined to obtain his PhD. Having just successfully completed his senior thesis (Law, Society, Economics and Power). read more ...


• Sandra Contreras : I lived on the 8th floor of the Unit 3 dormitories my freshman year at Cal, and half of the students on my floor were pre-med, myself included. I wasn't one of the "hardcore" pre-meds; along with Calculus and Chemistry, I took modern dance read more ...