UMM Admissions Blog

This is an exciting time of the year for those of us in the admissions office as high school seniors are in their final few days of making college decisions. This year we have had the chance to get to know some really great students and we look forward to having them join our campus this coming fall.

Unfortunately it is also the time of the year when we have to say goodbye to seniors who will be leaving us for greater things. UMM has a great student body and we sometimes wish we could keep them forever. I was browsing through our website today and came across this article announcing that Simón Franco will receive this year's César E. Chávez award along with Anthropology professor Donna Chollet. If you have ever visited campus for an open house you may have met Simón as he is always happy to volunteer to be a tour guide and last week even served on a student panel for junior visit day.

Congrats Simón!

Posted at 03:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the fathers of western political thought is Plato. His best-known dialogue is The Republic. In it, Plato outlines the perfect rule of society; he called it “Philosopher-King”. This perfect ruler would be legitimized by understanding “The Form”. The form is absolute and immutable essence of everything. The Philosopher-King would gain the understanding of the form through the study of Philosophy, and more specifically through mastering Dialectics.

While this understanding of Plato is not wrong, it is not sufficient either. Plato’s political thought is more complex than the view expressed earlier. Interestingly, a great deal of the scholarly literature written on Plato focuses on The Republic and The Laws (another well known works of Plato)

This year I am working on my senior seminar in Political theory. I am trying to prove that to really understand Plato’s political thought we need not just focus on The Republic and The Laws but also look at a lesser-known Platonic dialogue, The Statesman. I call it lesser known in relation to The Republic and The Laws. This research has taken me in directions I had not foreseen. It has also given me the opportunity to read and respond to great Platonic experts. As an undergraduate student, such an opportunity is not very common (because of the stigma of expertise, but that is a different topic). Also, if you are interested in this topic I would like you to keep your eyes open for the dates of the political science senior seminar presentations. These presentations are coming up around February-April and are open to everyone.

Posted at 01:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

UMM is considered one of the best schools in the Midwest. As such, our students are challenged in a number of ways. The most prominent of these challenges begins academically. We are proud of being a rigorous institution in terms of academics. The majority of our professors hold terminal degrees in their area of expertise. I am pretty sure that by now you have heard all of this. The purpose of this entry is not to tell you about all the institutional information that you can access on our website. But instead I want to share with you what I call “mid-semester” madness.

Mid-semester madness is a phenomenon experienced by UMM students during & after midterm exams. Midterms, as their name suggests, mark the halfway point of a semester. Most classes have some form of them, and as such our students generally have to study for them during the same time. You will see our library and 24 hour study lounge full of students, snacks, and lots of caffeine. Sleep and 4X6 note cards are the two things that seem impossible to get at this time.

However, midterms also mean that the end of the semester is approaching. Because of this it seems your assignments are all due at the same time, and that the time you had in your hands is slipping away. Certainly all you can do is keep working hard and try not to procrastinate as much. Beware of Mid-Semester madness!

Posted at 08:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

¡Hola! Good to see you here. My name is Simón Franco. I am an international student here at UMM. I am a double major in Political Science, with concentrations in both Political Theory and International Relations, and Management, with a concentration in Global Business. Keep in mind that I am accomplishing all of this in four years! It is possible, trust me. I had to communicate a lot with my advisor but with her guidance and with one summer term of 12 credits I am going to graduate on time this May.

Since I moved to the U.S. three years ago I have been very involved and active in many groups and activities. Within my first 10 days of coming here I tried out for the Cougars football team and was granted a position as the kicker. When the semester started I decided to decline that offer in order to focus more on my academic work. Then I joined United Latinos (UL), and became an officer on the executive board of the organization and have been one ever since. It is not uncommon to see freshman taking leadership roles in different groups on campus, there are so many opportunities to apply yourself that it can be somewhat overwhelming…Just wait for the activities fair during orientation weekend-you’ll see what I mean!

Also, I have been involved in several other organizations on campus such as the Morris Campus Student Association (campus government), International Student Association, Gateway Mentor (summer mentorship program for multi-ethnic first year students), and activities like Dance Ensemble, Multiethnic Mentorship Program (Research program), and Campus Ambassadors (Official Tour Guides!).

My main focus of interest that has dictated most of the research I have done here at UMM are international relations in Latin America-more specifically Venezuela and Brazil-and Classical Political thought. Also, focusing on management the economic factors behind free trade and revolution in South America.

Well, this has been a short introduction of who I am and what I do at UMM. I will be posting more about my life in Morris, but if at this point you have any questions please leave a comment on my blog and I will reply as soon as I can. ¡Chao!

Posted at 08:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)