Month: February 2023

“The U.S. House of Representatives votes 11 articles of impeachment against President Andrew Johnson, nine of which cite Johnson’s removal of Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, a violation of the Tenure of Office Act. The House vote made President Johnson the first president to be impeached in U.S. history.”

More, see: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/president-andrew-johnson-impeached

Register at http://bit.ly/3KiaM2C

Abstract: “Language is a clear indicator of political change. As China continues to rise and expand its influence in the South China Seas, threatened neighboring states will balance against it. One step in this process is the formulation of persuading language and concepts to accept the threat posed by China. This is demonstrated by the invention and use of the term Indo-Pacific, an area from the eastern part of Africa in the west to the United States in the east. This article traces the genealogy of the term Indo-Pacific as it relates to the securitization of this region given the rise of China. The article will first trace the genealogy of the term Indo-Pacific to then highlight the processes of securitization given changes in the structure of international relations.”

See: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41111-023-00233-z

Austin S. Matthews (Political Science) was selected from a competitive pool of highly qualified candidates in the US and abroad to participate in Bridging the Gap’s 2023 International Policy Summer Institute in Washington D.C.

This four-day workshop in June trains academics on developing tools and building networks to produce and disseminate policy-relevant academic research. Matthews will receive support for his ongoing project on the hiring and firing of military and state security elites in dictatorships.

Next week, on February 21st from 4pm-5pm, Citizen U will be hosting the Mayor of Greenville, PJ Connelly, in MCSC Room 307 to talk about local government and hear from ECU students. Please advertise to your students and colleagues! We’d love to have a full room, and it’s not everyday students get an audience with the mayor.

RSVP on Engage using this link: Citizen U: Local Government & City Services – Meet the Mayor! – ENGAGE (ecu.edu)

Please reach out with any questions!
Amrina Rangar [rangara19@students.ecu.edu]

Last Monday’s horrific earthquake has left upwards of 33,000 dead, and rescue operations continue.

https://apnews.com/article/disaster-planning-and-response-2023-turkey-syria-earthquake-earthquakes-a7ae0cf86757d238dc0dd5f6a5dd96ce

The Chinese spy balloon has been a gift to the Internet meme industry. My favorite…

“Mary Stuart was Queen of Scots from 1547 until she was deposed in 1567. She spent the next twenty years of her life in exile or imprisoned. After she was deposed, she sought the assistance of her first cousin once removed, Elizabeth I, who reigned over England.

“This complicated matters however as Elizabeth perceived Mary as a threat and had her imprisoned while a commission of inquiry investigated whether she was responsible for the death of her first husband, which had been the proximate cause of her overthrow.

“She spent eighteen and a half years imprisoned in England, and several plots to replace Elizabeth with Mary or have her marry other European royalty came to nothing. On August 11, 1586, Mary was arrested after being implicated in the Babington Plot, another scheme to overthrow the protestant Elizabeth and replace her with the catholic Mary.

“She was found guilty on October 25 and sentenced to death. Elizabeth hesitated to sign the death warrant, fearing the precedent it set, and asked her custodian to find a way to “shorten the life” of Mary, but he refused. Elizabeth eventually signed the warrant and the execution was set for February 8.

“Mary was not executed with a single blow – the first missed and hit her in the back of the head, the second did not completely sever her head, and only after the third did the executioner raise her head to the crowd. Mary was wearing a wig however, and the head fell from his hands, revealing that she had very short, grey hair” (from https://www.onthisday.com/photos/mary-queen-of-scots-executed).