Eleven School of Liberal Arts political science alumni joined the Department of Political Science at their Professional Meet Up event last week to offer career advice, share anecdotes about their personal professional paths, and provide short introductions on their current roles to more than fifty political science majors.
Casey Love, senior professor of practice in the Department of Political Science, said the idea for the meet up came from conversations with Tulane’s Career Center and was a first of its kind for the university.
“We hope that through this event our majors came to understand that there is no one, typical career path for political science majors,” Love commented. “A Tulane liberal arts education gives students communication, analytic, and critical thinking skills, as well as an enhanced sense of civic engagement and social justice, and the ability to pursue multiple projects at once. As demonstrated by the varied career trajectories of our alumni present at the Meet Up, there are multiple ways to carry these skills and expertise into a post-college experience.”
The purpose of the Professional Meet Up was to cultivate casual conversations, rather than emphasize networking specifically, so the students could speak cordially with professionals working in areas such as city government, law, the nonprofit sector, political consulting, and community development. Alumni were present from Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration, Green Corps, New Orleans Citizen Diplomacy Council, McGlinchey Stafford law firm, and The Blue House among others.
Allison Woolverton (LA ’19), a senior majoring in political economy that attended the Meet Up, said she was inspired by the event and “especially enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect with a couple women and learn about how they have begun forging non-traditional career paths in fields they are passionate about.”
The Professional Meet Up, co-sponsored by the Altman Program in International Studies and Business, was part of the department’s Career Week, during which SLA political science faculty presented workshops and presentations on writing professional resumes, careers in international development and international affairs, and how to find and get funding or credit for internships.
