By Katie Linder
The Department of Communication Science and Disorders (CSD) and Department of Political Science were among the swarm of black and gold that took over the capitol rotunda in Des Moines in April for the University of Iowa’s annual Hawkeye Caucus Day.
The day is an important opportunity to bring the campus to the capitol, showing lawmakers and their staff the breadth of the work happening at the university and its impact on their constituents and the state.
Faculty, staff, and students from CSD and political science represented the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Faculty and staff explained their work and answered questions, while their students also experienced visiting and engaging with state legislators.
Advocating for speech and hearing services in Iowa
Beth Walker, an associate professor in CSD, where faculty educate, research, and provide clinical services in audiology and speech-language pathology, says this day is about educating lawmakers about the many services her department provides.
“It’s pretty rare for someone to go through life and not be exposed to someone who has difficulty with communication. It affects all aspects of life,” Walker explains.
She also emphasized to lawmakers that Iowa offers the only doctorate in audiology program in the state of Iowa. A fact many lawmakers and staff found interesting as they asked questions about their own hearing health.
During the trip, audiology doctoral student Allison Duplain practiced advocating for and speaking about her future field, a skill she says is regularly emphasized in her classes.
“Opportunities like this are a good way to start talking about my future profession and what I’m learning about in my classes,” Duplain says. “Really, how we can serve everyone around us.”
Political science students put theory into practice
The Department of Political Science science brought a small delegation of undergraduate students who are currently enrolled in an honors policy research practicum to Hawkeye Caucus Day.
For their coursework, students spent hours researching a topic relevant to Iowa and produced a policy report to present to lawmakers on their chosen issue. Students put political theory into practice with these projects and presented their findings during casual conversations or pre-set meetings with state lawmakers.
“This is the final step of this class that they’ve done this year,” explains Nicholas Martini, director of undergraduate studies and a lecturer in the Department of Political Science. “Now, they are here trying to share some of that research that they have done.”
Undergraduate student Yunseo Ki, a third-year student studying political science and ethics and public policy is enrolled in the seminar right now, with future plans to attend law school. She says this course is one of the best experiences students can take as a political science major.
“It’s just really a cool way as an undergraduate to get involved in politics and start researching issues that you are passionate about and feel like you get to make some sort of impact,” she says.
Ki plans to pursue policymaking in her career someday and says this experience is helpful as she looks to the future.
“This is the coolest thing that’s happened to me this year,” she says. “Actually in the past three years!”
