Eva Bertram, associate professor of politics, will become the new UC Santa Cruz campus director for the UC Washington Program (UCDC).
Before joining the politics department in 2003, Bertram worked in Washington D.C., for 10 years, primarily in the non-profit sector with several research, public policy, and public interest organizations, as well as for a congressional committee.
Since 2005, Bertram has served on the UCDC Advisory Board, has participated in the selection of UCDC faculty, teaching assistants, and students, and has worked closely with outgoing campus director Mark Cioc, professor of history, on issues related to the ongoing centralization of UCDC.
Approximately 65 UC Santa Cruz students participate in the UCDC program each year, spending one quarter in Washington, D.C., during which they complete an internship, a related research seminar, and (optionally) an elective course.
The UCDC campus director is responsible for overseeing promotion of the program, recruitment of students, review of applicants, and selection of participants. The director is also responsible for working with the Social Sciences Division and others at UCSC on curricular and administrative questions related to UCDC. The position is based at UCSC.
Bertram, a winner of the Social Sciences Distinguished Teaching Award, is author of a new book, Building the Modern Workfare State: The New Politics of Public Assistance (University of Pennsylvania Press).
She said working with UCDC aligns with many of her academic and intellectual interests. "Much of my research, writing and teaching in the politics department addresses questions of American public policy and political development, with a focus on federal social policy and labor market policy," she said.
"UCDC is a remarkable program," Bertram said. "Returning UCDC students are consistently positive about the program, and many describe it as entirely outside of their prior experience: many have never been outside of California, or seen government and policy making in action at any level. For these students in particular, this is an extraordinary opportunity offered by UCSC, all the more valuable at a time of budget and programmatic cutbacks in many areas."
