2024 Washington Seminar Update

The 2024 Washington Seminar is underway! Recently, students kicked off the 3-week study away program by spending the week in Madison, Wisconsin.

The students met with a variety of elected officials, legislative staff members, and policy organizations during their time at the state capitol, including Representative David Murphy, Representative Jodi Emerson, Justice Jill Karofsky, and Governor Tony Evers.

Last week, the students arrived in Washington D.C. where they will spend the next two weeks visiting monuments and learning from expert policy insiders.

Below you fill find excerpts from the travel logs of the 2024 Washington Seminar Students. At the end of this page you can find a gallery of pictures from the trip.

“Before we knew it, we were all following a trail that passed through some of the most famous monuments and memorials that DC had to offer, we were able to visit the Korean War Veterans Memorial, FDR Memorial, Jefferson Monument, Lincon, and Martin Luther King Jr. memorial to mention a few. I believe we all were able to learn something important from this self-guided tour, from learning where Martin Luther King JR. gave his famous “I Have a Dream speech” in August of 1963 to witness the Gettysburg speech etched within the walls of Lincoln’s memorial.”

“After that, we visited the Library of Congress. One thing that brought to my attention was the beautiful architecture. As someone who loves art and a big geek for architecture, it was hard to not appreciate the finery of structure.”

“The meeting that we had with Representative Emerson was extremely interesting given her background. Despite her current involvement in politics, Emerson actually studied biotechnology while in college and as a STEM major myself who is interested in working in politics, I thought her background was fascinating.”

“Our final visit for the day was at the US Institute of Peace and we met with Ellie Quinlan. She went in-depth on the role of the USIP. I was unfamiliar with it, and she explained their role and what they do. I enjoyed hearing what countries they’re involved in and how they aim to prevent violence. I found it motivating that this group centers around learning and using nonviolent approaches.”

“For our first stop, we stumbled across the Lincoln Memorial. One neat thing about the Lincoln Memorial is that his Gettysburg Address is inscribed on the walls of this memorial. As I had only ever seen the Lincoln Memorial in photos, I can definitely say that it is much bigger than I expected it to be. While continuing our strenuous walk, we saw the Korean War Veterans Memorial. While beautiful, the Korean War Veterans Memorial radiated such sadness. From the names of all the veterans to the photos of the Korean War veterans that adorn the granite wall…”