COSmic Knight Exposes Injustice
This week’s COSmic Knight aspires to do work that really matters to people.
With a double major in political science and journalism, Sam Schiffer is a force to be reckoned with. His interest in how government operates began in his high school career. He was excelling in government and civics classes when he realized the importance of understanding government dictates the way people live. Once at UCF, Sam hit the ground running and dove headfirst into as many research projects and internships he could handle.
Sam gives special thanks to his professors that made his research possible. His classes such as political research as well as having an honors thesis advisor, gave Sam the tools needed to enjoy his political science studies to its full extent.
Sam is now an intern at the Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd Program for Strategic Research and Studies. The program is a partnership between Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University in Saudi Arabia and the UCF Political Science department where they hold conferences, hosts guests and publish research about events and issues in the Middle East and North Africa. Sam assists in securing grant opportunities, conducting interviews for their podcast series and helps Director David Dumke on various tasks, ranging from research to putting together conferences.
Sam is also working on an honors thesis concerning the Rohingya ethnic group in Bangladesh. The Rohingya are a people who do not have a state. They are a Muslim ethnic group native to Myanmar, but are denied citizenship by the current regime and are subject to appalling violence in the country. Half a million have fled to Bangladesh, but face insurmountable discrimination in that country, too. Sam chose to submit his work to the editors of “Political Violence at a Glance”. This is a blog where political scientist provides analysis and give academic context to world events. Contributors normally consist of professors and Ph.D. students who have made a career in political science, but Sam was chosen based on his work’s integrity.
Sam lives his life by many mottos, but has come to reject only one, “life isn’t fair.” He believes nothing is stopping the world from being fair. He wants others to know the key to true equality is having a sense of empathy and understanding.
Keep making a difference, Sam!