{"id":32102,"date":"2026-09-01T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-01T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/?p=32102"},"modified":"2026-08-29T09:37:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T14:37:54","slug":"department-update-political-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus\/alumni-student-news\/department-update-political-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Department Update: Political Science"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For the fourth time in its history, UW-Milwaukee\u2019s Epsilon Xi chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honors Society, has been&nbsp;awarded a Best Chapter Award for 2025-2026 by the national organization of Pi Sigma Alpha.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In addition, Epsilon Xi chapter advisor Kristen Trenholm, a teaching assistant professor of political science at UWM, won a National Advisor of the Year award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThese awards are intended to recognize local chapters that are particularly active in their institutions and communities and embody our society\u2019s mission to stimulate scholarship and intellectual interest in political science. Professor Trenholm-Horowitz serves as faculty advisor to the chapter and should be recognized for her extraordinary leadership and dedication to the students who are members of the chapter,\u201d Tanya B. Schwarz, executive director of Pi Sigma Alpha, wrote while announcing the honors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"alignright uwm-c-img--right uwm-c-img--caption-gray\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/255\/2026\/08\/PSA-conference-presenters-2-225x300.webp\" alt=\"A group of five students in professional dress stand in a line on the steps of a white building with three banks of windows. Two white pillars in the background have vertical banners, one reading School of and the other reading Public.\" class=\"wp-image-32104\" srcset=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/255\/2026\/08\/PSA-conference-presenters-2-225x300.webp 225w, https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/255\/2026\/08\/PSA-conference-presenters-2.webp 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Epsilon Xi chapter was among five other chapters of similar size recognized out of 830 chapters of Pi Sigma Alpha across the country. Epsilon Xi also received Best Chapter awards in 2015, 2019, and 2020. This year, the national organization cited the UW-Milwaukee chapter\u2019s many activities fostering students\u2019 professional development as one of the main reasons for its award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, last school year, Epsilon Xi members participated in Student Involvement&#8217;s Student Training and Recognizing Success (STARS) Development Program and Epsilon Xi President Ellyn Blakeman won&nbsp;Student Organization Leader of the Year&nbsp;at the Student Excellence Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Epsilon Xi\u2019s national award includes a cash prize of $500 for the chapter, as well as an additional $200 to the advisor for their service. In addition, winners will be featured in the American Political Science Association\u2019s magazine,&nbsp;<em>Political Science Today<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Department of Political Science is extremely proud of this student organization and the community Professor Trenholm built around these students,\u201d said Political Science Professor Sara Benesh, who is also the director of Curriculum &amp; Governance in the College of Letters &amp; Science.&nbsp;\u201cWe are always excited to see them in their Pi Sigma Alpha office and at the many events they schedule throughout the semester.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Students may apply to join the Epsilon Xi chapter on the <a href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/political-science\/students\/honors\/\">UWM Political Science website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the fourth time in its history, UW-Milwaukee\u2019s Epsilon Xi chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honors Society, has been&nbsp;awarded a Best Chapter Award for 2025-2026 by the national organization of Pi Sigma Alpha. In addition, Epsilon &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":785,"featured_media":32103,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[1848,1648,1961],"tags":[1859],"class_list":["post-32102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-student-news","category-in-focus","category-in-focus-2026","tag-september"],"uwm_unpublish_requested":false,"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.4 (Yoast SEO v28.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Letters &amp; Science<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus\/alumni-student-news\/department-update-political-science\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Department Update: Political Science\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For the fourth time in its history, UW-Milwaukee\u2019s Epsilon Xi chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honors Society, has been&nbsp;awarded a Best Chapter Award for 2025-2026 by the national organization of Pi Sigma Alpha. In addition, Epsilon &hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus\/alumni-student-news\/department-update-political-science\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Letters &amp; Science\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-01T16:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/255\/2026\/08\/Better-PSA-with-Kristin-Spring-2026.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sarah E Vickery\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sarah E Vickery\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus\\\/alumni-student-news\\\/department-update-political-science\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus\\\/alumni-student-news\\\/department-update-political-science\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sarah E Vickery\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79ba9316328e022fb78add26239f8453\"},\"headline\":\"Department Update: Political Science\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-01T16:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus\\\/alumni-student-news\\\/department-update-political-science\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":365,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus\\\/alumni-student-news\\\/department-update-political-science\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/255\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Better-PSA-with-Kristin-Spring-2026.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"September\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alumni and Student News\",\"In Focus\",\"In Focus 2026\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus\\\/alumni-student-news\\\/department-update-political-science\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus\\\/alumni-student-news\\\/department-update-political-science\\\/\",\"name\":\"Department Update: Political Science - Letters &amp; Science\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus\\\/alumni-student-news\\\/department-update-political-science\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus\\\/alumni-student-news\\\/department-update-political-science\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/255\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Better-PSA-with-Kristin-Spring-2026.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-01T16:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79ba9316328e022fb78add26239f8453\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus\\\/alumni-student-news\\\/department-update-political-science\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus\\\/alumni-student-news\\\/department-update-political-science\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus\\\/alumni-student-news\\\/department-update-political-science\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/255\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Better-PSA-with-Kristin-Spring-2026.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/255\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/Better-PSA-with-Kristin-Spring-2026.webp\",\"width\":720,\"height\":480,\"caption\":\"Teaching Assistant Professor Kristin Trenholm (third from right in front) stands with a group of Epsilon Xi members at the Pi Sigma Alpha National Research Conference at American University in February. (Photo courtesy of the Political Science Department)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus\\\/alumni-student-news\\\/department-update-political-science\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"In Focus\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Alumni and Student News\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/in-focus\\\/alumni-student-news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Department Update: Political Science\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/\",\"name\":\"Letters &amp; Science\",\"description\":\"College of\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/uwm.edu\\\/letters-science\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79ba9316328e022fb78add26239f8453\",\"name\":\"Sarah E Vickery\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fdc2a8fd73cb2a506bc8cb0bf544eba2c6d61ac223cedb9612c0d7b103a86b28?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fdc2a8fd73cb2a506bc8cb0bf544eba2c6d61ac223cedb9612c0d7b103a86b28?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/fdc2a8fd73cb2a506bc8cb0bf544eba2c6d61ac223cedb9612c0d7b103a86b28?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sarah E Vickery\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Letters &amp; Science","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus\/alumni-student-news\/department-update-political-science\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Department Update: Political Science","og_description":"For the fourth time in its history, UW-Milwaukee\u2019s Epsilon Xi chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honors Society, has been&nbsp;awarded a Best Chapter Award for 2025-2026 by the national organization of Pi Sigma Alpha. In addition, Epsilon &hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus\/alumni-student-news\/department-update-political-science\/","og_site_name":"Letters &amp; Science","article_published_time":"2026-09-01T16:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":480,"url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/255\/2026\/08\/Better-PSA-with-Kristin-Spring-2026.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Sarah E Vickery","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sarah E Vickery","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus\/alumni-student-news\/department-update-political-science\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus\/alumni-student-news\/department-update-political-science\/"},"author":{"name":"Sarah E Vickery","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/#\/schema\/person\/79ba9316328e022fb78add26239f8453"},"headline":"Department Update: Political Science","datePublished":"2026-09-01T16:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus\/alumni-student-news\/department-update-political-science\/"},"wordCount":365,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus\/alumni-student-news\/department-update-political-science\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/255\/2026\/08\/Better-PSA-with-Kristin-Spring-2026.webp","keywords":["September"],"articleSection":["Alumni and Student News","In Focus","In Focus 2026"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus\/alumni-student-news\/department-update-political-science\/","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus\/alumni-student-news\/department-update-political-science\/","name":"Department Update: Political Science - Letters &amp; Science","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus\/alumni-student-news\/department-update-political-science\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus\/alumni-student-news\/department-update-political-science\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/255\/2026\/08\/Better-PSA-with-Kristin-Spring-2026.webp","datePublished":"2026-09-01T16:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/#\/schema\/person\/79ba9316328e022fb78add26239f8453"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus\/alumni-student-news\/department-update-political-science\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus\/alumni-student-news\/department-update-political-science\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus\/alumni-student-news\/department-update-political-science\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/255\/2026\/08\/Better-PSA-with-Kristin-Spring-2026.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/255\/2026\/08\/Better-PSA-with-Kristin-Spring-2026.webp","width":720,"height":480,"caption":"Teaching Assistant Professor Kristin Trenholm (third from right in front) stands with a group of Epsilon Xi members at the Pi Sigma Alpha National Research Conference at American University in February. (Photo courtesy of the Political Science Department)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus\/alumni-student-news\/department-update-political-science\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"In Focus","item":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Alumni and Student News","item":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/in-focus\/alumni-student-news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Department Update: Political Science"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/#website","url":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/","name":"Letters &amp; Science","description":"College of","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/#\/schema\/person\/79ba9316328e022fb78add26239f8453","name":"Sarah E Vickery","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fdc2a8fd73cb2a506bc8cb0bf544eba2c6d61ac223cedb9612c0d7b103a86b28?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fdc2a8fd73cb2a506bc8cb0bf544eba2c6d61ac223cedb9612c0d7b103a86b28?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fdc2a8fd73cb2a506bc8cb0bf544eba2c6d61ac223cedb9612c0d7b103a86b28?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Sarah E Vickery"}}]}},"acf":[],"meta_fields":{"_edit_lock":["1788284492:785"],"_thumbnail_id":["32103"],"_edit_last":["785"],"feat_img_video":[""],"feat_img_gallery":[""],"feat_img_caption":["feat-img-caption-on"],"breadcrumbs_display":["breadcrumbs-on"],"otp_nav_display":["otp-on-mobile"],"post_layout":["post-layout-theme"],"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":["1848"],"_yoast_wpseo_content_score":["30"],"_yoast_wpseo_focuskeywords":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_keywordsynonyms":[""],"_yoast_wpseo_estimated-reading-time-minutes":["2"],"_yoast_indexnow_last_ping":["1788278401"]},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-19 09:41:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/785"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32102"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32137,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32102\/revisions\/32137"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/letters-science\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}