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Simone E. Quartey is a registered Democrat and grew up in a liberal family. The University of New Haven junior, however, will be spending the last two weeks of August in Tampa, Fla., attending the Republican National Convention. Her blog will be published at www.unewhaven.com/convention.

A political science major from Highland Mills, N.Y., Quartey was selected for a UNH scholarship to attend the Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars, an independent, nonprofit organization serving hundreds of colleges and universities in the United States and other countries by providing selected students challenging opportunities to work and learn in Washington, D.C., for academic credit. She will participate in a two-week course examining the role of national political conventions in the process of nominating and electing a party's candidates for president and vice president for the United States. The Washington Center program provides students not only with seminars but also places them in volunteer fieldwork positions with the party, convention committee, host committee, media and others.

The Republican National Convention takes place from Aug. 27-30. Quartey had her choice of going either to the GOP convention or to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. Sept. 3-6.

"I've been around progressive politics all my life and now I wanted to be involved with something new," she says. "I think the Democratic convention is just going to be a formality naming the incumbent. When I chose the Republican convention, I thought it might be fractious but even though there is a preferred candidate, I think it will be interesting. I'm thrilled to be going."

Learn more about Simone and her project...

For the past week, I have had the fortune of sitting front row at the 2012 Republican National Convention. It was interesting, frustrating and at times, amusing. (Clint Eastwood, I’m looking at you.) But one of the downsides of being an intern for CNN, a major news organization is you rarely have time to blog. [...]

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To say that I was busy on the first day of The Washington Center Seminar would be an understatement. Overwhelming would be the apropos word to describe my experience. For one thing, the day started incredibly early and ended at 7:30pm. But the events that took place in between are what really matter. For starters, [...]

  Before the conventions, before the big speeches, here is the state of the political parties right now. In comedian Colin Quinn’s 2010 comedy special, Long Story Short, he conceptualizes the world and its history through personification. He does this by giving countries, ancient civilizations and empires their own unique personalities rooted in stereotypes and [...]

WEST HAVEN – Simone E. Quartey is a registered Democrat and grew up in a liberal family. The University of New Haven junior, however, will be spending the last two weeks of August in Tampa, Fla., attending the Republican National Convention. A political science major from  Highland Mills, N.Y., Quartey was selected for a UNH [...]