EWU McNair Scholar Richard Murphy Accepted to Washington State University’s PhD in Political Science

Richard Murphy

Congratulations to EWU McNair Scholar Richard Murphy who’s been accepted into Washington State University’s PhD in Political Science! Washington State University’s Political Science Doctor of Philosophy teaches from a multi-methods approach and allows choice of major foundational training (institutions and processes, behavior and psychology, or theory and philosophy) as well as specialization field (American politics, global politics, or public policy/public administration).

From Washington State University’s Ph.D. in Political Science Page:

A commitment to problem-driven research. The School is focused on “problem-driven research” that involves the analysis of national and international policy issues. At the heart of this approach are interdisciplinary research efforts to pursue scholarly activity that will solve the complex and “wicked” problems that democratic societies face. It is research that “speaks” to scholars, policy-makers and citizens. Our school’s research has focused on a variety of pressing problems: bio-ethics in medicine, political civility, environmental justice, gender equality, legal justice, democratic participation and representation, elite problem solving, terrorism, civil unrest, WMD proliferation, and disability policy, among others.

Richard Murphy is an undergraduate student at Eastern Washington University. His three declared majors are Philosophy, Political Science, and International Affairs with an emphasis on Global Socio-Economic Development. Richard is also pursuing a minor in Spanish. In 2023, under the mentorship of Professor Tom Hawley, PhD, Richard continued his ongoing research from 2022 on the phenomena of societal internalization of Neoliberalism, and the societal consequences of establishing competitive markets in historically non-marketed realms of our lives. By moving around a lot as a youth, living in urban, suburban, and rural communities in the Pacific Northwest, Richard understands and appreciates the necessity for a pluralistic chorus of voices and perspectives in the discussions for any sort of overarching policy decisions. As the Vice President of the Philosophy Club and the new President of the International Affairs Community at EWU, Richard recognizes the utility of taking interdisciplinary approaches to our most sophisticated and pressing issues of the 21st Century. We know Richard’s integrative contextualization and dedication to rigorous and honest analysis of systems at play will propel any program and our future societal conversations.