This is one in a series of testimonials from Political Science and International Relations graduates and how they've put their degrees to work.
For more on our current students and alumni, please visit our Students and Alumni page.
Uri Marantz was originally drawn to the University of Windsor's MA program in Political Science because of the Jerusalem Old City Initiative, which built on the undergraduate coursework and thesis he had completed at York University. Uri’s interest in Middle Eastern politics led him to specialize in International Relations and also to enroll in classes with Professor Michael Bell, the former Canadian Ambassador to Jordan, Egypt and Israel and a Windsor MA graduate himself. While working as a graduate and research assistant, Uri gained valuable communications and research skills, and edited and wrote articles for The Issue, a student-run news magazine on campus.
In the fall of 2010, the opportunity to obtain two advanced degrees from two countries within two years presented itself and Uri began work on the Master of Public Policy degree as part of the joint program between Windsor and the University of Michigan-Dearborn. By March 2011, Uri had defended his MA research paper on the enigmatic nature of Iranian-Israeli relations, and by April he had finished his MPP degree at UM-Dearborn. In the summer and fall following, Uri’s academic focus drew him to policy and research work for two US think tanks. Political-military research with the Hudson Institute in New York led shortly to work on civil society with the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia. These experiences paved the way for an independent writing stint in which Uri contributed more than 50 articles to nearly a dozen publications throughout 2012, online and in print.
Since the beginning of 2013, Uri has interned at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC, allowing him to network in the US capital and meet and work with influential politicians and academics. This led to a second internship with the US Embassy in Ottawa, further complementing Uri’s academic background with practical expertise as he transitioned from the Canadian Trade Commissioners Service to the U.S. Commercial Service. Promoting business development between two countries as friendly as Canada and the United States has been an immensely rewarding professional and personal experience. In fall 2013, Uri will begin a PhD with the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa. He hopes to use the knowledge gained during his time in two embassies to craft policy-relevant research of use to the Canadian government, planning eventually to enter the Canadian Foreign Service.