John Heilemann is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Game Change, about the 2008 presidential campaign, which was adapted into award-winning movie by HBO. He is also a journalist for New York magazine, where he mainly covers U.S. politics.

Roger Simon is the Chief Political Columnist at POLITICO, a political journalism organization that was established in 2007 to cover the politics of Capitol Hill, the presidential campaign and presidency, and the business of Washington lobbying and advocacy. Simon talked about the political landscape for the 2012 elections.

This fall TWC launched their new Domestic Violence Fall 2012 Civic Engagement Project in partnership with the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), a highly-respected social change organization dedicated to creating an environment where violence against women no longer exists. As part of the advocacy component, students worked with NNEDV to support reauthorizing the Violence against Women Act (VAWA).

As part of the seminar course component of the TWC-Elon Legal Externship Program, fall students are participating in a legal practicum.

Legal externs receive the opportunity to merge legal skills cultivated this semester in their externship with the knowledge accumulated from law school courses by assisting in a pro-bono case on behalf of a DC area non-profit. At the completion of the project, the externs will be writing a legal journal article and submitting it for publication in a legal journal.

The Washington Center hosted a "Conversation on Leadership," welcoming Henry Givray, President and CEO of SmithBucklin Corporation, to the Blinken Auditorium. Mr. Givray offered TWC fall interns insights into the fundamentals of leadership and provided ways to incorporate these fundamentals into both their personal and professional lives.

TWC welcomed Section Chief of the FBI's Financial Crimes Section, Timothy A. Gallagher. Programs who heard from the seasoned FBI employee included: Law and Criminal Justice, Legal Externship and Business and Global Trade.

Students learned that the Financial Crimes Section is comprised of 5 units including:

Over the course of a month, over 70 different media outlets covered, wrote stories and turned the attention of their online readers to TWC's Campaign 2012 Academic Seminar.

The Democrats kicked off the convention with an event centered around the culture, tradition and community of Charlotte, hyped by every speaker in the previous week. The high expectations were exceeded as CarolinaFest proved to be a true celebration of the Carolinas. Spectators were treated to a variety of music, southern cuisine and free events which the rain could not even damper. It was the perfect way to begin the fieldwork placements of the over 110 students who had arrived to the up and coming city just a week before.

If only by virtue of their rarity, the academic seminars hosted by The Washington Center (TWC) are a unique experience.  But my time in Charlotte was more than a confluence of fortunate timing.  It is an experience of enrichment and inspiration that will come to define my academic career at Bridgewater State University.

The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars (TWC) and the U.S.-Japan Research Institute (USJI) formalized a ground-breaking partnership on September 11th that will connect Japan’s top eight universities to TWC's programs.