Benjamin Pontz

I staff the research help desk in the library, which entails fielding questions from students, faculty, and community patrons on a variety of research-related topics including searching for sources, locating data, and producing citations. In addition, I complete an outreach project each semester. This semester's project is developing a reference guide for contemporary news sources.

I assist with source curation, information gathering, and manuscript development for the research program of Dr. Shirley Anne Warshaw, Professor of Political Science. In addition, I occasionally handle administrative tasks and staff the office as needed.

Assist with instruction of music and marching including winds and percussion at rehearsals mainly during band camp and performance days; provide creative input on elements of the show and wrote program notes and announcer introduction

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has captivated the world’s attention with its brutal tactics of beheadings and burnings and its alternative Quranic teachings. Despite fixation on these tactics by the global community and repudiation of their methodology by global Islamic leaders, limited inquiry into the historical and ideological underpinnings of the group has occurred at an intergovernmental level, which has hamstrung the global response. In addition to analyzing the limited primary sources that constitute ISIS’s propaganda, this paper discusses the failure of state building after the United States’ initial invasion of Iraq, which directly fomented the rise of an insurgent group like ISIS, as well as the initial failure of the global community to understand the nature of the enemy it fought. Finally, it suggests principles for the United States to follow in future foreign engagements, particularly when fighting ideologies as insidious as that of ISIS.