Political science careers workshop: Shannon Cazeau

The UAF Department of Political Science is hosting an event with Shannon Cazeau, the current director of information and analysis for Africa in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau for Intelligence and Research, and a former UAF political science graduate. The event, which is open to the public, will be on Wednesday, March 30, at 1 p.m., and will take place via Zoom.

Cazeau’s presentation will be followed by a lengthy question-and-answer period. The event will be of particular interest to those interested in international politics, African politics and for students looking to establish a career with the State Department upon graduation.

Before taking her current position, Cazeau served as the deputy chief of mission in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from 2018 to 2020, a period marked by the steady expansion of violent extremism and insecurity across the Sahel region of West Africa. From 2015 to 2018, Cazeau served at the United States Africa Command in Stuttgart, Germany, as the senior foreign policy advisor to the director of the J5 Strategy, Programs, and Plans Directorate, where she focused on strengthening partnership and collaboration between the U.S. departments of state and defense on shared priorities.

Cazeau’s other Foreign Service assignments include counselor for political and economic affairs in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 2012 to 2015; deputy director of the Office of Economic Policy Staff in the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs from 2010 to 2012; desk officer for the Republic of Guinea in 2010; political/economic section chief in Conakry, Guinea, from 2007 to 2009; trade and investment officer in the Philippines in 2006; vice consul in the Philippines in 2005; and general services officer in Benin from 2002 to 2004.

For more information, contact Professor Jeremy Speight at jspeight@alaska.edu.