Current Position: 2016 Public Interest Fellowship
Past: National Review, American Legion Boys Nation
Education: University of Oregon
Marshall Kosloff is a 2016 Public Interest Fellow, a two-year work and study program that introduces participants to public policy institutions throughout the DC area. As an undergraduate, Marshall received the Emerging Leader Award from the America’s Future Foundation and was named to Red Alert Politics’ “Thirty Under Thirty 2015.” He joined Hertog for the “American Democratic Capitalism” Summer Course led by Yuval Levin in Summer 2016 and “The War in Iraq: A Study in Decision-Making” Advanced Institute led by Ambassador Paul Wolfowitz and Lewis Libby in Winter 2017.
HOW DID YOU FIRST HEAR ABOUT THE HERTOG FOUNDATION? WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO APPLY?
I first heard about Hertog when I was in DC working at AEI. I didn’t really get the opportunity to study political philosophy during college or high school, and I also have a deep interest in public policy. I really loved how we spent the first week of the course looking at foundational and philosophical topics, and over the second week, we delved into policy topics like K-12 education and economic and social mobility.
WHAT STICKS OUT IN YOUR MEMORY ABOUT YOUR EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE WITH HERTOG PROGRAMS?
I’ve never been in an intellectual environment where I felt the need to just sit back and listen to what everyone else had to say. Obviously, the instructors for the seminars are amazing, but I really think it’s being in a room with other concerned, engaged people that makes the entire experience worth it.
DO YOU THINK HERTOG PROGRAMS ARE BENEFICIAL FOR YOUNG PEOPLE INTERESTED IN PUBLIC POLICY?
It helps so much that Hertog programs occur in Washington, DC. A lot of political science and public policy programs at the undergraduate level, or even at the graduate level, are very disengaged with what’s going on in DC. Hertog’s programs do a very good job of bringing you into the center of things, but also making you dive very deeply.
Hertog creates an environment where you can’t just skim the text in order to get along with the bare minimum. You really have to be willing to engage. Afterwards, you have a sense of confidence and excitement that Hertog has instilled in you. I definitely wish I had gotten the Hertog experience when I was a freshman or a sophomore versus when I was a senior. A lot of trying to figure out what I wanted to do and similar college-career struggles would have been far easier if I’d had the foundational experience with Hertog earlier.
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 10 YEARS?
I really love public policy, and I want to focus on taking a lot of the big ideas and finding a way to bring that to a more grassroots level. I want to find a way to make the policy work that I think a lot of great people are doing – especially those I met during my time in “American Democratic Capitalism” – more relevant and more useful to people outside of the Beltway corridor.