Professional Development and Hands-on Experience
In addition to offering courses that bridge theory and practice, the program’s Capstone research projects provide students with the opportunity to work with practitioners from organization partners in a variety of sectors (including governmental, non-governmental, international, and private) on policy-specific research topics. Capstones are undertaken in the final semester of the student’s last year in the program. Partners have included the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, United States Department of Agriculture-Foreign Agriculture Service, United States Africa Command, Homeland Security Investigations, Freedom House, SAP, and Ackermann Group, among others.
Professional Development Seminars further supplement the program’s curriculum to develop students’ professional skills, and are held three times a semester. Seminar topics have included: conflict resolution, negotiation skills, leadership, handling the media, ethics and professionalism, grant writing, career development, and presentation skills.