About BGIA
Bard College's Globalization and International Affairs (BGIA) Program provides a unique opportunity for university students and recent graduates from around the world to engage in the study and practice of human rights, international law, political economy, global public health, ethics, and writing on international affairs. BGIA is small and highly selective program for 30 students each semester and 22 students each summer.
BGIA was co-founded by the late James Clarke Chace, a diplomatic historian, Managing Editor of Foreign Affairs, and the Paul W. Williams Professor of Government and Public Law at Bard College, and Jonathan Becker, Associate Professor of Political Studies and Bard College Dean of International Studies.
BGIA merges advanced coursework in international affairs with substantive professional experiences in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors, providing a new generation of young leaders insight into careers at organizations such as the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, Human Rights Watch, Oxford Analytica, the Open Society Institute, CNN, Newsweek International, and many more. During the fall and spring semester, which run 15 weeks, students typically intern 25 hours a week; during the summer program, which runs from June 1 to July 31, students intern 40 hours or more a week.
Over the past six years, BGIA students have interned at over 140 organizations in New York. Their responsibilities have ranged from interviewing political asylum seekers from Central America to analyzing the efficiency of microfinance loans in Mongolia. The internship is an unparalleled opportunity for students to advance a senior project, prepare for graduate school or transition into a job in New York City.
Classes are convened in the evening and are taught by leading practitioners and academics in a variety of fields of international affairs, offering students a unique lens through which to analyze the subject matter. Through the internship and coursework, the program ensures a deep understanding of not only international relations theory, but also its practical applications.
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Who Should Attend?
BGIA is designed for students with a demonstrated interest in international affairs, particularly those entering their third or fourth year of college-level study or those who have recently graduated from college. In exceptional cases, second-year students have been accepted into the program. Students of all academic majors are encouraged to apply. There is no required GPA. When evaluating candidates, BGIA looks for students with strong writing and research skills, a track record of leadership on campus and in the community, and a genuine enthusiasm for living in an extremely diverse community. Foreign language skills are a major plus, as are basic office skills and previous job or internship experience.
Students may enroll for one semester at a time and can reapply to extend for a second semester or summer. Students interested in applying should complete a Statement of Interest Form.
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Our Location
Only a few blocks from Museum Mile and Central Park, students live in high-rise dormitories on the Upper East Side, with views of Manhattan's skylines. The facilities offer on-site laundry, gym, pool, 24-hour security, and fully equipped kitchens. The Upper East Side is a historic, safe, residential neighborhood in which students can take advantage of many different aspects of city life. Students are also able to live off-campus. Students take classes in the BGIA Suite, conveniently located in West Midtown, near all transportation hubs and the beautiful Bryant Park and historic New York City Public Library.
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Our Staff
Carter Page, Director
Carter Page is a Co-Founder and Partner of Global Energy Capital, a New York-based financial institution focused on the energy invesments in emerging markets. He previously spent seven years as an investment banker based in Moscow, London and New York, primarily focused on the oil, gas and utilities sectors. Carter is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, where he was a former International Affairs Fellow and Co-Director of a Council study group on the Caspian Sea region. He has served as an adjunct faculty member in the Master of Science in Global Affairs program at New York University. Carter is a Distinguished Graduate of the US Naval Academy where he was a Trident Scholar. He holds an MBA from New York University, an MA from Georgetown University and is currently completing requirements for a PhD from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies.
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Jonathan Becker, Academic Director
Jonathan Becker is Associate Professor of Politics and Dean of International Studies at Bard College. He also directs Bard’s academic program in Global and International Studies. He has written extensively on Soviet and Russian media, media and democratization, and US/Russian relations. Recent works include: ‘Lessons from Russia: A Neo-Authoritarian Media System,’ European Journal of Communications, June 2004; Soviet and Russian Press Coverage of the United States: Press, Politics and Identity in Transition (revised and expanded edition, Palgrave: 2003); and ‘Keeping Track of Press Freedom,’ European Journal of Communications, March 2003. In 2004, he served as a consultant for the National Intelligence Council’s Global Trends 2020 project, facilitating workshops of international scholars from Europe and the former Soviet Union, and preparing a report on Eurasia. He was previously Assistant Vice President of the Central European University in Budapest and European Director of the Civic Education Project. He has taught at Yale, Wesleyan and Birmingham Universities. He received his doctorate from St. Antony’s College, Oxford in 1993.
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Jonathan Cristol, Summer Director, Visiting Asst. Professor of Political Studies
Jonathan Cristol graduated from Bard College with a BA in Political Studies, receiving the Reamer Kline and Alumni Scholarship awards for academic excellence and contributions to the college. He earned his Master’s in International Relations from Yale University, where he concentrated in Middle East Security Studies, and was a research assistant for the Academic Council on the United Nations System. He was awarded a Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship by the US Department of Education for achieving fluency in Arabic. Cristol has been a Lecturer at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, has taught "The Middle East and International Terrorism" in the “Excel at Williams College” summer program, and has worked as an analyst of Middle East affairs for the Intellibridge Corporation. Cristol speaks frequently on issues pertaining to IR theory and to the Middle East. Since 2005 Cristol has been a Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Studies at Bard College in Annandale, NY. His courses include "America and the Arab World," "Introduction to International Relations," and a joint seminar with the United States Military Academy (West Point) entitled "The Nature of Power." Cristol also teaches a course at BGIA titled "The Architecture of International Affairs: Advanced Theory and Practice." Cristol is currently pursuing his doctorate in politics at the University of Bristol.
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Mia McCully, Assistant Director
Mia McCully is a graduate of Bard College, where she majored in Political Studies. An alumni of the BGIA program, Mia interned at the Overseas Press Club, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Independent Press Association. Mia's senior thesis compared political ideologies in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Arab Nationalism and Political Islam in Egypt. Prior to joining the BGIA staff, Mia lived in Egypt, where she worked for a destination management company and a media development company. She is originally from Guam.
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Diana Ayton-Shenker, BGIA Senior Fellow
As the BGIA Senior Fellow in Venture Philanthropy & International Affairs, Diana Ayton-Shenker focuses on global social leadership and philanthropic innovation. She has taught and lectured at the American University of Paris, Lewis & Clark Law School, and Hunter College where she directed the first undergraduate human rights program in the country. At Bard College, Ms. Ayton-Shenker has led seminars on Human Security, Conscious Citizenship, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) concentrating on human rights and the international finance sector. She is the author of two books on the United Nations, A Global Agenda: Current Issues before the General Assembly (2002, and 2001, Rowman & Littlefield), numerous articles on human rights, CSR, sustainable development and culture, as well as an original poetry collection, Tumbalalaika (2007, Narcissus Press).
The founding President of Global Momenta www.globalmomenta.com, a social investment consulting firm, Diana Ayton-Shenker works with private philanthropists, families, foundations and corporations to advance high-impact philanthropy, strategic partnerships and inspired social giving. She brings decades of work with philanthropy, the UN and other international organizations to promote practical and profitable solutions for effective social sector management and entrepreneurship promoting human rights & sustainable development.
She has held senior positions with Mercy Corps, PEN, Human Rights Watch, and has served on the boards of several nonprofit organizations. Ms. Ayton-Shenker received her LLM in International Law from the University of Essex Law School Human Rights Centre, and her BA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania. After living and working in France, England, Spain, and Israel, she has settled with her family in upstate New York.
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Rachel Manning, Residence Director
Rachel Manning is a graduate of Bard College (BA in Human Rights and Latin American Studies). An alumna of BGIA, Rachel interned with Central American Legal Assistance, where she worked on political asylum cases and researched human rights conditions and youth gangs in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and southern Mexico. Rachel’s senior thesis at Bard examined the impact of high-tech border security and growth in immigration detention on geographical immigration patterns in Arizona.
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Advisory Board
Ian Bremmer,
Ian Bremmer is President of Eurasia Group, the political risk consultancy. Dr. Bremmer received his PhD in political science from Stanford University and has held research and faculty positions at Columbia University (where he presently teaches), the EastWest Institute, the Hoover Institution, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and the World Policy Institute, where he has served as Senior Fellow since 1997. An expert on US foreign policy, states in transition, and global political risk, Dr. Bremmer’s five books include The J Curve: A New Way to Understand Why Nations Rise and Fall (Simon & Schuster, 2006) and New States, New Politics: Building the Post Soviet Nations (Cambridge University Press, 1997). He has also published over 200 articles and essays in The Harvard Business Review, Survival, The New Republic, Fortune, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, and The New York Times. He is a columnist for The International Herald Tribune and the webzine Slate, contributing editor at The National Interest, and a political commentator on CNN, FoxNews and CNBC.
Priscilla Hayner,
Priscilla Hayner, a co-founder of the International Center for Transitional Justice, is the Director of its International Policymakers Unit and the head of the Liberia program. . She is an expert on truth commissions around the world and has written widely on the subject of official truth-seeking in political transitions. She is the author of Unspeakable Truths (2001), which explores the work of more than 20 truth commissions worldwide. Her broadcast appearances have included BBC N. Ireland Radio, BBC World Service Radio, KBIA University of Missouri Public Radio, NPR, SABC (South Africa), STAR Radio (Liberia), UNMIL Radio (Liberia). Prior to joining the ICTJ, she was a consultant to the Ford Foundation, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and other organizations. Ms. Hayner was previously a program officer on international human rights and world security for the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation in New York. She holds degrees from Earlham College and the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.
Phillip Henderson, President, Surdna Foundation, Inc.
Phillip Henderson is president of the Surdna Foundation, a family foundation with assets of $950 million engaged in grantmaking in the United States through five program areas: arts, community revitalization, environment, effective citizenry, and the non-profit sector. Mr. Henderson has been with Surdna since May 2007. Prior to his appointment at Surdna, Mr. Henderson was vice president of the German Marshall Fund, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the organization and providing strategic guidance to staff and programs. Mr. Henderson first joined GMF in March 1998 as a program officer responsible for grantmaking in economics; he also worked on special projects in the Balkans, including the establishment of the Balkan Trust for Democracy. More recently, he served as director of programs, responsible for strategic guidance of GMF’s grantmaking, fellowships and other programming. Before coming to GMF, Mr. Henderson lived in Eastern Europe, where he worked with the Civic Education Project (CEP), a non-profit group specializing in higher education reform in Central and Eastern Europe. While with the organization, he served as a visiting economics lecturer at the University of Timisoara in Romania (1992–93), country director for CEP in Romania (1993–94), and director of CEP’s Central and East European programs in Prague and Budapest (1994–97). Mr. Henderson holds an M.A. in economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a B.A. in economics from Michigan State University.
Joel H. Rosenthal, Advisory Board Chair
Joel Rosenthal has been president of the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs since 1995. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University and B.A. from Harvard University. Dr. Rosenthal lectures and writes frequently on ethics, U.S. foreign policy, and international relations. Under his direction, the Carnegie Council sponsors educational programs for a worldwide audience. Recent partners in this work include the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the International Studies Association (ISA), the Oxford Centre for Practical Ethics, and the Shanghai International Studies University, among many others. Among his current professional activities, Dr. Rosenthal is editor-in-chief of the journal Ethics & International Affairs, and has oversight responsibilities for the Council’s main projects on ethics and armed conflict; comparative human rights; justice and the world economy; environmental policy; and the politics of reconciliation. Selected publications include Righteous Realists (1991), Ethics & International Affairs: A Reader 2nd edition (1999), Ethics and the Future of Conflict with Albert C. Pierce and Anthony Lang (2004), “New Rules for War?” Naval War College Review (forthcoming, summer 2004), “Cycles for Moral Dialogue” in Edward W. Lehman ed. Autonomy and Order (2000), “Henry Stimson’s Clue” World Policy Journal, Fall, 1997, and “Ethics,” Bruce W. Jentleson, et.al., Encyclopedia of U.S. Foreign Relations, 1996. He also serves as Adjunct Professor in the Department of Politics at New York University and teaches a course at BGIA titled Realism Reconsidered.
Benjamin Schiff,
Professor Schiff is a Professor of Politics at Oberlin College. He received his B.A. from Michigan State University and his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. He focuses on international politics and international organizations. He has published books on the International Atomic Energy Agency, on the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, and on Afrikaners in South Africa at the end of apartheid. He teaches courses on international relations, Middle East politics, war and arms control, international organization, and current topics in international relations.
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About Bard College
Founded in 1860, Bard College is a four-year college of the liberal arts and sciences, offering the bachelor of arts degree with concentration in more than forty academic programs. In addition to its residential undergraduate college, Bard offers many innovative study-abroad opportunities, including programs in Hungary, Russia and South Africa. Bard College administers several research institutes and has four accredited graduate programs, including the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture in New York City.
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Contacting Us
For an application and further information, contact:
Mia McCully, Assistant Director (NYC Campus)
Bard Globalization and International Affairs Program
36 West 44th Street, Suite 1011
New York, NY 10036
Phone: 646-839-9262
Fax: 646-839-9264
E-mail: bgia@bard.edu
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