Academics

The Core Seminar on Globalization and International Affairs

The Core Seminar provides an academic framework for students to contextualize their professional internship experiences. Students explore specific themes in international affairs and develop skills in critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and written and oral expression.

Seminar Structure

BGIA students intern 20 – 25 hours a week at leading international affairs organizations such as the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs, Human Rights Watch, Oxford Analytica, the Open Society Institute, CNN and Newsweek. The Tutorial/Seminar complements the internship by providing:

• small group seminars for students to analyze and discuss key texts in globalization with our faculty;
• discussions of current international issues with leading experts from the Council on Foreign Relations and the World Policy Institute;
• tutorial sessions with faculty to analyze student internships and develop final projects;
• formal oral and multi-media presentations about internship organizations, emphasizing peer-to-peer learning; and
• a written analytical project of 15 – 20 pages developed with the input of their internship mentor and faculty advisor.

Faculty-Student-Mentor Relationship

Carter Page, Director of BGIA, teaches the Core Seminar. Mentors provide additional guidance, introducing students to the responsibilities of the internship, monitoring student performance, and helping to shape the final project (see below for greater details). BGIA is in regular contact with this mentor throughout the semester to insure that the student is performing up to expectations and that the work is of a highly substantive quality.

Readings

In past semesters, BGIA students have been required to read Fareed Zakaria's The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad. Specific journal articles will be assigned in advance of each speaker. Mentors and faculty suggest additional readings to the students on an individual basis, including suggested readings related to the speaker series.

Final Project

The final project is an academic work that emanates from a substantive aspect of the internship and may even serve as an organizing principle around which the student builds the internship. Written work is normally a single essay of 15 – 20 pages or a group of short pieces adding up to a similar length. In the past, the form of the final project has varied, from a piece of writing produced during the internship, to an article for the BGIA journal, BardPolitik, to a film or documentary. The internship mentor and BGIA faculty provide guidance. All students submit a project proposal in the middle of term that must be approved by a faculty member.

Grading

Students are expected to meet the requirements of the internship, working 20 – 25 hours a week and completing work assignments in a satisfactory manner, as determined by their mentors. Assuming this is done, students receive a grade in the Core Seminar based on the following formula:

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