Academics

Advocacy

• 1for3
• International Disability Alliance
• Watchlist on Children in Armed Conflict

Arts & Culture

• ArteEast
• Asia Society
• Bond Street Theater
• Korea Society
• Magnum Foundation
• Metropolitan Museum of Art

Business & Trade

• Business Council for International Understanding
• European-American Business Organization
• Libra Group Foundation
• UN-ASEAN Business Council
• US-Ukraine Business Council

Community Development

• Turkish Philanthropy Fund
• Welcome to Chinatown

Consulting

• Institute for Economics and Peace
• Oxford Analytica
• Social Progress Imperative

Education

• Center for Transformational Leadership
• OSUN Civic Engagement Initiative

Environment & Climate

• Clara Lionel Foundation
• GreenMax Capital
• UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network

Government

• Consulate General of Croatia
• Global Youth Action Network (UN)
• Slovak Mission to the UN
• UN Development Program, Office of Audits & Investigation
• UN Electoral Assistance Division

Human Rights

• Human Rights First
• MADRE
• Watchlist on Children in Armed Conflict

Humanitarian Aid

• International Rescue Committee
• UNICEF

Immigration & Refugees

• Center for the Integration and Advancement of New Americans (CIANA)
• HIAS

Media & Journalism

• Coda Story
• Foreign Policy Interrupted
• PEN America
• Roads & Kingdoms
• Voice of America

Policy & Research

• Arab Center: DC
• Carnegie Council
• Centre on Armed Groups
• Charney Research
• Council on Foreign Relations
• Eurasia Group Foundation
• Foreign Policy Association
• Freedom House
• National Committee on US-China Relations
• Network 20/20
• Nonviolence International
• Off the Record (FPA)
• World Federalist Movement

Public Health

• Aid for AIDS
• Mission:Cure
• Touch Foundation

The Politics of (Un)Professional Cultures (Fall 2023)

How do institutional settings, professional cultures, social milieus and disciplines impact upon  practices of decision-making, identity formation and self-making? What are the everyday  mechanisms through which we come to embody the figures of the ‘academic’, the ‘expert’, the  ‘diplomat’, the ‘policymaker’, the ‘NGO worker,’ the ‘activist’, the ‘soldier’, the ‘immigration  officer’ or any other professional role? How do we internalize the codes of professional conduct  and their informal enactment, such as official discourses of ‘leadership’, ‘excellence’,  ‘entrepreneurship,’ ‘representation,’ ‘social justice’ but also that of suspicion, competition,  privilege, violence or conformity? What happens when rules, codes, ethical standards are bent,  broken or negated? Yet what are, where are the spaces of resistance, creativity, subversion, that  of acting, thinking, being otherwise? Ultimately, what might it mean to (re)claim ownership  over our formation as actors, knowing subjects and persons in those multiple realities that we not  only participate in but also co-create? Drawing on insights from international political sociology  and critical theory, this course traces trajectories of ‘becoming’ in, through and despite academic  and organizational logics at various sites of global politics. It maps out the processes, pressures  and stakes of identity politics associated with professional activity and social movements, as well  as the practices, possibilities and implications of risk-taking, negotiation, protest, and being ‘unprofessional’.

Toxicity and Contamination (Fall 2023)

Footage of mushrooms growing out of school walls circulated after the 2014 discovery of  disease-causing organisms in the drinking supply of Flint, Michigan. Photographs of two- headed  Iraqi babies circulated with captions about their mothers’ exposure to unidentified toxic  chemicals following the U.S. led invasion of Iraq. Widespread calls to close nuclear facilities in  Maryland, New York, Virginia and New Jersey, remind us that we live exposed to nuclear  leakage, usually without knowing it. These moments raise questions about the production of  expert and embodied knowledge and the forms of evidence that count in claims-making about  exposure to toxic materials. They also raise questions about the wider socio-cultural effects of  wastes and other materials framed as pollutants. Toxicity and contamination are generally  thought of as corrosive, damaging and destructive of human health and natural environments.  But they are also generative, or worlding. Drawing on anthropological works as well as work by  novelists, historians, and philosophers, this course investigates what toxicity and contamination  make possible—and thinkable—by exploring controversies around exposure to toxicity and  contamination, especially in the period between Hiroshima and Flint. We will be concerned as  much with how lives are made livable in what seem like unlivable conditions, and also with how  the contours of the livable are themselves reimagined in the face of exposure.

Environmental Global Justice (Fall 2023)

This course will examine environmental issues within the framework of global justice. Climate change and other environmental issues disproportionately impacts vulnerable and marginalized  communities around the world, raising questions about equality, justice, rights, and moral  responsibility—both individual and collective. We will consider a range of issues that raise  moral and political questions about our duties to both the human and non-human world (e.g., climate refugees, future generations, animals, species, & ecosystems). We will also draw on  various theoretical frameworks, including feminism approaches (both eco-feminism & care  ethics) and indigenous perspectives on land and nature. Throughout the course, we will explore  these theoretical concepts by applying them to a series of case studies from around the world.

The Crisis of Global Order (Fall 2023)

The election of Donald Trump and his “America First” approach to foreign policy ignited fierce  debates among scholars and policy-makers alike about the future of the liberal international  order. Created after the Second World War and led by the United States, this order is embedded  in a dense web of international institutions and agreements that aim to promote the values of  liberal democracy, market liberalization, respect for human rights and interstate  cooperation. Suddenly, with the rise of illiberal democracies, the global pandemic, and the return of  great power rivalry, this order has been thrown into crisis. Can the liberal international order  withstand these challenges from within and without? This course critically examines the ways in  which the international system has been ordered over space and time so as to better understand this contemporary moment. We begin by considering predominant theoretical and conceptual  accounts of international order. What is an international order? How do hegemonic actors use  power to order the system? What conditions produce order in the system and how? How do  international orders (re)produce the power and values of leading states? Then, we compare the  current international order to those of the past. What factors shape the durability of an  international order? What is distinctive about the post-World War II international order and how  has it changed over time? How important is American leadership to the stability of the current  international system? The course concludes by thinking about contemporary challenges to the  liberal international led order, the durability and desirability of American global leadership and  the implication of the rise of new great powers.

Internship in Global Affairs (Required)

The purpose of this course is to help you think about the synergies between your internship and the knowledge and skills needed in the professional arena of global affairs. We will meet as a group to reflect on your internship experience, discuss your professional development, and have opportunities to apply the skills you learn in addressing the world’s most pressing global challenges. This course has three objectives: to officially record your participation in an internship in global affairs; to connect your work as an intern to your wider career and professional objectives; and to link your previous/current coursework and your internship to your capstone project.

Capstone Project (Required)

Many of the twenty-first century’s most pressing challenges involve problems that transcend established territorial borders. From climate change to forced migration to global pandemics, these borderless problems cut across national boundaries and demand new and innovative solutions. In response, new forms of political organization and visions of citizenship have emerged to address these problems, which can challenge the state as the primary focus of political authority and constitute a growing transnational public sphere. 

Completion of the Capstone Project is required to fulfill degree requirements. Situated within the academic field of Global Studies, the Capstone Project should link theory and practice in a reflexive, question-driven manner. Capstone Projects are developed with the support of the Spring semester Capstone Course and in consultation with an academic advisor at Bard College. Capstone Projects will include a practical and a written component.

Research & Writing in International Relations (Required)

This course is designed for students who are just embarking on their MA studies in the Bard College Global Studies program. It aims to provide a gentle introduction to the tools that will help students successfully plan, execute and write up a thesis on an international relations topic.

Governing Mobility: Past and Present (Spring 2023)

This course explores how the UN system has evolved in the last two decades, through the prism of its response to one of the biggest transnational challenges of our time: migration. With over 250 million migrants, record numbers of forcibly displaced, and the immigration legacy of most nation-states shaping their politics, demographics, and cultural trends, the mobility of people has put the intergovernmental system to the test. This course also studies the contemporary responses to mobility at various levels of government—city, state, and region—with a particular focus on the 2015 refugee crises and onward. It covers concrete examples through case studies, and students are asked to develop their own approaches to address specific challenges (e.g., applying effective integration techniques for migrants in New York City; raising awareness of the rights of trafficked persons in Southeast Europe; ensuring effective protection for refugees in situations where their legal status is not recognized in Australia). To the extent possible, senior experts from within the UN system and international community (e.g., UNODC, IOM, UNHCR, World Bank, USAID) are also invited to share their insights and experiences in addressing the challenges of global mobility. The objectives of the course are to gain a solid understanding of migration politics, and relevant normative and institutional frameworks; exercise analytical and problem-solving skills by assessing a specific migration challenge and proposing options for how to address it; and practicing synthesizing information and delivering convincing commendations.

The Politics of Gender, the Family, and the Body in Global Affairs (Spring 2023)

As part of the United Nations Decade for Gender Equality, UN Women and partners launched the Global Equality Forum in 2021, which seeks to be an inflection point in the path to global gender equality. But what do we mean by “gender equality” and why are we still so far from achieving the unmet potential of the groundbreaking international articulations of women’s rights and gender equality from the 1990s? This course will critically assess the concepts of gender equality, gender mainstreaming, and gender justice and their application to international policy questions. Through case studies, we will explore a range of issues including how the bodies of women and gender non-conforming people are used to advance authoritarian agendas; the neglected role of the care economy; sexual and reproductive rights and justice including period equality; and the politics of family formation across borders, such as commercial gestational surrogacy and adoption. We will also examine the strategies and tools used to advance gender justice including the roles of social justice movements, human rights frameworks, and accountability mechanisms.

Applied Statistics & Global Public Health (Spring 2023)

Statistics have helped to shed new light on important public health crises that have shaped societies over the past century. Using real-life case studies, students will learn how public health workers use statistics to identify the root causes of epidemics, even when these may be initially veiled by social constructs and long-standing prejudices. Examples include the ongoing HIV/AIDS pandemic, which exposed discrimination based on race and sexual orientation in mainstream medical practices; and the 2011 E. coli global outbreak, which revealed the weaknesses and the inequalities of our food safety network. Students will also explore the need for more robust global strategies to act in the best interest of all human health in an increasingly connected world. In the process, students will learn how to identify questions that can be assessed using statistics and how to use statistical tools, which can also be applied to other quantitative fields. No previous statistical or programming coursework is expected and we only use open-access software.

Who Rules the World? International Order(s) in Theory and Practice, CEU  Theory Elective

Populist movements, rising states, and revisionist leaders have increasingly challenged the legitimacy of the existing world order and Western powers’ position at the top of it. These challenges raise questions not only about the viability and desirability of the current world order but also about order, as such: What is international order? How do international orders function? And if we now live in a “liberal world order,” what are the fundamental alternatives?

This course raises these questions by critically examining historical international orders and the expanding body of theory scholars use to understand them. After discussing and debating key visions of order, students embark on a “grand tour” of mechanisms of order: anarchy and the balance of power, hierarchy and hegemonic stability, empire and imperialism. In the second half of the course we examine concrete world orders: medieval Christendom, the 19th-century concert system, and the Sinocentric East Asia “tribute” system. We conclude by returning to the contemporary postwar order and its future. Throughout, we ask questions centered on the core themes of order, legitimacy, and power: How does a given order structure power relations? Who, if anyone, rules it? How are international orders established, and why do they decline? Who benefits from a given order, and who doesn’t?

International Intervention and Statebuilding, CEU  Theory Elective

The course surveys scholarly and policy debates of contemporary international intervention and statebuilding. It is organized along two dimensions. First, it examines the concept and practices of intervention and statebuilding from liberal, postliberal, and decolonization perspectives. This is to understand the assumptions and the politics of diverse conceptual and normative standpoints, the policies that derive from them, as well as the contradictions and trade-offs that remain. Second, the course surveys relations among different actors involved in the intervention and statebuilding projects and thus examines the intersection between local, transnational, and global politics. This involves the analysis of practices by international interveners, local actors, as well as transnational experts, and policy and civil society advocacy. In effect, students learn about the field as a heterogeneous space of contestation. Learning about and practicing these diverse registers of politics and writing, including but not limited to scholarly, policy, and advocacy genres, helps students to clarify and develop individual interests while appreciating different styles and positions.

International Relations: Concepts and Theories, CEU  Theory Elective

This course provides an advanced introduction to international relations concepts and theories. The purpose of the course is to give students an in-depth and critical understanding of the vastness of the IR archive of canonical (major) and noncanonical (minor, emergent) knowledges, vocabularies, and intellectual resources that are available to make world politics thinkable and doable, and to problematize it in different ways. After covering “representatives” of the main “languages” and concepts that constitute the canon in the study of world politics (constructivist, liberal, realist, feminist + historical materialist IR), the course  turns toward minor and emerging alternative approaches: new materialism, normalization + government at a distance, the affect turn in IR, the everyday politics of IR, and mundane forms of rebellion against states of inequality. The course ends with deliberations on the future of the state.