Changing Global Connections

How do your programs prepare students for a more open dialogue on the global stage?

Crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change have revealed the urgency and complexities of addressing global challenges. E ective responses require a combination of good policies, strong institutions, and public communication and engagement. The Jackson School prepares students to meet practical challenges through a mission of public engagement that combines these varied aspects. This allows for a more open dialogue on the global stage. Public engagement includes a variety of actors, ranging from governmental o icials and policymakers to nongovernmental organizations and social movements to the media. Our faculty have expertise that spans themes as wide-ranging as disability rights, space policy, and environmental justice. We combine thematic areas with deep knowledge and professional ties to particular regions. This allows us to train students to learn about and to collaborate with communities and partners across the world.

What role do matters of identity play in international relations and policymaking?

Global dialogue requires an understanding of identity in international relations. One of our unique strengths is a robust program in comparative religion. Our school provides students with a deep understanding of the critical role of religious literacy for policymaking and conflict resolution. We also foreground the study of race, indigeneity, and gender and train students to think about the ways in which diasporic politics and global migration deepen the centrality of identity in global a airs.

What innovations have your program implemented in the last 15 months?

We have implemented a number of initiatives that are designed to further these objectives. We have recently set up a series of courses that seek to train students in public writing and engagement with the support of the Calderwood program. Our inaugural graduate Calderwood seminar, Religion, Freedom, and the Public Sphere, will be taught this coming winter. We have been expanding our cybersecurity program and some master’s degree students in a graduate course from this past year will have the opportunity to produce a NATO publication related to this course. We have also created an inaugural professor of practice position on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, which we will be filling in the coming year. Finally, we launched a speaker series titled, Protest, Race and Citizenship Across African Worlds, that emphasized the significance of global and regional understandings for an understanding of the complexities of racial inequality and justice in the United States.

How can we engage new voices and new perspectives in the fields of international relations?

One of the few positive dimensions that came out of the COVID-19 pandemic was a broadening of the use of technology for collaborative work across the world. This has shown the significance of digital-based international studies. Over the coming years, we will be expanding such pedagogical platforms to bring in new perspectives and finding ways to address voices that are marginalized by a lack of access to such technology.