The Office of International Programs and Education is pairing all of their exchange students with an Elliott School graduate student for the fall 2013 semester, but Elliott School applicants are needed! Please see the Google Form below for details. The deadline to apply is May 3. Please direct all questions to Katherine Willis at esintl@gwu.edu.
Category: GWU
The Globe – Spring 2013 Issue Release!
The International Affairs Society, is happy to announce the release of the Spring 2013 issue of their undergraduate academic journal, The Globe. It is currently available online at http://www.theglobegwu.com. The International Affairs Society will have hard copies available this Wednesday and Thursday, April 24th & 25th in the Marvin Center lobby, the first five people to stop by will receive a free copy!
Guest blog posts are being accepted for the group's blog, The Globe. If you would like to submit a blog post for consideration, visit their blog to submit a 300-500 word post on an issue related to international affairs.
Graduate Student Ambassador, Angela Strader, reflects on her Elliott School experience
After a year and a half of living and working abroad in Manizales, Colombia I decided I would get my master’s in Latin American Studies. In choosing which graduate school to attend, I talked at length with alumni from the Elliott School’s Latin American and Hemispheric Studies Program (LAHSP). I learned in particular about how the LAHSP capstone project would allow for a significant level of hands-on, real world, client-consultant experience, which would culminate in field research abroad. Such a one-of-a-kind opportunity immediately drew me to the program.
Prior to starting at Elliott, I knew the school had certain characteristics I was looking for: a multidisciplinary approach, an evening class schedule allowing for an internship alongside my studies, and professors who are also currently practitioners. Over the past two years, these characteristics have certainly enhanced my experience—I’ve been able to take courses in a variety of interests, including business, monitoring and evaluation, and econometrics; the schedule has provided space for a different part-time internship each semester; and through their work, my professors have been able to impart their inside perspectives on the development world.
The Office of Graduate Student Career Development (GSCD) has also had a meaningful impact on my experience at the Elliott School. Not only has the Career Connection website been the source of significant job and internship opportunities, but the GSCD staff have been extraordinarily helpful in my one-on-one meetings with them. Without their help, I would not be where I am today.
Finally, being involved with different initiatives and organizations on campus, including the Graduate Student Ambassadors (GSA) has allowed me to help bring students together for both academic and extracurricular activities. While on GSA since 2012, I’ve encouraged Elliott School students to attend the university-wide All Alumni Networking Night; sat on class registration office hours for first year students; and helped plan both an ice-skating outing and an Elliott School study break.
When I think back to why I chose the Elliott School, I know I had solid reasons for doing so. However, it was the experiences I had here, both what I was looking for and what I found, that have given me a sense of fulfillment. Although graduation is right around the corner, I will soon be proud to call myself an Elliott School alumnae.
Open Hour Conversation with the Deans of Academic Programs from the Elliott School
Associate Dean Mochizuki and Assistant Dean Stephenson would like to invite you to have an open conversation with them and share your opinions about your experience here at the Elliott School. This open hour conversation will be held on April 19 from 4:00pm - 5:00pm in the Suite 401 conference room of 1957 E St and is open to all Elliott School Graduate students, so feel free to tell your friends!
Please click HERE to RSVP and let us know if you can attend as soon as possible, but by no later than April 12. The deans look forward to meeting with you!
Spotlight on: Kaylan Geiger
Kaylan Geiger is an M.A. candidate in the Middle East Studies program at The George Washington University. She was born in New Orleans, LA and obtained a B.A. in International Studies from the University of New Orleans. She has studied abroad at the American University in Cairo, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and Birzeit University in the West Bank. Between 2007 and 2012, she traveled to Egypt, Israel, and the Palestinian Territories several times in order to study Arabic and gain an accurate understanding of the region. The focus of her studies has primarily been on the dissemination of information within society, particularly as the process relates to journalism.
Her M.A. capstone, co-written with Fraus Masri, focused on the status of press freedom in post-Mubarak Egypt and under the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. She has interned for the New Orleans Citizen Diplomacy Council and the World Affairs Institute, and worked at the Palestinian American Research Center from 2012-2013, which promotes doctoral and post-doctoral research in the field of Palestinian Studies. She currently works for Tadween Publishing, a subsidiary of the Arab Studies Institute at George Mason University, as a copy-editor and blog writer. Kaylan plans to move to Cairo in the next few months in order to begin her career as a freelance journalist.
Where’s George?
Our "Where's George?" series began today. Each month we'll post a photo on Facebook that features George somewhere in DC (on and off campus). Like our Facebook page and be the first to correctly identify where he is and you'll win an Elliott School prize!
Spotlight on: Daksha Shakya
Daksha Shakya is an M.A. candidate in International Development Studies. She was born and raised in Kathmandu, Nepal. Her interest in international development first started in 2005 when she worked as a facilitator for a youth empowerment project in Nepal. She also tutored youth in Nepal while volunteering for the Rugmark Foundation, an organization that works to prevent illegal child labor in the handmade carpet industry. In 2008, she studied abroad in Cape Town, South Africa and while there she volunteered at the Kensington Township teaching children and youth a basic numeracy, literacy, and life skills component. After graduation from Ithaca College in 2009, Daksha worked as a Program Management Assistant for a consulting firm and as a Compliance Administrator for an NGO in the DC metro area. She currently works with the World Bank’s Transitional Demobilization and Reintegration Program. Her major projects have included the design of an economic reintegration project for demobilized soldiers in South Sudan and a qualitative field study in northern Uganda to study the role of women-run economic associations in promoting social cohesion between female ex-combatants and their community counterparts. Daksha is currently assisting the team lead to study the contribution of vocational training programs towards sustainable livelihoods of ex-combatants in Rwanda and DRC. She is fluent in Nepali, English, and Hindi and is learning French.
Are you doing something exciting that you want to share with your peers? Students featured as the monthly spotlight are nominated by an Elliott School student, staff, or faculty member. To nominate someone you know, send an e-mail to advising@gwu.edu.
If you'd like to share your own story with your peers, please e-mail your story and picture to advising@gwu.edu.
