Understanding and Countering Disinformation in the Digital Age

Professor: Jorhena Thomas

Course Time: T 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM

This course provides a practicum experience for students as they develop an understanding of the strategic, tactical and ethical issues related to digital disinformation. The client is the Alethea Group, a countering disinformation consultancy that detects and mitigates instances of disinformation and social media manipulation to help clients navigate the new digital threats.

Intelligence and Analysis

Professor: Aki Peritz

Course Time: W 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM

The class produces a report intended to serve the intelligence, policy, defense, and diplomatic communities. US national security priorities shift rapidly, and topics will be determined with the client organization.

Conflict Mitigation and Peacebuilding

Professor: Hrach Gregorian

Course Time: Th 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM

This practicum is designed to increase familiarity with current practice in contemporary conflict prevention, mitigation, and settlement. Topics recently covered include conflict minerals, women’s empowerment, youth violence prevention, and peace gaming. Hands-on activities emphasize such skills as narrative analysis, conflict prevention training, monitoring and evaluation, and conflict mapping.

A Wicked Challenge to US National Security

Professor: Sally Shelton-Colby

Course Time: F 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Students in this practicum study a country of strategic interest to the United States and develop policy recommendations for the U.S. Government. Specifically, the practicum addresses challenges with governance, the government's role in international conflicts, fractious relationships within the country and in the international community.

*Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, these Summer 2021 practica will be offered fully online.

Human Rights and Political Violence

Professor: Jeff Bachman

Course Time: M + W 5:30-8:00PM from May 10 - June 26

Students in this practicum will conduct research into alleged human rights violations and violations of international humanitarian law resulting from policies connected to the promotion and protection of national security. Particular topics may include counterterrorism; armed conflict; genocide; humanitarian intervention; and more.

The Political Ecology of Water in Costa Rica

Professor: Scott Freeman

Course Time: M + W 7:00-9:30PM from May 10 - June 26

This practicum will build on the previous two years of work with water and agricultural activists in southwest Costa Rica. This course will continue with these efforts, working with activists in the region as they forge localized water plans and management groups. Students will work together with activists and use research techniques to collectively understand social and political dynamics at play in the region.

The Health & Livelihood Effects of COVID-19 on Adolescent Girls in Tanzania

Professor: Nina Yamanis

Course Time: Th 5:30-8:00pm (Full Summer Term)

The goal of this practicum is to assess the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the social networks, livelihoods, and health of adolescent girls/young women who are out of school in urban Tanzania. Students in this course will analyze qualitative (in-depth interview) and survey data collected by the client's research team.

Security Threats and Strategic Opportunities: US-Israeli Defense

Professor: Claudia Hofmann

Course Time: T 5:30-8:00pm (Full Summer Term)

Students will examine and identify shared security threats and strategic opportunities for Israel and the US in the Eastern Mediterranean. Based on this examination, students will make policy recommendations regarding the capabilities that the countries could develop together, propose specific export, co-production, and co-development processes for the necessary equipment, and identify budget opportunities to execute the recommendations.

US – Latin America: Prospects for Cooperation

Armstrong, Fulton

 

Mondays, 5:30-8:00PM EST

Challenges in relations with Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and South America have rarely been so broad and important. This practicum will identify, analyze, and prioritize the options that the United States and other regional actors will have in dealing with issues, including migration, security, trade, and governance, that profoundly affect our whole hemisphere.

 

A Wicked Challenge to US National Security

Shelton-Colby, Sally

 

Fridays, 5:30-8:00PM EST

Students in this practicum study a country of strategic interest to the United States and develop policy recommendations for the U.S. Government. Specifically, the practicum addresses challenges with governance, the government's role in international conflicts, fractious relationships within the country and in the international community.

 

Issues of Multinational Enterprise

Bocskor, Catherine

 

Tuedays, 5:30-8:00PM EST

Students gain experience in the field of international business consulting by undertaking research projects for U.S. and foreign multinational enterprises, giving clients including such companies as Lockheed Martin, Rosetta Stone, EchoStar (Dish Network), and Danfoss, Inc., advice on real-life business and regulatory problems. The practicum emphasizes research, data presentation, and analytic skills, while teaching the students how to work together as a team.

 

Practicum in Advanced Program Design, Monitoring and Evaluation

Campbell, Susanna

 

Tuesdays, 5:30-8:00PM EST

This applied course will enable students to apply the program evaluation approaches that they were introduced to in the introductory Program Design, Monitoring, and Evaluation course. Students will build on the substantive and methodological knowledge they have acquired during the previous semesters of the SIS MA Program.

 

US Agricultural Policy: Domestic and International Impacts

Graddy-Lovelace, Garrett

 

Thursdays, 5:30-8:00PM EST

Working with our community partners the practicum cohort will evaluate the ecological, social, economic, and political impacts of key agricultural policies and programs on small- and medium-size farmers, family farmers, farmworkers, agrarian cooperatives, and rural and urban communities and food systems in the US and abroad.

 

Conflict Mitigation and Peacebuilding

Gregorian, Hrach

 

Thursdays, 5:30-8:00PM EST

This practicum is designed to increase familiarity with current practice in contemporary conflict prevention, mitigation, and settlement. Topics recently covered include conflict minerals, women’s empowerment, youth violence prevention, and peace gaming. Hands-on activities emphasize such skills as narrative analysis, conflict prevention training, monitoring and evaluation, and conflict mapping.

 

Planning for Conflict and Climate Migrants

Kiechel, Victoria

 

Mondays, 5:30-8:00PM EST

This practicum seeks to develop alternatives to conventional responses to accommodating displaced and migrant populations. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, and depending on size of our collaborative group and student interest, this practicum will encompass several research pieces for the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

 

Cultural Diplomacy and International Exchange

Mueller, Sharon

 

Wednesdays, 5:30-8:00PM EST

International exchange programs and participation in World’s Fairs are essential components of public diplomacy. Practicum participants will learn about major actors and resources in the field. They will study a conceptual framework for evaluating the effectiveness of exchanges and other cultural diplomacy activities.

 

Intelligence and Analysis

Peritz, Aki

 

Wednesdays, 5:30-8:00PM EST

The class produces a report intended to serve the intelligence, policy, defense, and diplomatic communities. US national security priorities shift rapidly, and topics will be determined with the client organization.

 

Social Innovation Practicum

Sachs, Nancy

 

Fridays, 5:30-8:00PM EST

This practicum is for students intrigued by a problem in society who want to develop a solo independent project. A central requirement is a willingness to listen to and work with those affected by that issue to understand how they perceive the problem and possible solutions. Examples of such projects could be a deliverable for a nonprofit organization, a business plan for a social enterprise, or an app that delivers an essential social service.

 

Global Environmental Impact of China’s Rise

Shapiro, Judith

 

Wednesdays, 8:10-11:00AM EST

Students in this practicum study China's soft power projection on the international stage. From the Belt and Road to global climate negotiations, China's power is a game changer. What does it mean for the future of the planet? Regardless of AU's operating status for Spring 2021, this course will be taught fully online.

Common Sense Monitoring and Evaluation for Women and Child Protection

Manila, Philippines

Students will partner with the Child Protection Network (CPN) to enrich the work of their Women and Child Protection Units through the development of user friendly monitoring and evaluation tools. Students will grapple with the chronic challenges inherent to such undertakings—identifying meaningful performance metrics and balancing rigor, usability, and time and budget constraints. Important stakeholders to consider will include the Department of Health, local government units, hospital staff and families.

Professor: Stephanie Fischer

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Participatory Program Evaluation of a Girls' Health and Livelihood Intervention

Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

Students in this course will evaluate an ongoing health promotion and livelihood training program for adolescent girls and young women living in informal settlements in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Students will travel to Tanzania to complete the fieldwork. The client is the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), the national hospital and school of public health.

Professor: Nina Yamanis

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Countering Cyber Threats and State-Sponsored Information Operations

Tentative Locations: Berlin, Prague, Riga and Sofia

As state-sponsored disinformation from Russia continues unabated there is greater need to coordinate state-to-state and multilateral efforts that allow for the identification of synergies and build on specializations. This project will look into the efforts of British and European states to understand Russian disinformation with a focus on how the U.S. can best work effectively with international partners. 

Professor: Eric Novotny

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The Political Ecology of Water in Costa Rica

Ciudad Colon, Costa Rica

In this practicum, students will gain experience in the practical application of political ecology as a means to study and understand environmental conflicts in southwest Costa Rica. Students will investigate water issues that revolve both around industrial agriculture and energy generation. Students will learn research skills and a political ecology framework and will produce a deliverable for water activists in the region.

Professor: Scott Freeman

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Program Evaluation in International Education Kenya

Practicum students will partner with Dignitas, an education-focused NGO working in nonformal communities in Nairobi, Kenya, to conduct a program evaluation on the organization’s new model. About to enter its 10th year of work in building the capacity of teachers and school leaders in nonformal community schools, Dignitas will be rolling out a newly refined program model designed for scale in early 2019. They are moving from working with a small group of 40 schools to expanding the organization’s impact to the education system more broadly. Students will support the organization in thinking about how to meaningfully evaluate system-wide impact, will have an opportunity to design a wide-scale impact evaluation, and along the way, will learn about the social, political and economic dimensions of educational development efforts in Nairobi.

Professor: Amanda Taylor

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Evironment and peacebuilding in the Middle east Israel and Palestine

Students will become familiar with the wider transboundary cooperation efforts of AIES, PWEG, and other organizations in the region. Team members will undertake desk-study and research design work at the beginning of the course; travel to the region to collect data in the field through participant-observation, interviews, focus groups, and/or archival work at the project sites; and produce a report that will be submitted to the partners to help them assess, improve, and further develop their activities. The collaborative report-writing phase will take place through the remainder of the Summer, when one or more public presentations will be made.

Professors: Eric Abitbol and Ken Conca

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Political Ecologies of Land Use Conflict Costa Rica

The 3-credit graduate-level practicum will examine the roots of land use conflict caused by the expansion of pineapple farming in Costa Rica. Students will gain experience in the practical application of political ecology as a means to study and understand these conflicts.

Professor: Scott Freeman

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Global Fellowship Training and Capacity Building

ThailanD

Students will conduct a 10-day training for the Volunteers in Asia (VIA) Global Community Fellowship Program. Practicum students will be split into different groups, each of which will be responsible for a particular aspect of the training. The training will include the following areas: cross-cultural communication, peace and conflict resolution, and international development. Students will develop multiple sessions related to each topic. Topics may change and additional topics may also be added to the list. Roughly 10-15 fellows will take part in this training, in preparation for their post teaching English or working with a local NGO, in one of 4 countries that VIA works with in Asia.

Professor: Alex Cromwell

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Program Evaluation in Global Education Bahamas

Countries around the world are working to improve access to quality education, especially for historically underserved youth, in order to support national development, health, and peace. Through this practicum experience, students will not only practice program evaluation skills in international education and youth development, but will also develop cross-cultural research and communication skills. Students will also exercise intercultural competence skills as they engage with our Bahamian partners.

Professor: Amanda Taylor

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Cooperation for Peacebuilding Israel and Palestine

Students will become familiar with the wider transboundary cooperation efforts of AIES, PWEG, and other organizations in the region. During the desk study portion of the practicum, they will study the theory and practice of environmental peacebuilding, learn about the challenges and opportunities of conducting research and evaluation in a conflict setting, and develop skill in rapid-appraisal techniques, interview methods, and others. They will be required to read extensively and participate in the formulation of an assessment framework/matrix. During the field portion of the practicum, they will live and work in close quarters, meet practitioners working for these NGOs as well as the beneficiary-participant parties of the projects and communities. They will also meet Israeli and Palestinian officials whose governance practices have bearing on water, cooperation and peace in the region. Team members will undertake desk-study and research design work early in the summer of 2018; travel to the region to collect data in the field through participant-observation, interviews, focus groups, and/or archival work at the project sites; and produce a report that will be submitted to the partners to help them assess, improve, and further develop their activities. The collaborative report-writing phase will take place through the remainder of the summer, and possibly into the fall, when one or more public presentations will be made.

Professors: Eric Abitbol and Ken Conca

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The Future of Cyber Conflict Norway or Denmark

Recent election hacks and the proliferation of malware linked to state-sponsors open new fronts in strategic competition between rivals. What is the emerging character of cyber conflict? How do revisionist states use cyber operations short of war to coerce domestic and international opponents? To what extent to these operations spillover into the commercial space creating new markets for malware and cybercrime? The course will take students to NATO's "northern flank" - Scandinavian and Baltic countries whose territorial and commercial interest leave put them in the Kremlin's crosshairs. The class will combine remote seminars with visits to multiple countries in Northern Europe. At the conclusion of the course, students will present government and corporate partners forecasts about the future of cyber conflict in the region.

Professor: Benjamin Jensen

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Project Design, Monitoring and Evaluation in Indonesia

Students will spend roughly two weeks in Indonesia conducting project design, monitoring, and evaluation with local NGOs in the country. Student teams will work with their assigned NGO to fulfill these needs, to be determined by the organizations. In most cases, students will evaluate one of the local partner's projects and help them to assess their impact, but in some cases they may assist in project design or proposing grants. Students will develop concrete project design, monitoring, and evaluation skills, such as the ability to design a theory of change and Logframe relevant to project goals, develop evaluation tools, collect and analyze data using these tools, and teach these skills to civil society organizations in an international context. The program will conclude with students leading a training for VIA's local NGO partners and providing a manual for VIA to use to train their partners in the future.

Professor: Alex Cromwell

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