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Mastering international relations
Twenty-nine schools – from the USA via Europe to Japan – have combined as APSIA, the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs. These schools produce graduates with a vision to change the world they live in.We look at the exciting opportunities for prospective world leaders to launch their careers.
With diplomatic tensions and global business opportunities existing side-by-side, an international relations degree is more relevant than ever for the leaders of today and tomorrow. If you are looking for a graduate program that provides the keys to success in a career moves outside of your nation’s boundaries, you will want to consider the many professional graduate schools of international relations in the United States and other countries.
Though they differ in the specifics, international relations (IR) graduate schools share a commitment to broad training for future leaders in the public, private or not-for-profit sectors. One of the pre-eminent schools in the field is The Fletcher School at Tufts University, located near the U.S. city of Boston. Drawing students from around the world who are interested in a broad spectrum of careers, Fletcher has a seventy-plus year history of fulfilling its mission: ‘preparing leaders with a global perspective.’
'Professional international relations programs differ from the traditional academic master's-to-PhD track in that they take a less theoretical and more practical approach to the subject.’
The expanding utility of a degree in international relations means that IR students have an ever broader range of interests. Many students in IR degree programs have an area of focus that is specifically addressed in the curriculum, such as international development. Many others, on the other hand, find the degree equally valuable if they wish to move up in their careers while broadening their international expertise.
Fletcher School Dean Stephen W. Bosworth, comes from a diplomatic career, having been U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and Tunisia. Reflecting on the worldwide contributions of Fletcher graduates, Dean Bosworth has written, “We train broadly knowledgeable and curious leaders to translate their thorough grounding in the latest political, economic, business, and legal thinking into practical, successful actions that shape international issues and events.”
Professional international relations programs differ from the traditional academic master's-to-Ph.D. track in that they take a less theoretical and more practical approach to the subject. The typical Fletcher student has been working for several years and has solid international experience. According to Laurie A. Hurley, director of admissions at The Fletcher School, “Although we want students to grow through their studies, the most successful students have experience in areas related to their career goals and they are able to identify the skills they need before they start their studies.”
The Fletcher School emphasizes flexibility for its students to set and meet their own goals. Students select from an array of courses and mold a program that meets their needs. There is no core curriculum but they choose fields of study, akin to undergraduate majors, that provide structure and coherence to the program. In the last three years, the most commonly selected fields have been International Business Relations, International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, International Security Studies, and Development Economics. Students also complete a thesis, which ties together the material they have studied during their two years of study.
Compared to other professional schools, you'll find IR program graduates heading in a dizzying number of directions. Fletcher Career Services Director Susan Ingleby describes the career trajectories of Fletcher graduates as, “Diverse and impressive. Fletcher graduates enter organizations across a broad spectrum of fields, industries and sectors. You are as likely to find Fletcher graduates on Wall Street as in the United Nations; as likely to come across them in foreign ministries around the globe as working on humanitarian aid in Africa.
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2006 - 19-10-07 14:37- Links:
Learn more about APSIA and its member institutions at www.apsia.org