Pardee School Welcomes Incoming MA Students
The Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University is proud to welcome its newest MA candidates, who gathered for their academic orientation on September 2, 2016.
The incoming MA students join the ranks of the Pardee School graduate program from diverse and exciting backgrounds and walks of life.
The new students were welcomed during orientation by a panel discussion with Pardee School Dean Adil Najam, Director of Graduate Studies Amb. Robert Loftis, and Michael Williams, graduate student advisor. They heard about academic opportunities for Pardee School graduate students, and heard from current Pardee School students about courses, research opportunities and life in Boston.
Dean Najam emphasized the importance for the graduate students to take in as much as possible during their time at the Pardee School, and to explore subjects outside of their professional areas of interest.
“I hope you will take away a lot of friendships, an understanding of each other, a network — these will be the people you will stumble upon and run into throughout the rest of your life, Najam said. “I encourage you to make the best of your limited time at the Pardee School. Attending university should be like drinking from a fire hose. You can’t possibly get it all, but absorb as much as you can.”
Amb. Loftis outlined the special components of a Pardee School education, including thesis defense, and urged the incoming students to get to know the Pardee School faculty.
“We’ve got a great variety of faculty here. We have three retired ambassadors, we have two former Central Intelligence Agency officers and we have a great network of academics who have spent a lifetime working on some really interesting stuff,” Loftis said. “Get to know as many of us as you can.”
MA candidates also learned about opportunities for graduate students at the Pardee School including the Pardee Graduate Council and the graduate academic journal The Pardee Periodical.
The first-year graduate students will be also be welcomed with a barbecue on Tuesday, September 6, 2016, and will have the opportunity to get to know each other further during a team-building event at the Fitchburg Art Museum on September 24, 2016.