Redesigned Pardee Graduate Programs in BU Today
The recently redesigned graduate programs at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University were the focus of an April 19, 2017 feature in BU Today that delves into the school’s commitment to providing a world-class education that empowers students who are dedicated to contributing to global peace, prosperity, and sustainability.
The redesigned programs build upon a set of core skills and knowledge in global affairs, negotiation and diplomacy, economics and statistics, and policy analysis, while also offering graduate students more in-depth functional specializations within their degree programs. They will enable students to develop deep and policy-relevant understanding of their chosen specializations, in the context of a rigorous academic environment.
“It’s a way of ensuring that no one leaves here without us being sure they are going to have both the breadth and the depth to fulfill what the strategic plan says we are going to do, which is to create the leaders of tomorrow,” Pardee School Dean Adil Najam told BU Today.
The redesign consolidated nine existing graduate programs into six degrees, while creating new in-depth specializations and options within those degrees. Students are now offered in-depth functional specializations within their degree programs including diplomacy, international communication, global economic affairs, security studies, religion and international affairs, environmental policy, developmental policy, and international public health policy.
Speaking with BU Today, Director of Graduate Studies Amb. Robert Loftis said that the required courses under the redesigned graduate programs are also aimed at enhancing a sense of community at Pardee, by allowing students to “get to know their cohort in these four classes, and they become part of your network during school, and more importantly, when you graduate.”
Graduate students who entered the Pardee School in January were given the option of enrolling in the redesigned graduate programs, and Ryan Wayne (Pardee ’18) said the functional specializations provide him the opportunity to diversify his educational experience in addition to making him more marketable after graduation.
“I initially applied to the Pardee School with the intention of focusing on the Middle East and North Africa, specializing in security studies,” Wayne told BU Today. “I was delighted to learn of the new specialization for diplomacy. It grants me the freedom to explore the issues that I am keen to, while offering me the ability to diversify my education, making me more marketable once I graduate.”
The Pardee School will continue to offer graduate programs in Latin American Studies, International Relations and Juris Doctor, International Relations and Master of Business Administration and the recently announced five-year Bachelor of Arts in International Relations/Master of Arts in International Affairs (BA/MAIA) program.