Are There Grants for People Pursuing International Affairs Program - Assignment Example

International Affairs Are there grants for people pursuing international affairs program The grants for international affairs program are there in the industry but in a limited number. The basic problem is that the grants are normally given to the people who are pursuing degrees in the field of science management and medicines since according to their perception they contribute directly to the development and well being of the country. There is not much realization among funding individuals and organization that international affairs programs hold key importance when it comes to serving country and people with the knowledge. But still there are some scholarships and funding programs which are open to almost all kind of studies and so for International Affairs program too such as Full Bright scholarship program awarded by Full Bright US. But they require some limitation for serving period after the completion of program. An extensively details form is required to be filled in by the applicant with supporting original documents. These things are sent to the committee that examines the form look for the merit of the candidate and offer him or her scholarship if they find it appropriate (Full Bright, 2005). "To establish an institute for international public policy. This institute shall conduct a program to significantly increase the numbers of African Americans and other under represented minorities in the international service (Higher Education Act, 2003)". But this grant is not directed towards the students rather they are given to the institutes and then students can contact those institutes for the scholar ships programs. So with an extensive search for the grants available to International relations program students, it is seen that the scholarships are more offered to the institutions than to the individuals perhaps due to the reason that International Relations has not been accepted as a field of study that can help develop nation and take it to higher places in literal meanings. 2. What are the best Masters Programs for students of International Affairs at Public Universities a) Bush School of Government and Public Service The bush School aims ate delivering the students with the knowledge and insight on global affairs with which they can improve the lives of people around the world. "The end of the Cold War, the acceleration of globalization, and aggressive worldwide terrorism all indicate the momentous changes that have expanded and transformed national and international public service opportunities (Bush School, 2005)". The description of program at Bush School is as follows: The program is spread on a span of 21 months. It comprises of a total of 48 credit hours. Six courses that are required to be taken up by all students are offered with electives courses as per their will of specialization. They also require each student to go through concentration modules which are temporary associations with International economic development, defense policy and military affairs, regional studies and many others. The fee to follow this program is about 13800 dollars per year (two semester's fee + other expenses). So it makes a total of 26000 dollars for two years of program. The program nicely includes subjects which gives student the insight of world as political nations as well as economies. Subjects such as fundamentals of global economy and Quantitative Methods in Public Management are help for students to see the world in economic terms while courses like international politics and theories helps student to see the political game theory that is being played by nations of the world. b) City College of City University of New York They expect students to begin their program with theories of international relations. This prepares student to know the basic know how of the technical jargon which has to be used in the later semester of the program. A very unique requirement by the university is that students are required to take up and complete all the Core courses before they start choosing their electives. "Specialties and electives are generally offered at least once per academic year, although the specifics depend upon student interest and faculty innovation (CCNY, 2007). This is done to bring all the students at par before they start discussing the hard core theories in the elective courses of International Affairs. The concentrations they are offering are very appropriate in terms that they are covering four cornerstones of International Affairs. The concentrations are offered in areas like regional politics, international economics, diplomacy and foreign policy and security and human rights. They offer two very interesting core courses which are International Economic Policy and International Law which can be very helpful to understand the code of existence in the world. c) University of California, Berkley University of California, Berkley with its mission to teach, do research and to provide public service, is offering an M.A. degree in International and Area studies." The courses that IAS offers are interdisciplinary and internationally focused, and they address timely and relevant issues not generally covered in existing campus courses (Berkley, 2005)" The program is a two year program with its requirements of simple graduate for eligibility. They divide the program from the very beginning into two directions. A student can choose to go for Area-Oriented Studies which concentrates on major area of interest in the world for which student want to get expertise or a student can go to Topic Oriented studies which familiarize a student with different topics of interest in the field of International relations. The eligibility also requires students to demonstrate their completion of 2 core courses in Economics and any one course from Political Sciences. d) University of Virginia University of Virginia has been in the top tier of best universities for years. University of Virginia has been given the award of number 2 best university in this world tying with university if Michigan. University of Virginia is offering a one year masters program in either Government or Foreign Affairs. "We care about big ideas that address big questions - and the fine-grained evidence to back them up. Our scholars seek to answer such puzzles as why war occurs... (UV, 2005)" The program is of 24 credit hours plus a 6 extra credit hrs to be taken up as non-topical research. The program is offered with a major or specialization in 4 different subjects, American Politics, Political Theory, International Relations and comparative economics. The degree is awarded on the completion of non Topical research and an M.A courses completion of 24 credit hours. University of Michigan which is ranked at number 2 or number 1 most of the years is also offering the program with very little variation. But they have a very detailed list of their pre-requisite required to be eligible for Masters Program in international affairs and any other relevant area of studies. They stress very much on the knowledge of international languages and have dedicated 6 extra credit hours for that. This is a good requirement in a stance that a student gets an insight on the true culture of that country since languages are the representatives of culture (UM, 2007). With the study of programs from various universities and school we can be very much helped to build our own program on sound knowledge and learning that can be provided to students. Since we study two top tier and two mid tier public universities for our research, It will be easy to design a course that will be unique and effective since it will be teaching students with what the above average universities are offering. In the first place, the length of the program not is less than 2 years of study, 4 semesters or 24 courses in total. The reason being very simple, International Affair is the topic which is very broad in its coverage. There are varieties of courses that can be taught and there scope is very broad. The courses offered should be a mix of area-oriented and topic-oriented. It should cater the world's most prominent economies (whether, developed, growing or declining) as well as the major issues (current and historic) that the world has been through. There should be a requirement for students to successfully complete credit hours for any 2 of the prescribed languages by the program officers. A six week attachment should be necessary for students with any department in the ministries of international affair or any News paper or to present and publish 6 articles in any section of News paper during the summer's break. Or students can be asked to write a full length dissertation as their summers' assignment on any current major issues in the world with relevance to international affairs. 3. Career Options for students of Masters in International Affairs It is always a fact that students do not work for any one organization for their whole life. They tend to change their organization and even twist their career paths as they progress through it. "All research tells us this: no matter what field you enter, in all likelihood you will not work for one company for the rest of your life, or even in one field. In the 21st century, most college graduates will not only have many different jobs in their lifetimes, but many different careers as well (School of International Studies, 2006)". As we have seen that the students in International affairs have a major career inclination towards government's departments, mostly in foreign affairs or policy making. A degree in International Affairs opens up horizon for students in various arenas such as "Economic Analysis, Foreign Services, Government Agencies, International Business and International Law (Xavier, 2007)". We will discuss these domains individually and in detail under following headings. Foreign Service An obvious and most common placement for an International affairs' student is in Foreign Affairs Department of State. The career includes exposure to the foreign policy of states, chalking out plans for further improvement while considering the national interests and meeting with foreign delegates to discuss issues in foreign affairs. The career is very interesting and very challenging. It's very demanding in a sense that a person has to be very knowledgeable about the happening in world politics (Department of State, 2007). But getting a job in this department is not so easy at all; the fact being there are no particular educational requirement and it is all tests based. The recruitment process is very detailed and consists of few steps. First there is a general aptitude test which is a common SAT based test. Then if you pass this test you have to go through a series of exercises prepared to test your understanding of the subject and analyze your scenario handling abilities basing your knowledge relevant to international affairs. Thousands of students appear in the test but only a small number of candidates actually make their way through. Government Agencies Government Agencies other than Foreign Department are also a good place for people with career in international affairs. They usually comprises of defense department, Trade Department, or any Local Department which has exposure to International scenario. They look for special expertise in people like economics, agriculture, Mathematics and Statistics, Engineering or other physical sciences. The job placements in these departments do not require going through a process like one in Foreign affairs department. Most of the hiring is informal. They look for people with degree in specialized discipline. International Business Multinational companies these days have become so powerful that they are a major stake holder in international policy making. Some of them are even bigger than some of the worlds developed economies. Nestle Company Asset base is even bigger than few economies in Europe. They always want people to represent their organization on international platform and to liaise with governmental trade bodies for their business operations in different countries. The most open site for students of international finance is of international banks that are mostly spread in a minimum of 30 countries. So they require people from the country who know the trade and business policies of that country and hence hire people with international finance from those countries and offer them attractive positions and salary. Multinational companies in US for example require people from international affairs people to look after the corporate affairs in other countries such as some in Gulf region or African region. But one must consider the fact that these kinds of jobs are not suitable for every one especially for the people who have families dependent on them. Because these kinds of jobs often require extensive traveling therefore it is problematic for the family to cope up with the situation. Opportunities in United Nations United states which is a place for every nation to represent itself and its issues before the world require people from every nation to work as an ambassador of their country and protect the rights if their counties before the world and to present the performance, problems and issues faced by their country on an international platform. This creates job opportunities for people from international relations department to apply and work there. The job is very charming and has great future prospects for IR professionals (UN, 2007). Efforts can be made easily for placements of students enrolled in International relations program in above mentioned areas. The curriculum of International Relations program being followed should be presented to the recruitment office of above mentioned to show the credibility of program and courses. Liaison should be done with them for internship placement and job placement on annual basis. Students should be asked that placements will be given on GPA basis to provoke desire for better learning and grades in their studies. These will pursuit students and in turn the program will give out graduates with better understand knowledge and insight of the things. Especially the internship placements play very key important role. Because these internship placements often are helpful to develop good social connections with the people in that organization and these internships then convert into job placement at the end of study program. Bibliography BushSchool (2005). "Master's Program in International Affairs". Retrieved on April 19, 2007: http://bush.tamu.edu/academics/mpia/ Berkley (2005). International and Area Studies. Retrieved on April 19 2007: http://sis.berkeley.edu/catalog/gcc_view_reqp_dept_cd=IAS CCNY, (2007). "The Masters Program International Relation". Retrieved on April 18, 2007: http://www.ccny.cuny.edu/social_science/intrelations/ Department of State (2007). "Careers". Retrieved on April 19 2007: http://www.state.gov/ (School of International Studies, 2006). http://sis.pacific.edu/jobs/careers-in-international-relations.htm Full Bright (2005). "Full Bright Fellow by Field of Study" ". Retrieved on April 18, 2007. http://us.fulbrightonline.org/documents/Directory/fos_05.pdf UN (2007). "Job opportunities". Retrieved on April 18, 2007: http://www.unsystem.org/jobs/job_opportunities.htm Higher Education Act (2003). Retrieved on April 20, 2007: http://www.educationmoney.com/prgm_84.269_minr.html UV, (2005). "Graduate Program-International Relations". Retrieved on April 18, 2007. http://www.virginia.edu/politics/grad_program/intl_relations.html UM (2007). "Graduate Programs". Retrieved on April 18, 2007. (http://www.umich.edu/grad.php) Read More