The Practicum
Taken in the final semester after the prerequisite Program Development Project Management, the Practicum in International Affairs (PIA) is centered around completing a semester-long project assigned by an international organization client. For more information on the Practicum, and to see past and current projects, click here.
The Practicum is taken in the final semester, so you should have 33 credits prior to enrolling. (Exceptions are possible if you are finishing your final 6 credits with the International Field Program, in which case you should have completed 27 credits.) Permission is not required for Practicum registration, but is required for PDPM registration, and your transcript will be checked for number of credits (excluding Incompletes). Please contact Andrea Kelsey at [email protected] for clearance to register for PDPM. Online Registration for Fall 2012 begins 9am Monday, April 9. New projects will likely be added – and perhaps cancelled – between now and August 27 (first day of Fall semester), and if you have already registered but wish to switch into a new project section, you can Add/Drop.
Class day and time will be determined by the faculty member. Some projects will be more popular, and selection will be first-come-first-served. Projects may also be canceled if too few students enroll. All project teams will be formed and finalized by mid-August. After reading all project descriptions, you should decide on the project of most interest to you, and enroll in that section. Click here to read the PIA Syllabus.
The current Practicum sections and projects are listed below, along with the client organization and associated GPIA Concentration. To read a full description, click on the project title:
Section A (NINT 5961/CRN 4166)
Faculty: Rafat Mahdi
Project: Social Media and Democratic Transition
Client organization: UNDP
Associated Concentration: Dev, MC
Meeting time: Tuesday, 3:00-4:00
Section A (NINT 5961/CRN 4166)
Faculty: Rafat Mahdi
Project: Role of Private Sector in Peacebuilding
Client organization: UNDP
Associated Concentration: Dev
Meeting time: Tuesday, 4:05-5:05
Section B (NINT 5961/CRN 4167)
Faculty: Chris London
Project: Quantifying the Costs of Corruption
Client organization: Transparency International
Associated Concentration: Dev, GR
Meeting time: TBD
Section C (NINT 5961/CRN 4168)
Faculty: Mona Shomali
Project: Advocacy, New Campaign Strategies, and Strategic Planning in Latin America
Client organization: Waterkeeper Alliance
Associated Concentration: Dev, MC
Meeting time: TBD
Program Development Project Management (PDPM)
PDPM, the prerequisite course for the Practicum, is taken in the penultimate semester. To register for PDPM you should have 24 completed credits (or 18 if you are planning to do the IFP). Permission is required for PDPM registration, in which your transcript will be checked for number of credits (excluding Incompletes). Please contact Andrea Kelsey at [email protected] for clearance to register.
PDPM provides students the opportunity to gain a comprehensive understanding of key concepts and skills essential to effective program development and project management. By examining the project cycle through a Practicum project, students learn techniques and tools – needs assessment, logical framework, strategic design, implementation, proposal and report writing, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation, advocacy – used in a range of professional contexts. For more information on PDPM and to see the syllabus, click here.
Students work on real projects that may become a Practicum the following semester, so in choosing your PDPM project keep in mind that it may be your Practicum. You are not, however, locked into this project as your Practicum the following semester (Spring 2013); if you wish to change to another project for the Practicum you will be free to do so. Whether the project actually becomes a Practicum depends on its success and student interest.
Section A (NINT 5004 / CRN 1875) Tuesdays 4:00-5:50
Faculty: Mark Johnson
Syllabus
Section B (NINT 5004 / CRN 1705) Thursdays 6:00-7:50
Faculty: Chris London
Syllabus
Section C (NINT 5004 / CRN 8411) Thursdays 4:00-5:50
Faculty: Mona Shomali
PDPM Projects for Fall 2012:
- UNFPA: The Struggle for Agency – Women in Post-Conflict Countries
- Comite Municipal de Turismo: Building Adventure Tourism Industry in La Merced, Colombia
- Organizational Development (Rio Supia Waterkeeper)
- International Strategic Plan (Waterkeeper)
- International Rescue Committee: Project SOAR
- Rural Women’s Movement: Confronting Food Insecurity – A Kitchen Garden Project in Imbabazane, South Africa
- The Post-2015 Development Agenda (Unicef)
