Global Programs >> Graduate Students >> Geneva Summer Practicum

Geneva Summer Practicum
 

2008 Geneva Summer Practicum Participants:
From Left: Lin Zhang, Ji Young Kim, Mykhaylo Komarnytskyy, Lu Yu, Iryna Bilotserkivska, Co-Director Dr. Roberta Ritson, Patricia Ongpin, Brian Futagaki, Ahouiza Baiye, Marcie Hawranik, Robert Thead, Julie Narimatsu, Director John Mathiason, Laura Zuber.
(Not pictured: Megan Humphreys, Alberto Hylander, Mareyev Viacheslav, Julianne Prokopich)

May 31 to August 1, 2009

International organizations play an increasingly important role within the modern global system.  Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, in coordination with SU Abroad, offers a summer of study in Geneva.  The program, now in its 19th year, is designed to provide a small number of graduate students in international relations and related fields with a pragmatic introduction to the workings of specific international organizations.

Geneva provides an ideal site for the study of international organizations.  It is the home of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations High Commissioners for Human Rights and for Refugees, the International Labor Organization (ILO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC),the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that focus on international issues. 

The City
Among the most international of cities, Geneva has a long history as a meeting place where world leaders have come together to negotiate treaties and agreements.  It is the birthplace and headquarters of the International Red Cross; the Geneva Convention was signed here in 1864; the League of Nations met here in the early twentieth century; and more recently, the city has hosted foreign ministers' conferences and nuclear disarmament talks.  Geneva's international role is partly due to its crossroads location within Europe.  Today, with a population of under 350,000, Geneva is both compact and accessible.
 

The Program
The first week of the nine-week program is devoted to an intensive introductory course on international organizations and a general orientation to Switzerland and the city of Geneva and its environs.

For the next eight weeks students will work in an international organization.  Interns usually perform tasks such as library research, editing, writing reports, designing newsletters, and facilitating training courses.  Students must be self-motivated, prepared to take initiative, and flexible in their expectations.

An effort will be made to place interns in organizations whose activities match their interests, although these matches cannot be guaranteed.  In some internships, students may be asked to stay on after the program ends.  Students who accept the longer internships are responsible for their own living arrangements after the program ends.

The Course
Students who successfully complete the nine-week program will earn six graduate credits in international relations from Syracuse University. 

Practicum in International Relations
IRP 711, 6 credits, graduate

 2008 Syllabus

The course involves a five-day-per-week internship in one of the many international organizations located in Geneva.  The internship is intended to provide students with exposure to the day-to-day problems and challenges faced by a particular international organization. 

The internship is augmented by a weekly evening seminar that consists of guest lectures by international scholars and practitioners, and of group presentations by students on topics related to their area of work.  Receptions and group meals provide the opportunity to extend discussions beyond the seminar room.  In addition to the group presentation, students use the summer to develop a topic for an independent research paper due at the end of August.  The students are evaluated on the basis of participation in the seminar, the group presentation, their internship performance, and the research paper.

Internship Placements

Congratulations to our 2008 IR Geneva Summer Practicum students:
Ahouiza Baiye: IOM
Iryna Bilotserkivska: ITC
Brian Futagaki: WHO
Marcie Hawranik: Human Rights Watch
Megan Humphreys: WHO
Alberto Hylander: JIU
Ji Young Kim: IOM
Mykhaylo Komarnytskyy: UNIDIR
Viacheslav Mareyev: UNECE
Julie Narimatsu: WHO
Patricia Ongpin: UNAIDS
Julianne Prokopich: IGF Secretariat
Lin Zhang: UNCTAD
Laura Zuber: IOM

Our 2007 placements:
Francesca Alesi: OHCHR
Sonia Arenaza: ITU
Stephanie Gonzalez: IOM
Sotirios Gountas: ECOSOC
Abu-Bakarr Kanu: CONGO
Leonardo Lemes: IGF Secretariat
Nina Popel: WMO
Sumithra Rajendra: WHO, Strategic Planning
Jeremy Snellen: Humanitarian De-mining
Andrew Sweet: Interpeace
Lidia Villalba van Dijk: UNCTAD

Our 2006 placements include:
IOM, WHO, ILO, UNAIDS, WMO, OIOS, Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian De-mining (GICHD), UNCTAD, ECOSOC, UNOG, IGF Secretariat, UN Subcommittee on Nutrition (UN-SCN), and UNHCR

Our 2005 placements include:
IOM, UNCTAD, WSIS-Online, CASIN, UNOG, UN/OIOS, WHO, ILO, and ITU

Our 2004 placements include:
Centre for Applied Studies in International Negotiations (CASIN)
WHO Vaccine Assessment and Monitoring team
IOM Migration Policy
WHO Health Action in Crises (HAC) office
IOM Research and Publications Division
WHO HIV/AIDS Department
UN Research Institute on Social Development
WHO Health System Financing, Expenditure and Resource Allocation (FER)
UNCTAD
WHO Training and Capacity Building Health and Human Rights
IOM Emergency and Post-Conflict Unit
International Bureau of Education

Our 2003 placements included:
Centre for Applied Studies in International Negotiations (CASIN)
Center for Socio-Economic Development (CSEND)
International Center for Migration and Health (ICMH)
International Labor Office (ILO)
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
International Peace Bureau (IPB)
UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)
World Health Organization (WHO)

Our 2002 placements included:
Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT)
Centre for Applied Studies in International Negotiations (CASIN)
Center for Socio-Economic Development (CSEND)
International Bureau of Education (IBE)
International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC)
International Labor Organization (ILO)
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
International Peace Bureau (IPB)
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR)
World Health Organization (WHO)

Our 2001 placements included:
Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT)
Centre for Applied Studies in International Negotiations (CASIN)
International Bureau of Education
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
International Telecommunications Union
UN Conference on Trade and Development
UN Research Institute of Social Development
World Health Organization (WHO)
World Trade Organization (WTO)

View Internship Evaluation Guidelines

View Geneva Internship Sites

Visit the Geneva Intern Network

Eligibility

Any student who has been accepted into a graduate degree program in a field related to international relations (e.g., international relations, political science, history, sociology, law, communications, geography, etc.) is eligible to apply.  A basic knowledge of French is desirable. 

Students are strongly urged to apply by October 15, 2008 to allow sufficient time to match them with an international organization.  Please note that that there is a limited number of spaces in this program and that many more students apply that can be admitted. 

To apply for the 2009 program students will need to submit their application directly to SU Abroad, the division of the University responsible for administering this program.  MAIR students should list the Global Programs Coordinator, Samantha Clemence, as a reference. The complete application with instructions is available here:
2009 Geneva Application Form for MAIR students

Faculty

Geneva Summer Practicum is directed by Professor John Mathiason.  Dr. Mathiason is an Adjunct Professor of International Relations at The Maxwell School, teaching distance collaboration courses in International Public NGO Management and in Evaluation of International Programs and Projects.  For more information on Dr. Mathiason's distinguished career which includes over 25 years as a career staff member of the United Nations, please visit his website at the following URL:
http://sites.maxwell.syr.edu/intleval/mathiasonhome.html

Dr. Roberta Ritson serves as Co-Director of the Geneva Summer Practicum. Professor Ritson holds a doctorate in education and has recently retired from a long and fruitful career overseeing the external relations of the World Health Organization.

Travel and Living Arrangements

Participants arrange and pay for their own transatlantic flights.  They should arrange to arrive in Geneva on Saturday, May 30, 2009.

Students may be housed in shared rooms at the John Knox International Center for the duration of the program.  Students will not receive a refund if they move out of the John Knox Center for any period of time from May 31 to August 1.  Daily continental breakfast is included in the program fee.

The John Knox Center provides simple living arrangements in small shared rooms, limited dining facilities and lounge areas. There are no cooking facilities at the John Knox Center.  It is set in a park-like region on the outskirts of Geneva, within walking distance of nearly all the United Nations agencies. Students travel by bus from the John Knox Center to the center of town.  Most of the lectures will be held in the John Knox Center.  Participants are responsible for their daily transportation to and from the site of their internships.  Students should note that Geneva is a very expensive city. 

Students may elect to arrange their own accommodations elsewhere.  To research alternative housing arrangements, please consider visiting the following websites:
http://www.unige.ch/cite-uni/logements/liste.html
http://www.expatriates.com/classifieds/gen/
http://www.iun.ch/index.cfm/en/iun/student_services/housing
http://www.ifm.ch/english/informations/housing-main.htm
http://www.hospitalityclub.org

Tentative Calendar
(Applicants will be notified of calendar changes.)

Housing begins:..........................................May 30, 2009
Program begins:.........................................May 31, 2009
Program ends:............................................August 1, 2009
Housing ends:............................................August 2, 2009

Program Cost and Expense Estimate

The costs noted below reflect estimates of program costs, and these costs are subject to change (tuition is expected to rise each summer). Students should be aware that usual costs include airfare, program administration fees, tuition, and some living expenses. The program fee includes housing with breakfast, field trips, orientation activities, tours, and some meals taken together as a group. Participants arrange and pay for their own transportation to and from Geneva, other meals, and personal expenses as they arise.  Roundtrip airfare from New York to Geneva during the summer months can cost approximately $650.  The program fee below covers housing, as well as some meals.

* The program fee for 2009 will be posted when available.  Students who choose to live independently in 2006 had $1,246 deducted from their program fee of $1,935.  The remaining $689 program fee went to the administration and execution of program activities. 

**Please note that joint JD/IR students must pay law school tuition for any credits that they take through the IR program.  This includes credits taken on global programs such as the Geneva summer practicum. 

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
Please note that need-based tuition grants are available from SU Abroad, and that Global Programs Awards are available to eligible participants from the International Relations Program.  For more information, please contact the Global Programs Coordinator (global@maxwell.syr.edu) in the International Relations Program of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. The GPC can also be reached at 315-443-5339 or 315-443-9204 (fax).  You can also contact Nell Bartkowiak or Tracy Humpleby at SU Abroad at 315-443-3471 or 1-800-235-3472. 

SU Abroad

At Syracuse University (SU), study abroad is a tradition dating back to 1919. More than half the students enrolled in programs through SU Abroad come from universities across the U.S. and from almost all major fields of study.

SU maintains academic centers in England, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Chile and Spain. Each center has close ties to local universities, allowing students to design integrated programs of study appropriate to their academic and language abilities. Every center has a small research library of its own, and students may also make use of local libraries. Additionally, all students have access to the Syracuse University Library's extensive on-line database resources. Each center is overseen by a faculty director, administrators and host-country staff who are available to assist students at all times with their academic and personal needs. Pre-departure and on-site orientation programs further prepare students for their semester or year abroad.

This page current as of: August 12, 2008