Experiential Learning
International Relations
Experiential Learning Opportunities
Semester on the United Nations
- Founded in 1962, the Semester on the United Nations is one of Drew University’s signature academic programs.
- Each fall semester, a group of 20 students travel twice a week to the United Nations to meet members of the U.N. Secretariat, the Member states’ delegations, special agencies or nongovernmental organizations represented at the United Nations. Faculty-led lectures and group discussion typically follow these meetings.
- The balance of the day is devoted to other projects such as attending various meetings at the United Nations Headquarters, conducting interviews and gathering data for your research project.
- Interested students can also complete an internship experience in one of the non-governmental groups that work on U.N.-related issues. Learn more here.
- Many of our majors and minors enhance their academic experience by participating in Drew University’s Semester on Wall Street, Semester on Communications and Media and Semester on Social Impact. They also attend Drew’s Semester in London or complete a semester of study abroad with one of the Center for Global Education’s global partners.
Internships
Where Have Our Students Interned in Past Years?
Mercy Global Action | US Senate |
Organization of American States | US House of Representatives |
Republican National Committee | World Food Programme |
International Rescue Committee | United Methodist Women |
Office of International Trade, US Small Business Administration | Human Rights Watch |
American Civil Liberties Union in Arizona | Peace Boat US |
Common Cause New York | Council for Foreign Relations |
NGO Working Group on Women, Peace and Security | County of Bergen |
International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) | Morris County Democratic Committee |
UN Habitat | US Department of Education |
United Nations Children’s Fund | World Watch Institute |
CNN | Asia Society |
US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants | American Action Forum |
The Wilson Center | The National Organization for Women |
International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights | Christian Community Action, Inc |
Published Student Research
- J. Duran, “Unmanned and Ungoverned: Drones, Post-Human Warfare, and the Implications of Pursuing Military Efficiency at the Cost of Jus in Bello,” volume 8 (2015).
- M. Day, “Cuando la Justicia Tiene la Lengua Atada: La Barrera Lingüística, el Acceso al Debido Proceso y Personas LEP Durante Procedimientos de Deportación,” vol. 7 (2014).
- N. Kuruszko, “What Led to the Boom in Private Prisons?” vol. 6 (2013).
- S. Calderone, “The Effectiveness of the United Nations in the Inclusion of Human Rights in Counter-Terrorism,” vol. 5 (2012).
- P. Iwaniuk, “The European Union and Russian Energy Monopoly: The Obstacles in Becoming a Foreign Policy Actor,” vol. 3 (2010).
- D. Etkowitz, Superfund Sites in New Jersey and Associated Public Policy Initiatives, vol. 2 (2009).
- C. Post, “A Growing Threat to Global Security: What the United Nations is and is Not Doing about Piracy in Somalia,” vol. 2 (2009).
- B. Shedlock, “Low Rumblings of the Tracks: The Too-Slow Process of Gender Mainstreaming by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR),” vol. 2 (2009).
- N. Band, “Tangled Up in Blue (Tape): The Overlapping Responsibilities of the International Court of Justice and the United Nations Security Council,” vol. 1 (2008).
- K. Petrelius, “Democratization in the Congo: A Lost Cause or a Reasonable Ambition?” vol. 1 (2008).
Student Honors Theses
- H. Bonilla, (2016) “The handling of unaccompanied minors entering the United States from Mexico and the northern Triangle Region.”
- Rastelli (2016) “The dragon in the sea: a case study of Chinese foreign policy in the South China Sea.”
- N. Elzarka (2015) “Militarization and incarceration in the ‘war on drugs’ and ‘war on terror’: connecting the prison-industrial complex and the military-industrial complex.”
- K. Patel (2015) “From colony to country: models of decolonization and their application to post-conflict state building.”
- E. Sheff (2015) “Power asymmetry, interstate cooperation, and riparian conflicts: explaining the U.S.-Mexico relationship over shared rivers”
- M. Hooper (2014) “Beppe Grillo and the rise of the Five Stars Movement: an examination of M5S in the context of Italian populism”
- S. Kerby (2014) “The private prison industry’s role in the immigration industrial complex”
- Beye (2013) “Medicinal revival: analyzing the rise and fall of American support for the death penalty between 1960 and 1990”
- S. Calderone (2013) “Understanding Russian Foreign Policy on Humanitarian Intervention”
- F. Diallo (2013) “Gender mainstreaming in World Bank and IMF development policies in contemporary Senegal”
- J. Hoffman (2013) “Do not pass go?: Teachers unions’ policy monopolies and evaluation and tenure reform in New York and New Jersey”
- P. Horton (2013) “Understanding the costs: the macroeconomic effects of terrorism in Spain and the United Kingdom”
- F. Barbosa (2012) “Crashing the party? : the rise, impact, and future of the Tea Party in American politics”
- L. Ferguson (2012) “From the virtual to reality: Egypt, social media, and the #Tahrir uprising”
- M. Robbins (2011) “What role for economic, social and cultural rights in peace building? : an analysis of human rights priorities in peace building assistance to the Occupied Palestinian Territories”
- J. Wamble (2011) “Breaching the barrier: unpacking the effects of interracial friendships on attitudes toward immigration”
- Shedlock (2009) “Protecting protraction: reproducing refugee marginalization in a globalized world”
- Cramer (2008) “Realigning presidential elections : Strom Thurmond and the new Republican South”
- S. Gorenstein (2008) “Talkin’ ’bout my generation : analyzing the high youth voter turnout of the 1972 and 2008 presidential elections through a generational perspective”
- J. Marsico (2007) “A Reagan revolution? : questioning the occurrence of critical realignment in the 1980 election”
- Weingrod (2007) “‘The righteousness of the path we have chosen’: An examination of the Israeli Peace Now movement – 1978, 1982 and 2006”
- Caragher (2006) “Crisis of presidential leadership: coercive diplomacy and US led intervention in Kosovo”
Boost Your Resume
The Gov. Thomas Kean Summer Internship Program
• Political Science and International Relations majors and minors can apply for the Gov. Thomas Kean Summer Internship Program.
• It offers a financial stipend of $3,000 to support students (awards generally go to rising juniors and seniors) as they complete summer internships related to political science or international relations.
• Internships can be in any number of locations including federal, state or local government agencies, international organizations, political parties, campaign offices, think tanks, NGOs or community-based organizations.
Ready, Set, Engage
Community Based Learning Courses
• The department strongly believes in the value of civic engagement. Several professors have restructured their courses to encourage students “to connect academic learning with action in the world.”
• These courses “contribute to a planned strategy for addressing a community need or strengthening a community capacity that serves the common good.”
• Patrick McGuinn’s course, PSCI 316/Social Policy and Inequality in America, requires students to perform regular community work at the Interfaith Food Pantry in Morris County. By learning firsthand the many public policy challenges the Interfaith Food Pantry faces, students produced reports that help this non-profit and its partners to conceive of new ways to address these social issues.