Students participating in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs’ Washington, D.C., program can expect to see a change in scenery starting next semester.

The Maxwell School is collaborating with the Center for Strategic and International Studies to host the school’s Washington, D.C., semester at CSIS facilities. The organization is an international policy institution that focuses on defense and security, regional stability and economic integration, according to Maxwell’s website.

All Maxwell-in-Washington classes, faculty and staff will move from the Greenberg House, the program’s current home, to CSIS’s new facilities, which include “state-of-the-art electronics and audiovisual facilities,” according to Maxwell’s website. But the switch from the Greenberg House will not affect the cost of the program because students will still have the same housing, said Ryan Williams, the director of the program.

The CSIS is a think tank that combines education and policymaking, Williams said, adding that the Maxwell school is “built in that same vein.” Williams said that the switch has only been in progress for the last six months, since James Steinberg, dean of Maxwell, became interested in working more closely with CSIS.

Universities and think tanks like CSIS are both vital in the development of public policy, Steinberg said on Maxwell’s website.

“We couldn’t be more pleased to partner with an institution as prestigious and dynamic as CSIS on this new endeavor — one that will provide our students with extraordinary opportunities to interact and engage with influential policy makers and thinkers,” he said on the website.

So far, no other changes to the program have been proposed, Williams said, but they may look into changing the program as time goes on. He added that the hope is for CSIS members to be interested in partnering with faculty for research and with students for internships.

Presently, Syracuse University undergraduates can spend fall or spring semesters in Washington, D.C., Williams said. The program is available to graduate students during the fall and spring semesters, summer session and January or May intersessions.

The semester in Washington, D.C., started out as an international relations program, said Deanna Phillips, a senior administrator for the undergraduate international relations program. But she added that the program might appeal to students studying public affairs or political science, as well as students in the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications because of the opportunities the program provides.

The program also has a global security and development graduate program that can appeal to students outside of international relations, Phillips said. In addition, she said Williams, the director of the program, teaches a global policy seminar hosting speakers who are the“movers and shakers”of Washington, D.C.

Published on November 12, 2013 at 11:37 pm

Contact Caroline: cstrange@syr.edu