Group of students from International Affairs and Multilateral Governance programme, June 2011
The fifth edition of the Graduate Institute’s two summer programmes on International Affairs and Multilateral Governance as well as WTO, International Trade and Development are in full swing. A record number of students are enrolled in this year’s programmes with a 50% increase from summer 2010.
Starting on 6 June and finishing on 21 July, 150 participants are attending the lectures, special events and international organisation and NGO visits over the six week period. “We are pleased that there has been growing interest in the Summer Programmes from students already working towards a master or PhD at the Institute and that we continue to attract an interesting mix of professionals and students from developed and developing countries”, said Jasmine Champenois, Executive Director of the Summer Programmes. She also said the Institute is delighted to welcome students from the United States based partners University of Southern California, School of International Relations and Georgetown University’s Communication, Culture and Technology Program. Another novelty this year is a partnership with the Georgia School of Law’s Dean Rusk Center which began sending a group of students to attend the programmes.
Fourteen other partnerships are already in place with international organisations and think tanks to provide a select group of Summer Programme participants with internships while in Geneva. During the programmes all students go on organised visits and meet with officials from the World Intellectual Property Organization, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Trade Organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Doctors without Borders and other organisations, all of which are in close proximity to the Institute in International Geneva.
Also on the programme is a conference with guest Stuart Harbinson, former Senior Adviser to Supachai Panitchpakdi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD and to Pascal Lamy Director-General of the WTO, and another with ambassadors and officials involved in WTO negotiations from the EU, the US, China and other countries. Both of these conferences focus on the Doha trade negotiations. Events earlier on in the Summer Programme agenda were with guests from the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees as well as a lecture on the Arab Spring by Institute faculty member and Middle East expert Riccardo Bocco.
“When I signed up for the Summer Programme on International Affairs and Multilateral Governance, my goal was solely to refresh my knowledge of international issues related to the fields of environment, migration and humanitarian affairs”, said Anita Sandana from France”. “The programme surpassed my expectations and not only did I learn from the presentations and workshops, I was also able to connect with a large pool of international students and practitioners.”
“This is my fifth year as a guest lecturer and each year there are more students and the programme keeps getting more interesting”, said Professor JP Singh from Georgetown University.
More information on the Graduate Institute’s Summer Programmes is available online.
In 2012 the Institute will hold its first Winter Programme covering the United Nations and Global Challenges from 9-20 January.