Concentrations at CIPA: Government, Politics, and Policy Studies

Interested in what our different concentrations have to offer? In this post in our series about CIPA concentrations, we hear from Ranissa Adityavarman.  Ranissa is a first year CIPA fellow, CPAS Vice-President, and esteemed Rangel Fellow. Here, Ranissa tells us more about her academic interests in humanitarian action and national security, her professional work experience at home and abroad, and why her coursework in Government, Politics and Policy studies is relevant to her future work as foreign service officer.

My concentration is Government, Politics, and Policy Studies. As a first-year fellow, we’ve been told often that many people (if not most) switch concentrations during their time at CIPA. Perhaps I’m among the minority, then, that’ll likely stick with the concentration I intended on pursuing when entering CIPA. As I mentioned in my introductory blog, I am pursuing the Government concentration because of my intended career in the Foreign Service. As a Rangel Fellow, it’s been both relieving and rewarding to have a core goal behind this education: preparation for work as a diplomat.

In terms of my concentration, that means a couple of different things. First, I wanted to tailor my plan of study to be based on things that genuinely interested me. I studied international relations and economics at Colgate before coming to CIPA, so I already have had a deep interest in the theory behind international institutions, security, and economic development for some time. Second, I wanted to pick classes with an international focus, meaning that the more skills-based courses have to be just as applicable abroad as they are domestically.  

Ranissa (left) and Kate at the DC Networking event

Currently, I’m taking Political Economy of the WTO (AEM 4350), an applied economics course, in place of the microeconomics requirement. Other classes that have piqued my international interest are Institutional Reform in Developing Countries (PADM 5656), and Research and Strategy in Emerging Markets (AEM 4421) the course linked to my SMART Program team that travelled to Kenya this past January. Last semester I studied international organizations in International and Public NGO Management (PADM 5450).

As for my concentration courses specifically, I’m looking forward to taking courses on peacekeeping, governance, and foreign policy in the Government Department and a course on international law and human rights in the Law School. The other concentration courses will be filled by potential credits earned through an internship during an “externship,” or CIPA’s name for a semester of study somewhere other than Ithaca. Right now, I’m planning on going to New York City in Spring 2018 and pursuing some political or international security work while I’m there.

Of course, there are things that will probably change between now and graduation day, but that’ll be a story for another blog post.

To hear more from Ranissa, check out her other posts!

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