Independent Study (3 Credits)
Apply for an independent study this semester under the supervision of Professor Shahrokh Fardoust. Students will be able to focus on one of three areas listed below.
1) Health and Education Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Family Background, Social Mobility, and Inequality;
2) Global Poverty, Inequality, and Globalization:The past, present and future trends and challenges;
3) Disruptive Technologies, Employment, and Inclusive Growth.
If interested, please send CV and list of courses taken at W&M with GPA to Rebecca Latourell. Applicants must have experience in economics courses and/or basic knowledge of statistics and econometrics. Chosen applicants will then undergo an interview and course approval before registering.
*Students must complete their independent study registration by September 6 (last day for drop and add).
New! IR Independent Study with GRI E-Internship
Course Description:
The Independent study with Dr. Kathryn Floyd complements the Global Research Institute's e-internship program, including both real-world experience in an elite, virtual internship, and a final paper based on the research themes of the e-internship.
GRI's e-internship program is a novel approach to undergraduate internships that builds on a growing telecommuting trend in the business community. Using the College's IT infrastructure, the e-internship program links students in Williamsburg with government agencies, think tanks, non-governmental organizations, and industries in the US and internationally. GRI e-interns apply the knowledge and skills they attain in their classes to real world challenges, gaining insight into the interplay between theory and practice in international affairs as well as valuable professional experience. Moreover, e-internships can serve as a valuable boost to securing onsite internships in the future.
Students participating in the program do not have to find their own internship. GI has secured internship positions in the national security and international affairs community. Once enrolled into the e-internship course, GRI and the e-internship director will work with organizations to place students. Research topics students have addressed in the past include nuclear deterrence, cyber security, global health, foreign policy, international law and development, and women's rights, among others. Participating organizations cover a wide range such as Air Combat Command, International Development Law Organization, Diplomatic Courier Magazine, Atlas Corps, Defense Innovation Board, Defense Entrepreneur's Forum, and More.
Contact and Requirements:
If interested, please email Dr. Floyd at
khfloyd@wm.edu
The length of the paper will correspond to the amount of credit awarded (10 pages = 1 hour, 20 pages = 2 hours, 30 pages = 3 hours) Student must apply credit before the end of add/drop.
Students are required to work approximately 10 hours/week on their e-internship in consultation with their supervisors. E-interns must check-in with their organizations daily, and with e-internship staff weekly. E-interns must adhere to all confidentiality of guidelines and act according to the highest professional standards. E-interns must produce a final product or document, as agreed upon by your supervisor and director.
Blockchain in International Development -- Opportunity for
Both Students and Alums!
As part of the Institute's efforts to continue exploring cutting edge international development issues, we will be holding a multi-disciplinary 3 credit Blockchain and International Development course during the Fall 2019 semester. But, for the first time, we're also creating a way for alums to engage!
While space in the 3 credit course will be capped at 15 students, there is also a way to participate through an on-line module (see below for more details). The course is designed to understand the role of blockchain in responding to global development challenges while also developing strategies and skills that put individuals at the forefront of the rapidly evolving blockchain landscape. During our Spring 2019 blockchain course, students from W&M’s Public Policy, Computer Science, Economics, and Business programs worked together to research the security of blockchains, the use of blockchain and cryptocurrencies by malicious non-state actors, blockchains and digital identity, blockchain and mobile money in East Africa, and more.
As part of the course, students participate in a four-week online course paired with in-class instruction, which takes place from September 9 - October 4, 2019. If you are an alum, or a student who is unable to take the 3 credit module, use the discount code ‘wm345’ to receive $150 off the full price of participation for the 4 week module.
Course listed as: PUBP 390-06, 14309
If you’d like to learn more, please feel free to contact Professor Albert Cevallos at acevallos@wm.edu.
Policy Entrepreneurship
This course provides experiential learning opportunities for students who are interested in developing and then pitching their own policy-relevant research ideas. Students will walk through a process on how to generate solutions to real world problems and think about how to frame such solutions so that they might generate interest among practitioners of international and public policy. In this course students will learn how to identify problems and then translate ideas on how to address those problems to a policy practitioner audience. This class, in particular, will be a good preparation for students interested in participating in the Global Research Shark Tank.
Course listed as: PUBP 391-02, 14313
Intro to R and Statistical Programming
This course is primarily designed to provide students with an introduction to the R language. In this course, you will learn practical skills for using R in your research in the near-term, as well as programming concepts that can serve as the foundation for students interested in advanced statistical programming. We will study tools in R that allow a researcher to effectively manage and analyze data and also to visualize and produce results. The skills this course teaches will be beneficial in conducting research while you are at William & Mary and in the future as you pursue internships and careers. We will discuss concepts including reading and writing datasets, types of data in R, functions, programming logic, loops, if-else statements, and conditions, as well as univariate & multivariate statistics, regression modeling, text analysis, and geospatial analysis. There are no formal prerequisites for the course, but some exposure to quantitative methods used in the social sciences will be useful during the analysis section of the course.
Course listed as: PUBP 391 01, 14308
