CELEBRATING OUR CENTENNIAL 1919-2019
Redefining International Affairs: Our Next Century of Service THE WALSH SCHOOL OF FOREIGN SERVICE
“Having entered upon the stage of world politics and world commerce we assume worldwide obligations. Our viewpoint can never be quite the same again.” — EDMUND A. WALSH, S.J., SFS FOUNDER,
IN DEDICATORY REMARKS ON NOVEMBER 25, 1919
Our world has changed dramatically since 1919. Our obligations—and mission—have not. Created as the first U.S. school
of international affairs, the Walsh School of Foreign Service vowed to train young leaders to serve the world. As SFS enters its second century at a time of unprecedented global uncertainty, we are once again called to prepare a new generation for foreign service—in new ways that reflect the challenges ahead.
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The SFS Centennial, which we will commemorate during the 2019-2020 academic year, brings a momentous chance to look back with pride and forward with hope. Learn more at sfs100.georgetown.edu.
Confronting new challenges—with a century of experience SFS was created in the aftermath of World War I to foster a set of values that our founders believed were critical to peace, security, and prosperity. Commitment to diplomacy, trade, and multilateralism, as well as an appreciation for the diversity and richness of world cultures, were at the core of our founding. Today, new forces—transnational networks of violence and security threats, climate change and natural resource scarcity, economic integration across borders, and new forms of global communication—demand an everstronger commitment to, and investment in, our founding values. In the face of unprecedented global risks, those values will provide a solid foundation on which to develop new approaches—to what we teach, how we teach, whom we teach, and even where we teach. Our mission calls us to educate leaders with a deep connection to the Jesuit value of service, and both the commitment and skills to confront the world’s challenges. In meeting that mission, we will benefit from our rich history, expert faculty, and enduring values—and build on those strengths
through ambitious investments in faculty and curriculum, learning experiences, global reach, and physical space.
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How will we teach the disciplines of the 21st Century?
Deploy a faculty that breaks boundaries to find new solutions. To redefine the modern study and practice of international affairs, we need leadership and expertise that reflect the new forces shaping our global order. That means a faculty that cuts across disciplines, employs new technologies, and partners with innovators across all realms.
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We have an opportunity—and an oblig that will redefine foreign service
Science and technology
Business and global affairs
CHALLENGE
CHALLENGE
Scientific and technological innovation
The private sector has a significant
are transforming modern society.
role in reshaping the global landscape,
We need leaders equally conversant
sparking the worldwide integration of
in science and global issues, who can
economies, markets, and policies.
take informed, ethical actions for the benefit of their companies and organizations, their countries, and the world.
OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNITY With your support, we can give the next generation of business and government leaders a truly integrated training in global affairs and global
With your support, we can enrich
business through Georgetown’s first
SFS’s Science, Technology and
joint undergraduate degree, offered by
International Affairs (STIA) program
SFS and the McDonough School
and attract the distinguished,
of Business.
academically diverse faculty central to its impact.
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gation—to engage with the challenges for the next century, specifically:
Human development and poverty reduction
Culture, religion, and the narrative arts
CHALLENGE
CHALLENGE
New global crises and their
In this time of increased conflict and
aftermaths require that organizations
misunderstanding between peoples
and governments mount development-
and cultures, there’s an urgent need
specific responses that are nimble,
to bridge differences and to humanize
integrated, and comprehensive.
international affairs.
OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNITY
With your support, we can build on
With your support, we can explore
premier programs in global human
and engage with global cultures
development and refugee and
through new programs that use
migration studies to broaden the range
performance, arts, narrative, and
of fieldwork opportunities available
cultural diplomacy to break down
for incoming students, attract and
barriers to understanding.
retain world-class scholars and educators, and further solidify Georgetown’s role as a convener on these critical issues.
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How will we prepare students to take on global problems?
Give them a lab to study and address real-world issues. Climate change, migration, terrorism: these multifaceted problems won’t improve without leaders who know how to integrate theory and practice across disciplines.
Recognizing that new challenges
These labs cut across conventional
require a new way of learning, SFS
disciplines. They employ partnerships
has introduced a suite of innovative
and design thinking to spur innovation.
courses—the Centennial Labs—
They take students to the field to
designed around real-world problems.
observe and test solutions. Centennial Labs redefine what a classroom can be.
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Inside a Centennial Lab: Addressing drought in Maharashtra, India Through this studio-based course, operated in partnership with the government of Maharashtra, students designed, prototyped, and implemented solutions to one of India’s critical development problems: drought. PROBLEMDRIVEN LEARNING
The course challenged students to develop feasible solutions
MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEACHING TEAMS
The class was team-taught by an environmental scientist
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to the complex problem of drought in Maharashtra, following deep analysis of the nature and context of the problem.
and a South Asian politics expert, partnering with a design specialist and stakeholders on the ground in India.
COHORT EXPERIENCES
Students worked in groups, mentored by experts from international organizations and NGO partners to identify specific aspects of the drought they would focus on, develop expertise in, and attempt to solve.
PRACTICAL EXERCISES
Lab assignments were hands-on, delving into the science of
FIELDWORK
Students traveled to Mumbai to test their solutions. They met
drought and designing politically feasible solutions.
small-scale farmers, visited large-scale industrial agricultural hubs, and engaged with activists. They presented their findings to the chief minister of Maharashtra. With your support, Centennial Labs will become
the signature experience of an SFS education. We hope every undergraduate will have the opportunity to participate in a Centennial Lab addressing actual problems from around the world.
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How will we fulfill a truly global aspiration?
Make the SFS student body a global hub.
At SFS, global diversity and global experience are at the very core of our learning environment. SFS has built a reputation as America’s first truly global school. By bringing together students from all over the world, we develop leaders who understand the impact of their decisions in a global context. But to maintain that position, we need to attract a more socioeconomically diverse pool of global students. And we need to ensure that all SFS students incorporate a global experience into their education. WALSH SCHOOL OF FOREIGN SERVICE | 13
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A student body that reflects our world What will it take to compete at the highest level? We must increase our capacity to provide financial aid for accepted students—especially international students—in graduate and undergraduate programs. Making SFS accessible and affordable is crucial as we work to convene and connect people from diverse places, backgrounds, and experiences. With your support, SFS will be able to attract the very best, most internationally diverse
undergraduate and graduate student body in the world.
An immersive global experience for every student To fulfill its mission, SFS must graduate students who are acutely aware of, and deeply engaged with, the world’s challenges. We seek to give every undergraduate SFS student the opportunity to participate in a mentored, on-the-ground global experience. Whether that’s interning at the UN Refugee Agency in Beirut, studying at National Taiwan Normal University, or researching Catalan national identity in Barcelona, global experiences are essential to producing leaders ready to effect real-world change. With your support, we can integrate a global experience into the program of every SFS undergraduate student.
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How will we deliver the nation’s most ambitious international affairs education?
Create spaces that enrich and inspire. SFS’s home—the Edward B. Bunn, S.J., Intercultural Center—is the heart of civic life on Georgetown’s campus, benefiting students from schools and programs across the university. But SFS’s home needs to do more. It needs to facilitate and reflect our new model of teaching and learning. It needs to become an iconic space in the world’s most important city, where leaders and thinkers tackle our most pressing global problems. It needs to unify and inspire our campus around Georgetown’s global ambitions.
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To fulfill SFS’s ambitions, we will...
Create common spaces for informal learning and community building
Establish an iconic convening space showcasing the Washington, D.C., skyline
Renovate our classroom space to create up to 40 flexible, tech-enabled teaching rooms
Unite Georgetown’s global programs under one roof—and ensure they have space to grow
Reimagine and expand faculty space to facilitate collaboration
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We seek to create inspiring, functional spaces at the heart of the university and the nation’s capital— classrooms and shared spaces that energize our work and enrich the SFS experience. Your support will be
instrumental as we look
to expand and, ultimately, reimagine our home.
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Inspiring new generations in service to the world has never been more important. Thank you for your support. The generosity of our alumni and friends has been essential to the success of SFS’s first century, and now we set our sights on the opportunities ahead. Philanthropic support will make this vision possible.
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To learn more about these priorities and the
difference your gift could make, please contact us at sfsgiving@georgetown.edu.