Many prospective students express interest in becoming involved in research as part of their graduate school experience. This post is the first in a series that will focus on the research centers at the Ford School and how their work is relevant to our students.

The International Policy Center (IPC) has recently expanded both their staff and their activities. Professor John Ciorciari is the faculty director of IPC and brings an impressive resume with him. His research interests include international law and politics in the Global South, particularly in Asia. He has been a National Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, and a Shorenstein Fellow at Stanford’s Asia-Pacific Research Center. He is also part of the inaugural class of Andrew Carnegie Fellows.

This past year two new staff members joined IPC. Cliff Martin is the Global Engagement Program Manager. He leads IPC’s efforts to help design, manage, and support international policy courses at the Ford School, as well as related events and co-curricular programs. He also helps lead IPC initiatives to foster interdisciplinary research, cultivate strong ties to international policy practitioners, and develop opportunities and resources for students.

Zuzana Wisely is the Administrative Coordinator. She serves as the lead event planner for IPC’s major events, seminars and conferences and she is the Ford School travel administrator for Public Policy courses with an experiential learning component that require traveling abroad.

Two areas of work for IPC that involve large numbers of Ford School students are the International Economic Development Program (IEDP), which takes a group of students to a developing country and internship funding support for masters’ students pursuing an internship abroad.

The addition of these two new roles has given IPC the ability to add other types of exciting programming to their schedule. The Center just hosted a policy simulation exercise on diplomacy related to North Korea. They are also planning a second simulation related to conflict resolution for the winter semester.

IPC also hosts two seminar series, one related to international security issues and the other to international economic development.  These seminars are open to students. If you are interested in learning more about the work of the International Policy Center, you should definitely visit their website.