the Washington Semester Program

The Seven Year Ache

2008-09-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

A bench at the Pentagon Memorial commemorates U.S. Navy Electronics Technician Brian Moss, who lost his life in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Each of the 184 benches is inscribed with the name of either Pentagon employee or a passenger on American Airlines Flight 77 who perished in the attack.

The Seven Year Ache
By: Elizabeth Findell

After stepping off of a yellow-line train at the Pentagon Metro station on the evening of September 11, 2008, a quick-footed businessman paused, took out a camera and snapped a photo of the newly updated station entrance sign. The sign had arrows to the yellow and blue Metro lines, the bus terminal and, in fresh lettering, the Pentagon Memorial.
On the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the first on-site memorial opened along the rebuilt side of the Pentagon. At the spot where the hijacked American Airlines jet crashed and claimed 184 victims, 184 benches, perched above lighted pools of water, will provide a permanent site for reflection.
New York architects Julie Beckman and Keith Kaseman, who personally witnessed the World Trade Center attacks, designed the memorial after a panel selected their vision from over 1,000 idea submissions. Construction began in the summer of 2006. Family members, Pentagon survivors and donors all worked together to create the memorial around the theme “Remember, Reflect, Renew.”
Bill Wing traveled over 2,000 miles to contribute to that effort. Wing is a member of Healing Field, a project of the Colonial Flag American flag company of Sandy, Utah, that creates commemorative “flag fields.” Wing said he drove more than 3,000 flags across the country in a rented truck to set up the Pentagon Memorial flag field. Since 9/11, according to Wing, Healing Field has established more than 200 flag fields around the country.
In the parking lot “field” in front of the entrance to the memorial, a flag for each of the nearly 3,000 9/11 victims waved
in the breeze. One hundred eighty four of them bore blue ribbons and the names of Pentagon victims.
Wing said that at the end of the night he would pack up all of the flags and drive them back to Utah. Most of them will be sold and the proceeds donated to the memorial. The 184 Pentagon flags, however, will be packaged and sent to victims’ families.
Wing said that he didn’t mind the long drive or the hard work involved in arranging the display.
“My mission was focused: get the flags here,” he said.
The flag field at the entrance to the Pentagon Memorial greeted families and other invited guests at the dedication ceremony that marked the official opening of the site on the seventh anniversary of 9/11. The memorial opened to the public that evening at 7:00 p.m., bringing diverse crowds together in common remembrance.
The memorial itself consists of a stainless steel and marble bench for every individual killed, each reaching above a lit pool of water. A victim’s name is inscribed into the end of every bench. The benches are organized in lines according to the age of the victim. The wall along the edge of the memorial rises incrementally from three inches, the age of the youngest victim, to 71 inches, the age of the oldest. Benches are positioned so that someone reading the name of a victim aboard the doomed flight is facing the sky, while someone reading the name of a Pentagon victim is facing the building.
The front edge of the wall is formed by limestone from the portion of the Pentagon that was attacked. An inscription reads: “September 11, 2001 9:37 A.M.” The large vertical stone in front of the wall reads in part: “We will never forget.”
One woman pushed a stroller through the benches, trying to explain to a wide-eyed little girl why they were there. “And then it ran into the building and the whole thing blew up,” she said, urging the next generation not to forget what had happened.
A man wearing a t-shirt reading “Ray” and carrying a large flag stopped to survey the bench of the youngest child killed, three-year-old Dana Falkenberg. A single pink rose lay on the bench, and a stuffed dog sat in front of it. The man exclaimed in sadness that he remembered seeing the child’s picture at a memorial event, and asked someone to take his photo with the flag next to the bench. He then hurried through the crowd, encouraging visitors to pass around what he said is the most held flag in America.
The man, Ray DeFrees, is a retired military vet who sported a red, white and blue outfit as well as a fannypack with water and a sitting pad. He said he bought the flag after 9/11 and then carried it in the first Marine Corps marathon that took place after the attacks. DeFrees said he took the flag to the first event on a whim, but found that it had such an impact on the runners and spectators that he decided to continue the practice to help strengthen the bonds of patriotism.
“It’s just a good thing to do, people respond to it,” he said. “You know, the oldest person to carry this flag was 94, the oldest woman to carry it across a finish line in a race was 85, and the youngest person to hold it with help was 18 months.”
DeFrees was only one of many visitors that wandered through the rows of benches. Men in military uniform mingled with men sporting Harley Davidson club insignia. A woman in a modest skirt and a headscarf walked arm-in-arm with a designer-clad blonde. A man in a blindingly neon bicycle suit hurried past another in a New York Fire Department t-shirt. Uniformed flight attendants placed ribbon rosettes on the benches honoring airline employees.
When the memorial dedication orchestra started playing the Star Spangled Banner, every person present froze to face a three-story flag draped over the side of the Pentagon. Hands over their hearts, they stood in silence, listening to the anthem mingle with jet noise as a landing plane ducked behind the building, an eerie reminder of the events seven years earlier.
Photographers scrambled to catch the moment when a toddler climbed playfully behind a framed picture that a woman and two teenagers had just placed on the bench of Navy Electronics Technician Brian A. Moss.
“Sailor,” the woman scolded, “be careful, get down.”
The child refused, to the delight of the clustered photographers. The little girl named Sailor pranced atop the memorial bench of a man who had been designated Washington’s “Sailor of the Year” the year he died. Teenage members of the girl’s family rolled their eyes and laughed.
“We don’t know her,” the teenagers snickered.
The woman, Mary Lou, explained that Brian Moss was her husband and that the little girl, Sailor—who had been up since dawn for the morning service—thought the benches were slides. As Mary Lou spelled the names of the older children for the press, her expression softened. The teenagers, she said, were only five and seven at the time of the attacks.
“I can’t believe it’s been seven years,” she added. “It’s like you blink and . . . . It was yesterday.”

2008-09-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

The Newseum, recently opened on Pennsylvania Avenue, houses a piece of the wreckage recovered from the World Trade Center in New York following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Photo by Stephen Rintoul

Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism and co-author of The Elements of Journalism, addresses the Washington Semester journalism students.

Photo by Stephen Rintoul

Students visit the Washington Hilton, site of John Hinckley's 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.

Photo by Stephen Rintoul

Former U.S. Ambassador Thomas Pickering addresses a packed hall of Washington Semester students. Pickering's lecture focused on foreign policy priorities for the next administration.

Photo by Stephen Rintoul

Investigative reporter and author Scott Armstrong speaks with student Bianca Zawadiak after addressing Washington Semester students. Armstrong’s talk focused on his experience with the Watergate investigation, the current financial crisis, and efforts to improve government transparency.

Photo by Carsten Buesing

Mike Chinoy, former CNN foreign correspondent and author of the book Meltdown: The Inside Story of the North Korean Nuclear Crisis, after meeting with Washington Semester journalism students.

Photo by Carsten Buesing

CBS News national security correspondent David Martin, right, answers questions from student Florian Linz after meeting with Washington Semester journalism students.

Photo by Carsten Buesing

Welcome to the Foreign Policy Program!

2008-08-14T13:30:00.002-07:00

This season will be a thrilling time to be in Washington, D.C., and the city will be positively electric as the inauguration of a new president is held.

We have a terrific semester planned and I’d like to take a moment to tell you about it. As a student on the Washington Semester in U.S. Foreign Policy, you will engage experts and policymakers in exploring the key issues facing the United States in the years ahead: coping with soaring dependence on foreign sources of energy, managing environmental degradation, balancing the benefits and risks posed by economic globalization, and confronting international terrorism.

You’ll also meet with members of Congress, such as Senators Richard Lugar and Russ Feingold, high-ranking National Security Council and White House staff, State Department officials, foreign ambassadors, and distinguished members of the news media. These aren’t mere photo ops; you’ll have the chance to discuss the complex and urgent foreign policy issues that impact your life and your future.

The Washington Semester Program does not give you a front-row seat to debates on the future of the U.S. role in world affairs—it makes you a party to the discussion. This is not the time to sit on the sidelines.

All the best,

John Calabrese
Assistant Professor of International Relations

and

Christian Maisch
Assistant Professor of International Relations

Welcome to Public Law!

2008-08-14T13:30:00.001-07:00

The main objective of this seminar is for students to develop a comprehensive understanding of the institutions through which the U.S. Government makes choices through law on behalf of the American people. We will examine some of these choices by:

Expanding you knowledge of the structures, rules and processes of the major policy making and interpretive institutions of the U.S. Government.

Expanding your knowledge of the interrelationship of those institutions.

Expanding your knowledge of the non-governmental influences on public law and policy.

Examining several major areas of public law and their effect on the American people and the institutions which created them.

Debating within the seminar public policy questions.

The course will be divided into two major sections. In part I we will examine the institutions, both governmental and non governmental, which comprise the public law making system and in part II we will examine some major areas of public law, many of which have generated great controversy.

Part I will study in detail the myriad parts of the public law making system – the legislative role of Congress, the Executive branch’s role in policy formulation and execution, the usually overlooked but crucial administrative agency rule making and regulation promulgation processes, the role of non governmental groups and, of course, the judicial review function of the courts. Part II will focus on numerous substantive areas of public law including civil liberties and rights. The selection of which will based, in part, upon the concern or interests of the students. The specific areas we will consider will depend on current events, the availability of speakers on topics of interest and the overall importance of the topic.

We will meet in small groups with Members of Congress and former Members. We will meet with a number of people who either were policy makers or worked with them outside of the legislative branch. You will get an inside view of how the system really works. Each seminar will be different, and they will include class debates, mock legislative markups and attendance at legislative, judicial and regulatory meetings.

I hope you will join us for an exciting semester of seminars and interning.

Professor Dan Freeman

Welcome to International Business!

2008-08-14T13:19:00.000-07:00

Starting Spring, 2009, our program will include a unique three-week seminar in the Indian subcontinent.Your travel to India and Bangladesh will be part of an intensive 14-week immersion-learning program at Washington Semester that provides future entrepreneurs and leaders the analytical skills and real-world exposure to a rapidly changing global environment.

For centuries considered an exotic land of deep mysticism and spiritual wisdom, India in the 21^st century has placed herself at the epicenter of Thomas Friedman’s“flat world”. As India, along with China, transforms herself, the resulting reverberations are upending existing economic, political, and social environments – national and global. And the existing international framework of rules favored by the West–for trade, investments, security, and the environment – is increasingly being challenged. The collapse of the WTO-sponsored Doha trade negotiations in Geneva last month -- an outcome that was explicitly attributed to the veto power exercised by India, and supported by China -- is only the most recent illustration of the challenge posed by the economic rise of these two giants. The hope that the forces of globalization could be managed within a multilateral setting, anchored by a shared set of values and goals, may no longer be a realistic one. At the same time, the opening of India and China to the global market provides tremendous opportunities to the rest of the world – for prosperity, innovation, knowledge, and progress.Yet, these developing countries have to content with multiple challenges that affect us all – including global warming, poverty, the rise of Islamic extremism, food & energy security, etc.

What does all this mean for those future entrepreneurs and leaders amongst you who will need to act in an increasingly globalized world? As an investor in these emerging markets how would you evaluate country specific risks for your business? And how much could you rely on the various multilateral forums, market instruments, and global or bilateral enforcement mechanisms to lower your risks and protect your returns? Or, as an NGO, what would you expect in terms of agreement on common goals with like-minded partners in these countries? The slogan, “think global, act local” really means that as globalization increases, your ability to act will increasingly depend on the extent of your “local knowledge” – i.e. of the countries and people you will need to engage with. One cannot hope to engage with India and China merely through international forums and treaties – the U.N., WTO, Kyoto, etc. These countries will need to be understood on their own terms – their history, the values their people uphold, the changes being experienced, and their expectations for the future. Such local knowledge is crucial if you are to gain a better understanding of the opportunities and problems that globalization presents.

This unique study tour will widen the already significant opportunities that Washington Semester offers you for exposure to prominent entrepreneurs, key policy makers, and scholars at the various think tanks, multinational corporations, US federal agencies, NGOs, lobbyists and multilateral institutions in the US capital. Your visits to the main urban centers in India --Delhi, Bombay, and Bangalore will include a two-day stay at the Infosys campus – India’s largest IT company; a seminar with India’s WTO negotiators in Delhi; and discussions with the chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd., India’s largest industrial house.We will also visit Bangladesh’s capital city of Dhaka,where you will meet with progressive leaders and institutions that maintain a liberal outlook, strong entrepreneurial culture, and have been at the forefront of the microfinance revolution.

I am enclosing for your perusal a more detailed description of our travel program. If you are willing to be challenged and looking to be inspired, you should enroll in the program early as there is limited space available on our inaugural visit to the Indian subcontinent. If you have any questions on the program, please do not hesitate to contact my colleagues or me at Washington Semester.

With best wishes,

Nimai Mehta

Welcome to International Environment and Devlopment!

2008-08-14T13:16:00.000-07:00

Our class will provide opportuniteis to consider international affairs, environmental studies, and international development from both theoretical and real-world perspectives. This experiential education program emphasizes hands-on learning through a semester long internship, guest speakers from a variety of DC based organizations, and a three week travel experience to an African country.

While in DC you will have the opportunity to

* interact with key people and key organizations in Washington, DC (from the World Bank to the World Wildlife Fund to the U.S. Congress) who devote their lives to environmental and development issues

* travel to Africa for three weeks with your class to meet with people on the ground, see incredible destinations, learn about cultures and history, and come face to face with real world challenges abroad

* intern (2 days per week) at any number of organizations or agencies, including the U.S. Congress, Environmental Protecti on Agency, Amazon Alliance, Center for Global Development, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and many more; and

* gain a wide network of contacts while in Washington DC and while overseas to help guide you as you begin to consider careers and job opportunities after college.

As a great number of Washington Semester Program former students have commented, this semester has changed their lives and has not only opened up a wide range of new possibilities and perspectives, but has also inspired them to pursue careers in international environmental affairs, international development, and international policy in general.

If you would like more information, please feel free to contact me at heckel@american.edu. I look forward to hearing from you.

Dr. Heather Heckel

Assistant Professor, American University

Welcome to the Journalism Program!

2008-08-14T13:08:00.000-07:00

Our program offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of press and politics in the nation’s capital. We are happy to report that there has been a strong response from students like you representing colleges and universities around the world who are signing on to be part of this unique learning experience at the oldest and most comprehensive experiential journalism program in the United States.

The Washington Journalism Semester curriculum focuses on print and broadcast reporting and routinely attracts some of the most prominent names in the field. Among the media personalities who regularly participate in the program are Bob Schieffer from CBS, Sam Donaldson from ABC, legendary White House columnist Helen Thomas, former presidential press secretary Ari Fleischer and Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, who steered his newspaper’s coverage of Watergate that pioneered the modern field of investigative journalism.

You will also meet the newest and hippest stars behind the ascent of ESPN, MTV and the finest political blogs. And that’s not all: Washington Journalism Students are routinely tapped to be part of the live audiences for both local broadcasts and CNN shows.

You will also sit in the Supreme Court of the United States and witness an oral argument before the Justices; tour the press quarters of the Pentagon and the White House; set sail on the Chesapeake Bay for a spectacular day of outdoor education, studying environmental journalism with experts from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. You will create a newspaper of your own, The Tenley Times, and script and shoot a class film.

Participants in our program spend two days a week in professional journalism internships. In years past, students have worked in a diverse and exciting range of jobs, including stints with Chris Matthews of MSNBC-Hardball, with Tim Russert of NBC's Meet The Press, with Face The Nation, ESPN, National Geographic as well as in the press offices of senators and congressional representatives.

The heart of journalism -- breaking news -- is centered right here in Washington, and my colleagues and I will usher you to ringside seats to witness the most important news events and newsmakers of our times. Skills and contacts acquired during your 14-week stay will provide the solid backbone for future success in the field of communications. This semester in Washington will change your life.

Hope to see you in Washington!
Professor Iris Kransnow & David Armstrong

Welcome to the Contemporary Islam Program!

2008-08-14T13:06:00.000-07:00

The Contemporary Islam program offers you a unique opportunity to learn about a spectrum of issues and key concerns in the Muslim world today, directly from the nation's leading experts and advocacy organizations. If you have an interest in international affairs, the Arab and Muslim world, U.S foreign policy and diplomacy, culture, religion, grassroots and community advocacy, and Middle Eastern, South and Southeast Asian history and politics, then this program is for you. No where else in the world can you get a first-rate learning experience that combines inside access to the world's most influential organizations, internship experience, interactive lectures in the classroom, as well as three weeks' travel in the Middle East.

The Contemporary Islam semester experience gives students an opportunity to:

- go behind the scenes to understand the forces and dynamics shaping the Muslim world today from top scholars, activists and civil society leaders,

- interact with key people and key organizations in Washington, DC (from the State Department and the U.S. Congress, to Muslim human rights leaders and Al Jazeera journalists) who focus on key issues in the Muslim world;

- travel to Egypt and Jordan for three weeks with your class to see some of the world's greatest ancient wonders and Islamic art and architecture today, meet with civil society and government groups, come face to face with real world challenges abroad, and experience different cultures first hand;

- intern (2-3 days per week) at any number of organizations or agencies, including the U.S. Congress, Arab American Institute, Council of American-Islamic Relations, American-Islamic Congress, Muslim Public Affairs Committee, New America Foundation, Rumi Forum, the Salam Institute for Peace and Justice, and many more; and

- gain a wide network of contacts and experiences while in Washington DC and while overseas to help guide you as you begin to consider professional opportunities after college.

This program will equip you with the knowledge and insights needed to move ahead on your career track, or open yourself to new perspectives at this crucial time in your life as you contemplate a future career in international relations, diplomacy, national security, civil society advocacy and international policy in general.

Professor Lynn Kunkle
Washington Semester Program

Welcome to International Law and Organizations!

2008-08-14T13:05:00.000-07:00

Dear Future Leaders,

International Law has evolved dramatically in the past century and is constantly changing in a globalized world. New nations are born, new treaties are negotiated and signed, multinational entities are created, and human rights are more important than ever before. Yet, did you ever wonder how the European Union came into existence, how treaties are made, who enforces international law, or what it would be like working for the United Nations or World Bank?

The International Law and Organizations Seminar at the Washington Semester Program was created not only to answer those questions but also to help you understand the dynamics of the international legal system and its major players from firsthand experience. Throughout the semester, you will meet diplomats, judges, international law attorneys, human right activists, and scholars who have devoted their careers and lives to understanding and improving the legal system of today’s interdependent world. You will, also, have an opportunity to visit and learn more about international organizations based in Washington DC, New York, Geneva, France, Brussels, and the Netherlands.

This seminar will first give you a theoretical overview of international law and its major players. We will explore the creation of international norms and how they relate to domestic laws. We will examine contemporary issues in international law such as use of force, tribunals for former Yugoslavian and Rwandan leaders, the treatment of terrorist suspects, the protection of biodiversity around the world, human trafficking, and how disputes between the states are resolved. The seminar will enhance your analytical skills and provide you with a better understanding of the challenges faced by those who want to enforce the law of nations.

Then, this seminar makes theory concrete with exciting travel. At the beginning of the semester, we will venture into the world of international organizations in New York City to visit headquarters of the United Nations. During this trip, we will meet with United Nations officials, lunch in the Delegate’s Dining Room, and attend lectures. This will be followed by two weeks of travel to Geneva, Strasbourg, Brussels, and the Netherlands where we will learn firsthand about international law and how non-governmental organizations influence it. This trip will also provide you an opportunity to observe enforcement of international law at the International Criminal Tribunals in The Hague. Our adventure in Europe will allow you to meet officials of the UN organizations in Geneva, European Union diplomats, NATO officials, scholars, and human rights activists.

This rich program will challenge your ideas in today’s changing world from many different perspectives and it may even sway you into pursuing a career in the field of International Law. We hope to see you next semester!

Iwetta Pyc
Assistant Professor

Welcome to Peace and Conflict Resolution!

2008-08-14T13:02:00.000-07:00

Dear Peacemakers,

The road from war to peace is a puzzling one and for those who struggle along it, it is seldom clear where and when the journey will come to an end. Have you ever wondered

- what are the problems encountered by protagonists attempting to achieve a cessation of violence?

- what role third parties (negotiators, mediators) can play in trying to persuade antagonists to stop fighting and come to the negotiation table?

- what does it take to promote truth, trauma healing and reconciliation in war-torn and deeply divided communities?

We are embarking on a semester-long academic journey together during which you will acquire new knowledge and lasting life experiences. You will meet top leaders, diplomats, negotiators, and ordinary people who have devoted considerable time to bringing peace to the conflict we will unfold; and you will learn what it is like to live in a contested society. You will meet people who have suffered profoundly: some have emerged from these experiences with determination to make sure such things will not happen again. You will begin to find your own place within that community of peacemakers and peacebuilders that is so much needed in this world.

The seminar is the core component of the International Peace and Conflict Resolution Program (IPCR) and is the equivalent of two courses (eight credits). The seminar will provide you with analytical skills in investigating the dynamics and modalities of international and deep-rooted social and identity-type conflicts. It includes a theoretical overview of contemporary conflict resolution perspectives and approaches developed during the post-WWII, post-Cold War and post-September 11 eras. It examines the role and impact of third party interveners (such as mediators, negotiators and others) in bringing former enemies to the table and eventually assisting them towards transforming their relationships. It provides you with multiple lenses to understand and analyze the decision-making procedures of the parties during various phases of escalation, de-escalation and termination (peacekeeping, peacemaking, peace-building and sustainable reconciliation). We will be looking at exemplary case studies of efforts to terminate conflict and negotiate for peace, such as the cases of Sudan, Sri Lanka, Rwanda, Northern Ireland, and Colombia, in addition to the case studies of Bosnia and Cyprus that we visit every semester.

A three week travel experience to Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia (Fall semester) and Cyprus, Greece and Turkey (Spring semester) will provide you with a firsthand experience in understanding the various peacemaking and peacebuilding dynamics of long-term and sustainable peace and reconciliation among former enemies. The trip provides you with excellent opportunities to meet with top political leaders from all sides of the conflict, including briefings by United Nations and European Union diplomats, academics, researchers and ordinary citizens whose lives have been affected in conflict zones.

You will learn from their perspectives how various roadblocks en route to peace have constrained their efforts for a political settlement and reconciliation. Above all, your fresh ideas as conflict analysts and prospective peacebuilders are needed in Bosnia and Cyprus, as well as in other parts of the world, and in your own communities, to help find the way forward for people in their quest to better understand one another and coexist peacefully.

Peace,

Eleftherios A. Michael

Welcom to Transforming Communities!

2008-08-14T12:59:00.000-07:00

I’m excited that you’re interested in joining a wonderful group of students in an exploration of issues critical to communities and the public policies which impact communities. Transforming Communities explores education, families, work, housing and community development at the grassroots level, where individuals and organizations offer creative programs to improve life at the community level, where exciting and dynamic change is happening all the time. At the same time, we learn about how government – from the federal to the local level – is involved in strengthening communities.

The Transforming Communities Semester will introduce you to:

Policymakers who impact our lives at the community level. These include members of Congress and the courts, federal, state and local government officials, and influential advocacy group leaders;

Influential national leaders who have changed our community landscape at the national level – people like Robert Egger, founder to DC Central Kitchen and the Nonprofit Congress, Congressman John Lewis, leader in the Civil Rights Movement, Robert Rector, architect of welfare reform, and Jim Wallis, evangelical leader and founder of Sojourners and Call to Renewal;

Inspirational grassroots leaders and programs that have transformed communities and people at the local level. They may or may not have names that you recognize, but you will remember them.

You will also:

Intern (2 days per week) at any number of organizations or agencies, including the U.S. Congress, US agencies like Health and Human Services and Education, nationaladvocacy and activist groups, media outlets, and local organizations involved in a field of your choice (such as education, health care, immigration, and faith-based efforts). Our students have interned in an amazing variety of places. You will gain a wide network of contacts to help guide you as you begin to consider careers and job opportunities after college. These include Transforming Communities alumni who are engaged in activities of all kinds.

Spend time in Washington, DC – one of the most fascinating and beautiful cities in the country, and indeed the world.

Engage with classmates and other students in the Washington Semester. You will learn so much from them.

As a great number of students have commented, Transforming Communities has changed their lives and provided them guidance as they go forward from college into graduate school and/or careers.

If you would like to find out more information on this semester or similar courses offered through American University’s Washington Semester Program, please visit us at the course page at: www.transformingcommunities.net or call to receive more information: 1-800-424-2600.

Hope to see you in D.C.!

Professor Katharine Kravetz

Welcome to the Justice Program!

2008-08-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

The Justice Semester Program has consistently been one of the most popular programs of the Washington Semester. Students are exposed to a variety of criminal justice professionals who are at the cutting edge of their fields. The most compelling issues in law enforcement, courts and the adjudicatory process, corrections, capital punishment, and a vast array of civil liberties related issues such as: first amendment, second amendment, fourth and eighth amendments are presented to students utilizing both sides of the arguments. Students engage each other and the seminar speakers in provocative and lively discussions and debates.

Whether they hear from the director of the Federal Witness Protection Program, the Director of the Metropolitan Police Department’s Cold Case Analysis Unit, The U.S. Capitol Police Chief, the crime scene investigator of the Mobile Crime Lab, the topics are always timely, lively and exciting. Oftentimes, a trip is planned to the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia where the students hear from a lead behavioral profiler who also writes for the television program, Criminal Minds.

The Courts segment is spent court watching at Superior Court, U.S .District Court, and observing oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court. One semester, students observed the sentencing of presidential advisor, Gordon (Scooter) Libby. At each of these venues students hear from U.S. Attorneys,, public defenders., judges, victims’ rights advocates, culminating with a seminar with one of the Supreme Court Justices.

The Corrections and Capital Punishment unit are spent on site visits to various correctional institutions, culminating in the visit to the death chamber and death row the Penitentiary in Baltimore, Maryland. Subsequently, the death penalty debate between experts who are proponents and opponents of capital punishment leaves little doubt to the student to formulate their own positions on the subject.

As the semester draws to a close, the gun control issue is examined at length with a planned visit to the National Rifle Association in Virginia, and the Sarah Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The first amendment religion clause is also marked by a lively debate between representatives of the ACLU and the religious right. Time permitting, juvenile justice, trafficking in women and children, and restorative justice bring the semester to a close.

Furthermore, during the remaining two days of the week, students intern at a variety of sites. Some of these are: Department of Justice, Office of Homeland Security, the courts, the public defender, the U.S. Attorney, Metropolitan Police Department, cold case analysis. Students also intern at a variety of law firms, Office of the Attorney General, the Anti-Defamation League, the Innocence Project, and a whole host of NGOs.

Hope to see you in Washington!

Welcome to Economic Policy!

2008-08-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

After the presidential and congressional elections are completed this fall, you will see starting in January, the installation of a new U.S. federal government, setting up of new committees in Congress, and the development of new agendas for economic policy. As you know we have many problems to address: the housing crisis, the credit crunch, the addiction to oil, the rising cost of living, and much more. In February, the students will go to the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee to hear Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve System, testify on his semi-annual report on the US economy and monetary policy over the past six months. Our class will have a seminar in the boardroom of the Fed, where interest rate policy is made every six weeks. We also study international economic policy making by the US federal government and by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, by having briefings at their headquarters. We will study the global food crisis, the global energy crisis, and the instability of the international financial system. There is much work to be done and you can be here and see policy makers and policy analysts struggle with these domestic and global problems.
Two days a week, my students have their internships at such places as the Bureau of Economic Analysis, American Enterprise Institute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Bank of America, UBS, Public Citizen, American Express Financial Services, and many more exciting places. This is a special program where you get to test what you learn in your economic classes against the reality of policy and politics in Washington. See the program’s website at www.econ-policy.net We’re going to have a great semester; I hope to see you in D.C.!

Sue Headlee, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Economics

Welcome to American Politics!

2008-08-14T12:24:00.000-07:00

As the senior professor in that program, I hope you will join us in the coming spring semester – it will be an incredible time to be here as a new President is inaugurated and a new Congress begins its work. This is the place to be spring semester.
In the past, my seminar classes have heard from an outstanding group of guest speakers, including people who are involved in the Presidential campaigns, Senators and Representatives, Supreme Court Justices, lobbyists, members of the White House staff, and leaders from the Republican and Democratic National Committees. I would invite you to take advantage of this opportunity to join the seminar and intern here in Washington to help build your future.

Hope to see you in D.C.,
Professor Diane Lowenthal