USILD system offers a wide range of co-curricular activities, focusing on leadership, professional skills, and expertise, which complement and enhance what students learn in the classroom. Co-curricular activities are intended to encourage USILD students explore interests both within and beyond their fields of study by attending a variety of offered clinics and lectures.
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Clinics
Clinics are a vital part of the USILD co-curriculum. These sessions focus on a single skill or topic that is vital to practitioners in the field of international relations. Some clinics are concentration-specific, while others explore subjects that are relevant to students across multiple concentrations. USILD recruits subject-matter experts to teach the clinics through hands-on training sessions incorporating current and relevant material. Previous clinics include a UN communications clinic, in which leaders from USILD partner UN helped students to hone the communication skills essential to leadership in international affairs, and a Civil Rights Movement clinic designed for students interested in ethical leadership, human rights, democratic reform, nonviolent resistance, social movements, and conflict resolution.
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Practitioners in Residence
The Practitioners in Residence initiative promotes interactions between USILD students and leading practitioners in international affairs in order to advance students’ professional development. Every year, leading professionals in global affairs are selected to be USILD Practitioners in Residence. These Practitioners mentor students and offer career guidance and advice through activities such as skills clinics, seminars, and career sessions.
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Lectures and Other Events
Smaller events are regularly held on campus for USILD students to attend outside of the classroom. Faculty and staff invite prominent practitioners and academic experts to speak on topics of regional and global importance. Lectures also include more informal conversations with practitioners, where leading professionals in international affairs discuss their work with USILD students.
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Career Development Activities
MSFS prepares its students to become not only academic experts in their international fields of interest but also experienced practitioners . Both co-curricular and extracurricular activities are designed to equip students with knowledge and skills that can be applied over a lifetime. Click here to learn more about career development activities.