Archive for March 2014

A full plate next week

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Friday, March 28th, 2014 

 

MONDAY, MARCH 31, 2014

2014 Human Rights Essay Contest Colloquium
12:00 pm to 1:45 pm
International Affairs Building, Room 1302
Presentations by participants in ISHR’s 2014 Human Rights Essay Contest. Each presentation will be followed by Q&A and discussion with students, faculty, and other members of the Columbia University community. Refreshments will be served. Please RSVP.
Sponsor: Institute for the Study of Human Rights

Briefing on Dean’s Public Policy Challenge Grant
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
International Affairs Building, Room 1501
A briefing for students interesting in applying for the SIPA Dean’s Challenge Grant, hosted by Dean Merit E. Janow, Dean, School of International and Public Affairs; Professor, Practice of International Economic Law and International Affairs.
Sponsor: School of International and Public Affairs

SUMASA Sustainability Symposium: If You Lead, Will They Follow?
1:00 pm to 3:30 pm
Casa Italiana
Speakers: Kevin Joseph Bernard, Co-Founder, New York Oyster Week; Satyajit Bose, Lecturer in the Discipline of Economics and Continuing Education, School of Continuing Education, Columbia UniversityTravis Bradford, Director, Energy and Environment Concentration, School of International and Public Affairs, Associate Professor of Professional Practice, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University; Aaron Chan, MSSM Degree Candidate, Columbia University; Jessica Cooper, Project Manager and Sustainability Director, Delos Cooper LLC; Dana Gulley, Community Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator, RiverKeeper; Upmanu Lall, Director, Columbia Water Center, the The Earth Institute, Columbia University, Senior Research Scientist, International Research Institute for Climate and Society, the The Earth Institute, Columbia University, Alan and Carol Silberstein Professor, Earth and Environmental Engineering, Civil Engineering, Engineering Mechanics, Columbia University; Guido Molinari, Chief Executive Officer, Divino; Jessica Prata, Assistant Vice President, Office of Environmental Stewardship, Lecturer, School of Continuing Education, Columbia University; Shruthi Rao, Managing Consultant, Adapt Ready; George Sarrinikolaou, Director, Office of Academic and Research Programs, The Earth Institute, Lecturer, School of Continuing Education, Columbia University; Josh Treuhaft, Analyst: Foresight and Innovation, Arup; Lynnette Widder, Principal and Co-founder of aardvarchitecture, Lecturer, School of Continuing Education, Columbia University
Sponsor: The Student Association for Columbia University’s Master of Science in Sustainability Management

Alec Ross: Geopolitics of Cyber with Anya Schiffrin
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
International Affairs Building, Room 1512
A lecture series with Alec Ross, former Senior Advisor for Innovation to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; and Anya Schiffrin, Director, International Media, Communications, and Advocacy Specialization.
Sponsor: School of International and Public Affairs, International Media, Communications, and Advocacy Specialization

China and the Environment: A Conversation
3:00 pm to 4:30 pm
International Affairs Building, Room 918
A Panel Discussion with Isabel N. Hilton, Editor, Chinadialogue; Micah S. Muscolino, Associate Professor, Department of History, Georgetown University; Peter C. Perdue, Professor, Department of History, Yale University. Moderated by Eugenia Lean, Associate Professor of Chinese History, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University. No registration required.
Sponsor: Weatherhead East Asian Institute

Are Israel’s Policies Justified in Light of the Security Issues it Faces?
7:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Barnard College Diana Center, Event Oval
A debate on Israel’s policies.
Sponsor: Columbia International Relations Council and Association

 

TUESDAY, APRIL 01, 2014

Beijing’s March Westward: Eurasian Energy Pipelines and China
All Day Event
International Affairs Building, Room 1501
Join the Harriman Institute for it’s 8th annual conference, part of the colloquia series, entitled “Eurasian Pipelines – Road to Peace, Development and Interdependencies.”
Sponsor: Harriman Institute

Beyond Open Data: Leveraging Information and Collaboration to Illuminate Trends in Cambodia and Across the Lower Mekong Region
1:00 pm to 2:00 pm
International Affairs Building, Room 801
Terry Parnell, East-West Management Institute – Open Development Cambodia, will discuss her recent paper on open data, leveraging information and collaboration to illuminate development trends in Cambodia and the Mekong Region.
Sponsor Economic and Political Development Concentration

Sustainable Electronics and the Bottom Line
6:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Columbia University Club of New York 15 West 43 Street
An expert panel will discuss sustainability issues surrounding conflict minerals, labor conditions and e-waste, as well as illustrate business cases for electronics companies leading the way in sustainable practices. The discussion will also highlight business opportunities to close the gap in achieving an ethical electronics life cycle.
Sponsor: Sustainable Business Committee, Columbia Business School Alumni Club of New York

SIPA Dean’s Roundtable on Technology, Entrepreneurship, and Urban Innovation
6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
International Affairs Building, Room 1501
A roundtable discussing the application of digital technology and advanced data analytics to foster improvements to urban environments around the world. The event will be hosted by Dean Merit E. Janow of SIPA and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Joe Lonsdale, the co-founder of Palantir and founder of Addepar, among other companies. Panelists include Daniel Doctoroff, CEO and President of Bloomberg LLP and former Deputy Mayor of New York City; Jeffrey Sachs, Director, The The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management; James D. Robinson III, co-founder, RRE Ventures and former CEO, American Express; Patricia Culligan, Professor of Civil Engineering Mechanics, Associate Director, Institute for Data Science and Engineering, and Co-Director, The The Earth Institute’s Urban Design Lab; Carter Cleveland, CEO of Artsy; Zachary Bookman, co-founder and CEO of OpenGov; Rohit Aggarwala, Professor of Professional Practice in International and Public Affairs at SIPA and an expert on urban sustainability.
Sponsor: School of International and Public Affairs

Economic Challenges of the Political Transition in Chile
6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
International Affairs Building, Room 707
Talk and discussion with Ricardo French-Davis, Professor of Economics at the University of Chile.
Sponsor: Economic and Political Development Concentration

Conviction, Conflict, Community: A Conversation with George Rupp
6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Carnegie Council
170 East 64th Street
A conversation with George Rupp, senior fellow at Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs; adjunct Professor of religion, public health, and international affairs at Columbia University; founding principal of NEXT: Network for Executive Transition.
Sponsor: Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs

 

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 02, 2014

The Role of Technology and the Coast Guard in a Constrained Budget Environment
12:15 pm to 2:00 pm
International Affairs Building, Room 1302
Part of the Military Technology Series with Captain Charles Cashin, Coast Guard Military Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations.
Sponsor: Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies

Post-Fukushima Energy Policy of Japan: Role of Nuclear Power
12:30 pm to 2:00 pm
International Affairs Building, Room 1501
Discussion with Nobuo Tanaka, Fellow, Center on Global Energy Policy, and former Executive Director, International Energy Agency.
Sponsor: Center on Global Energy Policy

Vitor Gaspar
2:00 pm to 3:30 pm
International Affairs Building, Room 1512
Vitor Gaspar, Portugal’s former Finance Minister and architect of the country’s €78bn bailout plan.
Sponsor: Center on Global Economic Governance

The Earth Institute Practicum in Innovative Sustainability Leadership: Standards and Metrics for Sustainability
6:10 pm to 7:00 pm
Columbia University, Morningside Campus, Havemeyer Hall, Room 209

Speaker: Cynthia Cummis, Deputy Director, GHG Protocol, World Resources Institute
Sponsor: The Earth Institute

Expanding the Frontiers of Development Thought
6:15 pm to 8:00 pm
International Affairs Building, Room 1501
Join David Malone, Rector of the United Nations University, and José Antonio Ocampo, Professor and Director of Economic and Political Development concentration, for a discussion on expanding the frontiers of development thought.
Sponsor: Economic and Political Development Concentration

Mali One Year On: Building An Enduring Peace Through Stabilization, Reform, and Development
6:30 pm to 8:00 pm
International Affairs Building, Room 1302
Discussion with David Gressly, Deputy Representative of UN Mission in Mali, moderated by Dipali Mukhopadhyay, Assistant Professor, Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia SIPA. Sponsor: ICR Specialization and Center for International Conflict Resolution at Columbia University.

More Clicks, Fewer Bricks: The Lecture Hall is Obsolete
6:45 pm to 8:15 pm
Miller Theater
A debate about online education.
Sponsor: The Richman Center, Intelligence Squared

 

THURSDAY, APRIL 03, 2014

The Democratic Surround: Multimedia and the Politics of Attention in Cold War America
12:00 pm to 1:45 pm
Pulitzer Hall, Room 601B
A talk by Fred Turner, Associate Professor of Communication and Director of the Program in Science, Technology, and Society, Stanford University. Introduction by Richard John, Professor of Communications and History, Columbia University. Sponsored by the Blinken European Institute and the Communications Ph.D. program at the Columbia Journalism School.
Sponsor: Blinken European Institute

The Evolution of Submarine Warfare and Technology
12:15 pm to 2:00 pm
International Affairs Building, Room 1302
The Comparative Defense Studies Program presents the Military Technology Series: Number 11 with Andrea Gilli, Visiting Scholar, Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, and Associate Fellow, European Union Institute for Security Studies.
Sponsor: Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies

Mega Treaties on International Trade and Investment: The Public Policy Implications of the TPP and T-TIP
3:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Uris Hall, Room 142
A panel discussion with Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director, The Earth Institute; Thea Lee, Deputy Chief of Staff, AFL-CIO; and Peter Petri, Carl Shaprio Professor of International Finance, Brandeis University. Moderated by Lise Johnson, Senior Legal Researcher, Investment Law and Policy, Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment.
Sponsor: Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment

Development Workshop: Edward Miguel
4:15 pm to 5:45 pm
International Affairs Building, Room 1101
As part of Columbia University’s Spring 2014 Development Workshop,Ted Miguel, Oxfam Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics at the University of California, Berkeley will present his recent work.
Sponsor: Center for Development Economics and Policy

Why Nations Succeed: The Social, Economic and Legal Building Blocks for Success
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
International Affairs Building, Room 1501
Expert scholars discuss the challenges of poverty and violence and how to tackle these issues and build successful nations.
Sponsor: Center on Global Economic Governance

Book Talk: Buying Time: The Delayed Crisis of Democratic Capitalism by Wolfgang Streeck
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
International Affairs Building, Room 707
A panel with Wolfgang Streeck, author and Director, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies; Adam Tooze, Professor of History, Yale University; Katharina Pistor, Professor of Law, Columbia Law School; Bruce Kogut, Professor Leadership and Ethics, Columbia Business School.
Sponsor: Blinken European Institute

Spring 2014 Conflict Resolution Alumni Career Panel and Mixer
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Grace Dodge Hall, Rooms 177 and 179
Speakers: Various
Sponsor: The Earth Institute

 

FRIDAY, APRIL 04, 2014

Poetry and Translation: A Conversation with Grzegorz Wróblewski and Piotr Gwiazda
4:00 pm to 6:00 pm
International Affairs Building, Room 1219
A poetry reading by Grzegorz Wróblewski. Wróblewski will read in Polish from his new book Kopenhaga. The reading will be followed by a discussion about poetry and translation with Anna Frajlich, Senior Lecturer, Columbia University.
Sponsor: East Central European Center

Categories : News, SIPA
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Another reason to choose SIPA

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Wednesday, March 26th, 2014 

I came across an email while I was searching my inbox for something else and I decided to take a moment to dispel some rumors because there seems to be a lot of misinformation floating around. I know nothing about the specifics of other programs other than what I’ve heard through admitted students, but I do know a thing or two about SIPA.

First off, SIPA Professors are incredibly accessible. Like, amazingly so. In addition to an outstanding ivy league academic faculty, one difference between our Professors and some more remotely located schools is that a lot of our Profs are practitioners as well as lecturers. For example I have taken classes from the preeminent pollster in United States politics, a gender mainstreaming expert at UN Women, a human rights expert for the OECD and UNESCO, an Executive and Ernst and Young, and the Washington Post senior political reporter and those are just off the top of my head. (Keep in mind I focused on gender and domestic elections so you will have the opportunity to interact with the equivalent experts in your field.) Having practitioner professors is a huge advantage both in terms of the networking opportunities and because they can better prepare you for a career in the real world.

That said, all SIPA Professors keep office hours and in my experience are extremely responsive over email even when they are traveling. Obviously this varies from professor to professor but in my experience the faculty at SIPA is not only interested with helping you develop academically through coursework but also in engaging with students on current events, or helping us develop outside projects. For example I  worked with one Professor to get my final paper from her class last year published in an academic journal. Honestly, I have been blown away with the availability and interest level of my professors. Everyone I have met seems genuinely interested in developing their students as their future colleagues. I can only imagine that either I was incredibly lucky or that “inaccessibility” is the kind of rumor that other schools spread because they can’t compete for faculty with the draw of an ivy league institution in New York.

Second, most class sizes are small. The one glaring exception is the Politics and Policy Making (for MPA’s) and Conceptual Foundations (for MIA’s) are plenary sessions for the degree so all first year MPA students take POP and all first year MIA’s take CF. Those also break down into weekly recitations of about 15 students. Other than that core courses tend to have about 20-30 students per section. For example, even though most students take micro econ at the same time, there are several sections for both the 4000 and 6000 level. (Some professors allow you to come to any section that meets that week which is good news if you, like me, are a perpetual late sleeper). All core courses also have recitations, professors office hours and TA office hours. My electives (which are MOST of my courses) have had about 8-15 students per class. Having a bigger school does not mean larger class size, it simply means that a wider variety of electives are offered, which to me is a HUGE ADVANTAGE. Again, giant class size seems to me like a misconception that exists at smaller schools.

We want happy classmates and I don’t want you to come here if SIPA is not the right fit for you, but I also don’t want you to miss out on a SIPA education for the wrong reasons.

 

posted by Nancy Leeds, MPA 2013 alumnae

Categories : Admissions, SIPA
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Capstone in Jordan

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Tuesday, March 25th, 2014 

The SIPA Capstone Project serves to help SIPA students utilize skills they’ve learned in the classroom to deal with real life problems. This year, SIPA partnered up with Better Work/International Finance Corporation and International Labour Organization (ILO) to assess the Better Work Jordan Workers’ Center targeted at garment workers’ in the Al-Hassan Qualified Industrial Zone (QIZ) in Jordan.  What is a QIZ you ask? It’s an enclosed area with factories surrounded by factory-owned dormitories that the migrant workers’ use during their stay in Jordan. Most of the workers never travel outside the QIZ – even when they are there for 3+ years.

The idea of the center came out of need for migrant workers’ to have a stronger sense of community outside their daily life. The center provides recreational activities along with training programs (English and Computer skills).

Our team will be working on collecting data to create a baseline and sustainability study based on its first month since opening.

Day 1/2: Travel

The first two days were brutal. Flying into Jordan takes approximately 15 hours – 12 on the plane and roughly 3 hours layover. We missed our connecting flight from London (Heathrow) to Amman, Jordan. Luckily, we were able to catch the next flight a couple of hours later. After 24 hours on the road, we finally made it to our hotel. Tough day – but well worth the time and effort.

There’s also a six hour difference, you can only begin to imagine the jetlag…

E1

 Day 3: Workers’ Center

After many months of visualizing the center through client class and website information, we finally get to visit the Workers’ Center. The workers’ center is approximately 75mins north of Amman, Jordan. During our van ride, we find out that the workers’ center is open – we are excited to know that we will be able to conduct our first round of interviews during the first day.

We are surprised to find the workers’ center is a lot bigger than we had initially imagined. It has a computer lab with 27 Dell Laptops, a classroom for English Instruction, a kitchen and canteen and a multi-purpose room.

View of the dormitories from Workers’ Center

View of the dormitories from Workers’ Center

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I sat through an English class during the day – most of the students in attendance were from Madagascar. I was impressed by the teaching methods but also by the students’ participation. They were happy to be there and even more excited to be learning a new language so foreign to them.  The students were asked to recite the alphabet, some of them even stood up and sang it! During the class, I noticed that the students were helping each other with the pronunciation of the letters – hardest letter of the alphabet to pronounce in the room “S”.

English class

English class

Day 4: Petra, Jordan

Today is our only day off during our trip. We decided to go to Petra, Jordan! Petra is about a three hour ride south from Amman.

E4 E5 E6 E7

 So many camels!

Day 4: Workers’ Center

We spent the morning in the Better Work office learning more about the programs that they offer besides the Workers’ Center. Better Work does training with factories in different QIZ’s on sexual harassment but also financial literacy training for workers.

In the afternoon, we headed off to the Al-Hassan QIZ. We collected data through our survey and conducted two focus groups with Malagasy workers. The team was able to get useful information for the workers’ center. We will use the surveys and focus group information to get create a report that will help the Workers’ Center with future activities and management.

We also set up some sport games outside the Workers’ Center – some volleyball and soccer.

A pretty good day.  It’s late – better head off to bed.  Thanks for reading.

 

Posted by Eder Gaona, MPA 2014 and just back from the Middle East.  A little snippet from Eder’s capstone trip.

Categories : Meet Seeples, SIPA
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Columbia University Wins at 2014 US Department of Energy Better Buildings Case Challenge

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Friday, March 21st, 2014 

Columbia’s Team Wins “Most Innovative Solution” for First Ever BBCC Solar Case.

On March 14, the US Department of Energy (DOE) hosted the 3rd annual Better Buildings Case Challenge (BBCC), an initiative to engage talent across undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate levels to address some of the nation’s most pressing energy dilemmas related to buildings.  The 2014 competition attracted 44 teams from 27 schools, up from 18 in 2013.

In October, students from Columbia’s International Affairs, Engineering, Business, and Sustainability Management graduate programs applied to fill ten spots to compete on two of six cases for the 2014 BBCC.

After months of preparation, written case reports were submitted weeks ahead of the final competition.  Presentations of case solutions were held at DOE headquarters in Washington, DC, and judged by industry professionals with expertise relating to each case.  Awards were given in two categories – Most Replicable Solution, and Most Innovative Solution.

This was the first year a solar case was given.  The challenge was to present a strategy for an investor owned utility to meet an 18% Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) with a 4% solar energy carve-out by 2023.  Columbia’s team won the Most Innovative Solution award.  Their solution proposed a new rate structure model that resembled a hybrid of two current approaches, time-of-use and real-time pricing.

Congratulations to the winners!

Categories : Academics, News, SIPA
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Things I Considered When I Was A Prospective Student

Posted by Columbia SIPA 
· Wednesday, March 19th, 2014 
· No Comments

Prospective students are bombarded with information about why each graduate program is the best one out there. The campus is beautiful! The flexibility in the curriculum is unmatched! The alumni connections are sure to lead to employment! While some of this information was useful, it was important for me to view all of these selling points through a filter; what would be the best program for me?

Here was the criteria I used when deciding between schools:

Size:

Size mattered in my cost-benefit analysis of each school. To me, more people means more resources means more opportunities. I had been in a small undergraduate major in college, and I saw the limitations of small. Size also meant there was all-but-guaranteed…

Diversity:

Diversity in graduate school is not just a buzzword. It the unparalleled experience of having opposing viewpoints in a classroom and engaging with people who have fundamentally different worldviews. I wanted to be in a classroom with people who valued academics and good debate, but whose backgrounds differed from my own.

Location:

The old saying goes that the three most important things in real estate are location, location, location. So too, goes for the three most important things in my graduate school hunt. As an older twenty-something, I wanted to avoid the rural campus I loved as an undergraduate, and look for a cultural center that would keep me entertained seven days a week. Access to a thriving arts scene, a vibrant nightlife, and plenty of restaurants was important to me.

Internship Opportunities:

Sure, I was excited about the academic opportunities at these various schools, but what would really differentiate them for me was how internships complemented their curriculum. In my field (journalism) internships are absolutely paramount to finding employment. I needed a school that had access to a plethora of local companies that were willing to hire graduate students. Ideally, I also wanted a school that valued the intern experience, and gave students credit for this work.

Alumni Connections:

At most institutions, a public policy graduate program is only two years. But strong alumni connections endure, and provide a critical connection to the program for years to come. They also are invaluable resources with whom one can network and learn more about various career paths. If I planned to invest in my graduate school education, it was pivotal for the school to have a strong alumni base.

 

post contributed by Danielle Schlanger, MPA Class of 2014

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—Merit E. Janow, Dean, SIPA, Professor of Practice, International and Economic Law and International Affairs

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