Archive for outreach

Are You An Incoming or Current SIPA Student from Mexico?

If you are an incoming or current SIPA student living in Mexico City you have the opportunity to get together with other students from SIPA prior to the start of the fall semester.  I recently received an inquiry from an incoming student living in Mexico City, Celcilia, who has an interest in getting together with other students in the area.  The following is her message:

If you are from Mexico City and will be attending Columbia next fall this message is for you.

My name is Cecilia and I will be attending SIPA. I am planning a reunion for future Columbia Mexican Students in Mexico City before we all leave to NYC in order to get to know each other and to exchange experiences about different issues such as housing, travel, phone company etc.

If you are interested, please send an email to cf2389 [at] columbia.edu

Thanks!

Cecilia

If other students wish to have similar messages posted to the blog for public consumption please send a message to the Office of Admissions at [email protected].

The Morningside Post Announces/Celebrates Launch of New Site

Students at SIPA have their own blog, The Morningside Post (TMP), and have recently completed a redesign of the site.  If you are prospective student who lives in the New York city area and you wish to attend a launch party please see below for details.  The following comes from SIPA student Kristen Coco.  There will even be a raffle for an iPhone and the first drink is on the TMP crew!

Community blog for Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs features student, alumni and faculty voices utilizing Web 2.0 technology.

The Morningside Post, the community blog for the School of International and Public Affairs, welcomes prospective students to attend its launch party on Monday, February 23, 2009, right here in the Morningside Heights neighborhood. The student managed site features unique perspectives from nearly 100 SIPA students, faculty and alumni and is read in more than 100 countries around the globe. You’ll have the chance to check out the enhanced features of the new site, find out about our collaboration with The Huffington Post and win a new iPhone in the raffle giveaway (raffle at 8:30 p.m.).

Enhanced features of the website include video recordings of notable speakers at SIPA; subscription services to posts according to author, region, and topic; RSS feeds; links to SIPA News; and space for student groups to post their own stories and events. TMP will also be cross posting content with dozens of other blogs that feature perspectives on international affairs, including The Huffington Post.

Established in 2004, The Morningside has become a leading blog among graduate schools of international affairs and public policy in the United States, featuring intellectually curious and passionate bloggers, as well as readers from the SIPA community and throughout the world. Columbia professors including David Epstein, Andrew Gelman, Brigitte Nacos, Sharyn O’Halloran, Jagdish Bhagwati, Anya Schiffrin, Thomas Lansner, Thomas Glaisyer, and Tanya Domi have provided their expert opinions on issues ranging from globalization and trade in the developing world to human rights and political development.

The Morningside Post has also teamed with partners of the Global Public Policy Network (GPPN), including Sciences Po Paris, the London School of Economics and Political Science and the National University of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, to expand the global reach of student perspectives associated with SIPA. Student bloggers through GPPN hail from more than 10 countries, including the United Kingdom, France, Singapore, Germany, Mexico, Japan, Russia, India, Switzerland, Canada and Brazil.

Recently, select student bloggers in GPPN schools participated in a live blog session facilitated by The Morningside Post on Election Day, offering opinions and analysis for the election’s implications in their respective countries. Additional participating schools included The Hertie School of Governance (HSoG) in Berlin, University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Public Policy (GraSPP), Fundação Getulio Vargas, Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (FGV-EAESP ), Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) in Mexico City and The Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO-University)

So come on out, meet the bloggers behind the posts, and learn more about the innovation in international affairs that’s taking place right here at SIPA!

What:               TMP Launch Party

When:              Monday, February 23, 7 – 10 p.m. (raffle at 8:30)

Where:             Village Pourhouse982 Amsterdam Avenue,         between 108th and 109th Streets

Contact:           [email protected]

SIPA Student Comments on Presidential Inauguration

SIPA student Kelly Heindel had a chance to participate in inauguration activities and I asked her to compose an entry for us.  I am grateful she accepted.  You can find out more about Kelly by visiting her interview page.

During the recent inauguration of President Barack Obama, I worked as a faculty advisor for the University Presidential Inaugural Conference (UPIC).  UPIC is one of numerous educational leadership conferences put on by the Congressional Youth Leadership Council (CYLC).  The students chosen for these conferences have excelled academically and have demonstrated leadership skills throughout their college careers.  The students came from all over the United States and internationally as well.  In total, there were 5,000 university students participating in the conference.  UPIC was designed as a week-long event to celebrate the historic inauguration and allow for the students to have direct participation in many of the events.  As a faculty advisor, I was charged with many logistical tasks (UPIC used over 75 buses to transport the students throughout the DC area) and as a point of contact for students.

The conference had many speakers, seminars, and panel discussions in the days preceding the inauguration.  Colin Powell and Al Gore were the keynote speakers.  Both men gave their specific ideas of what it means to be a leader, and what is expected of the upcoming generation in terms of leadership.   Colin Powell spoke of discipline and planning as important characteristics for a leader, not surprising considering his military background.  While Al Gore took a more fatherly approach with the students simply saying, “The happiest and most fulfilled people I know have dedicated their lives to something bigger than themselves.”

The morning of the inauguration, I took a group of students down to the national mall at 4am.   We were surprised by how empty the streets were and we were able to get a spot fairly close to the capital.  Waiting for the inauguration to begin was definitely the most difficult part of the week.  It was freezing and dark out, and there was nothing to do but wait.  Soon, they began replaying the Lincoln Memorial concert from the previous Sunday and the crowd began dancing and singing to keep warm.  Then the ceremony began.  The energy and passion of all the people in the crowd was like nothing I’ve ever seen.  It was truly inspiring to see people of all ages, races, and creeds being genuinely excited about our new administration and hopeful about our future.

"The most global public policy school, where an international community of students and faculty address world challenges."

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

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