Call for Course Proposals for Spring 2017 Diplomacy Lab

Posted November 7, 2016

Georgia Tech faculty can submit proposals to teach Diplomacy Lab courses during the spring 2017 semester. In these courses, they will collaborate with students to solve real world foreign policy problems and present their findings to the U.S. Department of State.

Launched by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in 2013, the Diplomacy Lab partners with universities across the nation, enabling the State Department to broaden its research base by tapping into faculty and student innovation related to foreign policy.

Under faculty supervision, students will analyze problems identified by the State Department and develop potential solutions. State Department point-of-contacts (POCs) will provide guidance during the project throughout the semester. Students will present, either virtually or in person in Washington, D.C., products for achieving the State Department’s goals. During final presentations, POCs will provide feedback to students on how the project’s results were useful and preview how the results will inform the policymaking process.

Georgia Tech students and faculty have been pursuing the following Diplomacy Lab projects during the fall 2016 semester:

• Facebook in the Kingdom of Wonder: Cambodian Youth and the Power of Social Media (Ellen Zegura, Computer Science)
• Leveraging Bitcoin Technology for Better Foreign Assistance (Neha Kumar, INTA)
• What’s Better for Global Health? Multilateral Funding or Going in Alone? (Alberto Fuentes, INTA)
• Economic Factors of Violent Extremism (Olga Shemyakina, ECON)

Each semester, the State Department releases a list of projects on which faculty from participating institutions can “bid.” Faculty may then browse the projects and use the Project Submission Form to apply for any they feel they are qualified to supervise. Georgia Tech is only allowed to submit eight bids during the spring 2017 semester, with an additional eight bids submitted as alternates.

Because Diplomacy Lab projects are run through classes, only faculty can apply to take on a Diplomacy Lab project. However, students from all majors can take the following steps to participate in Diplomacy Lab projects:

1. If you see a project that interests you, talk to your friends to see if there is a group of students who would be interested in working on it. Then, pitch the project to your professor.
2. Sign up for the Diplomacy Lab listserv here. You can also email the group at iac-diplomacylab@lists.gatech.edu. Every semester we will put out the upcoming project menu as well as announcements of Diplomacy Lab events.
3. Spread the word to student groups.
    

To learn more about the Diplomacy Lab, please visit https://diplomacylab.gatech.edu or contact Jarrod Hayes, an associate professor in the Ivan Allen College Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, at jarrod.hayes@gatech.edu.