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PrincetonUniversity |
The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs |
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The Woodrow Wilson School was founded at Princeton University in 1930 as the School of Public and International Affairs. A professional school that prepares talented women and men who seek careers in public service, it offers a rigorous education for undergraduates and graduate students. Its degree programs include a two-year course of study leading to the Master in Public Affairs (M.P.A.), a one-year program for mid-career professionals leading to the Master in Public Policy (M.P.P.), and a Ph.D. program in public affairs. In its early days the school was a small, interdisciplinary program at the undergraduate level. Beyond normal course work, students took part in semester-long "policy conferences" in which they focused on policy issues and conducted original research in order to formulate policy recommendations. These conferences are still key to the school's undergraduate curriculum. In 1948 a graduate professional program was added, and the school was named in honor of President Woodrow Wilson. That program was greatly strengthened in the 1960s through a generous gift from Charles Robertson '26 and Marie Robertson. The fledgling school shaped the internationalist outlook of a new generation of leaders that emerged from World War II. It counts among its alumni two secretaries of state, a secretary of defense, several senators and governors, a chair of the Federal Reserve Board, leaders of nonprofit organizations, many ambassadors, and other influential policymakers. Today the school emphasizes policy-oriented research and learning in its graduate program, serving interests in both domestic public policy and international affairs. M.P.A. candidates follow a core curriculum and then branch into one of four fields of concentration: international relations, development studies, domestic policy, or economics and public policy. Two joint-degree programs (in law and in urban and regional planning) and two certificate programs (in demography and in science, technology, and environmental policy) expand the graduate curriculum. Both undergraduate and graduate students have the opportunity to gain real-world experience either domestically or internationally. Undergraduate task forces have included work abroad in South Africa, Australia, Hong Kong, and Great Britain, or have studied U.S. domestic issues such as prescription drug coverage and electoral reform. Graduate students are required to complete a policy workshop -- recent workshops have focused on human rights, education, poverty, and public policy as well as conflict resolution, economic sanctions, and international humanitarian law. Graduate students also gain professional experience during the required summer internship between their first and second years. |