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Baker Institute here for students

By Edward P. Djerejian     10/26/12 7:00pm

As Rice University looks ahead after its Centennial Celebration, another organization on campus will soon be celebrating as well. The James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy will mark 20 years of excellence next year. During that time, we have built programs in energy and geopolitics, science and technology, space policy, health policy, public finance, Latin American issues and Middle East conflict resolution - all making valuable contributions to policy here and abroad. In the past two decades, we have also been fortunate to host distinguished statesmen, scholars and business leaders. However, throughout our development, our core mission remains to connect Rice, its students and the world of ideas on campus to the world of action on a global scale. 

As we have grown, so has the range of opportunities for student engagement and enrichment at the Baker Institute. We continue to provide a forum for visiting policymakers, academics and experts to speak with the Rice community. Our commitment to education inside the classroom has led to an increasing number and diversity of courses taught by institute fellows. This semester, our fellows are teaching courses in policy analysis (POST 388), economics (ECON 421, 437, 481 and 516), political science (POLI 420 and 483) and history (HIST 291, 352 and 425). In the spring, I will again teach a course on United States policy in the Middle East (POST 455). Also starting next semester, the institute for the first time will offer a survey course examining major national and international issues in a comprehensive framework focused on the policy challenges and solutions. 

In addition to academic courses and events, the Baker Institute sponsors initiatives intended to help students gain hands-on experience with public policy, explore future career paths and increase knowledge of global issues. Throughout the year, we hire Rice students to work part-time with our fellows in support of our research activities and with our administrative staff to organize events and other programs. In the summer, we support Rice students completing internships at government agencies, think tanks or nongovernmental organizations in Washington, D.C. Previous participants have worked at the U.S. Department of State, National Science Foundation and the Council of Economic Advisers and presented their research and experiences to Baker Institute fellows and Rice faculty. 



More recently, we have established internship programs that provide opportunities to engage with public policy issues abroad. Since 2009, the Baker Institute has partnered with the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) and Leadership Rice to send a small group of students to Paris and Brussels to study policy and participate in a mentorship program. Since 2011, the Baker Institute Space Policy Program has sponsored engineering and science students from Rice and other universities on a two-week trip to Russia to further international communication and collaboration for a new generation of space scientists. For those students interested in public diplomacy, global policymaking or the Middle East, a joint Baker Institute and Qatar Foundation colloquium offers a chance to visit the region and participate in dialogues with local students. The application deadline for the 2012-13 Public Diplomacy and Global Policymaking program is next Friday, Oct. 26. 

A primary avenue for student engagement at the Baker Institute is the Baker Institute Student Forum. Open to both graduate and undergraduate students, this student-led group began in 2002 and has grown increasingly active, holding programs and events intended to promote awareness of public policy and bringing in speakers such as New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson. The student forum also plays a valuable role connecting Baker Institute fellows with students and holds weekly meetings every Wednesday. The student debates sponsored by the forum have become a high point in the institute's calendar. The debate this fall, scheduled for next Tuesday, Oct. 23, will cover the 2012 presidential election. 

We hope students will take advantage of the many opportunities for involvement at the Baker Institute by attending our speaker events, taking a policy course with our fellows, applying for an internship in Washington, D.C. or beyond, or by joining the Baker Institute Student Forum. Complete information about all our events and programs for students can be found on our website (www. bakerinstitute.org). You can also follow me on twitter @EdwardDjerejian. As Rice begins its journey of excellence into its second century, the Baker Institute will continue to lend a meaningful voice to national and international policy issues. We hope the paths of all students at Rice bring them to stop by the institute, listen and add their own voices to the ongoing public policy discussion. 

Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian is a founding director of the Baker Institute for Public Policy. 



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