News

The Levin Institute, in partnership with the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), recently graduated a group of Russian undergraduate and graduate students from MGIMO with a completion certificate in "Science, Technology and International Affairs." The students are the first to participate in The Levin Institute's Program on Science, Technology and International Relations.

Under Provost Denis F. Simon's direction, the six week program brought leading scholars and practitioners to New York City to lead modules dedicated to such diverse topics as international security, outer space exploration, and global telecommunications. In addition to class lectures, the program included a hefty dose of experiential learning that included specially organized site visits and meetings at the Council on Foreign Relations, IBM International Headquarters, and the United States Military Academy at West Point's Information Warfare Analysis and Research Laboratory. Students completed and presented a team project at the end of the course to integrate their newly acquired knowledge of emerging technologies and related issues into their understanding of international affairs. Students also toured New York City, visiting The Metropolitan Museum, attending a Broadway play, and cheering for the New York Mets at Shea Stadium.

The Program on Science, Technology and International Relations is designed to provide students with an increased understanding of the impact of science and technology on the dynamics of international relations as well as to highlight the ways in which current and future policymakers, business executives, and managers of NGOs can leverage their enhanced knowledge of S&T and the changing external global environment to strengthen their organization's effectiveness on a regional and/or global basis. The program has an integrated, multidisciplinary curriculum with global, cross-cultural, and cross-national emphases.