GPI hosts roundtable on International Relations internships

The Global Policy Institute, in collaboration with Delta Phi Epsilon, held its first roundtable event on internships in the field of International Relations Tuesday. Students were joined by professors Jeffrey Fields, Iva Bozovich and Steven Lamy, along with eight School of International Relations students to discuss the process of securing and funding an internship. 

The speakers also discussed the valuable experience and network from these internships. The students panelists had experienced a variety of different internships such as working at think tanks, different organizations within the U.S. Department of State, working for congressional representatives and working for EU-sponsored magazines in Brussels, Belgium.

Professor Fields, director of the Dornsife D.C. program, spoke about his student’s experiences in the nation’s capital. Professor Fields explained to students that even if working on the hill in D.C. is not something they want to pursue, there is still much to be gained from the experience through this program. Students have access to 6,000+ alumni in the D.C. area.

Professor Bozovich informed students of IR 391, a course where students can gain credit from internships in Los Angeles throughout the semester. In this class, students can learn how to document their work and bring their internship into their IR curriculum. These internships in Los Angeles provide students with diverse opportunities to pursue their passions in areas such as market analysis for small start-ups and working on policy for Mayor’s office. Professor Bozovich emphasized the importance of gaining a network and utilizing the network of your professors to secure internships that are worthwhile. 

Professor Lamy provided students with his customized hand out “Strategies for Success,” in which he explains some tips he believes will help students make an impact in the world.

Among these strategies, Professor Lamy advises students to apply for everything! He said this is simply the best way to get exposure to different opportunities and perhaps surprise yourself with your abilities in the process. Following this, Professor Lamy advised students to maintain genuine and authentic relationships with mentors in order to gain their advice and further develop existing skills. Most importantly, Lamy hopes that students remain passionate about academic and professional pursuits.

Panelists also discussed financing internships and opportunities.. The School of International Relations offers students the opportunity to secure funding for internships through a variety of different programs.

Student panelists received funding through opportunities such as the John M. Cluff Scholarship or the Leonard D. Schaffer Fellowship in Government Service. Along with this, SIR offers to fund students completing research projects or internships located in Africa through the Bender-Schneidman Africa Award and offers to fund students through the Michael Young Undergraduate scholarship which gives the same opportunity for students pursuing internships or projects in Europe.

Other funding opportunities include the SIR Alumni Fund and the Robert Genillard Memorial International Relations Scholarship.

Further information regarding funding through SIR can be found here: https://dornsife.usc.edu/sir/funding/. For specific questions, students should contact Linda Cole, the office manager for SIR. Linda’s contact information can be found below.

The Global Policy Institute would like to thank everyone who came out to this event to learn about these exciting opportunities. Please keep an eye out for more upcoming events from GPI that seek to facilitate academically and professionally engaging discussions with the students. Contact information for professors and Linda Cole can be found below as well as an outline of the internships pursued by our panelists.

Professor Steven Lamy

E-mail: lamy@college.usc.edu

Phone: (213) 740-4840

Office: VKC 330

Professor Iva Bozovich

E-mail: bozovic@email.usc.edu

Phone: (213) 821-3002

Office: VKC 330

Professor Jeffery Fields

E-mail: jeffrey.fields@usc.edu

Phone: (213) 740-1335

Office: VKC 330

Linda Cole – SIR Office Manager

E-mail: lcole@usc.edu

Phone: (213) 740-2139

Office: VKC 330

Student Panelists

Young-Kyung Kim, Junior – USC Dornsife DC at the Center for Strategic and International Studies Think Tank

Isabella Caltabiano, Senior – USC Dornsife DC at the Woodrow Wilson Think Tank

Claire He, Junior – USC Dornsife DC at the State Department for Multilateral and Global Affairs + National Endowment for Democracy

Kabir Badiani, Senior – USC Dornsife DC at the Stimson Center Think Tank + DC-based Consulting Firm Intellix

Shir Attias, Senior – USC Dornsife DC at the House Committee for Foreign Affairs

Maddie Masinsin, Senior – USC Dornsife DC at the Human Rights and Labor in the office of Multilateral affairs in the state department

Mia Speier, Sophomore – USC Brussels Program at Revolve Magazine, sponsored by the European Union

Jill Lin, Junior – Internship with California Congresswomen Chu for District 27 + Global Fellow Scholar in Tapei

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