Liam’s Annotated Curriculum

With Commencement only about five weeks away, we’ll be reading only a few more posts from graduating bloggers Diane and Liam.  Today, Liam provides his “Annotated Curriculum,” in which he lays out his academic path through Fletcher.  (You might also want to read Mirza’s Annotated Curriculum from last spring.)  It’s worth noting here that Liam’s Fletcher experience is not typical for the majority of students, but it does represent that of a significant subset — officers who are sponsored by their branch of the U.S. military.  Their coursework looks much the same as that of any other student, but they rarely pursue a summer internship and they don’t need to find a post-Fletcher job.  Finally, Fletcher students must fulfill a Capstone Requirement, for which many students write a traditional academic thesis.  It’s not uncommon for the terms Capstone and thesis to be used interchangeably.

Liam, MALD 2015, United States

Pre-Fletcher Experience
U.S. Army Infantry Officer; deployments to Iraq (2007-2008) and Afghanistan (2010, 2012)

Fields of Study
International Security Studies
International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (INCR)

Capstone Topic
U.S. Army Security Force Assistance in Iraq and Afghanistan

Post-Fletcher Professional Goals
Return to the Army with a broader understanding of global affairs and the role the Army can play in them; selection as an Infantry Battalion Commander

Curriculum Overview

Semester One

  • Role of Force
  • International Organizations
  • Processes of International Negotiation
  • The Globalization of Politics and Culture for Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan

My first semester helped me lay the foundation for my coursework at Fletcher.  I met with my academic advisor, Prof. Shultz, very early in the semester, which set me on the right path for my course load, as he helped lay out a logical course progression.  Role of Force and Processes of International Negotiation were both mandatory courses in my Fields of Study — setting the stage for all my follow-on classes, and I wanted to knock out my ILO requirement early on with International Organizations.  I rounded the semester out with one regionally focused course, which balanced perfectly.  I found the semester to be an excellent mix of papers and final exams, which kept me from having a frantic end of the semester.

Semester Two

  • Policy and Strategy in War
  • Analytical Frameworks
  • Modern Terrorism and Counterterrorism
  • Peace Operations

Following what I had learned in the fall, I focused heavily on Security Studies this semester, although Peace Operations also counted towards my coursework in the INCR Field of Study.  I fulfilled my quantitative requirement with Analytical Frameworks, which taught me a lot of valuable skills.  Again, this semester was a good mix of papers and finals that enabled me to budget my time throughout the spring.  At this point I also started working with Professor Shultz on my capstone ideas so I could spend time over the summer doing research.

Summer
Army ROTC, MIT

The Army required that I be “gainfully employed” over the summer, so I spent my days helping out at MIT’s ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) program.  The cadets were all gone at training for the summer, so I worked on information-sharing platforms for the unit to use in the fall, but also found myself with plenty of time to do baseline research on U.S. National Security Strategy, as well as where the Army fits in a changing environment, to help frame the “big picture” for my capstone.  I also had a fair amount of time over the summer to work on my Spanish skills on my own, as well as publish several military-related blog posts.

Semester Three

  • Internal Conflicts and War
  • Gender, Culture, and Conflict
  • Foundations of International Cybersecurity
  • Crisis Management and Complex Emergencies

This semester proved to be very challenging, as I had five group presentations with group papers due, but then had no finals.  Needless to say, the second half of the semester was a blur.  It was a very Security Studies heavy semester, but the gender course with Prof. Mazurana and Prof. Stites really stood out for me, and helped me understand an aspect of conflict that I’d never put much thought towards during my time in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Lastly, I used the Internal Conflicts class as the incubator for my thesis and was able to finish the majority of the Iraq portion of it.

Semester Four

  • The Strategic Dimensions of China’s Rise
  • Introduction to Economic Theory
  • The Historian’s Art and Current Affairs
  • Capstone Independent Study

I made the mistake of putting off my economics requirement until my final semester, so I had to use a class credit for it during the spring.  I decided to go with an Independent Study with Professor Shultz to finish my thesis and ensure I had the time necessary to put effort towards it.  I was a history major as an undergraduate, so Prof. Khan’s new class really interested me.  Last, with U.S. National Security Strategy “pivoting” to the Asia-Pacific, I wanted to get at least one course in that region into my coursework.

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