A March day in the Hall of Flags
No Faculty Spotlight feature today. I’m going to take a couple of weeks to collect more entries and load them into the blog format. Meanwhile, Kristen and I spent a little while in the Hall of Flags on Monday, meeting new friends and catching up with old ones. For those who haven’t yet been for a visit, the Hall of Flags is the “town square” of Fletcher — everyone goes through there at some point each day. We reserved ourselves a table (by which I mean I stuck a note on it, saying that Admissions needed the table at 12:15), and we set up. Kristen was my Wrangler/Photographer. I asked the questions and took notes. Keeping things simple and casual, we just asked everyone what they’ve been up to. It’s a small sample, but it’s clear that students and professors both have a lot going on.
Kelsey (MALD): We’re both working on the Diplomat’s Ball fundraiser this week. It’s an activity auction, where students volunteer their skills, and other students bid on them, and it will help reduce Dip Ball costs. Some of the skills are cooking meals for other people, going rock climbing, and learning about how to drink whiskey. And then there are midterms. And my thesis.
Stephanie (MALD): I need to remember to get a haircut some time in the future. And I’m going to try to work with a professor for a conference this semester on state failure in Africa.
Jake (dual MALD and JD): I went skiing last weekend at Killington. This week I’m doing my problem sets for various classes and working on a Harvard Law and International Development Society project. This weekend, I’m probably going to the zoo with my 13-month-old daughter.
(Jake explained that the Harvard Law and International Development Society draws students from around the Boston area, including from Fletcher. Kristen and I noted that it’s not uncommon for the out-of-class activities that students pursue to involve homework. A happy nerdiness.)
Becca (MA): I just found out that we’re moving to Japan for three years. I’m a little bit overwhelmed right now, finishing up all my academic requirements. And I have two children. I’ll receive my orders, pack it all up, and move over there.
(Here, Kristen, who is organizing a move of her own, but only across town, commiserated, and shared some of her own move-induced anxiety.)
Becca: You can’t control everything. (Becca is in the Marine Corps.)
Peter (MALD): I just got off a call from our client for the consulting class, and we have a contact we’re supposed to reach out to this week. And we have a deliverable due on Friday.
Terrell (MALD): On Thursday, I organized an LGBT event with BU, BC, Harvard, MIT, and Tufts. We expected 40, and 130 turned up — it was a happy hour. Everyone was very excited – it hasn’t been done in a few years, and it’s going to be a great way to build community and make connections.
Prof. Chakravorti: Last week was an interesting week because in one day, I got a sense of the full span of Fletcher. In the afternoon I was talking to Dr. Mowaffak al Rubaie, the Fletcher Statesman-in-Residence and a former Iraqi National Security Advisor, about establishing a chain of KFCs in Baghdad. The broader topic was examining business as a stabilizing force in post conflict zones. Then I spoke with Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen from Google on how the new digital age is spreading power to the periphery of society, where everyone has power in their hands in the form of their smartphones, and what this digital rebalancing of power is going to mean.
(Eric Schmidt is the chairman of Google, and Jared Cohen is the director of Google Ideas.)
Laura (MALD): Here’s what my day looks like. Wake up at 7 a.m. for a call to Nairobi; help organize a silent auction for the Diplomat’s Ball; study for my class on education and armed conflict; bake a birthday cake for a military fellow; turn in an econometrics problem set; attend a fund raiser for the Fletcher Marathon Team; and read my Strategy and Innovation business cases.
Prof. Drezner: I’m finishing the second edition of my zombie book. (Prof. Gallagher, who indulged us in a previous Hall of Flags visit, then hurried him along to some event that had them both looking pretty spiffy.)
Michael (dual MA-MD): The Social List has been boring this year, so I instigated some arguments about the situation in Ukraine, and I think we had some positive outcomes. I asked, why is it really in our interest to care about this? People got upset, they wrote back. As an aspiring doctor, I feel you have to be realistic about the options you have, and if you don’t understand your options, you’re not qualified to handle the job.
Anna (MIB): It’s very nice to be in a place where you can have many different points of view, especially very extreme views, because it’s through discussion that you better understand complex topics.
And with that, Kristen and I headed back to our respective corners. I always enjoy my HoF sessions. Maybe there’s still time for one more later this spring.