Adnan’s Annotated Curriculum
With less than three days until the Class of 2017 gathers to start their celebration with toasts, speeches, and diploma collecting, let’s take a look at the curriculum that Adnan put together for himself in the past two years. We often say (with likely complete accuracy) that no two students ever take precisely the same set of classes in the MALD program and I hope these annotated curricula help make that clear. Note that Adnan pursued three Fields of Study. Only two are required, but many students will complete a third. And also note that Adnan audited two classes. A “certified audit” is noted on the student’s transcript.
Pre-Fletcher Experience
I worked as a staff reporter and later an associate editor at Newsweek in Lahore, Pakistan.
Fields of Study
International Information and Communication
International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
International Business Relations
Capstone Topic
Self Determination in the Context of the Kashmir Conflict.
Post-Fletcher Professional Goals
I would like to pursue a career at the United Nations.
Curriculum Overview
Semester One
International Communication
Social Networks and Organizations – Part I
Social Networks and Organizations – Part II
Global Political Economy
International Legal Order
Returning to school after a five-year gap was exciting, but it also required a great deal of readjustment. With my background in journalism, I knew International Information and Communication was going to be one of my Fields of Study, so I took the core/required class for it and also both halves of Social Networks. International Communication with Professor Gideon, whom I had also chosen as my faculty advisor, was among my favorite classes because of the wide range of topics it covered that I could relate to my work experience. Social Networks offered a fascinating new way of discovering hidden connections in data sets. It also helped me acquire hard skills like using social network analysis software such as UCINET and NodeXL. Looking back, I think opting to complete my breadth requirements in my first semester with foundational classes like International Legal Order and Global Political Economy was a wise decision because it strengthened my base for future coursework in international relations.
Semester Two
Strategy and Innovation in the Evolving Context of International Business
Data Analysis and Statistical Methods
Theories of Conflict and Conflict Resolution
The Arts of Communication
Contemporary South Asia (Certified Audit)
International Business was another interest, and I loved that I had the option of contrasting my IR coursework with such classes. In Strategy and Innovation we studied real-life cases of some of the world’s leading businesses and came up with creative solutions to actual challenges they faced. An important lesson I learned here was how complex problems can be tackled by asking the most basic questions about the task at hand. Statistics offered a great opportunity to sharpen my quantitative skills, and Arts of Communication was a unique experience. Not only did we learn that public speaking, like any skill, can be improved tremendously through rigorous practice, but we got the chance to hear speeches from our classmates and learn things about them we would not have otherwise. In my second semester, I also decided that I wanted to learn about conflict resolution — it’s applicable everywhere and the Field of Study is a Fletcher flagship. The core/required class I took provided a solid base for understanding the roots of a variety of conflicts. Contemporary South Asia didn’t fulfill any of my requirements, but I couldn’t miss the opportunity to study with Professor Ayesha Jalal, a renowned Pakistani historian whose work I had been following long before Fletcher, so I audited it. I’m glad I was able to do it because it was the first time I looked at South Asia, where I had lived most of my life, through an academic lens, and it provided a fresh perspective on my knowledge of the region.
Summer Internship
UNICEF in New York.
Semester Three
Foundations in Financial Accounting and Corporate Finance
Processes of International Negotiation
Nationalism, Self Determination and Minority Rights
Media, Politics and Power in the Digital Age (cross-registered at Harvard Kennedy School)
Cultural Capital and Development (Certified Audit)
Corporate Finance, the core requirement for the International Business Relations field, was the most challenging class I took in my third semester. The syllabus was extensive and the workload rather heavy, but looking back it’s also among the classes from which I gained the most practical knowledge. International Negotiation was also an extremely practical class. In addition to learning negotiation techniques and practicing them during simulations in class, the assignments that required us to rigorously analyze a conflict of our choice and propose strategies for negotiation taught me a step-by-step method of approaching intractable problems. I took Nationalism, Self Determination and Minority Rights purely out of an interest in understanding the cause of modern day conflicts and found my Capstone idea here. Cross-registration at Harvard is a great opportunity we are offered, one I had wanted to pursue since my second semester. Media, Politics and Power in the Digital Age, taught by Nicco Mele who runs the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at HKS, perfectly complemented my International Communication class from my first semester. Whereas the latter was more academic and theory-based, the former looked at current issues in the digital world and linked them to politics. After reading the syllabus for Cultural Capital and Development, I was too intrigued to ignore it, so I audited the class.
Semester Four
Peace Operations
The Historian’s Art and Current Affairs
Introduction to Economic Theory
Independent Study with Professor Hurst Hannum for my Capstone Project
It’s hard to believe my final semester is now over. Time flies at Fletcher, and I’ve hardly had a chance to reflect on the past two years. This semester I completed my Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Field of Study with Peace Operations. What I liked most about it is that it brought together elements of international law, conflict resolution, politics, and history. A guest speaker in one of our classes said, “peace operations really are the arena of international politics.” I couldn’t agree more and feel it’s a great class to take in one’s final semester. Leaving my economics requirement hanging till my last semester was probably not the brightest idea, but with everything else I was trying to squeeze in, it never fit into my schedule earlier. The Historian’s Art and Current Affairs was my favorite class this semester. It pushed me to think critically and place decision makers in context to understand the policies they pursued. I left each session with a life lesson, in addition to some very peculiar facts. Did you know whales are crucial to security?
