Princess’ Annotated Curriculum

This is the time of year when I can hardly believe our second-year student bloggers are on the cusp of graduation! Today we’ll hear from Princess, who managed to enjoy some actual vacation time over spring break. She also provides her “annotated curriculum,” giving readers a tour through her academic journey at Fletcher:

What a Spring semester it has been so far. Over the spring break, I visited my family in Delaware with my roommate and we celebrated her birthday by playing tourists in Philadelphia for a day. I really appreciated having the week off and we had a great time in the city of brotherly love visiting the Rocky steps, the Love park, and the African American Museum. My spring semester so far has been a flurry of capstone work, course work, and the job hunt. It has been a very busy time but I’ve had my fellow Fletcher friends to keep me stable along the way.

Pre-Fletcher Experience

I came to Fletcher after interning at the Public Information department at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. Prior to this, I attained my undergraduate degree in communications from the University of Tampa.

Fields of Study

International Organizations, Human Security, and Gender Studies.

Capstone

I took the non-traditional route and developed a podcast series for my capstone which explores women’s participation in civil resistance movements.

Extracurriculars

• Communications Associate at the Fletcher Forum of World Affairs (both years).
• Head of the Fletcher Creative writing club (second year).

Curriculum Overview

Semester One

• International Organizations
• Processes of International Negotiation
• Analytic Frameworks for Public Policy Decisions
• Introduction to Economic Theory

I went into my first semester at Fletcher with the intention of knocking out my required courses early. To fulfill the Economics and Quantitative requirement, I took Introduction to Economic Theory and Analytic Frameworks for Public Policy Decisions. As someone that does not have a strong Economics background, I appreciated that the Economics course was foundational. I took Analytic Frameworks because it was not as math-heavy as statistics and also explored how we can quantitatively assess public policy decisions. I ended up falling in love with the course and was hired as a TA the next semester until the end of my time at Fletcher. It is an amazing class and I encourage everyone to take it! I thoroughly enjoyed the Processes of International Negotiation course as it helped me understand the anatomy of a proper negotiation and I acquired a lot technical skills by doing fun simulations. The international negotiations course was the foundational course for my concentration and it helped lay the groundwork for the classes I would take subsequently within that field.

Semester Two

• Forced Migration
• Introduction to Human Security
• International Human Rights Law
• Gender and Human Security in Transitional States

I focused on my concentrations this semester and got a preview of what my second year would look like. The Forced Migration course was extremely informative in terms of understanding how to address issues that arise in a forced migration context from a global and regional perspective. I learned so much and even had one of the op-eds I wrote for the course assignments get published at The Republic. The Introduction to Human Security course was foundational for my concentration and I enjoyed working on the stakeholder analysis group project and the weekly class reflections. I took the International Human Rights Law course for my international law requirement and I absolutely loved it. Although I do not have much of a legal background, I found it to be very engaging. I really liked the simulation we did at the end of the semester. The Gender and Human Security in Transitional States class was the highlight of my semester. It explored states transitioning from armed conflict through a gender and intersectional analysis lens. This class encouraged me to take Gender and Intersectional Analysis as my third concentration which has highly influenced my time at Fletcher.

Semester Three

• Gender Theory and Praxis
• Gender, Culture and Conflict
• Humanitarian Action in Complex Emergencies
• Civil Resistance

I was very excited to finally be in person for this year as I got to meet my course mates and Professors. This was definitely my busiest and most challenging semester. I had my classes as well as an internship at the International Bureau of Education-UNESCO. I was also a TA for the Analytic Frameworks for Public Policy Decisions course and a Communications Associate at the Fletcher Forum of World Affairs. Oh, and I also led the Fletcher creative writing club! I survived this semester by strictly adhering to my calendar, having a very strong support system and lots of hot chocolate! I really liked taking two Gender classes this semester as they complemented each other in terms of theory and practice. I cross registered at the Friedman School of Nutrition to take the Humanitarian Action class which was very comprehensive. My favorite class of the semester was definitely the Civil Resistance course. It sparked my interest in civil resistance movements (specifically those led by women), and greatly informed my capstone project.

Semester Four

• The Arts of Communications
• Environmental Humanities and Global Health
• Child Protection and Resilience
• Capstone project

I wanted a lighter course load for my final semester because I had to focus on working on my capstone as well as the job search. I decided to take an independent study for my capstone project which gave me enough time to dedicate to my research. Environmental Humanities was a little outside my comfort zone but I am so glad that I took it. I am learning a lot and it has enabled me to see climate issues through a human security lens. The Child Protection course is definitely one of my heaviest courses at Fletcher in terms of the subject matter and the course load. However, it has been very interesting and has enabled me to acquire technical skills such as conducting a protection analysis. Finally, the Arts of Communications class has helped me polish my public speaking skills and I’ve had a lot of fun so far.

The past two years have been a blast. It’s scary to think that my Fletcher journey will soon be coming to a close but I am so grateful for the experience I’ve had and I’m excited to see what comes next for me.