PhDs, too!

Hi Blog readers — I’m Jessica, former blogger-in-chief, and now an occasional guest writer.

As you probably know, Fletcher released admission decisions a few weeks ago, and nearly all those yeses and nos went to applicants to our master’s-level programs.  A relatively small number of responses winged their way to applicants to the school’s PhD Program in International Relations.  You might be one of the handful of newly admitted PhD students but, since there are very few, you’re more likely to be wondering why you would care about the PhD program, as you’re researching graduate schools.  I’m here to tell you why!

First, whether PhD students complete the MALD first or obtain their master’s degree elsewhere, they bring the professional experience and academic foundation that make them leaders in the broader Fletcher community.  If you’re fellow students in a class, or if one is a Teaching Fellow working with your professor, you’ll be impressed with the knowledge they bring to the classroom.  They also play important roles, such as at the Leir Institute or the Climate Policy Lab, in pushing research forward at Fletcher.  They publish widely, including in our own Fletcher Forum.  And, after several years of toiling over a dissertation, they graduate from Fletcher and move into roles in policy and practice, or positions to train the next generation of leaders as professors.

First-year PhD students start with coursework — keep an eye out for them if you visit this spring or when you’re in classes in September.  You can learn more about them on our student directory, or read the Admissions Blog posts we put together in 2021.  Meanwhile, here are some of the new students from September 2023.