<p>I'm planning on majoring in International Relations with a minor in Latin American Studies. I've been accepted into Duke, Brown and Penn. I can't decide which would be best academically. I personally don't like Duke, just because. I like Brown because it's smaller, there's better advising, and the people seem a lot more chill than Penn. I like Penn because there's a lot more diversity, it's in the city and I could take classes at Wharton. Penn and Brown are pretty much even at this point, so it just comes down to which school has the better program for what I'm interested in. Any suggestions?</p>
<p>CALLING ILOVEBAGELS: Get in here and respond, son! :)</p>
<p>(He’s a relatively recent Penn grad and IR major, who currently works in India and, if I recall correctly, had a summer internship in China while at Penn.)</p>
<p>Also, Korea and Singapore but hey, who’s counting ;)</p>
<p>Penn IR is awesome, and not only can you take classes at Wharton, you can take other IR-related classes in the law school, communications school, and other schools that Brown doesn’t even have and so give your IR education an unprecedented breadth. If you do a search for my past posts on Penn IR you can read paragraph after paragraph of life-changing awesomeness that I had at Penn (and as you can see by my experiences, it certainly works)</p>
<p>what makes you think penn has more diversity? i guess it depends on what you mean by that, but brown is one of the most international schools in the US with more than 81 countries represented in your incoming class alone.</p>
<p>in terms of IR, brown also has one of the strongest undergraduate programs in the country. former heads of state (presidents of brazil, chile, austria), former senators (currently lincoln chafee), the founder of the chinese democratic party (xu wenli), nikita kruschev’s son – all teach undergrads.</p>
<p>the whole program is housed in a beautiful building with amazing resources
[The</a> Watson Institute for International Studies](<a href=“http://www.watsoninstitute.org%5DThe”>http://www.watsoninstitute.org)</p>
<p>I mean that Penn has more students so there are bound to be more different types of people. Of course, I’ve never been a student there so I could be wrong.
ilovebagels, how difficult is it to do research at Penn? Independently or with a professor? And how did you come across those internships? I read quite a few of your previous posts and I couldn’t find anything about that.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>While size does help, Penn’s diversity is also enhanced by its better financial aid (more middle and lower class students can attend), and by the presence of so many different undergrad and grad schools on a singular contiguous campus, with ample opportunities to interact between them all with cross-registrations and extracurricular activities.</p>
<p>In addition to making friends across all 4 undergrad schools (it would be impossible NOT to), I made friends with people in Penn Law, Wharton MBA, PennDesign, Annenberg Communications, Education, Penn Vet, all of whom were at different places in their lives, with different histories and different futures. The intersection of all of us for a few years at Penn was quite an enlightening experience, at least for me.</p>
<p>Since Brown has neither a Law school, nor a business school, nor a design school (though there is RISD), nor a comm school, nor an education school, nor a veterinary school, those are people you’re not going to meet.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Research is required to graduate, at least in the IR program. Every major must complete a year long thesis to graduate. The degree to which they are done independently or with professors varies depending on the topic and what you want to do. Penn’s CURF (Center for Undergraduate Research & Fellowships) is a tremendously helpful resource dedicated to facilitating your research needs (faculty, funding, etc).</p>
<p>
the Korea and Singapore ones I got through Penn, the China one I got on my own (but I couldn’t have pulled that off without the previous experience I could point to in Korea and Singapore!)</p>
<p>To add on to the research bit, this summer I’ll be doing my own independent research project sponsored through one of the programs at Penn. I’m a freshman, and I was rather surprised by how easy it was to get the position. In fact, I wasn’t even looking to do research at all until one of my professors offered me the opportunity. </p>
<p>What I love about Penn is that the resources they provide are endless. However, Penn doesn’t spoon-feed anything to anyone. It’s up to you and all students to go out there and find them, use them, and succeed. Effort goes a long way here.
As ilovebagels said, CURF is fantastic. Also, Career Services will span your inbox with internship opportunities year round.</p>
<p>Here are some courses you can do for IR at Penn’s schools outside of the School or Arts & Sciences.
PENN LAW
CHINA & INTERNATIONAL LAW (S)
3 sem. hrs. </p>
<p>During the last quarter-century, China has become a principal participant in the international legal order. The PRC’s entry into the WTO in 2001 was a major milestone in its long march to membership in almost all of the major international organizations. China has enacted and repeatedly amended elaborate legal frameworks for foreign investment and trade, acceded to (or promised to accede to) major international conventions, entered into myriad bilateral agreements, engaged in the legal and political debates over international human rights and the rule of law, negotiated and disputed with other states over several of the major contemporary cases of unsettled territory, and become (directly or through its instrumentalities) a frequent party to, or focus of scrutiny in, transnational litigation. This seminar examines contemporary China’s approach to international law, focusing on how China has understood and addressed key principles and doctrines of international law, and on international legal disputes and actions that have been important for China (including Taiwan and Hong Kong). Specific topics to be covered include China’s approach to sources of international law, treaties, statehood and sovereignty, the relationship between domestic and international law, state jurisdiction, immunity and responsibility, international dispute resolution, the law of the sea, human rights, the use of force and international economic law. In each of these areas, the course addresses concrete contemporary controversies as well as broader patterns and underlying issues. Introductory sessions will focus on major themes in China’s earlier approach to international law, including those that emerged during the Maoist/high socialist period, the 19th-century encounter with Western powers and their conception of international law, and traditional Chinese approaches to international law (during the late imperial period and in classical Chinese thought).</p>
<p>CHINESE LAW
3 sem. hrs. </p>
<p>For thirty years, Chinese laws and legal institutions have developed rapidly, if unevenly, amid—and in response to—China’s breathtaking economic transformation and integration the outside world, and the social and political challenges and consequences that “reform” and “opening” have produced. Some aspects of legal change in contemporary China are unprecedented while others perhaps echo influences from earlier periods, including the PRC’s first decades, the initial impact of the West, the broad sweep of Chinese tradition, and diverse Chinese challenges to that tradition. This course provides a brief overview of classical Chinese thought on law, governance and economic regulation, the legal norms and institutions of law and government during the late imperial period, and the influence of Western ideas and pressures and of Chinese reformers and revolutionaries during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Most of the course focuses on the PRC years, with primary emphasis on the contemporary “reform era.” For this period, the course addresses selected topics such as criminal law and other means of social control, the legal regulation and promotion of economic activity, law and government accountability, and legal aspects of regulating China’s external economic relations. Throughout, political, economic and social contexts are emphasized. The exam will be open-book, essay. It will be take-home with a lenght limit. Class participation, partly in the form of panels for specific weeks and topics, will count toward the final grade.</p>
<p>ISLAMIC FINANCE
2 sem. hrs. </p>
<p>This course will explore contemporary Islamic finance from a transactional vantage and with particular emphasis on structuring financial transactions and products. Islamic finance will be examined both as an application of Islamic religious law and ethics (shari’ah) and as an effort to create and operate a shari’ah-compliant economic system without interest payments and receipts and based upon a compliant risk-reward paradigm that maintains expected returns for the transactional parties. We will examine some of the core principles of the shari’ah and the methodology by which shari’ah compliance is determined (Shari’ah Supervisory Boards and the issuance of rulings (fatawa)). As a base, we will examine certain principles and precepts of shari’ah and the classical contractual and legal forms that have been approved as being shari’ah-compliant. Our paradigm will be the study of recent Islamic finance transactions in different financial categories and markets. As examples, we will consider, among other structures: (a) lease (ijara) structures in real estate acquisition financings, construction and development financings and private equity transactions; (b) commissioned construction and manufacture concepts (istisna’a) in real estate construction and development transactions and project financings; (c) murabaha (sale at markup) arrangements pertaining to trade finance and working capital facilities; (d) partnership (musharaqah) arrangements in acquisition financings, construction and development financings and project financings as well as more conventional joint venture arrangements; (e) arboon (sale with downpayment) structures as they pertain to hedge fund activities, particularly short sales and options trading; (f) rahn (pledge and mortgage) and adl (trusted person) concepts as they apply to project financings and collateral security structures; (g) Islamic bond and securitization (sukuk) structures used in project finance, municipal finance, corporate finance and the capital markets; and (h) international investment fund structures used for Islamic finance, including associated tax and “know your customer” considerations. In light of market realities, we will also consider conventional Western equivalents to most of the shari’ah-compliant structures. Course participants will develop a new shari’ah-compliant structure for a financial transaction.</p>
<p>INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS
3 sem. hrs. </p>
<p>This course traces the dramatic rise of the individual as a subject of international law in the post-World War II era; specifically, as a beneficiary of fundamental rights recognized, protected and enforced directly by that system of law. It begins by laying historical foundations, showing how the individual was formerly treated as no more than a mere appendage of his/her State, and then considers the transformation effected by the United Nations Charter (1945), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and two International Covenants (1966). The evolution of specific areas of human rights will be considered, eg, civil and political rights, elimination of racial discrimination, elimination of discrimination against women, freedom of religion, elimination of torture, children’s rights, etc. In each case, three “eras” will be traversed: (a) that of general principles, in which the notion of the rights emerges at the general level; (b) that of specificity, in which the content of the rights takes shape and is defined; and (c) that of enforcement, in which the international legal system seeks to give practical effect to the rights it has recognized, at the national, regional and international levels. Consideration will also be given to exceptions to human rights principles, and possible derogations from them, where tensions arise at the interface of human rights and national security interests. Videos will be shown in class, dealing with the creation of the Universal Declaration, the struggle for human rights in Guatemala and Czechoslovakia, a tribunal established by NGOs to highlight abuses suffered by women, the effect of the Children’s Convention and a contemporary trial arising in the context of the former Yugoslavia. The essay exam will be an open-book takeaway. Students may opt to write a paper (with Professor Reicher’s permission) in addition to the exam. Such papers will count as 60% of the course’s grade (with the takeaway exam constituting the other 40%) and may be considered for Senior Writing. Class participation may be taken into account to improve a student’s final grade.</p>
<p>WHARTON
Business & Public Policy (BPUB)
BPUB 203. Business in the Global Political Environment.
This course focuses on business issues that are mediated through the public secor. Specific governmental policies towards markets will be examined, including antitrust policy, economic regulation and deregulation, social regulation, and market infrastucture (intellectual property, fraud and securities regulation.) The course includes discussion of corporate responsibility and ethical issues in international business. Lectures and case studies focus on currently pending actions worldwide, including Internet related issues. The course applies theoretical principles of strategic thinking, industrial organization, and political science to studying the interactions between multinational firms and political institutions.</p>
<p>BPUB 288. (BPUB788, BPUB988) International Industrial Development Strategies Prerequisite(s): Wharton Managerial Economics or an undergraduate intermediate microeconomics course.
The course analyzes the problems of emerging markets. The course considers the industrialization strategies they have chosen and the recent financial and macroeconomic problems they have encountered. Particular emphasis will be given to the recent problems of Latin American and Asian countries that experienced rapid growth for considerable periods only to encounter major reversals in the last half of the 1990s. The implications of this experience for the private and public sectors will be considered in detail. The role of foreign aid, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in dealing with crises in developing countries will be explored in detail.</p>
<p>Legal Studies & Business Ethics
216. Emerging Economies. (C) Nichols.
This course explores important issues in conducting business internationally in and with emerging economies. Much of the course attempts to define emerging economies and to understand the changes occurring in these countries. The course also examines the position of emerging economies in the global context, and how broad social issues affect the development of emerging economies and the ability to establish relationships or conduct business in emerging economies.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>(LGST820) International Business Ethics. (C) Hsieh, Radin.
This course is a multidisciplinary, interactive study of business ethics within a global economy. A central aim of the course is to enable students to develop a framework to address ethical challenges as they arise within and across different countries. Alternative theories about acting ethically in global environments are presented, and critical current issues are introduced and analyzed. Examples include bribery, global sourcing, environmental sustainability, social reports, intellectual property, e-commerce, and dealing with conflicting standards and values across cultures. As part of this study, the course considers non-Western ethical traditions and practices as they relate to business.</p></li>
<li><p>Human Rights and Globalization. (C) Bellace, Mayer.
The 2000 UN Global Compact and the 2003 UN Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights have confirmed the role of TNCs as central actors in the field of international human rights law. This course introduces students to how international human rights law is currently being expanded to capture the operations of TNCs and why this development is controversial. The course examines competing perspectives on the pros and cons of imposing human rights responsibilities on businesses based in capital- exporting countries that are operate in emerging economies. Perspectives of various governments, businesses, international institutions, academics, and NGOs on issues of human rights and globalization will be considered, and a variety of case studies will be analyzed.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Management
208. Globalization and International Political Economy. (B) Prerequisite(s): MGMT 100 & MGMT 101.
Globalization and International Political Economy is an upper level undergraduaate course designed to provide the background necessary to understand globalization and the changes taking place in the international political-economy. The course objective is to help students develop a conceptual framework that will provide an understanding of the current international political-economic environment, provide a basis for thinking about the fundamental changes which are now taking place, and to build a solid foundation to which new material can be added throughout the students’ careers.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>(MGMT875, PSCI228) International Comparative Management: The Challenge of Diversity and Integration. (B) Prerequisite(s): Mgmt 100, Mgmt 101 & Mgmt 111. This course is comprised of lectures with case discussions, group and individual short papers and quizzes on the readings.
This is essentially a course in comparative national environments for business and how aspects of these environments impact on the firm. The course examines a number of institutions and phenomena in various countries. Issues range from language, religion, gender and ethnicity to legal systems, financial markets and corporate governance. The lectures draw on ideas from history, geography, sociology, political science and economics to inform our analyses. The lectures and cases range over both developed market economies and emerging economies.</p></li>
<li><p>(MGMT788) Governance and Management of Chinese Firms. (A) Prerequisite(s): MGMT 100 & MGMT 101.
This course provides an examination of some of the largest busines firms in thePeoples Republic of China, acquainting students with the governance and management (both management structure and management teams) of some of the largest and best known Chinese firms. Students will also become acquainted withthe capabilities and liabilities of Chinese firms and their strategic options. Tools needed to assess the investment potential of Chinese firms will be provided, and students will have an opportunity to do original research on issues of governance and management of Chinese firms.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>EDUCATION</p>
<ol>
<li>Education in Developing Countries. (C) Wagner. Prerequisite(s): Prior graduate work in related areas recommended.
This seminar will cover a number of topics in human development (e.g., fertility, health, sex-roles) and education (e.g., pre-school interventions, literacy campaigns, non-formal education,technology innovations)in developing countries that have received attention from researchers and policy planners, and in the work of international agencies such as UNICEF, UNESCO, World Bank and USAID.</li>
</ol>
<p>NURSING
516. (NURS316) International Nutrition: Political Economy of World Hunger. (B) Chrzan. Graduate Students Only.
A detailed consideration of the nature, consequences, and causes of hunger and undernutrition internationally. Approaches are explored to bringing about change, and to formulating and implementing policies and programs at international, national, and local levels, designed to alleviate hunger and under-nutrition.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Heck I graduated in 2008 and they’re STILL spamming me ;)</p>
<p>Can I ask what you don’t like about Duke? Haha or “just because…”?</p>
<p>Who, me?</p>
<p>It’s not that I don’t like Duke; it’s that I just don’t care about Duke, much like HYP students don’t really care about the other 5 Ivies, and Duke doesn’t care about Emory, and on and on down the food chain we go.</p>
<p>When Duke and Penn go head-to-head in basketball, Duke wins.</p>
<p>When Duke and Penn go head-to-head in cross-admit battles, Penn wins.</p>
<p>Fair trade.</p>
<p>^ I’m pretty sure that eatsalot was directing that question to the OP, who said in his/her first post:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>But I could be wrong. :p</p>
<p>Hahah my question was directed to the OP. :P</p>
<p>ilovebagels, Penn should pay you to be a recruiter! Everything you’re saying sounds really good, and it’s what I’m looking for. I’ve visited Penn and I LOVE the campus and I love the city. However, Brown’s faculty in the Watson Institute for IR is amazing, and Brown is a pretty undergrad focused environment. All of the graduate programs make me wonder whether I’ll be put on the side-burner for grad or post-grad students. I’m pretty pro-active and I’m willing to go out of my way to form
relationships with professors, but is that enough? Also, can undergrad students really take classes in the law school and graduate schools? How is that even possible?
Fighting Quakers, that sounds lovely! Is that opportunity out of the ordinary, though? </p>
<p>eatsalot, I don’t like Duke because I don’t like the Durham. This may sound strange or pretentious, but the traditional college culture doesn’t really appeal to me. I’m not really into the basketball and the camping out to get tickets and all of that. I know there’s more to the campus than that, but I just wasn’t feeling the school all that much when I visited.</p>
<p>Since Penn has a “One - University” policy, you can also take courses at the Law school or the Communications school (Annenberg) or Wharton management to supplement your IR knowledge. That will give you a wider skill set than just IR which will come in handy. That is unique to Penn. Penn’s IR department is incredibly strong so there is not much of a difference there. Penn is also closer to DC than Brown so internships should not be a problem.</p>
<p>
Absolutely! It’s embodied in Penn’s vaunted “One University” policy, which allows undergrads to take courses in most of the grad and professional schools. For example, look at this page on the Penn Law School site:</p>
<p>[Penn</a> Law: Law Classes are not just for Law Students](<a href=“http://www.law.upenn.edu/registrar/lawcourses.html]Penn”>Penn Students & Staff • Registrar • Penn Carey Law)</p>
<p>The breadth and depth offered by this freedom to cross-register for courses among such a wide variety of top-tier undergrad, grad, and professional schools–all within a few short blocks of each other on one unified campus–is one of Penn’s most unique and attractive attributes.</p>
<p>What can you say about the IR faculty at Penn? My parents would paying a pretty penny for my education at Penn, so I want to make sure that they’re some of the best in the field. I looked at some of the professors and they weren’t as esteemed as those at Brown.</p>
<p>^ ilovebagels can answer specific questions about the faculty in the IR department at Penn, but you have to remember that your IR curriculum at Penn could also include faculty and courses in the Wharton School, Law School, Annenberg School for Communication, etc., as well as in other highly-ranked departments within the School of Arts and Sciences (regional studies, history, economics, languages, etc.). It’s a very well integrated program that does not just include the IR faculty, alone.</p>
<p>I’m no IR expert, so please correct me if I’m wrong, but going by extension from other fields, just because somebody is a practitioner in a particular area does not mean that they are necessarily an expert in the theory behind it. For example, most doctors have very little idea behind a lot of the complex genetics that underlies a lot of disease processes.</p>
<p>So, in other words, I’m sure that these former heads of state have tremendous wisdom in the field via practical experience and a lot of amazing stories to tell, but do they really possess mastery of all of the philosophical underpinnings of IR as a social science as opposed to operationally? I’m sure that ilovebagels would readily affirm the excellence of the Penn IR faculty in this regard.</p>
<p>By the same token, we could also say that the researchers who do know a lot about the basic science of complex genetics know very little about the treatment of the diseases clinically and what to look for in patients who have it. By extension, I can see the value of having people teach you with that kind of practical experience. And perhaps Penn’s roster isn’t as star-studded as Brown’s in this regard, but that also doesn’t mean that Penn doesn’t bring in guest lecturers with some regularity (they certainly did when I was there) who also have experiences to impart as “clinical pearls.”</p>
<p>I imagine the ideal is to achieve a balance.</p>