Stanford University

New FSI initiative expands global research opportunities for students

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Zack Bonzell came to Stanford with a strong interest in human biology and political science. Last summer, the undergraduate had the chance to fuse his interests while doing field research with faculty at the university’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI). 

During a two-week internship, he travelled to Guatemala with FSI senior fellows Paul Wise, Beatriz Magaloni, Alberto Díaz-Cayeros and Scott Rozelle to learn about the country’s rural health care system by shadowing doctors and interviewing mothers in an impoverished area about the issues leading to the area’s high rates of child malnutrition.

“That experience was an ideal way to blend my interests and gave me a better idea of how to craft my course of study at Stanford,” said Bonzell, who is now a junior. “One of the things that really struck me was when Paul Wise said the health outcomes we were seeing are the result of extreme material deprivation. These people are sick because they are poor. That gave me more of an interest in political economy.”

Students conduct interviews about nutrition with REAP in China. Photo Credit: Matt Boswell

FSI is now expanding its educational opportunities for students, like Bonzell, who want to do research on global issues in Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa.

The Stanford Global Student Fellows program (SGSF) is being funded in large part through a $1.25 million anonymous gift that will help grow existing programs and create new offerings for graduates and undergraduates.

“This program deepens FSI’s commitment to its mission of educating the next generation of leaders in international affairs,” said FSI Director Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar. “It also offers outstanding opportunities for Stanford students to work closely with the leading thinkers on global policy issues.”

The program, which is part of FSI’s efforts to expand student opportunities, will build on the institute’s undergraduate mentorship programs that allow students to work on faculty research projects each quarter. Those positions will now be available during the summer. Some of the positions will be connected to projects in FSI’s new International Policy Implementation Lab, an initiative that gives students a close-up view of how academics and policy influencers can address some of the world’s thorniest issues.

PoliSci 114S students work together in a UN conflict simulation. Photo Credit: Rod Searcey

Building on FSI’s experience placing students in research opportunities, the program will create and expand summer field research internships. The two- to six-week internships this summer will give undergraduates the opportunity to work with FSI senior fellows in China, Guatemala, India and Mexico who study global health, conflict resolution, governance and poverty reduction.  In coming years, the program will likely include additional fieldwork projects in Rwanda, Tanzania and Brazil. The SGSF program covers all travel expenses for students and provides students with an opportunity to work closely with a faculty member and a team of other students on an ongoing research project addressing real-world problems in a specific region. 

“What makes FSI such an incredible institution is that it attracts faculty who have very pragmatic interests,” Bonzell said. “It seeks to wed academic work with a more direct impact, and there’s a lot of potential for more students to think along similar lines.”

The Stanford Global Student Fellows will also allow FSI to work closely with its partners, including the Program in International Relations, the Haas Center for Public Service, and Stanford in Government to provide opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students. 

Mexican Ambassador Eduardo Medina Mora and Jorge Olarte, '13, speaking with students at the US-Mex FoCUS event. Photo Credit: Rod Searcey

One of the program’s new initiatives geared toward undergraduates is the Global Policy Summer Fellowships. The fellowships help secure placement and a $6,000 stipend for students interested in interning at international policy and international affairs organizations. This summer, The Europe Center at FSI is placing students at the Center for European Policy Studies and Bruegel, two Brussels-based think tanks. Future positions will be created with six offerings abroad and two based in the United States.including the Program in International Relations, the Haas Center for Public Service, and Stanford in Government to provide opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students. 

The Stanford Global Student Fellows program will also commit $400,000 to create a Mentored Global Research Fellowship that will provide research opportunities for students to conduct their own overseas research under the close mentorship of a faculty member. The program will award stipends of $6,000 for summer undergraduate projects and $9,000 for summer graduate projects, and $1,500 for smaller projects executed during the school year.

Thomas Hendee '13 chatting with children in rural Guatemala. Photo Credit: Maria Contreras

The faculty advisory committee overseeing the development and implementation of these new programs includes Scott Rozelle, the Helen F. Farnsworth Senior Fellow and the co-director of FSI’s Rural Education Action Program; Stephen Stedman, a senior fellow at FSI and the deputy director of CDDRL; and Lisa Blaydes, assistant professor of political science.

The application deadline for all summer programs is Feb. 28, 2015. The deadline to apply for academic quarterly programs is the end of the first week of each quarter, beginning in the fall of 2014. 

For more information, students should contact Elena Cryst at ecryst@stanford.edu and watch for postings on FSI’s student program Facebook page. Students can also sign up for the program’s distribution and announcement list.

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Opportunities for field research in rural Mexico, Guatemala

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The Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies is accepting applications for six summer field research internships through March 3.

The trips are fully funded opportunities for rising juniors, seniors and co-terms with a minimum GPA of 3.3 to work closely with faculty while completing field research in rural Guatemala and Mexico.

Four spots are open for the Guatemala internships, where students will focus on global health, governance, underdevelopment and indigenous rights in the Lake Atitlan region. FSI senior fellows Paul Wise and Beatriz Magaloni will lead the trip in June. Wise is a professor of pediatrics at Stanford Medical School, and Magaloni is an associate professor of political science.

Two students will be chosen to travel to Chiapas with Magaloni and Alberto Diaz-Cayeros, also a senior fellow at FSI. The Mexico internship will focus on governance, rule of law, indigenous autocracy and public goods from June 21 to July 13.

Competitive candidates will have previous experience in service learning, poverty alleviation, or a similar pursuit, and will have Spanish language skills. The selection committee seeks applicants with diverse academic backgrounds from applied, natural and social sciences in order to assemble an interdisciplinary research team.

The program will cover roundtrip airfare between San Francisco International Airport and the international location, lodging, meals, insurance, visas, and incidentals for work abroad, plus provide a budget for the team's research materials and supplies. At Stanford, the team will be furnished with work space in Encina Hall to meet, prepare, and complete their final project.

An information session with past interns will be held from noon to 1 p.m. on Feb. 14.

 

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Info Session: FSI Undergraduate Field Research Internships

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The Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI) seeks undergraduate applications for up to four research internships in Guatemala and two in Mexico that will include work abroad during summer quarter 2014. The internship program will support a multidisciplinary team of Stanford undergraduates to carry out field research projects that address chronic global underdevelopment. Working with an established research program in Guatemala and Mexico and supervised by Professors Beatriz Magaloni and Paul Wise, the undergraduate research team will spend approximately two weeks on location and four to six weeks planning and completing projects in the U.S. Travel, accommodations, insurance and incidentals will be fully funded.

Join us for an info session to find out more about the programs, ask questions, and chat with the faculty and past participants.

For specific information on the two programs and how to apply, please visit the following fellowship links:

Walter P. Falcon Lounge

Conferences

A Career In and Around US Foreign Policy — Reflections and Observations

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Ambassador Bosworth looks back on a career spanning five decades and foreign service assignments in Panama, Madrid, Paris, Tunis, Manila, Seoul and Washington.  Drawing on his involvement in issues ranging from control of the Panama Canal to the Arab oil embargo, North Korea's nuclear weapons program, the Asian financial crisis, the end of the Marcos regime in the Philippines, and how to deal with the opportunities and challenges of the rise of China, Bosworth tries to identify some basic principles and guidelines for the conduct of American foreign policy and relates stories about his personal experiences with leaders foreign and domestic.

Stephen W. Bosworth is a Senior Fellow at The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.  He is also the Chairman of the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).  From 2001-2013, he served as Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he now serves as Dean Emeritus.  He has also served as the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Korea from 1997-2001.

From 1995-1997, Mr. Bosworth was the Executive Director of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization [KEDO], an inter-governmental organization established by the United States, the Republic of Korea, and Japan to deal with North Korea.  Before joining KEDO, he served seven years as President of the United States Japan Foundation, a private American grant-making institution.  He also taught International Relations at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs from 1990 to 1994.  In 1993, he was the Sol Linowitz Visiting Professor at Hamilton College.  He has co-authored several studies on public policy issues for the Carnegie Endowment and the Century Fund, and, in 2006, he co-authored a book entitled Chasing the Sun, Rethinking East Asian Policy.

A public reception will follow the seminar in the Encina Hall Lobby.

Bechtel Conference Center

Stephen W. Bosworth

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Payne Distinguished Lecturer, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
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Stephen W. Bosworth was a Payne Distinguished Lecturer at the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center in Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He was a Senior Fellow at The Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He was also the Chairman of the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). From 2001-2013, he served as Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he then served as Dean Emeritus. He also served as the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Korea from 1997-2001.

From 1995-1997, Bosworth was the Executive Director of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization [KEDO], an inter-governmental organization established by the United States, the Republic of Korea, and Japan to deal with North Korea. Before joining KEDO, he served seven years as President of the United States Japan Foundation, a private American grant-making institution. He also taught International Relations at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs from 1990 to 1994. In 1993, he was the Sol Linowitz Visiting Professor at Hamilton College. He co-authored several studies on public policy issues for the Carnegie Endowment and the Century Fund, and, in 2006, he co-authored a book entitled Chasing the Sun, Rethinking East Asian Policy. 

Ambassador Bosworth had an extensive career in the United States Foreign Service, including service as Ambassador to Tunisia from 1979-1981 and Ambassador to the Philippines from 1984-1987. He served in a number of senior positions in the Department of State, including Director of Policy Planning, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs. Most recently, from March 2009 through October 2011, he served as U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy for the Obama Administration. 

He was the recipient of many awards, including the American Academy of Diplomacy’s Diplomat of the Year Award in 1987, the Department of State’s Distinguished Service Award in 1976 and again in 1986, and the Department of Energy’s Distinguished Service Award in 1979. In 2005, the Government of Japan presented him with the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star. 

Bosworth was a graduate of Dartmouth College where he was a member of the Board of Trustees from 1992 to 2002 and served as Board Chair from 1996 to 2000. He was married to the former Christine Holmes; they have two daughters and two sons.

Stephen W. Bosworth Payne Distinguished Lecturer, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies Speaker Stanford University
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Frank E. and Arthur W. Payne Lecture Series
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Two technical projects in international humanitarian innovation: Africa and India

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Africa (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2013): USAID and the UN's World Food Program have proposed strategies for allocating ready-to-use (therapeutic and supplementary) foods to children in developing countries. Analysis is needed to investigate whether there are better alternatives. We use a longitudinal data set of 5657 children from Bwamanda to construct a statistical model that tracks each child's height and weight  throughout the first five years of life. We embed this model into an optimization framework that chooses which individual children should receive food based on a child's sex, age, height and weight, to minimize the mean number of disability-adjusted life years per child subject to a budget constraint. Our proposed policy compares favorably to those proposed by the aid groups. Time permitting, we will also discuss a recent analysis of a nutrition program in Guatemala that quantifies the age dependence in the impact of supplementary food, and develops a food allocation policy that exploits this age dependence and reduces child stunting.

India: Motivated by India's nationwide biometric program for social inclusion, we analyze verification (i.e., one-to-one matching) in the case where we possess 12 similarity scores (for 10 fingerprints and two irises) between a resident's biometric images at enrollment and his biometric images during his first verification. At subsequent verifications, we allow individualized strategies based on these 12 scores: we acquire a subset of the 12 images, get new scores for this subset that quantify the similarity to the corresponding enrollment images, and use the likelihood ratio to decide whether a resident is genuine or an imposter. Compared to the policy currently used in India, our proposed policy provides a five-log (i.e., 100,000-fold) reduction in the false reject rate while only increasing the mean delay from 31 to 38 seconds.

A full speaker bio is available on CISAC's website. 

CISAC Conference Room

Lawrence M. Wein

Graduate School of Business
Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-5015

(650) 724-1676 (650) 725-0468
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Jeffrey S. Skoll Professor of Management Science
CISAC Affiliated Faculty Member
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Lawrence Wein is the Jeffrey S. Skoll Professor of Management Science at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, and an affiliated faculty member at CISAC. After getting a PhD in Operations Research from Stanford University in 1988, he spent 14 years at the Sloan School of Management at MIT, where he was the DEC Leaders for Manufacturing Professor of Management Science. His research interests include mathematical models in operations management, medicine and biology.

Since 2001, he has analyzed a variety of homeland security problems. His homeland security work includes four papers in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, on an emergency response to a smallpox attack, an emergency response to an anthrax attack, a biometric analysis of the US-VISIT Program, and an analysis of a bioterror attack on the milk supply. He has also published the Washington Post op-ed "Unready for Anthrax" (2003) and the New York Times op-ed "Got Toxic Milk?", and has written papers on port security, indoor remediation after an anthrax attack, and the detention and removal of illegal aliens.

For his homeland security research, Wein has received several awards from the International Federation of Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS), including the Koopman Prize for the best paper in military operations research, the INFORMS Expository Writing Award, the INFORMS President’s Award for contributions to society, the Philip McCord Morse Lectureship, the Frederick W. Lanchester Prize for best research publication, and the George E. Kimball Medal. He was Editor-in-Chief of Operations Research from 2000 to 2005, and was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2009.   

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Lawrence Wein Jeffrey S. Skoll Professor of Management Science; CISAC Affiliated Faculty Member Speaker
Seminars

Megan Gorman

Stanford University
Encina Hall, C126
Stanford, CA 94305

(650) 725-8901
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Megan Gorman became FSI's deputy director in October 2022. Megan joined FSI in September 2017 as the associate director for operations and since March 2020 served as FSI's associate director for administration and finance. She joined Stanford in 2005 and has served in a variety of capacities, including as the associate director for administration and finance at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), a financial management analyst in the School of Humanities and Sciences (H&S) Dean's Office, the associate director of the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS), and, for one year, the acting co-executive director of the Division of International, Comparative and Area Studies (now Stanford Global Studies). She is a recipient of the H&S Dean's Award of Merit for her outstanding performance and dedication to CLAS.

Before Stanford, Megan served both as a Peace Corps volunteer in El Salvador and a Volunteer in Service to America in three locations in Alaska, focusing on sustainable development projects in partnership with farmers and the Salvadoran Ministry of Agriculture and tribal governments, respectively, and taught English at a maritime university in China.

She holds an undergraduate degree in biology and a master's degree in international relations. Megan has advanced training in conflict management and volunteers in and has served as the co-chair of the City of Palo Alto’s Mediation Program.

Deputy Director, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
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