All International and Public Affairs concentrators choose a track of specialization: Development, Policy & Governance, or Security.
Track Descriptions
Development Track
The Development Track is concerned with understanding and improving human living standards, quality of life, and prosperity. What accounts for problems of inequality, unequal access to opportunity, and unequal access to public goods? What is the role of politics, social movements, and civil society in shaping developmental outcomes? How are these outcomes influenced by relationships of power and hierarchy? How do race, ethnicity, and gender affect development? What makes some geographies – cities, regions, countries – prosperous and others poor? How do factors such as trade, regional integration, and international economic institutions affect living standards, quality of life, and equality?
Policy & Governance Track
The Policy & Governance Track is concerned with the design and generation of policies to address societal problems (whether at the local, national, or international levels), the implementation of those policies, and the assessment of the effectiveness of those policies once they are in place. What factors drive the characteristics and scope of particular policies (whether in the areas of social policy, health policy, environmental policy, foreign policy, etc.)? Why does implementation go predictably in certain situations, but unpredictably in others? How do relationships of power affect policy design and implementation? What is the role of civil society and social movements in influencing governmental policy? What types of analytical tools can be used to frame problems, craft solutions, and evaluate policy effectiveness?
Security Track
The Security Track is concerned with understanding the incidence and prevention of violence in societal contexts, whether local, national, or international. What are the causes of interstate violence? What drives intrastate violence? What accounts for variation in policing? How do relationships of power or institutions of governance affect the incidence and severity of violence and coercion? How does technology impact the prosecution and prevention of violence geopolitically, nationally, and locally?
Professional Track
The Professional Track is available for all three IAPA tracks of specialization: Development, Policy & Governance, and Security.
IAPA does not award course credit for internships but recognizes the importance of experiential learning by offering students the optional professional track. Students pursuing a professional track must complete all IAPA concentration requirements, plus a 2-6 month professional experience and a substantive reflective essay to be approved by the student’s concentration advisor. Each internship experience must be full-time lasting at least one month.
The reflective essays for each experience should address the following:
- Which courses were put to use in your professional work? Which topics, in particular, were important?
- In retrospect, which courses should you have taken before your summer experience or internship? Which topics from these courses would have helped you over the summer if you had been more familiar with them?
- Are there topics you should have been familiar with in preparation for your summer experience or internship, but are not taught at Brown? What are these topics?
- What did you learn from the experience that probably could not have been picked up from coursework?
- Is the sort of work you did over the summer something you would like to continue doing once you graduate? Explain.
- Would you recommend your summer experience to other Brown students? Explain.
Track Foundational Course
Students are required to take one track foundational course corresponding with the track. Foundational courses lay out the broad questions and themes for the track.
Track Electives
In addition to a foundational course, students take five electives corresponding with the track. Courses must be selected from the list of pre-approved electives. While students enjoy great latitude in the selection of their five electives, we encourage them to focus on a particular country, region, or issue area (e.g., education, humanitarianism, nuclear proliferation, economic development). We encourage students to work with their academic advisors to choose a “cluster” of electives that will allow them to build knowledge that can be applied to junior seminars and especially to senior capstone experiences. We believe that doing so will lead to the most meaningful experience in IAPA.