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Thursday, November 6, 2014

Seeking Students for NEW Geographies of Conflict and Development Program & Special Topics

On behalf of the Center for International Development and Conflict Management, I am pleased to announce the launch of an exciting new opportunity for UMD students:

Geographies of Conflict and Development (GeoCoDe)

Attached is a document with further details about this program.

In brief, GeoCoDe will build important, marketable expertise in geographic analysis that transitions immediately to close involvement in a major faculty-led research project to study the relationship between foreign development assistance and the dynamics of intrastate armed conflict.

We are seeking 40 undergraduate students to participate.

GeoCoDe consists of three stages:

1.       A special topics course during the Spring 2015 semester.

During the first half, students will receive relevant introduction and training. In-class and online lectures, complemented by hands-on interactive experiences, will be conducted by the instructors and guest experts.

In addition, teams comprised of 4-6 students will be constituted. During the remainder of the semester, each team will tackle georeferencing (i.e., match mapping coordinates of locations identified based on related documentation) development projects for a particular country in Africa. Teams will also draft plans for analytical products – e.g., country profiles, blog columns, policy briefs, academic articles – that examine key patterns and trends of relationships between development assistance and armed conflict. Appropriate templates and specific topics will be devised in consultation with the instructors.

On Testudo, you will soon find the following listing:

GVPT368: Special Topics in Government and Politics - Geographies of Conflict and Development (GeoCoDe)
Perm required

Credits: 3

Grading Method: Regular, Pass-Fail, Audit

Restriction: Sophomore standing or higher, permission of instructors.

This course will cultivate knowledge and skills in studying the geographic patterns, trends, and relationships of armed conflict and development assistance around the world. Students will receive training from experts on key theories, information resources, methods and tools, then be involved in direct applications to data development and analysis, working in teams, as part of a major active research project. The expectation is that most students enrolling in the course will continue in paid internship positions during the Summer 2015, then take a follow-up course focusing on generating written and online work products during the Fall 2015 semester.

Contact dbacker@umd.edu for permission to register in the course.

Sections
0101       Paul Huth & David Backer             Seats (Total: 40, Open: 40, Waitlist: 0)
                Tu 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm                     VMH 1203


2.       A paid research assistantship during the Summer 2015.

Students who successfully complete the course will continue in paid summer research assistant positions.

The teams will work intensively – approximately 25-30 hours per week for 10 weeks – to advance the georeferencing and begin assembling analytical products.

3.       A special topics course during the Fall 2015 semester.

The teams will finish the georeferencing, as necessary.

Most of the time will be devoted, however, to completing analytical products. Each team will generate at least three products, together resulting in a comprehensive set of country profiles. Teams will present products both to peers and at a public symposium. Afterwards, the products will be refined and expanded in collaboration with senior project personnel, as warranted, and released on the research project website. Select products may later be transformed into publications co-authored with senior project personnel.

In order to participate, please fill in the table below and email as soon as possible to dbacker@umd.edu.

NAME

UID

EMAIL

MAJOR(S)

MINOR(S)

EXPECTED GRADUATION

OVERALL GPA

GPA IN MAJOR(S)

ANY PRIOR EXPERIENCE WITH GEOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS AND SOFTWARE

INTEREST IN PROGRAM (100 WORDS OR LESS)

ARE YOU INCLINED AND AVAILABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ENTIRE PROGRAM?

Note: Students prepared to participate in the entire program have priority for spots.



Permissions will be granted on a rolling basis. 

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