R. SCOTT APPLEBY, Marilyn Keough Dean
University of Notre Dame, Keough School of Global Affairs

 

“Our students choose Notre Dame and the Keough School because they seek to ground their professional preparation in the deeper ethical questions underlying the work of human development,” says R. Scott Appleby, Marilyn Keough dean of the Keough School of Global Affairs.

Appleby, a scholar of global religion with a doctorate from the University of Chicago, has long been engaging with these deeper ethical questions: Before becoming dean of the Keough School, he served for 14 years as the John M. Regan Jr. director of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, a leading center for the study of the causes of violent conflict and strategies for sustainable peace.

The Kroc Institute is now part of the Keough School, along with six other well-established institutes and centers and two newly formed ones: the McKenna Center for Human Development and Global Business, and the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion.

The Keough School, Notre Dame’s first new school in nearly a century, opened its doors in August 2017. From the outset, the leaders of the school intended to create a collaborative environment in multiple respects: among its institutes and centers, between the Keough School and other colleges on campus, and among students in the master’s program’s three different concentrations.

• International Peace Studies is designed for students committed to building sustainable peace and justice through careers in policy analysis and political change, government and organizational leadership, and conflict analysis and transformation.
• Sustainable Development is for students who seek careers as international development practitioners or policymakers. It allows students to work closely with the Keough School’s Kellogg Institute for International Studies on projects focusing on human development and economic development.
• Global Affairs is for students who want to learn the broad, interdisciplinary field of global affairs and develop related professional skills while also focusing on an area of particular interest, such as human rights, international law, migration and refugees, global religion, democratic policies, migration, or another critical issue or global challenge.

By offering concentrations instead of separate degrees, the Master of Global Affairs program allows students in different areas of study to take classes together and connect perspectives from across their chosen disciplines. The school furthers this commitment to diversity not only through its curriculum but also through its admissions process: the inaugural Master of Global Affairs class includes 38 diverse students from 22 different countries.

Students also engage with a global partner organization and develop professional-quality projects and solutions based in part on internships with the partner.

A weekly global seminar brings students together with influential policymakers from around the world. For example, fall 2017 participants included: Denis McDonough, former White House chief of staff for former President Barack Obama (McDonough is now an executive policy fellow at the Keough School); Horst Koehler, former president of Germany; and Amy McAuliffe, head of the U.S. National Intelligence Council.

The Keough School’s newly established Global Policy Initiative, based in Washington, D.C., aims to advance high-impact academic research and sound public policy, and to influence decision-making in governments, corporations, and nongovernmental humanitarian organizations around the world.

“Over time, we intend to enhance Notre Dame’s voice in the conversations and debates that will decide the future of international education, the treatment of migrants, efforts to reduce poverty, and plans to bring peace to troubled regions and nations,” says Appleby.

Graduate Degree Program Option:
• Master of Global Affairs

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