mcd417

Thanks so much for the advice. I do not feel beholden to the "top 15" by any means - I am much more concerend with finding the right fit, a supportive department and an advisor who can help lead me through what seems to be somewhat unchartered territory. I am very familiar with Sikkink's work and figure a constructivist discourse would play a large part in my work. I'm also aware of Finnemore at GW and Ruggie at Harvard for that matter...

Hello all, I completed an MA in Government (International Law and Politics) from Georgetown in July 2008. At Georgetown, my research generally focused on security-related issues, but towards the end I became more interested in the vacuous nature of international human rights law and the failure of the international human rights regime. My foremost interest now is an emerging norm to protect sexual minorities (e.g. GLBTQ persons) in international law, and whether this is premature and therefore ultimately damaging or whether it could be the crystallization of a norm, etc. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on departments that might be interested in this question. So far, I have had trouble locating anyone interested in the nexus of the rights of sexual minorities and IR / public international law. Even general ideas would be very helpful, such as a school that is strong in Queer Theory. Because my interests have shifted significantly. Also, if anyone wants to weigh in on the likelihood of getting into a decent program without any significant research on this topic, let me know. Thanks so much!

Hello all, As background, I am hoping to apply to PhD programs this Fall. I applied after completing my BA in International Relations and French from BU, and was rejected. Chicago deferred me to the CIR MA program, NYU deferred me to MA in Politics. I have since completed an MA in Government (International Law and Politics) from Georgetown. At Georgetown, my research generally focused on security-related issues, but towards the end I became more interested in the vacuous nature of international human rights law and the failure of the international human rights regime. My foremost interest now is an emerging norm to protect sexual minorities (e.g. GLBTQ persons) in international law, and whether this is premature and therefore ultimately damaging or whether it could be the crystallization of a norm, etc. I was wondering if anyone had any advice on departments that might be interested in this question. So far, I have had trouble locating anyone interested in the nexus of the rights of sexual minorities and IR / public international law. Even general ideas would be very helpful. Because my interests have shifted significantly, I no longer feel that my list from 2006 is relevant. Thanks so much!