Graduate Institute Geneva (IHEID) MIA/MDev Curriculum Overhaul

[lecorbeau]

For those of you pursuing an MIA or MDev at IHEID next year, the student association's website has just announced that there will be some major changes to the structure of the curriculum of the school's interdisciplinary masters. For instance it appears as though the current specializations offered will be scrapped and replaced with Global and Regional Integration (economics-focused track), Conflict and Peacebuilding (more security/politics), and Civil Society and Transnational Issues (the option that seems more generalist). This is from their website:

"Here are some specific curriculum changes:

• Interdisciplinary Masters are to have their own pool of classes to choose from, separate from the Disciplinary Masters. Some will be open to both, some will be for MIA or MDev specifically.
  
• Electives will correspond more accurately to the tracks provided so as to create a more coherent program.
  
• Students in both Interdisciplinary and Disciplinary programs will be able to take one class outside of their program plan, and one class outside of the Institute. (This is actually the current rule). There have already been two new professors hired for the Interdisciplinary programs, so class options should not suffer.
  
• The tracks in both the MIA and MDev programs will consist of: 1 core course, 1 Applied Research Seminar, 2 optional courses in the track, and 3 optional courses outside of the track. The Conflict track will be held in common for MIA and MDev.
  
• Current students will experience SOME of the new changes, not ALL. For example, current track names will remain for 2011-2013, but there will be new electives to choose from for the fall semester. The forthcoming document will provide more details."
  

If you're interested, here is a draft of the new MIA/MDev curriculum to be implemented over the next two years. Note that it is entirely in French. IMO, the changes look good. More focused and fewer wishy-washy courses. Excited!

[IRToni]

That's interesting. I'm a little afraid that it will significantly reduce the number of classes in each concentration though. I'm also not a big fan of them making us choose 4 courses from our primary concentration (with the core courses, you only have two courses left) and then three from another concentration.

I'll see once the real course schedules etc. are out. I had been considering changing to IR/PS and might just do that to avoid the chaos, but it's all up in the air.

Thanks for sharing though.

[Lud]

Hey thanks for this quite useful topic!

The following part called my atention:

• Students in both Interdisciplinary and Disciplinary programs will be able to take one class outside of their program plan, and one class outside of the Institute. (This is actually the current rule). There have already been two new professors hired for the Interdisciplinary programs, so class options should not suffer
  

Does this mean, as I understand it, that a, say, student in IA could take an option such as "Migration Law" from the Master in Laws and a "Refugee Law" course at the Humanitarian Academy?

Apart from that, does anyone think that this regulation is gonna be rigorously implemented or should they show some flexibility? I have heard they're quite eager to help students shaping their own paths so I thought it might actually be the case.