In its ongoing push to grow enrollment in its professional graduate programs, the MIIS Enrollment Management department moved its staff en masse to San Francisco on October 19, where they sponsored the Idealist Fair – one of a series of large regional fairs that attracts young professionals interested in live of purpose that align with the Institute’s mission. Sponsorship of this event gives the Institute high visibility and over the years has helped to cement the Institute’s “brand” on the west coast as the place to go to launch careers with powerful social impact.
The Enrollment team followed this full-court press in San Francisco with Preview Days on the Monterey campus on October 28 and 29. Prospective students attended two master classes, to get a taste of the MIIS experience:
- Do Women’s Human Rights Exist? Professor Nükhet Kardam (International Policy and Development, MPA) The global Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was signed and ratified by 189 countries. What does that mean in reality? Is there consensus across different cultures on women’s human rights norms? Are women’s rights being implemented? What are international organizations, such as the United Nations or World Bank, doing about women’s rights? Professor Kardam will discuss these questions both at the global level and with specific references to Muslim majority countries, including her native Turkey.
- How to Build a Community Partnership One Story at a Time (Dr. Netta Avineri (TESOL/TFL), chair of the intercultural competence committee) So much of what we do at the Middlebury Institute involves mutually beneficial partnerships with local and global communities. In this Master Class we will discover how individual and communal storytelling can play a key role in the ongoing creation of these partnerships. Participants will explore various modes of storytelling that they can then use in their personal and professional lives.
Prospective students also explored the many opportunities to develop their own research agendas and immerse themselves in real world problem solving, locally and around the world.