Faculty members teaching international relations at U.S. universities across the country voted Georgetown as one of the best places for undergraduate and graduate students interested in studying international relations.

In the report, published by the Institute for the Theory and Practice of International Relations at the College of William and Mary, faculty nationwide ranked the top master’s degree programs in international relations for students looking to pursue careers in policy. Georgetown ranked No. 1 in the survey, above second place Johns Hopkins University and Harvard University in third. Tufts and Columbia universities followed in fourth and fifth place.

The third biennial survey also asked scholars to identify the best institutions for undergraduates interested in international relations. Georgetown earned the fifth highest number of votes in this category while Harvard and Princeton University placed first and second, and Yale and Stanford universities placed third and fourth.

Scholars also named the top Ph.D. programs in the world for students interested in pursuing academic careers in international relations. Georgetown earned the15th highest number of votes in this category.

"We owe our strength to the exceptional caliber of students who choose Georgetown University, our world-renowned faculty, and our dedicated staff,” says Robert Gallucci, dean of Georgetown's Walsh School of Foreign Service. “We are very proud of achieving such high rankings from fellow international relations experts around the country.”

The survey’s findings, published in the March/April 2009 issue of Foreign Policy magazine, appear in the article “Inside the Ivory Tower.” Between August and November, 1,743 international relations professors from every four-year college and university in the United States participated in the survey.

The survey included questions about the most critical current and future foreign policy challenges of the day, as well as the roles professors play in policymaking. The new survey revealed large concerns about climate change, the rise of Russia and China, and professors’ own lack of influence on foreign policy and public discourse, particularly in the new Obama administration.

The survey did not specify particular programs within each university, although Georgetown offers the Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service and six master’s degree programs through the School of Foreign Service, including the Master of Science in Foreign Service program, as well as master’s degrees in security and regional studies. The Department of Government in Georgetown College offers a Ph.D. in international relations and master’s degrees in conflict resolution, international law and politics and democracy studies. The Department of History  also offers a master of arts in global, international and comparative history (MAGIC).

“Georgetown's performance demonstrates, again this year, that we have built one of the world's strongest faculties in international relations and studies, and the absolute best when it comes to translating between the worlds of scholarship and foreign affairs,” says Charles King, Ion Ratiu professor of Romanian studies and professor of international affairs and government at Georgetown University.

“The survey results encompass all of the excellent work in international relations that is being done in both Georgetown’s College and the School of Foreign Service,” says Michael Bailey, associate professor of American government and chair of the government department at Georgetown University. “These rankings are important because they reflect the training provided by Georgetown's superb faculty specializing in international relations,” he says.

-- Katie Martha, Blue & Gray Contributing Writer

(February 23, 2009)