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Dear EPD students,
We hope you're doing well and staying cool during these very hot days. We also hope you found SIPA's recent important update about course information for the fall semester helpful. Some of you have been inquiring about EPD core courses, so we wanted to take the opportunity to highlight them for you. We will send a more comprehensive update in the first half of August.
In fall 2020, we will be offering the following core courses:
Political Development Core:
U6538 State Building in the Developing World
Prof. Daniel Corstange
Wednesday, 9:00-10:50am
Method of instruction: online only
and
U8260 Authoritarianism: Accountability and Policy Making in Non-Democratic Settings
Prof. Lisa Anderson
Wednesday, 2:10-4:00pm
Method of instruction: TBD
(In spring 2021, we expect to be offering State and Society in the Developing World (U6412) taught by Vicky Murillo; State Formation, Deformation and Failure (U8258) taught by Lisa Anderson; and a new political development course taught by a new SIPA instructor Rumela Sen).
Economic Development Core:
U6602 Economic Development
Prof. Nandita Krishnaswamy
Method of instruction: online only
(Schedule will be announced soon)
As we mentioned in our earlier notice, registration for this course will be restricted to second-year EPD students only since first-years will just be starting Microeconomics, a prerequisite.
(U8145 Advanced Economic Development taught by Prof. Eric Verhoogen will be offered in spring 2021, and will be open to both first- and second-years.)
Finally, U6827 Methods for Development Practice - which is a requirement for second-year EPD students - is an application-based course, and therefore students won't be able to add it to their course planners in Vergil. The online course application will open on Monday, 8/10, and we will send out a notice before this date. The Methods application is a formality; all EPD second-years who apply will be registered by the second week of class.
In the meantime, we hope you find this newsletter useful, and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out.
Best,
The EPD Team
This week's newsletter includes:
- EPD Student Summer Spotlight
- Faculty Spotlight: Akbar Noman
- EPD/OCS Job Strategy Discussion Group - Upcoming Session on 7/30 with guest speaker
- Upcoming Job and Internship Deadlines
- Summer OCS Information
- ISSO Information
- EPD Summer Resource List
- Summer EPD Office Hours
EPD Student Summer Spotlight
Thanks to all the EPD students who responded to our Student Summer Spotlight! One of your classmates, Elizabeth Anderson, shared with us what she's been up to this summer. Keep the responses coming here.
Elizabeth Anderson
 Where are you spending the summer: The US Midwest
What are you doing this summer: Interning through the Columbia Global Centers as an English-language editor for a special COVID-19 Brazilian public policy journal issue.
What have you done to get along while staying at home?: Getting back to my Ag roots by raising chickens and a vegetable garden. Also cooking meals in a solar oven and writing YA gymnastics-themed fiction.
Faculty Spotlight: Akbar Noman
Over the summer, we are highlighting some of EPD’s core faculty members! Feel free to explore faculty profiles and the classes that they teach at SIPA.
 Akbar Noman is Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs and a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Policy Dialogue at Columbia. We recently sat down (socially distanced, of course) with Prof. Noman and asked him a few questions about himself and his work:
Q: What will you be teaching in the fall?
In the fall semester I will be teaching "Comparative Development: East Asia, Other Regions and Lessons of Success" (INAFU8246). All SIPA students - and usually a couple of non-SIPA ones - in either year of their program are eligible. The motivation is to provide an interpretation of what the lessons of success are for developing countries for transforming their economies. The East Asia Region includes the most successful developing countries - notably the only ones that have changed status from "developing" to "developed" in the post world war II period - and the course begins with examining what happened in East Asian success stories, what are the public policies that account for their success and what are the controversies in establishing causal relationships between policies and outcomes. We will then contrast and compare with the other developing regions of South Asia (Indian subcontinent), Africa and Latin America. An overview of developments in these regions will be informed by the question of what the lessons of success are for these other regions.
Q: What is the focus of your research? What are you working on at the moment?
Much of my research has been informed by the motivation of the course I am to teach—especially what economists refer to as "industrial policies" even when such policies target non-industrial sectors (as Joe Stiglitz and I in our joint writings have argued they are better characterized as "Learning, Industrial and Technology (LIT)" policies). My current research interest or obsession is with the implications of ongoing technological changes (such as AI and Robots) on employment in developing countries. I co-chair a task force on that topic at the Initiative of Policy Dialogue (IPD) - my other Columbia affiliation - supported by a grant from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Q: What are some fun facts that students should know about you?
When asked to state some fun facts about me, it struck me, much to my embarrassment, that they are mostly unmentionable but knowing how reliable SIPA students are at keeping secrets iIwill provide an example: stealing my father's car at the age of 15 to drive around all night with friends, all of whom, like me, were too young to have a driving license. I still haven't figured out the answer to the question that I was asked at my first tutorial at Oxford University by a philosopher who, while playing with rock in his hand, asked "How do you know if it won't hurt this stone if I throw it out of the window?" My daughter says I remember cricket match scores from 50 years ago but forget her and her brother's name; I consider that a grossly unfair exaggeration, but admit to an obsession with that sport, playing which accounted for far too much of my time as a student and far too little since then. I should add that I count the following as amongst my most cherished accomplishments: being a member of the team that won 3 of the last 4 trivia contests at the annual EPD retreat.
OCS/EPD Job Strategy Discussion Groups - Upcoming Session on July 30, 2020 with a guest speaker
On Thursday, July 30th, we will host another EPD specific job search strategy discussion session led by OCS’s Meg Heenehan and Pat Macken.
Our guest speaker will be Hunter Goldman (MIA EPD '19) who is currently a Director on the Innovation team at The Rockefeller Foundation. In his role, Hunter focuses on leveraging data science, new frontiers research, and convenings & networks to accelerate the impact of the foundation's program areas and position the institution for the future. Prior to rejoining Rockefeller last year, he was a consultant for The Omidyar Network, where he was responsible for sourcing pipeline deals, conducting due diligence, and providing operating support for their Property Rights and Geospatial technology investment team. He has also served in New York City government, in the office of former NYC Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and at the New York City Economic Development Corporation under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Please mark your calendar for the next EPD session: Thursday, July 30, 2020 at 11AM (ET).
To join our July 30th meeting, please follow this link:
https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/j/92880456005?pwd=ZzBBVFY3cmpBMFdIWEhNcnBlKys0Zz09
Meeting ID: 928 8045 6005
Password: 280585
Upcoming Job and Internship Deadlines
Search job/internship postings on SIPAlink using the Job ID indicated below.
- July 29 - World Resources Institute | Communications Intern, Global Restoration Initative (26643561)
- July 29 - Center For Economic And Policy Research | Fall Domestic Program Intern (26646492)
- July 30 - International Monetary Fund (IMF) | Research Officer (26643834)
- July 31 - New York State Department Of Civil Service | Research Assistant (26646263)
- July 31 - Trickle Up | Business Development Associate (26643930)
- July 31 - Dalberg | Senior Consultant (26641926)
- July 31 - CDP | Junior Target Data Analyst (26648794)
- August 1 - Save The Children | Program Data Coordinator (26644174)
- August 2 - Eurasia Group | Senior Analyst and Practice Manager, Technology (26644326)
- August 6 - GeoQuant | Political Scientist (26644684)
- August 7 - Salesforce | Associate Content Project Manager (26644991)
- August 7- Bloomberg Philanthropies | Program Manager, Government Innovation Team (26645002)
Summer OCS Resources
OCS continues to work diligently this summer to provide resources to all students. Please see below for more information on important OCS resources that you can take advantage of to accelerate your internship or job search or to help with interviews, networking, and finding alumni contacts.
OCS Virtual Office Hours:
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10-11am EST
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 990 6200 1305
Password: 195025
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-4pm EST
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 922 1262 1970
Password: 960599
OCS Quick Links:
Big Interview - Virtual interview practice
Online Subscriptions and Databases
SIPA Alumni and Student Network on LinkedIn
VMock - AI resume review tool
"Look Who's Hiring" - Interactive job posting report
Recordings of Previous OCS events:
Career Workshops and Webinars
Employer Information Sessions
ISSO Information
For our international students, the Columbia International Students and Scholars Office provides information and assistance about relevant visa and travel information. The ISSO’s website is https://isso.columbia.edu/.
Among others, ISSO offers the following help and services:
ISSO’s Covid Hub can be found here: https://isso.columbia.edu/content/covid-19-hub.
Immigration Alerts and Resources: https://isso.columbia.edu/content/immigration-alerts-and-resources
EPD Summer Resource List
The EPD team has assembled a list of recommended resources for those looking to keep up with the latest developments and major thought in international development including organizational responses to COVID-19 pandemic. You can access the list here.
Summer EPD Office Hours
The EPD team continues to be available to chat with students throughout the summer. Please email us to schedule an appointment and we'll set up a call for you.
José Antonio Ocampo, EPD Co-Director
jao2128@columbia.edu
Jenny McGill, EPD Co-Director and Workshop Director
em419@columbia.edu
Ilona Vinklerova, EPD Concentration Manager
iv2105@columbia.edu
That's all for now! Stay cool everyone!
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