Summer 2025 Named Fellowships
Each year, the Keck Center offers several fellowships in various research areas during both the academic year and summer. Fellows conduct research falling under one of the categories in the seasonal application. This summer, the program is expanding to involve direct collaboration with four professors: Dr. Hicham Bou Nassif, Dr. Jennifer Taw, Dr. Lisa Koch, and Dr. Hillary Appel. In eight weeks over the summer, fellows will work in teams on a themed project with distinct deliverables under each professor. The application period has closed.
Contact the Keck Center with any questions at KeckCenter@cmc.edu.
Summer Fellowships:
William Crouch Fellowship in International Affairs: U.S. Foreign Policy under Trump (Hicham Bou Nassif)
Students will examine the new directions in American Foreign Policy emerging under the Trump Administration. Although the outlines of the Administration’s policies are still taking shape, change is clearly in the air – and international relations are entering a turbulent era. Students will work in teams to develop a podcast series on a range of topics including: How far will the current crisis in American-European relations go? Will America really take over Gaza – and where will the Palestinians go should that happen? Will the Trump administration defend Taiwan should it be attacked by China? Students will research these (and other) important American Foreign Policy questions and transform the answers into podcasts published on Spotify. Each group of students (2-3 students) is required to publish 3 podcasts and contribute meaningfully to an annotated bibliography on President Trump’s foreign policy.
Times: Wednesdays 10am-12pm, Pacific – May 21, 28; June 4, 11, 18, 25; July 2, 9
Harold W. Rood Fellowship in International Security: Enhancing U.S. Security (Jennifer Taw)
This summer research project will investigate possible avenues to enhance U.S. security. The group will spend the first couple of weeks in a cycle of discussion and research on what constitutes U.S. security, what factors affect it, what means there are to enhance it, and how leaders should prioritize among its many components. By the end of the second week, the group will have identified one-to-two policy questions to address and will have decided whether to do so using a presentation deck or a policy memo. The following four meetings will be dedicated to sharing research and building out the product(s); the last two meetings will be for finalizing the product(s) and identifying avenues for sharing the groups’ analysis.
Times: Mondays 8am-10am, Pacific – May 19, 26; June 2, 9, 16; 23, 30 July 7
Peter Adams Fellowship in International Political Economy: US Economic Statecraft – Sanctions and Trade Wars (Lisa Koch)
How and why does the United States use tariffs and economic sanctions in the international system? What are the benefits and costs of these tools of economic statecraft? We will read about and discuss the past and ongoing use of sanctions and tariffs by the United States, and students will work together in small groups to develop policy recommendations regarding either tariffs or sanctions in US foreign policy today. Small groups of 2-3 students will each develop a 6-8-slide presentation recommending a policy on either tariffs or sanctions (the group gets to choose) to high-ranking US officials (played by Prof. Koch and the other students). The full group will then workshop each presentation to help the authors refine their work and think further about how to communicate complex points to an audience. (2) Each group will then develop a 6-page policy memo on the subject of the presentation, written to a high-ranking US official. Each group will also write an accompanying 1-pager that could be handed to the official on the way in to a meeting.
Times: Tuesdays 10am-12pm Pacific – May 20, 27, 3, 10, 17, 24; July 8, 15
Jack Stark Fellowship in Global Affairs: The Future of the Global Capitalist and Democratic Order (Hilary Appel)
This research team will examine past and current threats to the global liberal order that for decades promoted peace among democracies (in particular on the European continent after centuries of warfare), economic growth, higher living standards, and the rule of law. While many of the core members of that liberal order were imperfect democracies, often with self-serving foreign policies, they nonetheless offered an attractive alternative to authoritarian political systems in the Cold War and Post-Cold War eras. Students will discuss readings, develop an annotated bibliography, and work in teams to develop two policy memos per group on current threats to the liberal order, including the rise of populist leaders, the abandonment of the free trade regime, and the weakening of multilateralism.
Times: Saturdays 8:30-10:30am – May 24, 31,;June 5*, 14, 21, 28; July 12, 19
* (Note 6/5 is Thurs. @ 5pm)