The Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver is a professional school of international affairs offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degrees. It is named in honor of the founding dean, Josef Korbel, father of former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
The Josef Korbel School is located on the University of Denver’s main campus in Denver’s University Hill neighborhood. The school currently educates more than 700 students with nearly 70 full- and part-time faculty members.[1] It is also home to 10 academic research centers and institutes.[2] Frederick “Fritz” Mayer has been dean of the school since 2019.[3]
The Department of International Relations at the University of Denver was first directed by Dr. Ben Mark Cherrington, an educator and policy maker who was associated with some of his era's preeminent political thinkers, including Gandhi, Louis Brandeis and Ramsay MacDonald.[6]
According to the University of Denver, "In 1938, Cherrington was handpicked by the United States Department of State to lead its new Division of Cultural Relations and tasked with carrying out 'the exchange of professors, teachers, and students...cooperation in the field of music, art, literature...international radio broadcasts...generally, the dissemination abroad of the representative intellectual and cultural work of the U.S.'"[6] Cherrington later became chancellor of the University of Denver from 1943 to 1946, and he was also a contributing author to the United Nations Charter.[7]
The Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS) was established under the efforts of Josef Korbel, who became its first dean, in 1964. Decades earlier, he had been forced to flee during the Communist coup in Czechoslovakia in 1948.[8] Korbel was granted political asylum in the United States and was hired in 1949 to teach international politics at the University of Denver. To house the school, the 30,300-square-foot (2,810 m2) Ben M. Cherrington Hall was built in 1965.
Nearly 25 years after Korbel's death, the University of Denver established the Josef Korbel Humanitarian Award in 2000. In 2008, the Graduate School of International Studies was renamed the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, in his honor and in recognition of his family's support.[9]
The Josef Korbel School focuses on training graduate students, both for master's and doctoral degrees, in a number of different areas. In addition to the major, students also specify certain concentrations, either a subject interest or a regional focus. Most degrees require foreign language proficiency and a field internship.
The school's graduate programs include majors in International Human Rights; International Development; Global Finance, Trade and Economic Integration; International Administration; International Security; and International Studies.[13][14] As a result of its Peace Corps Master’s International and Fellows programs, the school is home to one of the largest Peace Corps communities at the graduate level.[15][16]
Graduate students can earn graduate certification in Global Health Affairs, Homeland Security and Humanitarian Assistance on top of their master's degree work.[17]
The Josef Korbel School’s graduate programs were ranked 11th in the world by the 2012 Inside the Ivory Tower survey of scholars, which was published in Foreign Policy. In 2007, the magazine ranked the Korbel master's program as 9th in the U.S. for graduate level, international affairs programs.[4][18] It is also one of 35 institutions worldwide that is a full member of the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs, a grouping of international studies-orientated institutions.[5]
In 2011, 77 returned Peace Corps volunteers matriculated as graduate students at the University of Denver through the Paul D. Coverdell Fellowship program. Coverdell Fellows are individuals who receive funding and support to help offset the costs of graduate school following their return from service abroad in the Peace Corps. The 2011 and 2013 figures show that DU hosted the largest number of returned Peace Corps volunteers of any graduate school in the country.[19][20] These volunteers are most often enrolled in one of the Korbel School's M.A. programs.[16]
Several noted professionals in the field of international relations serve as professors and lecturers as part of the school's faculty.[41] Some past and present faculty members include:
JKSIS is home to 10 research centers, clinics and institutes, including the following:
Center for China-U.S. Cooperation: according to the center's website, it is "the only institution in the Rocky Mountain region devoted to building mutual understanding, prudent policies and avenues of dispute resolution among the people of Greater China and the United States."[2]
Center on Human Rights Education:[52] a center which promotes universal recognition of human rights through research, advocacy, monitoring, representation, and outreach.[2]
Center for Middle East Studies: The Center for Middle East Studies (CMES) is dedicated to promoting and strengthening the study and understanding of the societies, political systems, and international relations of the Middle East and broader Islamic world, both at DU and throughout the Mountain West."[2]
Collaborative Refugee and Immigrant Information Center: a referral and informational database project designed as a resource for immigrants and displaced persons settling in Colorado.[53]
Conflict Resolution Institute: a research program dedicated to studying peaceful de-escalation techniques. It sponsors the university's Conflict Resolution Master of Arts degree.[2][54]
Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures: a research, analysis and education center for International Futures, a computer modeling system that can help forecast long-term global changes and trends in demographics, economics and the environment. Endowed by Frederick S. Pardee in 2007.[55] Current model results are being hosted by the Google Public Data Explorer.[2][56]
Human Trafficking Center: a clinic which provides professional research, writing, and educational outreach on human trafficking and all forms of modern day slavery. Its "aim is to provide research that improves inter-organizational cooperation and accountability, influences policy, and raises awareness in combating human trafficking and modern day slavery."[2]
International Career Advancement Program": a professional development leadership program for mid-career individuals in the international affairs field.[2]
^"Cindy Courville". Occidental College | Global Affairs. Occidental College. Archived from the original on 15 February 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
^"Captain Gail Harris"(PDF). www.agacgfm.org. Association of Government Accountants. Archived from the original(PDF) on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2012.
^"Jami Miscik". Leadership and Staff profiles. Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
^"Suisheng Zhao faculty profile". du.edu/korbel. University of Denver. Retrieved 21 March 2015. Also serves as the School's Director for Center for China–US Cooperation.