Category: Spring 2017

In the closing weeks of my time here in D.C. I’ve come to really appreciate the opportunity I’ve had to experience the city where so much happens. My internship with Lobbyit, a small lobbying firm located near the Congressional office buildings, has taught me valuable skills about working in an office setting as well as giving me more knowledge on the political processes of our country. I have been able to see more closely the political process and have attended various hearings by the Committees of Congress, both house and senate. Every day of my internship I have the pleasure of being able to see my favorite building in Washington, D.C., the United States Capitol Building.

This week I helped Lobbyit with one of their “Hill Day” events, where they take a group from a client organization up to meet with members of Congress concerning a certain issue they hope to see action on. Even on the days away from my internship Professor Maisch keeps things interesting with thought provoking lectures and organizing meetings with fascinating speakers every week.

My semester here in the Gap Program has made me fall in love with this city and has been a great learning experience before college.

-Kyle Clements
AU Gap Student, Spring 2017

The semester has flown by and our AU Gap students are busy finishing up the semester. So what have the students been up to the last few weeks?

In their seminar class, they have explored the role of the media in Foreign Policy including a speaker at the National Press Club and then a visit to the Newseum. They have visited the National Museum of African-American History and Culture and met with the Office of the Delegation of the European Union to the United States.

And this week student met with Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins to learn more about the Global Health Security Agenda, an international effort with over 55 countries to reduce infections disease threats such as Ebola and Zika.

Next week students will wrap up class and internships and start studying for finals!

Spring break has passed and the semester is more than half over. It has been incredibly rewarding to teach this wonderful group of students. So far, this semester our Gap Year Seminar on International Affairs has met with U.S. Ambassador Barbara Stephenson, Senior U.S. Foreign Service Officer and President of the American Foreign Service Association, for an outstanding lecture on new threat-set facing the United States and the world in the Twenty-First Century. Subsequently, we have been exploring the alternative responses that U.S. foreign policy may provide to these new challenges. We have also studied the constitutional debate over the roles of Congress and the Executive Branch in the formulation and implementation of foreign policy, as well as the main schools of thought that seek to guide our foreign policy.

While considering the various philosophies competing to influence U.S. foreign policy, we have visited the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum where we had a seminar session with an expert on the international law of genocide, with a Holocaust survivor from The Netherlands, and toured the Permanent Exhibition. We have also met with representatives from The Heritage Foundation, the World Service Authority, the Center for the National Interest (formerly known as the Nixon Center), the Cato Institute, Citizens for Global Solutions, and the Center for Teaching Peace, all of whom offered sharply different perspectives on how to respond to the current international challenges facing the United States and the world. We are capping this section with a class discussion about the schools of thought in U.S. foreign policy, for which every student has chosen his or her preferred school of thought and written an essay making the strongest possible case for it based on the lectures, guest speaker presentations, and required course readings. We are all enjoying this major class debate that is now going in to its third phase this week. It has been both enlightening and enjoyable

-Dr. Christian Maisch, AU Gap Professor, Spring 2017

As this semester’s halfway mark approaches, it is really starting to dawn on me what a unique experience this has been. I have spent most of my weekdays interning at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a non-partisan think tank that focuses on the Middle East and military affairs. So far in my internship, I have had the opportunity to sit in on a Congressional hearing on Capitol Hill discussing Israeli, Palestinian, UN, and US relations with the new Presidential Administration and wrote a piece regarding Iran and its nuclear capabilities in the voice of our CEO. Although my original draft was quite revised before being published, I took away a better understanding of how to draft an international policy write up.

Outside of my internship, I have been taking an International Relations seminar and have learned from influential speakers and leaders in the Foreign Policy world. From a pacifist and professor teaching peace to a research expert on the EU and Middle East at the Heritage Foundation—I have learned so much! It has been awesome to see the new administration unfolding and hear the opinions from so many different voices.

Often the topics that are covered in class continue to friendly conversations back in the dorm. To be surrounded by people that are genuinely interested in current affairs and politics and can maintain those conversations is pretty cool and most definitely has taught me more than any class lecture could.

-Kaleigh Gillen
AU Gap Student, Spring 2017

At this point I have been in DC for about six weeks and I am starting to settle in. My internship has been incredible so far. I am working as a sports intern with The Washington Times. So far I have covered college basketball as well as the Washington Wizards. Getting this experience at this age is something I never would’ve thought was possible. While I have realized that I may want to get more into broadcast rather than print media, I love my job right now.

As far as living in DC goes, we’ve done some pretty cool things. We’ve seen all the monuments and we think we found the best burger in DC, but we are always looking for new places to eat. Not having a car has been a bit of a challenge, as the metro isn’t the greatest and Uber is super expensive, but there’s so much traffic in DC anyway.

Over the next few weeks I’m looking forward to getting more into my internship and covering more teams as well as continuing to explore my new home. There’s so much to do here and I feel like we have only scratched the surface so far.

-Peter Santo
AU Gap Student, Spring 2017