Public Diplomacy at SU – A Good Idea!

Public Diplomacy Faculty and Students

Syracuse University is home to a very unique dual degree program focusing in Public Diplomacy. This joint degree combines the MA in International Relations from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs with the MS in Public Relations from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Students can complete this distinct dual degree program over two years of full time study.

This summer we welcomed the 8^th entering class of Public Diplomacy students. Seventy-five (75) Public Diplomacy alumni are are working around the globe in the foreign service, for NGOs such as the World Bank and Amnesty International, and for PR and media organizations.

One distinction of SU’s program is Maxwell’s Washington, D.C., component. Students spend their last semester in D.C., working at full-time internships while participating in a weekly seminar conducted by Michael Schneider, an adjunct faculty member who spent 30 years working for the U.S. Information Agency and State Department.

“The public dimension of diplomacy is so much more important today,” he says. “There’s so much more involvement by groups outside of governments that have a stake in issues that are transnational or international.”

Read more about the origins of this unique dual degree in Maxwell Perspective’s story Good Idea.
And watch recent Public Diplomacy graduate, Kelly McCray’s video sharing her experiences in the global internship component of the degree.