With the COVID-19 pandemic disrupting many student programs, especially those involving both regional and international travel, one program, the Diplomacy Lab, continues to grow and thrive.
The Diplomacy Lab project was launched in 2013 by then-Secretary of State John Kerry and allows the U.S. State Department to outsource research and innovation to universities and academic institutions, according to the Diplomacy lab website. The program was piloted at IU-Bloomington in 2016. Since the inception of the program, 30 courses across eight schools have participated in Diplomacy Lab projects.
“It’s an opportunity for faculty and students to engage in real-world, global, diplomatic problems and get some practical training that might lead to student career paths,” said Michael Hamburger, professor of geophysics and IU’s Institutional Co-Coordinator.
The Diplomacy Lab operates through several IU classes, offered through different schools and programs at the undergraduate, graduate and independent study levels. The Diplomacy Lab runs projects in six different classes across four programs this semester, according to the website. Topics this fall range from infrastructure in Asia to the link between artificial intelligence and human rights.
