Provide an opportunity to engage with one of several geographic areas—Africa, East or South Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and Russia and the Former Soviet States, among others—via multiple academic disciplines.
Overview
Area studies have been a component of scholarship at SIPA since the School’s founding era. SIPA’s regional specializations give students an opportunity to engage with a specific geographic area via multiple academic disciplines. You’ll learn about discrete regions of the world, the policy challenges they face, and the internal and external factors that influence those challenges.
Current regional specialization options include Africa, East Asia, East Central Europe, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Russia and the Former Soviet States, South Asia, and the United States.
Career Paths
Students in the regional specializations pursue the same wide range of careers as students in the MIA and MPA programs as a whole. Students who wish to work in or devote themselves to the challenges facing a particular geographic area may find these specializations to be particularly appealing.
Curriculum & Courses
While each specialization sets its own curriculum, most require students to take courses in more than one academic discipline. Approved courses often include offerings at SIPA, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and sometimes other schools at Columbia University.
Specialization Requirements
Each regional specialization requires the completion of three courses (9 points), but course and distribution requirements vary.
Regional Contacts
Africa
Souleymane Bachir Diagne
Director, Institute of African Studies
Professor of French and Romance Philology
522 Philosophy Hall
[email protected]
Jinny Prais
Advisor to the Certificate in African Studies
Associate Director, Institute of African Studies
Room 201 Knox Hall
201 Knox Hall
[email protected]
East Asia
Lucy March
Student Affairs Coordinator
Room 934 IAB
[email protected]
East Central Europe
Christopher Caes
Director, East Central European Center
1228 IAB
[email protected]
Rebecca Dalton
Program Manager, Harriman Institute
1211 IAB
[email protected]
Europe
Francois Carrel-Billard
Associate Director, European Institute
Interchurch Center (475 Riverside Drive), Office 308J
[email protected]
Sharon Kim
Senior Program Manager, European Institute
Interchurch Center (475 Riverside Drive), Office 308L
[email protected]
Latin America
Gustavo S. Azenha
Director of Graduate Studies & Executive Director of ILAS
Associate Director, Center for Brazilian Studies
Room 834 IAB
[email protected]
Eliza Kwon
Senior Manager of Business & Student Affairs
Room 827 IAB
[email protected]
Middle East
Brinkley Messick
Director, Middle East Institute
756 Schermerhorn
[email protected]
Astrid Benedek
Associate Director, Middle East Institute
304 Knox Hall
[email protected]
Russia and the Former Soviet States
Valentina Izmirlieva
Director, Harriman Institute
1214 IAB
[email protected]
Rebecca Dalton
Program Manager, Harriman Institute
1211 IAB
[email protected]
South Asia
Katherine Ewing
Director, South Asia Institute
Room 214 Knox Hall
[email protected]
William Carrick
Assistant Director and Outreach Coordinator, South Asia Institute
219 Knox Hall
[email protected]
United States
Ester Fuchs
Specialization Director
Professor of International and Public Affairs and Political Science
1428 IAB
[email protected]
Kevin Gully
Specialization Coordinator
1430A IAB
[email protected]
