Welcome to SMPA 2010–2011! We’re glad you’re with us, though it’s hard to believe the summer has moved so quickly into the memory banks and the digital archives, but I can promise you an exciting and eventful academic year ahead. There will be no shortage of classes, lectures, and developments in media and politics to capture your imagination and stimulate your thinking.

Frank Sesno, SMPA Director

We have a number of exciting opportunities for you this year, including an array of events, guest speakers and symposia. We’ll have some parties, too!

We will be setting up networking events. They’ll happen in classes, guest appearances or small social gatherings. The goal is to take advantage of the extended GW community to bring students and accomplished professionals together to discuss ideas, professional development, job opportunities – whatever. This initiative is a direct result of student requests and alumni interest.

We will offer a competitive fellowship in conjunction with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. One of our students will be selected – and will receive a stipend – to cover an underreported issue virtually anywhere in the world. The work will be featured on The Pulitzer Center’s website, on the SMPA website and, potentially, through a major news operation.

There will be opportunities for student research and internships and, of course, an array of extracurricular and SMPA-related activities. Keep an eye on your weekly e-newsletter and on the SMPA website for details.

This is a time of great turmoil and change that it has sent shockwaves through media, politics, political communication and global development. Ideas, information, citizen activism and the exercise of power are in play. It’s a perfect moment to be in Washington, DC at this school studying with some of the world’s finest scholars and professionals.

I welcome you to SMPA 2010 and I eagerly await the contributions you will make and the work you will do in the year ahead.