Military graduate degree offerings expanded with new concentration


Fri, 10/18/2013

author

Kristi Henderson

LAWRENCE – The University of Kansas, consistently recognized as a military-friendly university, is now among a select few universities nationwide to provide Army officers specialized graduate level education in more than one world region.

KU has added a new, intensive master’s degree concentration, foreign affairs studies, which allows officers to deepen and diversify their expertise in a variety of regions. The concentration was designed specifically for Army foreign area officers, who need an in-depth, regionally focused master’s level program to enhance their existing language proficiency and first-hand knowledge of a region.

“The military is increasingly looking for opportunities to prepare their personnel to serve in diverse areas of the world,” said John Kennedy, director of the Center for Global and International Studies. “Foreign area officers need extensive knowledge to advise senior leaders and establish effective relationships in the region where they are serving. The depth of international expertise and resources we have at KU is uniquely suited to address this need.”

The first concentration area available, starting in fall 2014, will be Middle East and North Africa. It will be offered as part of KU’s master’s degree in the Center for Global and International Studies. The concentration was created to meet the Army’s requirement for FAOs to complete a regionally focused master’s degree in only 12 months. As the program expands, other regions will be added.

KU is among only 20 universities nationwide to offer such programs, and of those, one of just three that offers more than one regional specialty.

Students with language and regional experience comparable to FAOs’ are encouraged to pursue the concentration as well. The in-depth training can also serve career needs of former Peace Corps volunteers and others who have spent extensive time abroad.

KU has been educating foreign area officers for more than 50 years. The interdisciplinary master’s degree program in the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies is one of the longest established in the nation. The Center for Global and International Studies also oversees a master’s degree in interagency studies for military officers training at Fort Leavenworth. More details are available through the Office of Graduate Military Programs.

KU offers courses in 40 foreign languages and about regions including the Americas, South Asia, Europe, Eurasia, China, North Africa, Middle East, North Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Center for Global and International Studies and the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies are part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The College is also home to KU’s three other area studies centers and eight departments that offer foreign language courses. Altogether, these departments and centers in the College teach all foreign languages at KU. Learn more at KU’s foreign languages website.

Fri, 10/18/2013

author

Kristi Henderson

Media Contacts

Kristi Henderson

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

785-864-3663