Pitt's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs Offers New Academic Programs in Human Security and Civil Security and Disaster Management

PITTSBURGH—The University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) is offering a new major in Human Security and a new minor in Civil Security and Disaster Management. Information about both programs, which are available in fall 2006, follows.

Human Security Major

In today's increasingly globalized world, the most destructive threats to human security emanate from the conditions that give rise to genocide, civil war, human rights deprivations, global epidemics, environmental degradation, forced labor, and malnutrition. These threats primarily endanger civilians rather than the integrity of a state.

GSPIA has taken a bold step in creating a program of study in Human Security, a new major that responds to the breadth of threats that pose continuing, intractable, and sometimes overwhelming problems for governments and international and nongovernmental organizations responsible for coping with them. The major will focus on human rights and the rule of law, conflict and violence, and economic security. It is among the first such programs to be offered in public and international affairs schools in the United States.

The goal of the Human Security major is to prepare students for roles as analysts and practitioners with the skills to work as policymakers in governments, nongovernmental organizations, think-tanks, the United Nations, and other international affairs organizations. It will focus on developing expertise in peacekeeping and peace-building, areas that have seen a growth in demand over the last five years.

Aspiring professionals in international development will be able to explore the practical working relationships between human rights and human development, master theory and skills related to working in conflict and postconflict situations, and develop experience, skills, and contacts to enter the growing policy-advocacy field.

Students majoring in Human Security will have opportunities to pursue their research interests through GSPIA's Ford Institute for Human Security, which is currently conducting research projects on genocide, slave and forced labor, corporate social responsibility, intrastate conflict and human rights, environmental security, public health, and internal displacement, forced migration, and refugees.

The major in Human Security builds on GSPIA's reputation for preparing students to make substantive contributions to society through careers as managers, advisors, and policy analysts in government and nonprofit organizations in geographic locations throughout the world.

The new major is available to students in the school's Master of Public and International Affairs and Master of International Development programs. Human Security also is available as a specialization for students in the Master of Public Policy and Management program and as a minor for students in any of GSPIA's master's degree programs.

Civil Security and Disaster Management Minor

The occupational outlook for experts in civil security and disaster management is expected to grow as every city, county, and state government—as well as virtually every branch of the federal government—has or soon will have resources to deal with security and disaster management. In recognition of this trend, GSPIA created a new minor in Civil Security and Disaster Management that will prepare students with a core set of concepts and skills for working with security-related issues.

The new minor will be available to students in GSPIA's two-year master's degree programs and the doctoral program. According to Louise K. Comfort, professor of public and urban affairs and the force behind the new minor, it "will provide a coherent program of study for students who are interested in the unique combination of civil security, intelligence, information management, national security, and disaster management that, until now, has not been available."

"We are witnessing a significant change in public and international affairs in which the United States government has created a new market for security, intelligence, and information management jobs," said Comfort. The new minor in Civil Security and Disaster Management is excellent preparation for those considering employment in any area of government, including disaster management, customs, immigration, and justice-related professions, as well as in the fields of education and public policy.

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08/21/06/scl