Five graduate students from the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy received funding to take their capstone projects global, conducting fieldwork and other original research related to eight countries across three continents during the 2023-2024 academic year. This new initiative was spearheaded by David Backer, Research Professor in SPP and instructor for the section of the MPP capstone course focusing on international security and development projects.
Each student's activities were tailored to the specific needs and circumstances of their project. Several of the students headed to countries in Africa and Asia, while another student brought multiple civil society experts from Central America to UMD. These activities enabled unparalleled access to conduct face-to-face meetings, primary data collection, and visits to significant sites.
Jahi Madzimoyo's fieldwork during January 2024 took him to Gorée Island, Senegal, one of the first UNESCO World Heritage Sites established in Africa. In partnership with the Musée de l'Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire, his project sought to ground the formulation of sustainable tourism solutions for historic locations in evidence from affected communities. While in Senegal, he conducted in-depth interviews with residents of the island to understand their experiences and priorities for culturally sensitive economic development.
Alexa Schmid traveled to Ghana in January 2024 for fieldwork undertaken in the context of a program directed by UMD GVPT Professor John McCauley with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Her project focused on current challenges facing Ghana's democracy. She met with civil society actors around the country to illuminate issues emerging ahead of upcoming national elections.
Samira Mudd visited Kenya during January 2024 for fieldwork in partnership with the country office of Action Against Hunger (ACF), an international humanitarian organization. Her project involved studying how outreach sites capitalize on data to guide interventions that address the problem of malnutrition. She interacted with ACF personnel in Nairobi and local clinics to understand their needs in relation to the management, analysis, and visualization of health data.
Olivia Parker journeyed the furthest of the students for fieldwork, making a trip to Taiwan during March 2024. Her project in partnership with the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command's Center for Excellence and Disaster Management (CFE-DM) was designed to evaluate the capabilities of humanitarian organizations in addressing future disaster scenarios. She interviewed leaders of multiple organizations to gauge their infrastructure, resources, scope of operations, and adaptability.
"The fieldwork was particularly valuable for my project as it yielded concrete primary data on the operations and preparedness of NGOs in Taiwan," Parker noted. "This firsthand insight was crucial, especially given the timing—right before the earthquake that was one of the largest natural disasters the island has faced in over 25 years. The data collected will significantly contribute to our understanding of how these organizations respond to crises and adapt in the face of challenges."
Parker emphasized the professional value of this experience, highlighting how it enhanced her research skills and deepened her knowledge about Taiwan. She plans to leverage these skills in her future work with the Department of the Navy, focusing on cross-strait relations. "By continuing research in this area, I aim to contribute to strengthening our relations with Taiwan and bolstering security in the Indo-Pacific region," she said.
Carmen Chamorro’s activities differed from those of the other students, inverting the arrangement by bringing the fieldwork to UMD instead. Her project partnering with the Central American Platform for Civic Action (CPAC) was devoted to improving strategies of civil society to counteract state-based disinformation. She organized a multi-day workshop at SPP that was attended by leading civil society activists who traveled from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. They deliberated about emergent threats to political protest across the region and devising approaches to empower effective mobilization. These experts also served as panelists for a special CISSM Global Forum on "Democratic Backsliding in Central America," which drew over 125 attendees in a hybrid format.
Backer recalls the genesis of pursuing these activities: “During the first class, Jahi expressed a desire to return to Senegal to conduct fieldwork, but felt that doing so would be unlikely. So I said – Why not?” From that point, the attention turned toward figuring out how to make the trip a realistic prospect both financially and logistically, as well as to extend the same opportunity for anyone else in the section who was interested. Backer and the students hustled to secure upwards of $20,000 in financial contributions and in-kind support thanks to the generosity from CISSM's John Steinbruner Endowed Student Support Fund in Public Policy, other sources at SPP (Development Office, Civic Innovation Center, La Gente) and UMD (Maryland Democracy Initiative, Latin American and Caribbean Studies Center, U.S. Latina/o Studies Program), and project clients (Action Against Hunger, CFE-DM, CPAC, USAID).
Reflecting on these examples, Backer is elated: “What the students accomplished added exceptional depth of credibility, insight, and sophistication to their capstone projects. The students benefited from intensive, first-hand exposures that would not have been possible otherwise.” In particular, he touts the in-person engagement and data collection as essential elements that enhanced the quality of capstone projects immensely. Backer worked closely with the students to develop data collection instruments and to navigate obtaining necessary authorizations from the UMD Institutional Review Board. He emphasizes that going through the many different steps in the process represented “a crash course of conceiving, managing, and completing real-world projects, which provided students with invaluable experiential learning that is integral to professional development and a springboard to career opportunities.”
Looking to the future, the aspirations are to scale up such activities, increasing the number of students undertaking fieldwork both internationally and domestically. Broadening the extent of involvement and nature of fieldwork will exemplify SPP’s mission of training students to be effective practitioners and tackling public policy problems in a manner that spans from the local to the global. With this innovative approach to graduate education, SPP is not just preparing students in the classroom – the experiences give them a front-row seat to international policy challenges and a unique perspective on how to consider and craft solutions.
