Seeking China-Africa Practicum Clients for 2016-2017

Zhongfu Practicum Team in Nigeria, January 2016

Dear Colleagues,

With generous funding from Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) China Africa Research Initiative is sponsoring one or two student practicum groups in the International Development Program (IDEV) to do practicums on a China-Africa related topic in the 2016-2017 academic year. (Click here for a story by one of our 2015-2016 China-Africa practicum teams). We are currently seeking practicum clients.

The practicum class is a capstone option for second year master’s degree students at SAIS. Four person teams work under faculty supervision for a client, on a development-related problem. We have funding for teams to do fieldwork during the 4 week January intersession. The practicum class gives students the opportunity to use their incredible analytical, research and management skills and it gives prospective employers a chance to work with our students as free consultants. Practicum terms of reference or contracts are determined in collaboration with the client. The students do not receive a stipend.

In past years our students have worked with the Zhongfu Free Trade Zone in Nigeria, Sino-African Center of Excellence in Nairobi, ASER Center in India, FEMSA Foundation in Mexico, Mercy Corps in the Philippines, PFAN (Deloitte) in Cambodia, the World Bank Water and Sanitation program (Cambodia), and World Resource Institute (China and the Philippines) and other clients.  They have worked on a range of tasks from designing and conducting impact evaluations, stakeholder analysis, and communication and outreach tools, to a learning manual for decision-makers in rural sanitation. Here’s a link to past year’s projects and presentations: click here.

If you have ideas about a practicum project on China-Africa (normally NOT a research project per se but something that would involve something more applied: an evaluation, design, survey, strategic plan, etc.) please contact me directly by June 15. You may find out more about the IDEV program on the SAIS webpage.

Best,

Deborah Bräutigam
Director, SAIS China Africa Research Initiative
Director, SAIS International Development Program