Occidental College
Diplomacy & World Affairs
Oxy at the UN
Two academic courses are the intellectual foundation of the program and complement a demanding full-time internship at U.N.-related agencies and related speakers series.
Program Overview
Dates
Fall semester only. Early-September through Mid-December.
Location
New York City; Manhattan. Generally, internships are located in and around Midtown.
Academic Program
Human Development in a World of Promise and Peril (Gardner) ~ 4 credits
UN and Conflict Prevention: Actors & Architecture (Fomerand) ~ 4 credits
Internship and speakers series (30 hours/week at U.N.-related organizations or Missions to the United Nations) ~ 8 credits
Internship assignment is based on personal qualifications and the needs of organizations. No specific placements are guaranteed.
No portion of Oxy at the United Nations may be taken Credit/No Credit.
Housing
Students live in shared double rooms at the 92Y on the upper east side, 3 blocks from Central Park and near local transportation.
Cost
The cost of the program is Occidental tuition and shared double room. Occidental Health Insurance is mandatory. In Fall 2012, this was $25,840. Students are responsible for paying their own meals and local transportation.
Student Evaluations
Program History
More than 340 Oxy students have participated in Oxy at the U.N. program since it was founded by Professor George Sherry in 1986. Students intern in an agency or related organization to the United Nations or a foreign mission to the U.N., and are firsthand observers of major events on the international agenda. It is a fast-moving experience, challenging students to combine internship responsibilities with the related course work.
Established in 1945, the United Nations continues to deal with the new and ongoing challenges of security and development in the 21st-century context of globalization and unprecedented technological change. While some of the world's population has benefitted from these transformations, parts of the developing world continue to lag behind. The search for ways to narrow this gap is at the heart of the work of the United Nations as students arrive here each fall.
In September 2010, Occidental President Jonathan Veitch announced a $500,000 lead gift from Occidental trustee Bill Kahane '70 and his wife, Elizabeth, toward a permanent endowment for the program. This gift will eventually fund two scholarships annually.
- Phone: 323.259.2769
- Fax: 323.341.4940