Updated: Sept. 9, 2024, at 5:04 p.m.

The Elliott School of International Affairs announced a new director for the Master of Arts in International Affairs program in a release last month.

Chantal de Jonge Oudraat, the former president and CEO of Women in International Security, a global organization that promotes the inclusion of women in international peace and security fields, from January 2013 to July 2021 and member of the organization’s Board of Directors is now the director of the MAIA program, which aims to educate the next generation of leaders in the policy sphere, both in government and non-government sector, according to de Jonge Oudraat. She said as director, she hopes to keep the program up to date and relevant as global issues like climate change, artificial intelligence and global health evolve.

de Jonge Oudraat said global governance issues and international law issues will be a priority for the program because while the Elliott School is not a law school, she said she wants students to learn how to address issues from a political perspective. She said in spring 2025 she will teach a new course on international organizations and their role in peace and security.

de Jonge Oudraat said having a diverse student body, both in terms of gender diversity and international students, is a priority. She said ​​she wants to amplify the diverse viewpoints, by increasing international student recruitment within the program which she said will an opportunity to discuss constant international developments.

“I think a lot of the problems that we’re facing in the world today are complex. They’re multidimensional, and they all require global governance approaches, they all require that we work together, and how do we do that is, I think, a big question,” de Jonge Oudraat said.

de Jonge Oudraat said she plans to strengthen the relationship between the Elliott School and the policy community in the District, like the civil society and non-governmental organization sector, because she said a lot of students want to work in those areas. She said she also wants to grow the alumni network within the program because it is beneficial to students.

de Jonge Oudraat said Women in International Security, the organization she formerly led, helps women in professional careers by supporting them to pursue leadership positions in their careers, which she said she hopes the master’s program can adopt. She said Introduction to International Affairs, a required course within the program, was updated to address issues in international affairs by integrating gender perspectives.

“These gender differences, how they shape policy responses, that is something that is integrated in the cornerstone course already and I hope to be able to do that with the other courses as well, by having conversations with faculty and providing them suggestions on how to do that,” de Jonge Oudraat said.

de Jonge Oudraat said the program has both scholars and policy practitioners as faculty members, which makes it “attractive” for students. She said faculty members like Diego Abente Brun, who has experience in diplomatic and international organizations and Christopher Kojm, the former chair of the National Intelligence Council, allow students to stay on top of international issues and feel prepared for their future careers.

“​​We have to provide a good curriculum to our students and a curriculum that will help them and equip them for the jobs and the challenges that they’re going to face in their professional careers,” de Jonge Oudraat said.

This fall, de Jonge Oudraat is teaching a course on Gender and Security, which she said will analyze and examine the gender dimensions of international issues. She said she hopes students taking the course understand how important gender perspectives are to policy issues and how policy problems are addressed.

“If you do a good gender analysis of these problems, for me, oftentimes those will be intersectional analysis, so you will also look and always ask questions about who is sitting at the table, who is telling me what the resources are, where the resources come from, and so that they take into account these different perspectives and learn to recognize those,” de Jonge Oudraat said.

In October 2023, Elliott School Dean Alyssa Ayres announced in an email to students that the school would be consolidating the European and Eurasian Studies and Latin American and Hemispheric Studies programs under the MAIA program over the next two academic years due to low enrollment, financial issues and trouble keeping full-time faculty. Students enrolled in the programs before the consolidation will be able to complete their degrees through the stand-alone programs.

This article was updated to correct the following: 

An earlier version of this post stated that the Elliott School would be phasing out the European and Eurasian Studies and Latin American and Hemispheric Studies programs, the school is consolidating the programs under the MAIA program. We regret this error.