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Student Experience

While at Connecticut College, students can play a key role in government department activities. The Student Advisory Board serves as a liaison between our majors and the department's faculty. Duties of the student on the SAB include meetings with faculty and potential faculty, meetings with SAB members to plan and organize events such as lectures, and miscellaneous tasks. In particular our Student Advisory Board annually holds a "Meet the Majors" event for freshmen. And in May, just after grades for graduating seniors are submitted, we have our annual government-economics departments softball game and cookout, and Trivia Night.

During their undergraduate years, our students develop and hone skills of thinking and expression, both written and oral. The understandings and skills acquired help position our majors to gain entrance to excellent graduate or professional schools. Our graduates, who hold degrees in government or international relations, tend to pursue careers in many areas, including government, international and non-governmental organizations, law, journalism, finance, business, and secondary and higher education.

Student Interview

Justin Winokur

Stowe, Vermont

International Relations major, French and German Studies minor

Student Interview

Favorite classroom experience at Conn:

As a scholar in the Toor Cummings Center for International Studies and Liberal Arts (CISLA), I took the sophomore seminar “Perspectives on Modern Global Society.” It was by far the most multifaceted and challenging course I have had at Conn. Every two weeks, a new professor would begin a unit on the global connections inherent in their field. Though it was intellectually demanding to change academic lenses so frequently, the seminar was an eye-opening and unforgettable interdisciplinary experience.

Best takeaway from my internship:

For my CISLA internship, I spent 10 weeks working as a research assistant at the Institute for European Politics in Berlin, Germany. Immersed in European political discourse, I was surprised to find how easily the United States transformed into a distant, ambiguous monolith. Despite the magnitude of its presence in German politics, the United States lost its nuance and became, instead, a looming abstraction. That sense of the United States' removed dominance was deeply unfamiliar and unnerving and will be essential for me to draw upon as I continue to study international relations from a global perspective.

Post-graduation plans:

I will work as a research assistant at the American Secretaries of State Project, a joint initiative of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School. There, I will help research America's most senior diplomats to uncover key lessons about negotiation and leadership. In the long term, I anticipate pursuing a graduate degree in either international law or peace and conflict studies.

Campus Involvement:

Musicians Organized for Bands Rights on Campus, Student Government Association, The College Voice, Chamber Choir, Camel Heard

Government and International Relations Department

P: 860-439-2037 F: 860-439-2190 E: tabor@conncoll.edu

Mailing Address

Tristan Borer, Chair
Connecticut College
Government and International Relations Department
270 Mohegan Ave
New London, CT 06320

Department Assistant

Sharon Moody

Campus Location

Fanning Hall 305B

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