International Affairs Center
The International Affairs Center at Spelman College (IAC) was established in October 1989 to further enhance internationalization of the College. Initiation of the IAC was supported, in part, by the Ford Foundation through a grant to the Executive Council on Foreign Diplomats.
Its mission is to broaden and deepen African American students' understanding of global issues, histories and cultures in preparation for entry into careers in international affairs. The IAC seeks to demonstrate through its programs that international issues and concerns are salient to the interests of Black Americans. Programs are designed to infuse liberal learning with an international perspective. The IAC implements its mission under the leadership of President Beverly Daniel Tatum.
The following are a few of the IAC's quantifiable achievements:
- Thirty diplomats (some ambassadors) and about two hundred other international visitors have come to the IAC
- Fifty-nine students have enrolled in the Foreign Service Lab
- Two students were inducted into the U.S. Foreign Service as career officers in September 1996 (Woodrow Wilson Foreign Affairs Fellowship)
- Eight Diplomats-in-Residence have been appointed to the Atlanta University Center
- Fifty-seven faculty curriculum development awards and sixty-five student awards have been granted through the FATC (FSI), SAIS and Peace Studies programs
- Forty courses have been revised/initiated through SAIS and Peace Studies grants
- There have been 870 student enrollments in "Trailblazers", and one 177 student awards, including fellowships and internships
- In 1997-98 Spelman students won three of the 15 national Foreign Affairs Fellowships. Those students are now on the Foreign Service Career
