DiploFoundation - has anyone heard of it? If not, do you have any thoughts?

Graduate School
1

<p>Hello all - I’m planning on eventually (not in the next 18 months but probably immediately thereafter) applying for a MA program in IR. However, my undergraduate degree is in an unrelated field. To make my application more attractive, I was considering take 1-2 online classes from the DiploFoundation (diplomacy.edu) as a demonstration of commitment to the field and some grounding in basic ideas. To anyone who might have either first-hand perspective, or non-experiential insight …</p>

<p>(1) Would this actually be of any benefit in making my future application more saleable, or would it have no real effect?
(2) Is the DiploFoundation well regarded, poorly regarded, or a non-player in the field of IR? (my suspicion is the latter but it’s just a gut feeling with no informed insight)</p>

<p>Any other insight others might have one way or the other would be much appreciated.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>1) Probably not. The courses are non-credit bearing and there’s no way to really certify how well you did in the course. Most IR grad students have unrelated undergrad degrees, so I wouldn’t worry about that. You demonstrate your commitment and interest in the field by taking actual credit-bearing courses from universities, or preferably by interning or working in the field or completing a research project related to the field, or doing some extracurricular work related to the field.</p>

<p>2) I’m not sure. It’s hard to find any non-Maltese information on them - or really, much information that doesn’t come from their own website. A search in Google News yields nothing - which is unusual for an NGO with a large impact. Some outlet called Global Journal ranked them in the top 100 NGOs, but I Googled several other of the NGOs I had never heard of and lots of news items came up, plus references to the organizations on other websites.</p>

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<p>@juillet - thanks very much for this, it kind-of confirms what I suspected but is invaluable to hear it from an objective source.</p>

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<p>@maxzee - Thanks for your interest in DiploFoundation ([DiploFoundation</a> | Towards more inclusive and effective diplomacy](<a href=“http://www.diplomacy.edu%5DDiploFoundation”>http://www.diplomacy.edu)). DiploFoundation offers an accredited MA in Contemporary Diplomacy, and specific courses with university credit through the University of Malta. Diplo also offers non-credit certificate courses, primarily in the areas of diplomacy and Internet governance. See the course catalogue ([Courses</a> | DiploFoundation](<a href=“http://www.diplomacy.edu/courses]Courses”>Diplo Academy course catalogue)) and the University of Malta description for more information ([DiploFoundation</a> - International Relations - University of Malta](<a href=“Department of International Relations - L-Università ta' Malta”>At DIPLO technology meets diplomacy)).</p>

<p>DiploFoundation course certificates are accompanied by a Certificate of Marks, indicating the grade received, a short description of the course content and hours of study.</p>

<p>Credit course results are shown on the student’s transcript at the University of Malta.</p>

<p>While a Google News search today only shows one news article, a Google search on DiploFoundation, or other topics such as diplomacy or Internet Governance show results on some of the work DiploFoundation associates and alumni carry out. For example, DiploFoundation is active in the UN Internet Governance Forum and other Internet governance and e-diplomacy arenas.</p>

<p>Specific questions can be addressed to <a href=“mailto:admissions@diplomacy.edu”>admissions@diplomacy.edu</a> or <a href=“mailto:ig@diplomacy.edu”>ig@diplomacy.edu</a></p>

<p>Good luck with your studies!</p>

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<p>It’d be useful to know what kind of diplomacy or Internet governance projects DiploFoundation has worked on in the last few years, @virginiapaque. - like more about that involvement in the UN internet governance forum. To formulate my comment to the OP above, I actually did a regular Google search on the foundation and the only information I was able to find came from DiploFoundation’s website or other things that Diplo holds itself (its own Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.). This includes the description of the NGO that Diplo wrote itself, but that is posted on other aggregator websites. Even the Wikipedia page was obviously edited very heavily by someone from the foundation.</p>

<p>And Diplo did not appear in the first 10 pages of a Google search for “diplomacy.” It did for internet governance, but again…the only information available was through its own outlets, no independent confirmation of the work its doing.</p>