Fletcher is one of America's oldest graduate schools of international relations.[3][4] Each fall, Fletcher admits an average of 330 students to its various programs, of whom 40 percent are international students and around a quarter are U.S. minorities.[5]
Excerpts from the Will of Austin B. Fletcher.Fletcher's early twentieth century academic sealGoddard Hall, 1939
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy was founded in 1933 with the bequest of Austin Barclay Fletcher, who left over $3 million toTufts University upon his death in 1923. A third of these funds were dedicated “for the establishment and maintenance of a School of Law and Diplomacy, to be known as The Fletcher School of Law or "The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy." Fletcher envisioned "a school to prepare people for diplomatic service and to teach such matters as they come...[and] within it...a fundamental and thorough knowledge of the principles of international law upon which diplomacy is founded...[and] also a knowledge of many things of a geographic and economic nature which affect relations between nations."[6]
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy thereafter opened in 1933 under the joint administration ofHarvard University and Tufts College. One of the first buildings acquired wasGoddard Hall, which was converted into a library. Tufts College assumed exclusive responsibility for the administration of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1935. Between 1963 and 1965, Mugar Hall was constructed and later renovated in 2016 to serve the expanding needs of Fletcher.[7]
Since 2020, the school has de-emphasized its "Law and Diplomacy" mandate. Tufts University usually refers to it as "the Fletcher School." It's academic focus is weighted to climate activism and social justice.[8] Only about one-third of graduates go on to government diplomacy roles.[9]
On its campus inMedford, Massachusetts, the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy offers multi-disciplinary instruction in international affairs through several master's degree programs and a Ph.D. program.[11] Regardless of the degree program in which they are enrolled, students have the opportunity to select from among more than 170 courses across three divisions: International Law and Organization (ILO); Diplomacy, History and Politics (DHP); and Economics and International Business (EIB).[12]
The school has eleven degree programs: its flagship two-year Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy (MALD); a one-year Master of Arts for mid-career professionals; a one-year, mid-career Master of Arts (via the Global Master of Arts Program) that combines online and residential learning; a Ph.D. program; a Master of International Business (MIB); a Master of Global Business Administration, an online program combining the study of business with international affairs; and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in International Law. Additionally, there are several joint and dual degree and certificate programs.
Fletcher students complete a capstone project during their final year for students in 2-year programs or their final semester for students in 1-year programs. The capstone project is expected to demonstrate scholarly and/or professional analysis, and it acts as an opportunity for students to draw on their methodological, analytical, and substantive learning in a comprehensive written study. In consultation with faculty advisors, the specific form of the final project can differ widely.
The school's Global Master of Arts Program (GMAP) is unique amongst international relations degrees. The year-long program combines three 2-week residencies (two at The Fletcher School and one at a different international location each year) with instruction covering topics such as negotiation, international business and economic law, international trade, economics and politics from a global perspective.[13]
The Hitachi Center for Technology and International Affairs focuses on the management of innovation and technological change and the advancement of economic and financial integration.
TheInstitute for Human Security promotes research and education at the intersection between humanitarianism, development, human rights, and conflict resolution.
TheRussia and Eurasia Program is dedicated to teaching and research on a broad range of historical and contemporary issues related to Russia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus.
The World Peace Foundation, provides intellectual leadership on issues of peace, justice, and security of foreign parties, and provides financial support only for projects that it has initiated itself.
Fletcher is an active member of theUniversity of the Arctic.[19] UArctic is an international cooperative network based in the Circumpolar Arctic region, consisting of more than 200 universities, colleges, and other organizations with an interest in promoting education and research in the Arctic region.[20]
Fletcher Security Review, an online and print journal focused on security studies.[22]
PRAXIS: The Fletcher Journal of Human Security, an annualpeer-reviewedacademic journal coveringhuman security produced in collaboration with Fletcher's Institute for Human Security. It was established in 1981.[23][24] In 2012 it became an online-only journal.[23] The journal covers a different theme each year. It is produced by Fletcher students in coordination with the school's Institute for Human Security.
The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy employs more than 30 full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty as well as a variety of adjunct and visiting professors, and benefits from faculty at partner schools within Tufts, including theFriedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. The full-time Fletcher faculty includes economists, international law theorists, diplomats, historians, and political scientists who hold the academic ranks of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, and lecturer. All faculty members hold terminal degrees in their respective fields (a Ph.D. in the case of historians, political scientists, and economists; and a J.D. in the case of lawyers). In 2013, the faculty to student ratio in Medford was 1:8.6.[25]
Alex de Waal, famine and development scholar, East African politics expert, anthropologist, and director of the World Peace Foundation at the Fletcher School.
Ayesha Jalal, Professor of History and the Director of the Center for South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies, formerMacArthur Fellow.
Susan Landau, Professor in Cyber Security and Policy.
Sung-Yoon Lee, Kim Koo-Korea Foundation Assistant Professor of Korean Studies, former research fellow at theNational Asia Research Program, author ofThe Sister: North Korea's Kim Yo Jong, the Most Dangerous Woman in the World.
Dr. Shahid Masood, Pakistani TV Journalist, an anchorperson, and a medical doctor.
Chidi Odinkalu, Professor of Practice in International Human Rights Law, chair for the Nigerian Truth, Justice, and Peace Commission for South-East Nigeria, previous chair of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission.
Patrick Webb, Alexander McFarlane Professor of Nutrition, Policy and Evidence Adviser to the Global Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition, former Dean for Academic Affairs at theFriedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy atTufts University, former Chief of Nutrition for the United NationsWorld Food Programme, Steering Committee member for the UN Committee on World Food Security.
Nadim Rouhana, Professor of International Affairs and Conflict Studies, expert on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Director of theFares Center at the Fletcher School.
John Shattuck, Professor of Practice in Diplomacy, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, formerU.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic, fourth president and rector ofCentral European University (CEU), member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Richard H. Shultz, Professor of International Security and Politics, nuclear security and artificial intelligence expert, Senior Fellow to the U.S. Special Operations Command’s Joint Special Operations University.
Tara D. Sonenshine, Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice in Public Diplomacy, former U.S. under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, former Executive Vice President of theUnited States Institute of Peace.
The Fletcher School has over 9,500 alumni living around the world in 140 countries, including hundreds of sitting ambassadors, award-winning journalists and authors, global business executives and leaders of international peacekeeping, humanitarian and security initiatives.[27]
^Anderson, Linda (June 11, 2001). "Programme with an international flavor: Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy: With students from 21 countries, GMAP aims to 'plug a gap that the MBA does not fill".Financial Times. p. 14.
^abHogle, Casey; Pawlowski, Kamil, eds. (2013)."Preface"(PDF).PRAXIS the Fletcher Journal of Human Security.XXVIII. The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy: 1.Archived(PDF) from the original on March 24, 2014. RetrievedJanuary 30, 2014.
^Arifeen, Mansoor; Konishi, Motoo, eds. (April 1981). "Africa in Transition".PRAXIS: Perspectives on Development and Change.1 (1). Students for Development Studies. Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
