prospective students
Life at the BMW Center
Between the resources of the Center, the facilities at Georgetown and the opportunities available in the city of Washington, D.C., MAGES students are able to enjoy many different kinds of activities during the course of their studies at the Center.
Students can take advantage of Georgetown's series of lectures, conferences and other events with prominent speakers. They have access to University resources such as extensive libraries for research, computer centers and terminals throughout campus, a modern Language Learning Technology Center, and the Yates Field House for sports and physical fitness programs. Living in Washington, students have access to countless research resources, such as the Library of Congress, the National Archives, and foreign embassy information services.
In addition, students can take advantage of internships and networking opportunities that can only be found in the nation's capital. Students often find that their most valuable resources are the other MAGES students.
MAGES Student Body
The interdisciplinary design of the MAGES program attracts students with wide-ranging interests and varied educational and professional backgrounds, all of whom share a common interest in German and European affairs.
With an average class size of no more than 25 students in each incoming class, the student body is small enough to create a sense of community, yet large enough to offer diversity. Normally 4 to 5 students in each class pursue a joint MAGES/Ph.D. program. Students have strengths in different academic areas and are able to draw upon and learn from one another's expertise. They form study groups to discuss readings and projects outside of class, and often share drafts of their papers for advice and feedback. This cooperative environment promotes a very high level of intellectual exploration both in and out of the classroom. The small class size also allows for close interaction between students and faculty.
Student participation is vital to the Center's activities; there is student representation on the Center's Executive Committee. MAGES Students are also active in the wider campus community, and currently hold offices in the Graduate Student Organization, which organizes events for all graduate students at Georgetown. Other organizations in which MAGES students participate are: Georgetown European Foreign Service Association (GEFSA), the European Film Society, Women in Foreign Serivce (WIFS), Women in International Security, and the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs.
Every year the BMW Center for German & European Studies allocates funds for student-organized academic initiatives. Funding is available for conferences and symposia that are conceived, developed, and run by MAGES and MAGES/Ph.D. students. With consultation from Center faculty, students are encouraged to develop a program that would reflect the breadth and variety of interests that make up the core of the Center's interdisciplinary mission. Two annual highlights are the Graduate Student Conference in the fall and the year-end MAGES Final Colloquium in the spring.