As the university that sends the most graduates to the foreign service, it’s no surprise that Georgetown University is helping students learn about how international affairs plays a critical role in space policy and business. The only surprise is that it took so long.
The DC-based university recently announced that it had established a space studies concentration under the science, technology, and international affairs (STIA) major last month—a move that follows nearly six years of students lobbying for the school to be a pioneer in educating the next generation of space leaders.
Future vision: Georgetown’s space studies concentration won’t stop at the undergraduate level. Anna Kelly, the president of the Georgetown University Space Initiative (GUSI), told Payload that the program is just the first small step towards a wider program that is open to a bigger population at the university.
- A space studies certificate for School of Foreign Service graduate students will be released in the program’s first year, before extending to all Georgetown graduate students.
- There will also eventually be a one-year masters in space studies.
It’s been a long time coming: The Georgetown University Space Initiative (GUSI) advocacy group has pushed the university’s school of foreign service (SFS) to adopt a space studies program since 2019. Since its inception, “GUSI opened up a network in Washington, DC, delivering internship and job opportunities to non-engineer students,” former GUSI copresident Briana Sparacino (and former Payload intern!) told Payload.
The Georgetown University Astronomical Society also worked to “rebuild Georgetown’s Heyden Observatory and construct a narrative around a renewed interest in astronomy and space science,” Sophia Chang, another former leader of the group, told Payload.
GUSI and the society expressed their excitement in the new concentration. “The new program will expand more opportunities for research and jobs, and help create a stronger ecosystem beyond just undergraduates,” former GUSI copresident Owen Chbani told Payload.
From idea to reality: SFS faculty also saw the potential Georgetown had in space studies. After offering individual space courses for more than a decade, two professors—astrobiologist Sarah Stewart Johnson and STIA director Emily Mendenhall—worked this year to formalize the concentration as another option for students who want to go deeper in space.
“Georgetown ‘Space Studies’ has arrived, and we hope to attract students, faculty, and partners everywhere to build this program—and have the university lead in the future of space exploration,” Mendenhall told Payload.
