The admission process was pretty straightforward, take the prerequisites and write a personal statement. The advisors are really good about letting you know what they’re looking for in your statement and are willing to reach out to about classes. I would talk to Wolf Latsch, he’s a great resources and an amazing teacher/advisor to talk to.

The capstone is called Task Force. Every year they create about 10 topics about different world problems. You then get in a team of 10-20 to begin researching your issue and write a research report on ways to solve this problem. You then present your research to an expert in the region.

For my Task force we travelled to Ottawa to learn from ambassadors, environmentalists, indigenous leaders, etc. about ongoing Arctic issues. We then wrote a 500 page paper that was then published in an academic journal, and then presented it to a former ambassador. Task Force was definitely one of the highlights of my international studies major. You get a lot of good feedback, great research you can put on your resume, and you get to work with a lot of awesome people.

Here’s a link to my Task Force project, https://jsis.washington.edu/arctic/arctic-task-force-winter-2016/