Career Talks & Professional Development

CMES provides a series of Career Talks throughout the academic year to highlight the diverse career paths that CMES graduates can pursue with their M.A. degrees. As a Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center, CMES provides special attention to careers that serve national need, as identified by the Secretary of Education. These include, but are not limited to, government service, education, business, and the nonprofit sector. We partner with UChicagoGRAD to bring experienced career counselors into conversation with CMES alumni, develop hands-on professional development activities, and connect graduate students with opportunities suited to their goals.

CMES Career Programs are open to all members of the University of Chicago community, but primarily focus on topics relevant to graduate students.

Full schedule is available at GRADUCon.

November 5: “Career Talk with Mandy Terc (Executive Director, Middle East Research and Information Project)”

March 31: “GRADUCon Panel: International Risk & Security” with Brooke Provinchain (U.S. Department of State, CMES MA '19), David Benson (Valens Global, Ph.D Political Science ‘15), Claire Gainer (BMO Harris Bank, CIR MA ‘12), and Allison Wood (Seerist, MAPSS ‘12)

March 31" “GRADUCon Panel: Think Tanks” with Reja Younis (Center for Strategic and International Studies, MA CIR ‘18), Cameron Liang (Institute for Defense Analyses, Ph.D. Astronomy ‘18), Jill Spielfogel (Mathematica, PhD Social Work ‘18) 

May 19: “Careers in National Security with Christopher Carlin

October 14: Careers in Sustainability with Pia Hecher (CMES '20)

October 27: Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Info Session with Beth Powers (UChicagoGRAD)

January 5: Exploring Fellowship & Internship Opportunities for CMES Students

May 23: Careers in the U.S. Foreign Service with Joseph Yackley (CMES '00, NELC '12, U.S. Department of State)

September 12-26: PATHS Course: Grant Writing with Larry Pande (CMES '13, Beyond Legal Aid)

October 16: Careers in Literary Translation with Anne Janusch (University of Chicago) and Kevin Blankinship (NELC '18, Brigham Young University)

February 18: Careers in Think Tanks with Mia McCully (Council on Foreign Relations) and Justin Schuster (Council on Foreign Relations)

April 1: Careers in Journalism with Jared Szuba (CMES '17, Al-Monitor) and Tarek El-Tablawy (CMES '93, Bloomberg)

April 3-17: PATHS Course: Demystifying Nonprofit Budgets and Budgeting with Larry Pande (CMES '13)

January 10, 4:30 PM - Careers in Think Tanks: A CMES Career Talk with Benjamin Beames (Council on Foreign Relations, CMES '19) and Mia McCully (Council on Foreign Relations). More info.

February 7, 12:00 PM - Careers in Nonprofits: A CMES Career Talk with Larry Pande (Beyond Legal Aid, CMES '13). More info.

March 26, 3:00 PM - Careers in the US Foreign Service: A CMES Career Talk with Holly Lovejoy and Sam Northrup [via Zoom]. More info.

April 3, 9:00 AM - Careers in Global Risk and Intelligence: A GRADUCon 2020 Panel Discussion with Maria Derbani (Risk Intelligence Advisor, McDonald's Corporation; CMES '19), Teylor White (Analyst - Threat & Violence, Hillard Heintze; CMES '19), Claire Gainer (Senior Anti-Money Laundering Investigator, BMO Harris Bank; CIR, '12), and Yulia Reuter (Senior Analyst - Business Risk Intelligence, AbbVie; CIR '15). Moderated by David Benson (Professor of Security and Strategic Studies, School of Advanced Air and Space Studies; Ph.D, Political Science '15). Listen to Panel Recording.

May 21 @ 4:30 PM - Getting Started in Communications and P.R. with Josephine Lippincott (Marathon Strategies, LLC, CMES '18).