Special Programs

Hughes Field Politics Center
Funded by an endowment made by the late Judge Sarah T. Hughes ’17, the Hughes Field Politics Center was originally founded in the early 1950s under a grant from the Maurice and Laura Falk Foundation. The center, directed by Nicholas Brown, sponsors a variety of activities designed to facilitate student involvement in governmental and political affairs in the Baltimore-Washington region. Foremost among these activities is an extensive internship program that places students in settings ranging from local, state, or federal courts to the office of the state’s attorney, the U.S. Congress, the Maryland State Legislature, the Baltimore City Council and Mayor’s Office, and Baltimore County government offices. In addition, students have been placed in local, state, and federal agencies and in lobbying and public interest groups.  Through a competitive process, the Hughes Center annually awards stipends and travel expenses for student internships. The center also sponsors conferences and a speaker series that bring diverse political figures to the campus. Goucher students secure assistance and encouragement from the center in attending conferences at other institutions.

Washington Semester at American University
This 16-week immersion program involves an internship, a seminar that includes contact and interaction with policy makers in federal government, and independent research. Students come from colleges and universities around the world to live and study at American University’s Tenley campus. Requirements for admission for political science and international relations students include second-semester sophomore standing, a 2.5 grade point average, and permission of the department chair.

January Seminar on Gender and Public Policy
Goucher offers a January seminar on gender and public policy in Washington, DC, in conjunction with the Public Leadership Education Network. The seminar provides students with a firsthand look at the policy-making process at the federal level through faculty lectures supplemented by guest presentations by women judges, lobbyists, regulatory board members, congressional leaders, and government agency representatives. Policy briefings and site visits are an integral part of the seminar. This seminar attracts participants from across the country.