An Urdu-speaking police cadet, an Iraq war vet turned master’s candidate, Rhodes and Marshall scholars and a nuclear plant guard who attends classes online are among a diverse group that completed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s first National Security Analysis & Intelligence Summer Seminar today.
The group, 40 graduate students, doctoral candidates and recent college graduates, were chosen from 704 applicants from 280 academic institutions. The seminar’s goal is to increase interest in Intelligence Community careers and to help recruiters identify outstanding prospects.
The students, each with a temporary security clearance, spent two weeks in the Washington, D.C. area touring Intelligence Community facilities, analyzing problems, attending lectures by IC leaders and discussing the craft of analysis with currently serving intelligence officers.
“The students came to us to learn more about intelligence and to challenge their own assumptions about the role of intelligence in a transitioning world,” said Dr. Lenora Peters Gant, Director of the IC Centers of Academic Excellence.
“The students were exposed to national security leaders who helped them better understand the business of intelligence including the roles of the 16 IC agencies,” said Dr. Gant. “Specifically, the site visits at the different agencies gave them an opportunity to interact with front-line analysts who provided them with a real-world perspective of the work we do every day.”
The seminar, which is sponsored by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, began July 13.
The Philip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies of the Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University developed the programs curriculum. John McLaughlin, former Deputy Director of Central Intelligence and Acting Director of Central Intelligence, leads the seminar’s faculty.
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