Departments, Centers, Programs and Institutes S

The Center for Peace and Security Studies (CPASS) in the School of Foreign Service offers an expansive curriculum, in-depth research and critical dialogue on security issues. The center was created in 2000 with a fourfold mission to create a hub where the academic and policy communities meet, bring together experts and scholars from disciplines that study international peace and security issues, produce a new generation of scholars, analysts and policymakers who are fully aware of the complexities of international peace and security problems and sponsor projects that lead to the development of sophisticated strategies and policies for enhancing international peace and security in the 21st century.

The Department of Slavic Languages provides content-based instruction in Russian, Ukrainian and Polish and a wide variety of courses in Russian literature, culture and linguistics. The courses are taught in both Russian and English.The department offers an undergraduate major in Russian and Russian with Business Coursework and minors in Russian and Russian Literature and Culture and participates in the Russian and East European Studies Certificate program and the five-year Joint Bachelor of Arts/Master of Arts in Eastern European Studies degree program.

The Social and Political Thought Program offers a minor for students in Georgetown College and a certificate for students in the School of Foreign Service. It is intended to give students an opportunity to engage in sustained, in-depth exploration of theoretical issues that are today of shared interest to a wide variety of disciplines in the social sciences and humanities.

Building on a rich tradition, the Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service is dedicated to supporting the justice mission of the university as it works with others to live out its own mission, which is to advance justice and the common good. The center promotes and integrates community-based research, teaching and service by collaborating with diverse partners and communities.

The Department of Sociology faculty is a community of scholars with diverse intellectual interests and expertise committed to excellence in teaching and research. Faculty members are intellectually innovative and informed and grounded in, but not bound, by their disciplines. The department is committed to developing its students’ capacities, which are variously scientific, ethnographic, interpretative, and critical for understanding the social and cultural forces that shape human experience. The sociology department strives to foster in students a lifelong engagement with questions of social justice.

The Department of Spanish and Portuguese falls under the administrative aegis of Georgetown College and forms part of the association of language departments in the College known as the Faculty of Languages and Linguistics (FLL). The department provides the Spanish and Portuguese language needs of all schools and departments at the university and offers its own vigorous programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Georgetown’s graduate degree program in Sports Industry Management embraces real-world learning, informing students about the latest practices in sports management from industry leaders. Hands-on internships with one of the program's strategic organizational partners (including major league teams and leading sports-industry businesses and nonprofit entities) are available. The final Capstone Project lets students demonstrate real experience addressing key challenges and opportunities in the industry.

Students who want to study abroad may enroll in a Georgetown-sponsored program or study on an independent program overseas. Independent programs must be pre-approved by the College dean. Students ordinarily matriculate directly into the foreign university, enrolling in the host university's courses with native students who are pursuing degree programs. By being fully integrated at the host university, Georgetown students are better able to make the most of the overseas experience.

The center's goal is to conduct research that will shed light on the causes and effects of learning disorders, so that better programs for diagnosis and treatment can be developed. CSL's researchers have identified some of the important neurophysiological mechanisms of reading acquisition, disorders of reading and its remediation. Our mission is to use neuroscience research to help identify avenues for effective education and remediation for a variety of cognitive skills. Through this work we hope to enhance the academic and social quality of life of children and adults affected by learning challenges.

The Department of Surgery's program undergoes continuous revision to ensure maximal interaction between students and faculty members, and is designed to give the student a broad view of the wide scope of surgery. Emphasis is placed on the correlation of basic anatomical and physiological alterations produced by disease with rational treatment designed to definitively correct pathophysiologic changes. The entire program stresses the scientific approach to general and specific problem-solving as it relates to surgical aspects of disease and therapy.