At its core, a university must provide the resources and coursework necessary to help its students achieve their goals. Georgetown University and its academic programming have taken strides to do so.
On Nov. 5, the Georgetown University Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) approved a new space studies concentration as part of its science, technology and international affairs (STIA) program. The decision comes after years of student and faculty calls to expand the university’s space studies offerings, including a petition in 2023, viewpoints in The Hoya from undergraduate and graduate students, and a Georgetown University Student Association (GUSA) bill passed in early October.
The Editorial Board is glad that the culmination of student and faculty activism resulted in the creation of a new concentration. At the same time, the program took decades of faculty and student advocacy, potentially showing a rift in the reception of input.
We urge Georgetown to provide faculty with more support to expand minor and certificate options to accurately reflect the breadth of careers this university intends to prepare us for. The Editorial Board further calls on Georgetown to create more transparent pathways for student input on new academic offerings and to encourage the developments of new programs.
The new space studies concentration within STIA is commendable, yet has room to grow to fully elevate Georgetown’s space studies opportunities.
Anna Gale (SFS ’28), a STIA major, said she hopes to see an expansion of the space studies concentration into a minor.
“Though adding a space studies concentration to the STIA major is an admirable show of support, it remains inaccessible to all but a few students in the SFS — which is why the GUSA senate passed a resolution for a minor, not a concentration,” Gale wrote to The Hoya. “As a STIA major myself, I think that space studies should also be open to students with technical majors or whomever else may be interested in the field.”
While we appreciate this program expansion, Georgetown should not stop at space studies.
One clear area for improvement is the university’s offerings in artificial intelligence (AI).
Reported AI use at work among U.S. employees has almost doubled over the past year, from 21% to 40%. Studies suggest that up to 92% of undergraduate students are now using AI in their studies.
If Georgetown truly wishes to prepare its students for a workforce that is increasingly reliant on AI tools, it must provide support for faculty to greatly expand its AI course offerings, perhaps creating an undergraduate concentration or minor similar to the space studies concentration.
Currently, the closest undergraduate students can get to a major or minor in AI is through the College of Arts & Sciences’ (CAS) tech, ethics and society program. However, this major only tangentially addresses AI, with no required courses that focus on AI and its developments.
Universities like Carnegie Mellon University and our neighbor American University have begun offering undergraduate degrees in AI. Georgetown students who are interested in AI, by contrast, are left with few academic pathways to pursue their passion.
Ryan Cotzen (SFS ’28), a representative on the SFS Academic Council, said the SFS should center programs in AI.
“AI will be key to future change-makers, and the role of AI in international policy and strategy deserves more emphasis in SFS offerings — perhaps through a STIA concentration or a certificate/minor,” Cotzen wrote to The Hoya. “It would also be beneficial to offer certificates or minors with greater specificity in regional focuses, specifically offering more focuses within the Asian and African studies certificates.”
Faculty lobbied for a space studies concentration for years and even proposed tangible programs in early 2024. The time it took for implementation is an indictment of the tools Georgetown offers its faculty to create academic offerings. In order to retain its high academic standing, the university must provide more resources and funding to its professors for new curricula.
The lack of these offerings and — until recently — the space studies concentration is additionally endemic of a larger problem.
Students who are passionate about possible changes to the academic curriculum often resort to writing op-eds or petitioning the university without any formal recognition. While students on the SFS and CAS Academic Councils can sit in on their respective curriculum committees, this opportunity is reserved for only those students and there is no formal process for the general student body to submit their ideas. These academic councils — and the university — should better solicit student input, perhaps through polls or monthly town halls, to gauge student interest in new academic areas.
A university spokesperson said Georgetown is receptive to student critiques of the curriculum.
“Deans and academic advisors welcome feedback and engagement with students in their schools throughout the academic year, and the provost’s office and deans’ offices closely analyze and consider feedback,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya.
We appreciate the university’s commitment. We simply ask them to make their solicitation of student feedback clearer and more intentional.
To truly embody the Jesuit value of cura personalis, Georgetown must create academic programming that addresses these gaps and works toward a better future.
The Hoya’s Editorial Board is composed of six students and is chaired by the senior opinion editors. Editorials reflect only the beliefs of a majority of the board and are not representative of The Hoya or any individual member of the board.
