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The Sanford School aims to create the next generation of public servants, strategists, and global thinkers by offering a wide variety of curricular and co-curricular opportunities for students at all levels to study international relations, foreign policy, national security policy and related areas. Our program provides many pathways for students to gain exposure to these areas including coursework, engagement with visiting practitioners, domestic and international field trips, summer internships, research assistantships, and more.
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Why Security at Sanford?
- Strong curricular offerings
- Broad faculty expertise
- Opportunity to interact with high-level visiting practitioners
- Career mentoring through faculty with prior government and private sector experience
- Deep connections with DC agencies and North Carolina military bases
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Undergraduate
Undergrads majoring in public policy can explore security studies topics throughout the major and prepare for a career in national security. Over a dozen Sanford full-time and affiliated faculty teach and conduct research on domestic and global security topics. Security faculty:
- teach core courses for the major
- offer security-related electives
- advise senior honors theses on security-related topics.
Sanford faculty and staff assist in obtaining security-related internships in federal agencies in Washington, D.C., Capitol Hill, think tanks and NGOs. Alumni serve in the Department of Defense, the Central Intelligence Agency, the State Department, and the National Security Council, or have worked as staff for congressional committees that oversee these agencies. Many alumni work for private sector companies that support the mission of these and other agencies, think tanks and NGOs.
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Master of Public Policy
MPP students may choose to concentrate in national security. All national security concentrators will take a course in Topics in National Security and choose from electives at the 500 and 800 levels. Many MPPs intern in federal government or international agencies during the summer and then complete a master’s project on a security-related project in their second year. Each year, the MPP cohort includes active duty military servicemembers, as well as students that have been awarded distinguished fellowships from the State Department, Military Services, and other federal agencies to prepare for or advance their careers in national security.
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Master of National Security Policy
The MNSP is a hybrid learning experience for mid-career professionals in the national security field. Students attend two residential periods on campus per semester and otherwise interact with their faculty and fellow students on-line so they can continue their careers. Courses are taught by core Sanford faculty members and adjunct professors who are leading practitioners in their fields.
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Master of International Development Policy
The MIDP is a flexible interdisciplinary degree focused on mid-career professionals who will dedicate their careers to policymaking and public service in developing countries. Students may choose to focus in “Peace and Conflict Resolution” and choose from a variety of security studies electives. Many MIDP graduates return to employment in national security agencies in their home countries.
Duke University
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Partners include: Duke Human Rights Center, Jewish Studies, ROTC, the Duke Center on Law, Ethics, and National Security, the Duke University Middle East Studies Center, and many others
Research Triangle
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Partners include: Security studies entities at UNC, NC State and NC Central via Triangle Institute for Security Studies
North Carolina
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Partners include National Defense University campus at Fort Liberty through the TISS-JSOMA partnership, Special Forces units at Fort Liberty and beyond
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Tailored Courses
We offer tailored executive education courses for national security professionals as individuals and group clients. Sample topics: counterterrorism, irregular warfare, great power competition, security cooperation, and counterproliferation.
Program on Governance & Fragility
The Duke Center for International Development (DCID) offers an Executive Education Program on Governance and Fragility for civil affairs officers. It was offered four times in 2022-2023 and hosted 93 officers from the U.S. Army’s 95th Civil Affairs Brigade.
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American Grand Strategy 'Staff Ride'
The Program in American Grand Strategy hosts ambitious 'Staff Rides' where students role play military and war-period characters alongside faculty and military experts to learn the stakes of war. For example, 40 Duke students, faculty, alumni and guests spent 8 days traveling throughout Gibraltar and Morocco tracing the steps of Operation Torch, part of the US North Africa Campaign during World War II.
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Marc Losito
Marc Losito was an active-duty U.S. Army Warrant Officer when he decided to pursue a Master of Public Policy degree at Duke University. He focused on the intersection of technology and national security policy. At the time, Marc had served in the military and SOF for 20 years specializing in counterterrorism, irregular warfare, and intelligence operations.