Signature Academic Program
International Diplomacy & Legal Studies
Program for Students Interested in Law
Gulliver Prep’s International Diplomacy and Legal Studies Signature Academic Program, offered at the Upper School, is designed to provide students an advanced level curriculum that introduces them to careers in international diplomacy and law. This is a one-track program that culminates with a senior year capstone course. The International Diplomacy and Legal Studies program will also meet Gulliver’s CORE (Community Outreach/Raider Experience) initiative by enforcing the idea that all politics are local.
Students are required to plan and carry out a community service project that benefits their local community in some way. The program’s main goal is to provide students with the skills and experience necessary to excel in a college level course while also helping them focus their academic interests before graduating high school.
Courses
Introduction to International Politics
The Introduction to International Politics class is structured to provide an orientation to the activities of the United Nations, as well as provide an understanding of the modalities of international diplomacy. The course will include current event discussions on pressing international issues, the basics of international law, and some of the protocol and procedures of diplomacy. Students will also participate in Model UN simulations.
Prerequisite: Approval by course instructor.
Note: This course will receive additional weight within the student’s GPA calculation.
Advanced International Politics
The Advanced International Politics course will offer students an analysis of global affairs and prepare them for college courses in this field. They will receive a general overview of international political theory and learn the skills necessary to research and analyze information in order to make their own contributions to the discipline. Students will also participate in Model UN simulations.
Prerequisite: Approval by course instructor.
Note: This course will receive additional weight within the student’s GPA calculation.
Advanced Diplomacy and Legal Studies
The Advanced Diplomacy and Legal Studies course will provide students with an overview of the evolution of diplomacy and what its practice requires in the 21st century. Students will be introduced to the techniques of international negotiation. The legal studies component is designed to give students an in-depth understanding of the U.S. legal system. Specifically, the program will introduce students to the fundamentals of the legal process by having them learn the methods of litigation. Students will litigate their own cases in the classroom and observe real cases being tried in federal court. As an added feature, IDLS students will have the option to compete at the annual Mock Trial Competition hosted by Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Downtown, Miami.
Prerequisite: Approval by course instructor.
Note: This course will receive additional weight within the student’s GPA calculation.
Diplomacy Capstone
The Diplomacy Capstone course is only available to students that have taken Advanced International Politics as well as International Diplomacy and Legal Studies. An IDLS Certificate is not possible without completion of this capstone. Skills acquired throughout the program will be further tested and refined during their senior year when students work through the final course of the program. During this course, they will undertake the authorship of an extensive research paper, or the equivalent, on a topic that inspires them and fills the knowledge gap in their chosen field. Students will also be invited to engage with local consulates throughout the program.
Prerequisite: Completed two track courses before grade 12 and approval by course instructor.
Note: This course will receive additional weight within the student’s GPA calculation.
