Bailey Nicolson

Bailey (she/her) is a junior majoring in International Relations and minoring in Music. Her specializations are Economic Development/World Economy and Comparative International Governance. She spoke with us about her favorite IR class, her past internship experiences, and the advice she has for future IR students!

What is your favorite IR class?

My interests mainly involve political economy, development studies, and Middle Eastern Studies. America and the World Economy (INTNLREL 110C) is such a great introduction to International Economics and the history of a lot of multilateral economic institutions. A lot of what I learned in that class set me up to think critically and understand various ideas in other classes.

Can you tell us a little bit about your internship experience this past summer (or any time in the past)?

I’ve had the opportunity to intern and work for a lot of great organizations in different fields! With Stanford in New York, I was able to work as a legal intern at the New York City Commission on Human Rights, which gave really great insight into litigation and law processes. At the Social Science Research Council, I did research into development issues in Sub-Saharan Africa that allowed me to work with experts in the field of political economy. As a research fellow with the American Center on Poverty in Inequality, I did a lot of qualitative data analysis that taught me how to understand data in a way that impacts policy. Overall, I value International Relations as an interdisciplinary field and space that allows for issues to be understood through different disciplines, which is what my internships have allowed me to do!

What advice would you give students interested in international relations or foreign policy?

Take advantage of all the resources you have as a student at Stanford! Stanford is home to so many influential people that are more than willing to help you learn and share their knowledge. Study abroad as much as you can- I was able to go abroad twice which was absolutely a highlight of my undergrad career. And take classes about things that you may not know a lot about- some of the most valuable learning experiences I’ve had so far have been in settings where I had no prior knowledge at all!