When Karessa Hill, \u201925, saw that an intelligence course was being taught by Melissa Graves, Ph.D., department head and associate professor of intelligence and security studies, she didn\u2019t hesitate to sign up\u2014she knew she wanted to be in that classroom. \u201cI trust that Dr. Graves has me in good hands,\u201d said Hill. \u201cThat\u2019s what everybody said. We know who Dr. Graves is, and we want to be in her class.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Far from a typical lecture class, Graves\u2019 course immerses students in real-time analysis and gives them direct access to one of the field\u2019s leading authorities. Hill, alongside four other students, spent the semester learning about George Friedman\u2019s intelligence forecasting model. Friedman, an expert in international affairs, foreign policy and intelligence, is the New York Times best-selling author of several books, including The Next 100 Years: A Forecast for the 21st Century. While reading the book and learning about Friedman\u2019s intelligence-forecasting model for the foreseeable geopolitical future, students interacted with Friedman over a series of video calls. \u201cWe were given the opportunity to ask him questions,\u201d said Hill. \u201cHe would break down the model and tell us what it meant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hill and her classmates engaged in real-time dialogue with Friedman, discussing the application of intelligence forecasting to current events. \u201cThe model is built on the imperatives and constraints of a country,\u201d said Hill. \u201cTheir imperatives are what they want to do, and their constraints are what\u2019s holding them back.\u201d Based on these factors, Friedman\u2019s model can determine what a country is most likely to do given its current circumstances. Students also learned to analyze different political trends to forecast what might happen in the future. The video calls with Friedman took place in the training SCIF, or sensitive compartmented information facility, a training room in Capers Hall where cadets can learn how to handle classified material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hill, an intelligence and security studies major, found her passion for the subject during an internship in Washington, D.C., with Congresswoman Nancy Mace, \u201999, the first female graduate from The Citadel\u2019s Corps of Cadets. Hill was thrilled when she realized she once again had the opportunity to work directly with someone in the professional sphere, this time with a leading expert in intelligence rather than politics. \u201cIt was interesting to work with Dr. Friedman, just seeing how someone with insight into global intelligence operates,\u201d said Hill. \u201cThat was the first time I\u2019ve seen that kind of thinking up close and in person.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When Karessa Hill, \u201925, saw that an intelligence course was being taught by Melissa Graves, Ph.D., department head and associate professor of intelligence and security studies, she didn\u2019t hesitate to sign up\u2014she knew she wanted to be in that classroom. \u201cI trust that Dr. Graves has me in good hands,\u201d said Hill. \u201cThat\u2019s what everybody […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":694,"featured_media":216,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other"],"yoast_head":"\n