The CMC Washington Program offers a variety of opportunities for students to enrich their internship and academic experience. The program faculty and staff invite guest speakers to meet the students in class. In the past, they have included former politicians, senior government officials, think tank leaders, political consulting professionals, lobbyists, foreign scholars, federal judges, prominent lawyers, and policy researchers. The students may also participate in discussions organized by local universities and think tanks. Or they may network with professional and political leaders through events and social gatherings organized by their employers and a host of non-profit organizations, including advocacy groups.
Additionally, living in DC gives students unlimited access to the city’s magnificent monuments, museums, and iconic attractions. Organized tours are often available for students who want to visit the White House, U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Capitol, and various agencies, such as the U.S. State Department, the FBI, and the Pentagon. The program also arranges field trips to historical sites outside of Washington, D.C. such Mount Vernon and Gettysburg.
While DC is known for politics, the city is also a leading center of arts, music, and sports with weekly engaging and exciting cultural events. Each semester, students are offered opportunities to experience a cultural performance or sports event of their choice. CMC Washington Program students also have the opportunity to network with program alumni and interns from other universities through organized field trips and dinner receptions.
DC Athenaeum
The CMC Washington Program organizes public discussions and forums with the CMC Office of Alumni and Parent Engagement, often inviting other universities and organizations to co-hosts them. Each forum begins with a reception that provides an opportunity for Claremont College students to network with alumni, speakers, and guests.
Recent Athenaeum Events
U.S.-China Relations: Strategies, Risks, and Opportunities (2025)
Moderator: Pieter van Wingerden, a research associate at the Hudson Institute, supporting the work of Distinguished Fellow Mike Gallagher and Senior Fellow Aaron MacLean. Discussant: Peter Berkowitz, the Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University. From 2019 to 2021, he served as the Director of Policy Planning at the U.S. Department of State.
Election 2024: What Just Happened? (2024)
Panelists: Andrew Busch, Ph.D., the Associate Director of the Institute of American Civics and a Professor at the Baker School, University of Tennessee; John J. Pitney Jr., Ph.D., the Roy P. Crocker Professor of American Politics at CMC. Moderator: Matthew Glassman, Ph.D., Senior Fellow at the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University and a Visiting Assistant Professor of Government at CMC.
Achieving Healthcare Equity (2024)
Joint panel discussion with Marquette University’s Les Aspin Center for Government. Panelists: Karen Belli, Senior Healthcare Analyst at the Government Accountability Office; Dr. Lori Frank, President of Women’s Health Access Matters and former Senior Vice President for Research at the New York Academy of Medicine; Margaret French, Vice President and health policy expert at Venn Strategies; and Millicent Gorham, CEO of the Alliance for Women’s Health and Prevention. The moderator: Ally Glasford, LAC.
Putin’s War in Ukraine and its Implications for European Security Architecture (2023)
Panelists: Ian Brzezinski, resident senior fellow at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and a member of the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Advisors Group; Mikko Hautala, Ambassador of Finland to the United States, Richard C. Johnson ‘01, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Policy; Rear Admiral Jonas A Wikström, Defense Attaché at the Embassy of Sweden in Washington D.C. The moderator: Dr. Maija Harkonen, Director of the Washington Program.
Diversity and Diplomacy (2021)
Organized with Howard University. Panelists include Angela Dickey, FSO (ret.), Vice President of Diplomatic Consular Officers; Irvin Hicks Jr., FSO, Senior Adviser at the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Heera Kaur Kamboj, Special Assistant in the Office of the Under Secretary of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, U.S. Department of State; and Greg Pardo, FSO and 2008 Rangel Fellow, U.S. Department of State. The moderator: Ambassador Steven McGann (ret.), CMC Trustee and Founder of The Stevenson Group.