During my last blog post, I discussed my assigned task of revamping the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) website. This task gave birth to the idea of my next responsibilities as an intern. As I was brainstorming for the website, I queried: is the ACU involved in any undergraduate or graduate programs for students enrolled at the DCU Business School? I made a mental note to ask my supervisor this question in our next meeting. I felt the need to ask because there was no evidence of it on the website. If they were involved in such programs, how were students going to be informed?
For our succeeding meeting, my supervisor and I discussed the ACU’s current involvement with students. Since the ACU is merely a singular year old and involvement with students was limited because of the pandemic, we agreed the proposition of building undergraduate and graduate involvement was well-timed. My supervisor, Mr. Gillanders, explained how it’d be beneficial for me to compile a directory of corruption classes; basically, see what already exist for things related to corruption—assessments, people, class ideas, student engagement, etc. Consequently, my next assignment as an intern was generated.
I decided the best method to begin this task was doing some simple Google searches. I researched corruption classes from University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, MIT, etc. and saw what they had to offer. I noted all existing undergraduate and graduate courses which seemed worthwhile to my investigation and pasted the links in a document to eventually send to Mr. Gillanders. As I was executing this task, I enjoyed the imaginative freedom it gave me. The input of my ideas possibly utilized in a classroom seemed gratifying.
As I was researching for undergraduate involvement, I formed the idea of students doing reports on corruption in different countries— “country reports.” Out of all my proposed concepts and references, I thought this one was most elite. Initially, this idea was shaped by pondering the generalization of how corruption mainly exists in developing countries. I contemplated: every country at some point was “developing.” Thus, corruption must’ve been present in every country at some point. This theory escalated into me wondering what kinds of corruption exist in considerably developed countries. I thought this was a flexible undergraduate activity because students could find anything dealing with a specific country’s involvement with corruption, in the past or present. They could investigate a country’s statistics, news releases, history, and efforts to regulate corruption.
During my next meeting with Mr. Gillanders, I presented my concept of the “country report” to him as an undergraduate activity. He was intrigued by the idea and asked me to provide a proof of concept—create an 800-word country report on France. Investigate how corrupt the country is and what it’s doing to fight corruption; include its corruption levels and reforms.
While creating my sample country report for France, I realized how corruption is still very present even in moderately clean countries of corruption. Clearly, corruption exists in all countries but in different forms. In France’s case, corruption scandals were particularly present amid bureaucrats, mixing high level politics and campaign financing. In my country report, I included France’s ranking on the 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index—the 23rd most clean country of corruption. Moreover, I reviewed two recent corruption scandals amid France: one concerning their former president and the other involving the company Airbus, the world’s largest airliner manufacturer, based in France. Lastly, I included France’s efforts in reinforcing the fight against international corruption and GRECO’s, the Council of Europe’s anti-corruption body, report on France’s anti-corruption framework.
All in all, I was very pleased with my proof of concept. I showed it to Mr. Gillanders, walking him through my process and thoughts towards the creation of a country report. In response, he stated his interest in having this idea as an undergraduate activity. Furthermore, he wants to let students pick countries from a hat and have them write an essay version of a country report themselves. Subsequently, they would present and discuss their findings, evaluating the different types and levels of corruption within their given country.
Regarding the “soft” and “hard” skills I’m acquiring through my internship, I believe I’m developing considerably. Amid the development of my “soft” skills, I’ve learned how to be personable over video chat, forming solid professional relationships through effortful communication and collaboration. Amid the development of my “hard” skills, I’ve learned how to analyze literatures and utilize scholarly databases. Also, some recent tasks of mine involve using marketing skills, which I trust I’ve improved on. Lastly, the global competencies I’ve gained allowed me to be more understanding in cross-cultural situations. Undoubtably, everyone has a different perspective which was formed by their environment and the people surrounding them. As humans, we must be considerate of this and realize misunderstanding comes from seeing things as we are, not as they are.