The Cyber Collaborative is a focal point for activities at the Middlebury Institute that explore the implications of the cyber domain for national and international security and other policy concerns.
The Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) is well positioned to engage in this domain, drawing on the substantive breadth of its academic programs, research centers, and student organizations; its commitment to translation, interpretation, language acquisition, and cross-cultural communication; its relationships with academic, research, government, international, and private sector organizations; and its proximity to Silicon Valley. The threats, challenges, and opportunities that the growing importance of the cyber domain entails are inherently interdisciplinary. The Cyber Collaborative exists to facilitate collaboration between various relevant entities on and off campus, thereby helping students, staff, and faculty contribute in a crucial policy domain and students enrich their professionally oriented educational experiences.
The Cyber Collaborative builds on the earlier efforts of the Cyber Security Initiative, which became the Cyber Initiative. Launched in May 2013 under founding director Dr. Itamara Lochard, and later directed by Dr. Elaine Korzak, these initiatives were generously supported by Middlebury Trustee George Lee.
Every semester, the Institute offers classes that help our students better understand and address the cyber domain’s implications for national and international security and other policy concerns. While students in any program may be able to use electives to take these courses, cyber content is integrated into the curriculum of the following degree and certificate programs:
Middlebury Institute students are also eligible to take courses at the nearby Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), a graduate university offering master’s and doctoral degrees in more than 70 fields of study to members of the U.S. Armed Forces, Department of Defense civilians, and international partners. Our students can take courses in the National Security Affairs and Defense Analysis departments, both of which offer cyber-related course work.
For more information about cyber-related course offerings, at the Institute or NPS, contact Elizabeth Bone at the Center for Advising and Career Services.
Middlebury Institute students have multiple opportunities to develop and apply cyber-related expertise outside the classroom through various on-campus research and other entities, including the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism (CTEC); the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS); the Mixed-Methods Evaluation, Training, and Analysis (META) Lab, which addresses the rising demand for evidence-based policy evaluation; the Digital Learning Commons, a campus hub for technology, innovation, exploration, and peer-to-peer teaching and learning; and Globe Multilingual Services, a professional organization of students who provide translation, interpretation, and localization services.
Under the name “MIISSION CRITICAL,” our students compete annually in the highly competitive Cyber 9/12 competition organized by the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C. In 2019 the team finished in second place, and in 2018 the team was awarded Best Written Memo.
Faculty, staff, and centers are frequently publishing research on cyber and digital security issues.
This is your one-stop-shop for all news, events, and recordings of events for the Cyber Collaborative! Here you will find links to our Youtube Channel and even our new podcast ‘The Collab’. Check out the blog here!
The Cyber Security Working Group (CSWG) is a student-led organization striving to build cyber capability among the next generation of international policy professionals. CSWG works with experts in the community and the region to educate and empower the Middlebury Institute community.
Faculty and staff provide the Cyber Collaborative leadership and expertise.
The Cyber Collaborative organizes events, many cohosted with other relevant on-campus organizations. Events will be posted here as they become available.
The Cyber Collaborative coordinator, Dr. Philipp Bleek, can be reached at pbleek@middlebury.edu.
| by Caitlin Fillmore
For the first time, the Institute fielded not one, but three teams, two of which reached the semifinals of the competitive international Cyber 9/12 cybersecurity competitions.
| by Mark Anderson
Students had to think quick in a scenario-based competition responding to an airport security hack involving a Russian oligarch.
The MIIS Cyber Collaborative and CSWG had the opportunity to host Dr. Ryan Maness for a riveting discussion on Cyber-enabled Information Strategy and Information Operations.
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