Six years ago, Nic Palmer ’15 graduated from Birmingham-Southern with a new degree – a bachelor’s degree in global comparative studies (GCS). And as the first GCS graduate, he’s using the skills he learned through the program every day in his position at the U.S. State Department.

Palmer serves as a program planning and evaluation analyst for Diplomatic Security, the law-enforcement bureau of the State Department. In this department, which he’s been part of since October 2019, he addresses the country’s collaborative needs within long-term planning for high-threat programs.

“This can be anything from assisting our embassy in the Bahamas write an emergency action plan to working with a consulate in Turkey to train their security K-9s,” Palmer says. “I also work as the internal evaluation co-lead for the bureau, so I look into different offices to conduct surveys, interviews, research, and a variety of other research techniques to provide a detailed overview of an entire office or a specific program.”

Palmer says his responsibilities are essentially what he and other students learn in qualitative and quantitative research courses at BSC. The research-based classes were some of his most difficult at BSC, but always left him feeling proud of the work he accomplished. These courses, along with some initial political science courses, led him to the GCS major.

“My first term at BSC, I took ‘Intro to International Relations’ as well as ‘Intro to International Studies,’” Palmer says. “I absolutely loved both courses and continued immediately to sign up for anything Dr. Gawronski, Dr. Slaughter, and Dr. Davis had to offer.”

The interdisciplinary focus of the new global comparative studies program looked like something he could fit for his own career and academic interests. The major combines political science, economics, sociology, and urban environmental studies to prepare students to understand the world as a global system as well as its economic trends, social change, and power dynamics. For Palmer, he added a focus on Spanish, too.

“As the GCS program developed, it truly matched the vision I had for my own career path,” he says. “The major was well rounded, while it also gave me the opportunity to focus on areas of interest that I wanted to pursue. In my case, I focused on international disasters and their impact on economies. The beauty of the major, like several others at BSC, was that I could make it fit for me, not the other way around.”

Palmer also got some hands-on experience with global impact and service learning through two E-Term projects with Dr. Vince Gawronski, professor of political science. One was “Environmental Hazards and Urban Social Risks,” an on-campus class with a trip to New Orleans. Another January, Palmer traveled to Costa Rica and served as a translator at an AIDS clinic.

Gawronski eventually introduced Palmer to FEMA Corps, an AmeriCorps program working closely with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He ended up joining FEMA Corps after graduation and worked with disaster response and recovery efforts.

“This really helped my trajectory in public service,” Palmer says. “I obtained my Masters in Public Administration from the University of Colorado and continued to work with FEMA for a few years in Denver before beginning with the State Department.”

Now years into his career, Palmer assures that the core parts of all his BSC classes – research, collaboration, and presentation skills – are crucial parts of his work world. The emphasis on these skills, plus the ability to dive into studies and real-world experiences that were important to him, have helped him succeed, he says.

“Whether you’re interested in global politics, international business, law enforcement, or election research, the GCS major will help you toward your goals,” Palmer says. “Choosing a broad major allows you to focus your research on what matters to you as an individual. If my experience is any indicator, you will be able to apply what you learned to whatever your chosen career path may be.”

Plus, to the other BSC students or alumni who share his interest in research and public service: “Keep up the good work, because we’re hiring.”

View our four-year GCS plan for more information about the major.