TGS Creates Competitive Edge with Interdisciplinary Cluster Initiative
Now in its second year, The Graduate School’s interdisciplinary cluster initiative is beginning to show positive results and promising opportunities for future development. Interest in the program is especially high amongst prospective students, with over half indicating they would be interested in affiliating with a cluster. Fellowships such as the Gender Studies Fellowship and Medieval Studies Fellowship have proven to be effective incentives; students affiliated with a cluster were 10% more likely to enroll compared to the University average. By dedicating resources to student-run colloquia and study groups, faculty/student dinners (often around a visiting lecturer), and conferences, interdisciplinary clusters have helped create a “second citizenship” and community for students and faculty across the humanities. In the coming year, TGS will broaden the interdisciplinary cluster initiative to include programs in the physical, life, and quantitative social sciences and engineering. An announcement regarding the approval of these new cluster initiatives is expected in late Summer 2008.

TGS Congratulates its 2007-2008 Graduates
On Friday, June 20, The Graduate School and Northwestern University recognized the hard work of its graduating doctoral and master's students during their annual commencement exercises. In the 2007-2008 academic year, degrees were awarded to over 800 graduate students in more than 70 academic disciplines. The 2007-2008 winners of the Clarence L. Ver Steeg Graduate Faculty and Staff Awards were also honored at TGS’ seventh annual PhD and MFA hooding ceremony; Professor Matthew Goldrick from the Department of Linguistics, Professor Angela Ray from the Department of Communication Studies, and Mark Seniw from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering were each recognized for their tremendous contributions to graduate education at Northwestern University. Please join us in congratulating these individuals on their terrific accomplishments.

TGS Announces Four New Academic Programs
The Graduate School is proud to announce the creation of four new academic programs at TGS for the 2008-2009 academic year: a certificate Program in Language, Music and Communication; a doctoral program in Plant Biology and Conservation; a doctoral program in Screen Cultures; and a joint doctoral program in Physical Therapy & Engineering. These four programs were formally approved by the Graduate Faculty on June 13, 2008, and represent TGS' continued efforts to enhance Northwestern's reputation for innovative interdisciplinary research and creative practice. Read more about these new programs in the July issue of TGS E-News.

Department of Management and Organizations
Maxim Sytch

Maxim Sytch is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Management and Organizations at the Kellogg School of Management. His research, jointly with Professor Ranjay Gulati, explores the origins of social structure of interorganizational relationships and investigates how this social structure impacts economic exchange between firms. His current research projects focus on the evolution of complex social systems and also explore how firms navigate the social structure of both cooperative and conflictive relations. Using archival data on partnership and legal dispute networks among firms, in combination with econometric modeling, simulation, and network analytic techniques, Maxim Sytch investigates the role of network structures and firms’ positions in them on a variety of firms’ behavioral and performance outcomes.  For more information, please visit Department of Management and Organizations.