The ability of many emerging market and developing economy (EMDE) countries to meet their climate financing objectives depends to a large extent on their cost of capital, which in turn is impacted by the actual and perceived risks of their sovereign debt. According to the Jubilee Report published in June 2025 by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and the Columbia University Initiative for Policy Dialogue, 54 countries spend over ten percent of their revenues on interest payments, and 3.3 billion people live in countries that spend more on interest than healthcare. EMDE countries need workable tools to reduce financing costs and manage sovereign debt in order to fund their development needs and to achieve the climate objectives set out in their nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement.
This course will explore the roots of the problem, including the pro-cyclical nature of sovereign financing and refinancing; the role of international financial institutions and credit rating agencies; and the main obstacles to resolving sovereign debt distress in an orderly and timely way, contrasting resolution tools for sovereign debt with those available in the private sector. Drawing on real-world case studies, we will look at structural innovations that could help debottleneck climate finance, and how effective they can be. We will consider several prominent proposals to reorient the global financial architecture, focusing on whether and to what extent they can reduce EMDE funding costs and unlock financing for sustainable development and climate investment.
Students enrolled in the Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences M.A. program have a number of opportunities for internships with various organizations in New York City. Over the past three years, representatives from a number of different organizations – including ABC News, Pfizer, the Manhattan Psychiatric Center, Merrill Lynch, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – have approached students and faculty in QMSS about the possibility of having QMSS students work as interns. Many of these internships require students to receive some sort of course credit for their work. All internships will be graded on a pass/fail basis.
This course is a core course for all Climate School students in the MA in Climate and Society and MS in Climate .5 credits in the fall and 5. credits in the spring. It is a practicum-style course focused on the application of classroom learnings in a range of professional and real-world situations.
At the beginning of the fall semesters, students will be grouped in teams and assigned a previous years’ Capstone project (a summer project that former CS students have produced in partnership with an external partner). Students will use this previous capstone project to practice skills including: stakeholder engagement strategies, communication and presentation skills, systems thinking, and project planning.
The fall will be focused on grounding in the topic and challenge of the capstone project, stakeholder discovery and mock engagement, and evaluating its application to the New York City context. The spring will be focused on evaluation of problem definition of the client, work planning and project planning, learning from the client and/or alumni about the outcomes and contemporary challenges/applications of the project, and producing a final project as a team. By the end, students will be prepared to fully engage with their own capstone projects in future semesters, will have honed critical skills to support successful professional applications of their Climate School courses, and will have a ‘mission and values statement’ to guide their future practice as professionals.
This course is a core course for all Climate School students in the MA in Climate and Society and MS in Climate .5 credits in the fall and 5. credits in the spring. It is a practicum-style course focused on the application of classroom learnings in a range of professional and real-world situations.
At the beginning of the fall semesters, students will be grouped in teams and assigned a previous years’ Capstone project (a summer project that former CS students have produced in partnership with an external partner). Students will use this previous capstone project to practice skills including: stakeholder engagement strategies, communication and presentation skills, systems thinking, and project planning.
The fall will be focused on grounding in the topic and challenge of the capstone project, stakeholder discovery and mock engagement, and evaluating its application to the New York City context. The spring will be focused on evaluation of problem definition of the client, work planning and project planning, learning from the client and/or alumni about the outcomes and contemporary challenges/applications of the project, and producing a final project as a team. By the end, students will be prepared to fully engage with their own capstone projects in future semesters, will have honed critical skills to support successful professional applications of their Climate School courses, and will have a ‘mission and values statement’ to guide their future practice as professionals.
This practicum course is meant to offer valuable training to students. Specifically, this practicum will mimicthe typical conditions that students would face in an internship in a large data-intense institution. Thepracticum will focus on four core elements involved in most internships: (1) Developing the intuition andskills to properly scope ambiguous project ideas; (2) practicing organizing and accessing a variety oflarge-scale data sources and formats; (3) conducting basic and advanced analysis of big data; and (4)communicating and “productizing” results and findings from the earlier steps, in things like dashboards,reports, interactive graphics, or apps. The practicum will also give students time to reflect on their work, andhow it would best translate into corporate, non-profit, start-up and other contexts.
This course explores the role of international institutions—including the IMF, World Bank, UN agencies, Multilateral Environmental Agreements, regional development banks, and national development banks—in shaping the global response to climate change. We will analyze how mandates, governance structures, financial instruments, and geopolitical dynamics shape the capacity of these institutions to mobilize and allocate climate finance.
The course emphasizes how current institutions emerged from historical conditions (e.g., the Bretton Woods system, the dollar’s role as anchor currency, and mechanisms to prevent financial instability), and how those legacies both enable and constrain climate finance today. Students will examine reform debates and the rise of new institutions (e.g., AIIB, BRICS’ New Development Bank) as potential complements or alternatives to the prevailing institutions.
Site visits to the IMF and World Bank in Washington, D.C. and the United Nations Headquarters in New York will provide first-hand exposure to the workings of these institutions. The class will also have live video interactions with other global institutions.
This practicum course is meant to offer valuable training to students. Specifically, this practicum will mimicthe typical conditions that students would face in an internship in a large data-intense institution. The practicum will focus on four core elements involved in most internships: (1) Developing the intuition andskills to properly scope ambiguous project ideas; (2) practicing organizing and accessing a variety oflarge-scale data sources and formats; (3) conducting basic and advanced analysis of big data; and (4)communicating and “productizing” results and findings from the earlier steps, in things like dashboards,reports, interactive graphics, or apps. The practicum will also give students time to reflect on their work, andhow it would best translate into corporate, non-profit, start-up and other contexts.
Successful leaders in politics, campaign management, and related professions must be able to lead change in their organizations, not only motivate and manage their teams toward a common goal. The aims that leaders seek to achieve are determined by their ability to create value, collaborate, influence, navigate uncertainty, and advance ideas, programs, and movements. In this course, students will learn about how the development of personal attributes and abilities lays the groundwork for building the core leadership competencies that are essential for high-impact management as well as changing the behavior and the culture of organizations with particular emphasis on how to successfully introduce the methods and results of analytics. Students will explore the motivations, obstacles, and interventions of change, and learn to build alliances, facilitate difficult meetings and develop a transformation plan. They will also review some of the most important academic research and business publications on change management and the implementation of analytics. The course is intended to enhance practical skills through dynamic interactions with the instructor, role-playing with classmates, and other real-world experiences.
Fashion’s consistent ranking among the top 3 global polluters has become a decades old fact struggling to gain a proportionate response among the brand startup and sourcing community. With industry revenues set to exceed $1 trillion, there is an opportunity to critically address existing revenue models predicated on traditional metrics, such as constant growth, and singular bottom lines. The course attempts to create a nexus between the fashion entrepreneur and systems thinker to explore strategic solutions that address sustainability though an environmental, social and economic lens. The aim is to foster a mindful, yet critical discourse on fashion industry initiatives, past and present, and to practice various tools that help transition existing organizations and incubate new startups towards sustainable outcomes.
Students in the Master of Science in Sustainability Science program will encounter a range of scientific problems throughout their Science-specific courses that require a strong working knowledge of computer programming. This course provides an introduction to scientific programming using Python. Computer coding skills gained in the course will prepare students for coursework in the Master of Science in Sustainability Science program as well as to succeed in a career having a programming component. Students enrolled in this course will learn through lectures, class discussion, and hands-on exercises that address the following topics:
Basics of computer programming, including precision of variables, arrays and data structures, input/output, control flow, and subroutines.
Applying Python to read common scientific data formats, including NetCDF for gridded climate and other environmental data.
Applying Python for data analysis, with a focus on popular machine learning methods including linear regression, decision trees, neural networks, principal component analysis, and clustering.
Applying Python to visualize scientific data through basic X-Y plots as well as images of data fields on a global map.
This course will train students to analyze and model scientific data using Python in order to better understand current and future environments and their interactions with human systems. By learning analysis and modeling with Python, students will be better able to inform sustainability policy, management, and decision-making.
The course is designed to teach students the foundations of network analysis including how to manipulate, analyze and visualize network data themselves using statistical software. We will focus on using the statistical program R for most of the work. Topics will include measures of network size, density, and tie strength, measures of network diversity, sampling issues, making ego-nets from whole networks, distance, dyads, homophily, balance and transitivity, structural holes, brokerage, measures of centrality (degree, betweenness, closeness, eigenvector, beta/Bonacich), statistical inference using network data, community detection, affiliation/bipartite networks, clustering and small worlds; positions, roles and equivalence; visualization, simulation, and network evolution over time.
This course is designed to the interdisciplinary and emerging field of data science. It will cover techniques and algorithms for creating effective visualizations based on principles from graphic design, visual art, perceptual psychology, and cognitive science to enhance the understanding of complex data. Students will be required to complete several scripting, data analysis and visualization design assignments as well as a final project. Topics include: data and image models, social and interactive visualizations, principles and designs, perception and attention, mapping and cartography, network visualization. Computational methods are emphasized and students will be expected to program in R, Javascript, D3, HTML and CSS and will be expected to submit and peer review work through Github. Students will be expected to write up the results of the project in the form of a conference paper submission.
An introduction to Bayesian statistical methods with applications to the social sciences. Considerable emphasis will be placed on regression modeling and model checking. The primary software used will be Stan, which students do not need to be familiar with in advance. Students in the course will access the Stan library via R, so some experience with R is necessary. Any QMSS student is presumed to have sufficient background. Any non-QMSS students interested in taking this course should have a comparable background to a QMSS student in basic probability. Topics to be covered are a review of calculus and probability, Bayesian principles, prediction and model checking, linear regression models, Bayesian calculations with Stan, hierarchical linear models, nonlinear regression models, missing data, and decision theory.
Social scientists need to engage with natural language processing (NLP) approaches that are found in computer science, engineering, AI, tech and in industry. This course will provide an overview of natural language processing as it is applied in a number of domains. The goal is to gain familiarity with a number of critical topics and techniques that use text as data, and then to see how those NLP techniques can be used to produce social science research and insights. This course will be hands-on, with several large-scale exercises. The course will start with an introduction to Python and associated key NLP packages and github. The course will then cover topics like language modeling; part of speech tagging; parsing; information extraction; tokenizing; topic modeling; machine translation; sentiment analysis; summarization; supervised machine learning; and hidden Markov models. Prerequisites are basic probability and statistics, basic linear algebra and calculus. The course will use Python, and so if students have programmed in at least one software language, that will make it easier to keep up with the course.
Prerequisites: Undergraduate Statistics This course introduces students to basic spatial analytic skills. It covers introductory concepts and tools in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and database management. As well, the course introduces students to the process of developing and writing an original spatial research project. Topics to be covered include: social theories involving space, place and reflexive relationships; social demography concepts and databases; visualizing social data using geographic information systems; exploratory spatial data analysis of social data and spatially weighted regression models, spatial regression models of social data, and space-time models. Use of open-source software (primarily the R software package) will be taught as well.
This course is intended to provide a detailed tour on how to access, clean, “munge” and organize data, both big and small. (It should also give students a flavor of what would be expected of them in a typical data science interview.) Each week will have simple, moderate and complex examples in class, with code to follow. Students will then practice additional exercises at home. The end point of each project would be to get the data organized and cleaned enough so that it is in a data-frame, ready for subsequent analysis and graphing. Therefore, no analysis or visualization (beyond just basic tables and plots to make sure everything was correctly organized) will be taught; and this will free up substantial time for the “nitty-gritty” of all of this data wrangling.
Prerequisites: basic probability and statistics, basic linear algebra, and calculus This course will provide a comprehensive overview of machine learning as it is applied in a number of domains. Comparisons and contrasts will be drawn between this machine learning approach and more traditional regression-based approaches used in the social sciences. Emphasis will also be placed on opportunities to synthesize these two approaches. The course will start with an introduction to Python, the scikit-learn package and GitHub. After that, there will be some discussion of data exploration, visualization in matplotlib, preprocessing, feature engineering, variable imputation, and feature selection. Supervised learning methods will be considered, including OLS models, linear models for classification, support vector machines, decision trees and random forests, and gradient boosting. Calibration, model evaluation and strategies for dealing with imbalanced datasets, n on-negative matrix factorization, and outlier detection will be considered next. This will be followed by unsupervised techniques: PCA, discriminant analysis, manifold learning, clustering, mixture models, cluster evaluation. Lastly, we will consider neural networks, convolutional neural networks for image classification and recurrent neural networks. This course will primarily us Python. Previous programming experience will be helpful but not requisite. Prerequisites: basic probability and statistics, basic linear algebra, and calculus.
Machine learning algorithms continue to advance in their capacity to predict outcomes and rival human judgment in a variety of settings. This course is designed to offer insight into advanced machine learning models, including Deep Learning, Recurrent Neural Networks, Adversarial Neural Networks, Time Series models and others. Students are expected to have familiarity with using Python, the scikit-learn package, and github. The other half of the course will be devoted to students working in key substantive areas, where advanced machine learning will prove helpful -- areas like computer vision and images, text and natural language processing, and tabular data. Students will be tasked to develop team projects in these areas and they will develop a public portfolio of three (or four) meaningful projects. By the end of the course, students will be able to show their work by launching their models in live REST APIs and web-applications.
Effective leaders are able to think critically about problems and opportunities, imagine unexpected futures, craft a compelling vision, and drive change. In this course, we study the theoretical underpinnings of leadership communication, relying on empirical evidence as a guide for practice. Students gain important perspective on leadership styles, mastering the competencies required for a variety of contexts.
From a global perspective, many of the earth’s most important environments and resources for global sustainability are located in marine and estuarine areas. This class will explore open-ocean and estuarine processes, reviewing what is known about the temporal variability and interconnectedness of these physical and biologic systems.. A few examples include; 1.) oceanic environments were incompletely understood processes regulate the exchange of heat, water and carbon dioxide gas with the atmosphere, 2.) the relationship between nutrients and primary production and fisheries in open ocean, estuarine and coral reef environments and climatic phenomenon such as El Niño South Oscillation (ENSO), the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO). 3.) For estuaries, current sea level and urbanization stresses on the coastal environments will be discussed. Professionals working in the environmental and engineering fields will benefit from a wide-ranging discussion of the multi-scaled processes influencing estuaries. Knowledge of the processes operating in these environments will lead to a more thorough understanding of the complex issues that may influence infrastructure and coastal development in and around estuarine environments in the near-future. Throughout the class we will explore marine and estuarine processes by studying regional and local responses to broader scale climatic forcing. Reading of textbook chapters and journal articles will supplement in-class lectures and discussion. Grading will be based on class participation, a two exams and a research paper. At the end of the course, students will have a strong scientific understanding about the impacts made on marine and estuary systems through physical, chemical, and biological processes. The course will prepare students to be well-trained in the core features of these systems and the relationship between natural and human processes, and equip them with the skills needed to explore marine and estuary systems in diverse scales and functions in the future.
The “Quantum Simulation and Computing Lab” will give students in the Quantum Masters program hands-on experience in quantum optics, quantum simulation and quantum computing. The course combines lectures, tutorials, and two lab sections. In one lab section, students will do experiments with entangled photons. In the second lab section, students will program quantum computers and run algorithms on them using the IBM Qiskit platform.
The course starts with a recap of linear algebra and quantum mechanics, followed by an introduction to quantum optics and quantum information. Two-level systems, Bloch sphere, quantum gates, and elementary quantum algorithms will be discussed. Quantum teleportation and quantum key distribution will be introduced as applications of entanglement. The lecture content will be directly applied in experiments with entangled photons. In the following, state-of-the-art quantum algorithms will be discussed, related to cutting-edge research results in quantum computing. This includes quantum Fourier transform, quantum simulation of the Schroedinger equation, and the variational quantum eigensolver (VQE) algorithm. During the course students will do one experimental project with entangled photons and one quantum programming project. Students will be guided to implement a quantum algorithm of their choice and run it on a quantum computer (IBM, IonQ, QuEra).
Digital media opens new opportunities for increasingly targeted communications across a variety of channels, which rapidly expands the importance of analytics in tracking and measuring key performance indicators (KPIs). This course prepares students to work within data- and model-driven environments with an emphasis on using analytics to develop insights and support strategic decisions.
This is a practice-based course designed to introduce students to ombuds work, and to help students develop the skills, knowledge, and attitudes required to succeed in the role of an organizational ombuds. Underlying theory will be explored in the context of practice. This course will emphasize the Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics put forth by the International Ombudsman Association (IOA). Upon successful completion of the course, students will be fundamentally prepared to apply for entry-level positions in the field of organizational ombuds and should have the requisite knowledge base to sit for the IOA’s Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner exam.
Note for NECR Students
: This course is offered as an elective in the Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (NECR) program. The course builds upon students’ negotiation and mediation skills and self-awareness as a practitioner. It is highly recommended that students complete PS5105, PS5107 and PS5124 prior to enrolling in this course.
Complexity of Conflict and Change Management (NECR K5095) is an elective course in the Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (NECR) Program. The course explores how change can create conflict and also how conflict requires change. Conflict is generally about differences in how people think, know, prefer, believe, and understand. By entering into a conflict resolution process, people can shift their understanding and beliefs about the conflict, the other party or parties, and possible outcomes. The course reviews literature and case studies of how people are impacted at a fundamental level when change occurs. Understanding this elemental human experience can lead to greater self-awareness and the ability to manage change professionally and personally, in order to become effective change agents, negotiators, mediators, and peacemakers. We will also explore how leaders at all levels in organizations can play an important role in implementing change in an organizational context. Thoughtful and strategic approaches that consider the impact of a change management process can mitigate and even prevent conflict. We will review change management models and links to developments in neuroscience and how humans are biologically wired to resist change. Balancing theory and practice, this course will focus on the experience and expertise of the students. They will learn to apply practical conflict resolution approaches to change efforts at the individual and organizational levels as well as consider national and international applications.
Foundational ERM course. Addresses all major ERM activities: risk framework; risk governance; risk identification; risk quantification; risk decision making; and risk messaging. Introduces an advanced yet practical ERM approach based on the integration of ERM and value-based management that supports integration of ERM into decision making. Provides a context to understand the differences between (a) value-based ERM; (b) traditional ERM; and (c) traditional "silo" risk management.
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This course provides a comprehensive overview of the design, implementation and management of the components of a philanthropic program and its relationship to the financial sustainability of the nonprofit organization. It introduces the philosophical, ethical and historical underpinnings of fundraising practice, also providing the nomenclature, characteristics, and methods of gift generation and their sources, and the management and stewardship of those sources. Additionally, it examines the relationship of the organization’s mission to its strategic vision and the planning, management and impact of fundraising to the organization’s advancement and sustainability.
This course introduces students to the core principles of effective leadership and collaborative team performance in organizational settings. Through a practical, evidence-based approach, the course examines how leaders influence outcomes, foster engagement, and navigate challenges in dynamic, multidisciplinary environments. Students will explore leadership qualifications, strategic decision-making, ethical considerations, and performance development frameworks. Emphasis is placed on understanding the dynamics of team formation, multicultural collaboration, communication, conflict management, and high-performance team practices.
As a central component of the Project Management curriculum, this course supports the program’s larger goal of preparing graduates to lead effectively in diverse and evolving organizational contexts. By grounding students in evidence-based leadership concepts and team effectiveness frameworks, the course advances the discipline’s primary principles of organizational performance, collaboration, and responsible decision-making. The course aligns closely with other program requirements by complementing technical project management competencies with the interpersonal and strategic skills necessary for successful project execution. In doing so, it bridges technical expertise with leadership acumen, equipping students with a holistic foundation for professional growth.
This is a required core course for all Project Management students and is delivered in person on campus in a full-semester format. Space permitting, the course may also be open to cross-registrants from other Columbia University graduate programs where leadership, management, and teamwork skills are relevant, such as programs in management, public administration, and engineering. There are no formal prerequisites, though prior exposure to management or organizational behavior may be helpful in engaging with course materials. Students will participate in selected readings, interactive discussions, and team-based exercises, as well as hear from guest lecturers with extensive leadership experience. By the end of the course, students will have strengthened their ability to lead ethically, communicate clearly, manage team dynamics, and contribute meaningfully to organizational goals.
This course is designed to strengthen the academic writing skills of SIPA students whose first language is not English. Emphasizing clarity, structure, and academic rigor, the course supports students in developing the writing competencies necessary for success in the MIA and MPA programs. Students will practice summarizing complex texts, crafting literature reviews, explanatory and argumentative essays, and revising their work based on detailed instructor feedback. The course also reinforces advanced grammar, vocabulary, and citation practices, with an emphasis on avoiding plagiarism and promoting original thought.
Assignments include short weekly exercises, midterm and final in-class essays, and three major take-home writing projects. Active participation, peer review, and group discussion of assigned readings are essential components of the course. By the end of the semester, students will gain confidence writing in English across academic and policy contexts while deepening their understanding of key public affairs topics.
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In this course, we will explore negotiation from several points of view and approaches. We will also look at characteristics that impact the quality of our negotiations and the outcomes, such as the role of emotions, cultural considerations, effectiveness of our communication, and opportunities to seek out negotiation to transform relationships. The course will be a blend of concepts and skills, theory and practice. On some occasions, you will be introduced to a concept and then asked to apply those concepts in an experiential activity. At other times, you will be asked to engage the activity or simulation and then the concepts will be elicited based on your experience. You will have several opportunities to practice developing your skills throughout the course, in terms of enhancing your practice and honing your analytical and conceptual understanding.
TBA
Design-based Innovation is a set of perspectives and processes that organizations of all kinds, in any kind of industry or context, can use to navigate ambiguity to find the best possible opportunities to create change. It is also a well-developed set of practices to devise and deliver solutions for those potential audiences that result in valuable product, service, and other experiences that customers, consistent, and others respond to with satisfaction, delight, and a sense of value.
Design is at the core of every innovation. It’s the visual, experiential, and strategic medium through which ideas transform into tangible and digital products, service platforms, experiences, and consequences. This course is a comprehensive exploration of the methods, vocabulary, challenges, and opportunities of design-led innovation. It demystifies how business and design intersect through the lens of innovation, and is foundational for anyone seeking to generate positive social and economic outcomes.
Students experience the course through interconnected paths—interrogating contemporary issues in design and business while simultaneously moving a chosen project through a sequence of hands-on design sprints. These sprints cover everything from ideation and visualization to journey mapping, prototyping, user testing, and branding of their own unique ideas. Participants will emerge with a critical and reusable toolkit for both understanding the innovation process and effectively leading creative teams.
Topics include: Design Thinking; User-Centered Design; Business Value of Design; Problem Framing; Systems Mapping; User Journey Mapping; Ambiguity and Complexity; Liberatory Design Practices; The Impact of AI; Design Ethics; Sustainability, Wicked Problems; Design Futuring and speculative design.
An exploration of the central concepts of corporate finance for those who already have some basic knowledge of finance and accounting. This case-based course considers project valuation; cost of capital; capital structure; firm valuation; the interplay between financial decisions, strategic consideration, and economic analyses; and the provision and acquisition of funds. These concepts are analyzed in relation to agency problems: market domination, risk profile, and risk resolution; and market efficiency or the lack thereof. The validity of analytic tools is tested on issues such as highly leveraged transactions, hybrid securities, volatility in initial public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, acquisition and control premiums, corporate restructurings, and sustainable and unsustainable market inefficiencies.
A comprehensive introduction to the principles, methods and tools required for the development and implementation of scheduling in the construction industry. Topics covered include: the crucial role of the scheduling development plans, budgeting and its impact on project timelines, identification and analysis of critical paths (CPM), resource and cost loading, schedule updating, and schedule management. Coursework is integrated with hands‐on utilization of Oracle Primavera P3 and P6 scheduling and Microsoft Project 2007 software. Students may need to bring their own laptops/notebooks for some class sessions. Guest lecturers may be featured for certain topics.
OBJECTIVE:
This course should prepare the student to prepare a CPM schedule, calculate the schedule manually or by use of computer software, evaluate the output of such software, and present such analysis both to field personnel for implementation and to upper management for overview.
TBA
Investing in professional growth is essential to building strong, adaptive, and innovative nonprofit organizations. Columbia University's M.S. in Nonprofit Management Professional Development Series is an online, bi-weekly, zero-credit seminar class that helps students stay current with best practices, navigate complex challenges, improve organizational sustainability, and enhance their impact in the communities they serve. Students will increase their networks and connect with potential mentors and employers while hearing how they can leverage the M.S. in Nonprofit Management degree in their own careers.
The course, which is a co-registration requirement for NOPM students taking Capstone, is open to all NOPM students and for cross-registration.
One of the best ways to predict the future is to study the past. A dizzying amount of data is available to study elections and politics, including survey and polling data on individual preferences, beliefs, demographics, and choices; data on aggregate conditions and outcomes; and, for more recent years, a wide range of social media data. From polling analysts and pundits to campaign managers and career journalists, making sense of this data can create a competitive advantage for professionals working in the field of politics. By analyzing the results of previous elections, insights can be gleaned to enhance understanding of the factors that contributed to electoral wins and be used to build statistical models or to create machine learning models that can predict future outcomes. Students will curate various types of data and work with starter code to build their data wrangling and computational skills. Students will learn how to explore data with these techniques, understand how they work, and derive insights and knowledge based on the analysis results.
This class is designed to introduce you not only to the subject of painting the human figure and its expressive potential, but also to focus on the art and craft of Painting. We will be painting the figure from secondary source material that can include photos, other artworks, clay models etc. The focus will be on figurative narration. We will be learning to see color, and use paint in response to that. Painting is a way to account for, express and communicate what you have seen with your eyes, mind or in your imagination. You will be introduced to different approaches to the craft of painting, and will by the end of the semester be more free and confident in interpreting your inner and outer vision. We will also be looking at paintings made in different times and places and discuss how and why they look the way they do. You will also be designing and carrying out your own independent project to be completed by the final critique.
This course teaches students how to get through to any audience for any reason. Technology leaders, more than in any other industry, must be equally comfortable as public speakers for vastly different audiences, from software developers and sales teams to politicians and the general public. Through exercises in speaker and audience analysis, studies in public speaking techniques, and an exploration of behavioral psychology principles influencing audience receptivity, students will gain tangible skills to increase their impact as public speakers. Specifically, this course will equip students to: 1. identify how impactful speakers prepare for, present to, and pivot for maximum impact according to audience type, size, and receptivity; 2. learn strategies on how to “read the room” and adapt both verbal and nonverbal communication techniques in real-time; and 3. gain hands-on experience in public speaking through exercises designed to develop public speaking skills across a range of tech-sector specific experiences, circumstances, audiences.
This one-semester onsite course explores how social entrepreneurs use technology innovation to achieve social impact and help achieve the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) in collaboration with corporations and governments. Social entrepreneurs are defined as organizations who develop and implement solutions to social and environmental problems while striving for financial sustainability.
Law is infused into every part of business, especially through the lens of technology. Fluency in business and legal frameworks, risk/benefit principles, from idea to exit, is essential for any innovation leader. This course offers a deep dive into the critical phases of technology companies and their journey through growth, scaling, and eventual market exit. Topics include capital formation, contracts, intellectual property, human capital, and business transactions.
Today, leaders must confront a world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. It demands that we strengthen how we lead change. We are all being stretched to learn, unlearn, relearn, and this is especially true for technology leaders – who operate in the ‘eye of the storm’ of relentless change.
In this context, strategic advocacy -- achieving support for change to address the challenges that confront an organization and the opportunities they provide – requires knowing and applying useful skills, behavior, and practices to win commitment to new, even unanticipated directions.
This is a full-semester core course in the MS in Technology Management executive program designed to expose students to practices, tools, frameworks, concepts, and real-world examples that will help you move from a technical/functional role to a senior executive orientation. Everyone’s journey is unique. As you apply the course content in real life you will be expected to choose, experiment with, and adapt the relevant approaches most meaningful to your situation.
This course explores the principles, strategies, and challenges of technology-driven transformation in organizations. Students will examine emerging technologies, digital disruption, and frameworks for implementing large-scale change. This course provides a comprehensive understanding of digital transformation, focusing on how businesses leverage technology to drive transformation based on various drivers including efficiency, productivity, competitive advantage, and compliance. Students will explore key topics such as product development, systems development lifecycle, enterprise architecture, IT capabilities, and automation. Through case studies, research, and hands-on projects, students will develop the skills needed to lead strategic and technical skills necessary to lead and manage digital transformation initiatives.
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Some experts on U.S. political campaigns have argued that big data has fundamentally changed the way politicians win elections and pursue policymaking. With the combination of massive amounts of personal data and information about individual voters and society at large, readily available processing power, sophisticated machine learning techniques, and cheap and efficient communication methods, modern political professionals are able to identify likely supporters, understand their issues of interest and concern, make direct appeals with micro-targeted messages, and mobilize these constituencies to donate, volunteer, turnout, mobilize, and vote accordingly. Without a doubt, big data has the potential to inform strategic decision-making across multiple aspects of politics.
In this course, students will learn about the range of big data sources that can be gathered and aggregated, including public data, voter file data, consumer data, and more. Students will become familiar with the ways in which data can be used to gain insights about voters’ sentiments, attitudes, and opinions and to develop strategies to predict and prompt behavior. Most importantly, students will learn to synthesize a variety of data sources into a cohesive strategy and presentation that can be given to decision-makers, whether for electoral or advocacy purposes.
This onsite course takes students on a virtual journey through the world’s leading innovation hubs across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, and Africa. Students will analyze the structures, dynamics, and key stakeholders that shape entrepreneurial ecosystems worldwide, including entrepreneurs, corporations, investors, policymakers, universities, accelerators, incubators, and industry associations.
This class provides students with a deep dive into marketing and communication strategies and channels for tech company, product, and services launches. Students will work on customer personas for B2B and B2C technologies and reflect upon sustainability guidelines to shape their marketing strategy. They will analyze the different elements that make a soft and hard launch successful, such customer testimonials and industry analyst relations. The course will also discuss how AI is changing the marketing of companies, products and services.
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What does it mean to think materially? To
use
color? These are the questions that will guide this foundational course designed for painters, ranging from beginner to advanced, who want to develop their technique and material thought process.
We will begin with a focus on color, using the Albers method to learn first from experience, developing an eye for color, before we delve into color theory and color philosophy. The creative eye for color will aid us as we learn the ins and outs of acrylic painting, oil painting, the mediums, historical techniques, and associated theoretical concerns in
how
something is painted. Some of the class will be spent painting observationally, working on our ability to see creatively and translate experience into material. Many of the projects will be self-directed in subject or approach, whether you consider yourself a staunch realist or pure abstract artist, focusing mostly on the material language of the painting. Students can expect to cover the basics of a studio practice, such as stretching canvases, building a palette, developing a range of techniques, as well as gaining a critical eye for material decisions and how to realize their vision.
Energy Management is the cornerstone of any sustainability initiative. The generation, distribution, and use of energy has a profound, continuous, and global impact on natural resources, societal structure, and geopolitics. How energy is used has significant repercussions on an organizations cash flow and profitability. For these reasons, energy issues tend to be the fulcrum upon which sustainability programs hinge.
The ability to identify and articulate organizational benefits from energy savings tied to efficiency improvements and renewable energy projects is a requisite skill set for all sustainability managers.
This course will provide real-world information on energy management issues from a practitioner's perspective. Through lectures, problem sets, and readings students will learn how to manage energy audits, analyze building energy performance, and evaluate the energy use and financial impacts of potential capital and operations improvements to building systems. The class will focus on understanding energy issues from a building owner’s perspective, with discussions also examining energy issues from the perspective of utility companies, energy generators, and policy makers.
Best practice in energy management will always involve some level of complex engineering to survey existing conditions and predict energy savings from various improvement options. Sustainability managers need to understand how to manage and quality control these analyses and to translate to decision makers the opportunity they reveal. This course seeks to empower students to do that by providing an understanding of building systems and methods for quantitatively analyzing the potential benefit of various energy improvements.
This course provides students with a solid hands-on foundation in BIM (Building Information Modeling) and other technologies that are revolutionizing the way 21st century construction projects are delivered. Starting from the Owner’s perspective, the class sessions will explore the benefits of BIM tools/methods as used by design teams, construction managers and sub-contractors. Students work with actual industry tools to create BIM Models that extract quantities for estimation purposes, link models to construction schedules (4D simulations), generate clash reports, and effectively communicate 3D site logistics plans. Once a BIM backbone is established, discussions will lead into and highlight: advanced applications, integration opportunities, responsibilities/contractual theories and the introduction of other 3rd Party Software. This course is a recommended companion course to CNAD PS5500, the Capstone Project. Students enrolling in the course are required to have their own notebook PC meeting the noted specifications.
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