Macroeconomic Analysis for International

Open to MIA, MIA, and MPA-DP Only. Prerequisite Course: SIPAU6400 - Macroeconomic Analysis. Required for IFEP and DAQA.
 This course continues the one-year sequence initiated with SIPA U6400 and focuses on macroeconomics. The goal of this course is to provide students with the analytical framework to examine and interpret observed economic events in the global economy. The causal relationships between macroeconomic aggregates is based upon microeconomic principles. The subject matter always refers to concrete situations with a particular focus on the causes and effects of the current global financial crisis. The controversial nature of macroeconomic policies is central.

• MW 9:15 a.m.-10:45 a.m.
• MW 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
• TR 9:15 a.m.-10:45 a.m.
• TR 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
• TR 2:15 p.m.-3:45 p.m.
• Instructor: Fernando Cirelli
  Info
• 3 points

Human Rights and the Politics of Inequal

Human Rights & Devpt Policy

This course investigates the relationship between human rights and key policies affecting economic and social equality and equity issues. In particular, the course will focus on how human rights criteria have been integrated into economic governance in various arenas, including trade, labor, development, and environmental policy. The course will introduce students to both theory and practical points of leverage for advancing human rights in the public and the private sector. Students will learn about the strengths, weaknesses and impacts of grievance mechanisms that are tied to economic policies, such as free trade agreements or World Bank complaint mechanisms. They will analyze the impacts of development and investment policies on human rights and strategies for incorporating human rights criteria into governmental and non-governmental decision-making processes.

• W 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• 3 points

Social Movements & Citizenship in Africa

Social Movemt & Citizen-Africa

This course focuses on social movements and citizenship in sub-Saharan Africa to examine how people form political and social movements and deploy citizenship strategies within social, historical, and economic structures that are both local and global. It draws on readings and lectures from scholars in history, political science, anthropology, sociology, and African studies to explore the following topics and themes: histories and theories of social movements and citizenship; cities and social movements and citizenship; citizenship outside the nation-state; social movements and democracy; citizenship as a creative enterprise that emphasizes claim-making and improvisation; citizenship within imperial, international, and national contexts; infrastructures, claim-making, and coalition building; opposition, leadership and democracy; and social movements of African youth and women. This course features guest lectures by and discussions with French and American scholars from Sciences-Po, Universite Paris 1, NYU, and Columbia, and is part of the Joint African Studies Program (JASP) at the Institute of African Studies that is supported by the Partnership University Fund (PUF) and the French Alliance Program at Columbia. It includes foundational readings on concepts, theories, and histories of social movements and citizenship in Africa as well as in-depth case studies on selective themes by various experts working on sub-Saharan Africa. It is unique insofar as it offers a strong foundation in social movements and citizenship while exposing students to in-depth case studies by leading experts working in a variety of disciplines and geographical contexts. All lectures and discussions are conducted in English.

• M 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Jinny K Prais
  Info
• 3 points

Universal Food Security

This course addresses the challenges and opportunities for achieving a productive, profitable, inclusive, healthy, sustainable, resilient, and ethical global food system. Our first class will provide a brief historical perspective of the global food system, highlighting relevant developments over the past 10,000 years and will explain key concepts, critical challenges, and opportunities ahead. For the ensuing few weeks, we will cover the core biophysical requirements for food production: soil and land, water and climate, and genetic resources. We include an introduction to human nutrition – 
Nutrition Week
 – that focuses on dietary change and food-based solutions to malnutrition. Building on this, the course will survey a selection of important food systems and trends across Asia, Africa, and Latin America that provide food security and livelihoods for more than half of the world’s population. Case studies and classroom debates throughout the course will explore the roles of science, technology, policies, politics, institutions, business, finance, aid, trade, and human behavior in advancing sustainable agriculture, and achieving food and nutritional security. We will probe the interactions of food systems with global issues including poverty and inequality, the persistence of chronic hunger and malnutrition, climate change, environmental degradation, international food business and value chains, biotechnology (GMOs), post-harvest losses, and food waste. With a sharp eye for credible evidence, we will confront controversies, reflect on historical trends, identify common myths, and surface little-known but important truths about agriculture and food systems. In our final sessions, we address the ultimate question: can we feed and nourish the world without wrecking it for future generations?

• TR 9 a.m.-10:50 a.m.
• Instructor: Glenn Denning
  h-index: 14 Info
• 3 points

Communicating in Organizations

Priority Reg: Executive MPA. 
Communicating in Organizations is a survey course that explores aspects of day-to-day managerial communication relating to presentations and other high-profile moments and more familiar elements of interpersonal communication. The course uses many teaching techniques: short lectures, individual and group exercises, video-recorded presentations, role plays, case discussions, video clips, and writing assignments. It is highly experiential, with exercises or presentations scheduled in most sessions. Initially, we’ll focus on the communication skills and strategies that help you present your ideas to others.  I’ll ask you to do two benchmark assignments―a letter and a brief presentation―to assess the abilities you bring to the course. In several of our class sessions, you’ll be the one “in front of the room,” delivering either a prepared talk or brief, impromptu comments. Such assignments will allow you to develop your skills as a presenter.  I’ll also discuss the link between listening and speaking, showing you how developing your listening skills will improve your effectiveness as a speaker.  And we’ll explore several elements of visual communication, including how to design effective visual aids and written documents. To communicate effectively in such roles as coach, interviewer, negotiator, or facilitator, you need to be skilled at listening, questioning, observing behavior, and giving feedback.  We’ll practice each of these skills in-class exercises and assignments. The Social Style instrument will provide detailed feedback about how others view your communication style. You’ll discover how style differences may lead to miscommunication, missed opportunities, or mishandled conflict.

• R 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Joann P Baney
  Info
• 3 points

Asian Energy Security

This course surveys the distinctive character of Asian energy security requirements, how they change over time, what political-economic forces drive their transformation, and what those requirements imply for broader economic and political-military relationships between Asia and the world. The course gives special attention to Asia’s energy dependence on the Middle East and the extent to which Russia and alternative sources, including nuclear power, provide a feasible and acceptable alternative. Cross-national comparisons among the energy security policies of China, India, Japan, Korea, and Western paradigms explore distinctive features of Asian approaches to energy security.

• T 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Zongyuan Liu
  Info
• 3 points

Persistent Problems in the Global South:

Persistent Probs-Global South

This course, Persistent Problems in the Global South: Policies and Politics for Sustainable Development, examines the politics around some persistent policy problems in the Global South, against the background of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The term Global South, used mostly by intergovernmental organizations, refers to the economically disadvantaged countries also known as developing countries or the Third World. However, in recent years and within a variety of fields, Global South is also employed in a post-national sense to address spaces and peoples within the borders of wealthier countries negatively impacted by globalization. This course is explicitly comparative, and will draw on the histories and national experiences of developing countries around the world. Each week we will address one persistent sustainable development problem in the Global South in an empirically grounded case-based method, while also referring to solid theoretical frameworks and policy literature. Alongside recognizing national-level specificities, we will also examine how these countries face similar constraints arising from shared colonial experience, resource paucity and institutional barriers, which distinguish them from richer countries in the Global North.

• W 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Rumela Sen
  CULPA: 1 Info
• 3 points

Failures and Successes of Three Decades

Peacemaking Failures & Su

The return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan, coming after a twenty-year engagement of the international community, raised hard questions on the wisdom of intervening in the lives of others. Meanwhile, the wars in Syria and Yemen, in which there was no intervention, have generated immense humanitarian crises, while the short but decisive intervention in Libya, once trumpeted as an example of the responsibility to protect, has led to more than a decade of political crisis. At the same time, there is a return of older forms of conflict: interstate war, with the invasion of Ukraine by Russia; the Israel-Palestine conflict; a deterioration of relations between China and the United States that is sometimes described as a ”second Cold War.”  

Have we forgotten the lessons of the first Cold War? Have we unlearned the lessons from the crises of the 90’s (Somalia, Bosnia, Rwanda…)? Or has the world changed so radically that the lessons of the 90’s no longer apply? At a time when geopolitical confrontation is deepening, do we have the right frame of analysis and the right tools in the new landscape? Are there new lessons that we should learn from the last two decades?

To answer those questions, we will go through several case studies – focusing on conflicts in which the United Nations has been involved only to better understand the causes of failure and, in some cases, of success but also to sharpen a definition of what can be called success. I will draw on my own experience as under-secretary-general for peacekeeping, as deputy of Kofi Annan when he tried to stop the Syrian conflict, and as chair of the board of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue and CEO of the International Crisis Group. I will also call on a few experts and practitioners with specific experience in particular conflicts. Ultimately, we will test the validity of existing tools on several ongoing potential or active conflicts: Ukraine and Russia, Syria, Israel and Palestine.

• W 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Jean-Marie Guehenno
  Wikipedia Info
• 3 points

Social Justice Movements in the Age of S

Social Justice & Social M

This course is an introduction to how emerging hybrid models of traditional and digital organizing and advocacy are building unprecedented social justice movements in the United States. During the first half of the course, students will examine the theory and practice of successful traditional offline organizing and advocacy campaigns as well as principles and characteristics of successful digital activism. In the second half of the course, students w2ill analyze contemporary social movements that have fused offline and online organizing and advocacy tactics, including ongoing activism for racial equity, drug policy reform, LGBTQ rights, criminal justice reform, gender equity, and immigration reform. Using a blend of book and journal readings, case studies, videos, and hands-on group project, and guest speaker practitioners, this course will paint a vivid picture of how social change happens in our age of social media coexisting within the practical realities of longstanding power dynamics.

• W 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Richard F Greenberg
  Info
• 3 points

Fighting Corruption: Concepts and Strate

Corruption undermines governance, saps resources and undermines development.  It is also exceptionally difficult to identify, address, and resolve due to the intrinsic opacity of its operative mechanisms, endemic nature inside systems, and persistence. This course will teach: How to identify corruption, both in general and in its particular manifestations; Current strategies to respond to corruption, particularly within developing countries; and, Expected/possible future trends in corruption. This course will also focus on practical problem-solving and policy-making solutions, including through classroom debate, scenario assessment, simulation, and paper-writing.

• Instructor: Richard Nephew
  Wikipedia Info
• 3 points

Rethinking Policing in the 21st Century

Rethinking Policing-21st Cent

Social movements and activists are reshaping the debate on the traditional role of policing in our society. The Black Lives Matter movement has been pivotal in leading the call for systemic change, accountability and transparency. A chorus of diverse voices has called into question unchecked police power. The tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner and other Black and brown people has led to a breakdown of trust between the public and police. This course is designed to examine current police practices through the lens of history, race, recent events, and jurisprudence.  This class will serve as a laboratory of ideas and recommendations as we analyze police training, disciplinary procedures, use of force guidelines and other practices in an effort to foster and improve community - police relations. Several cities have deconstructed police authorities, focusing on a more democratic force and in some cases diverting funds towards a more non-violent and community-based approach to policing. Some governmental leaders have criticized recent movements for their lack of structure and stated objectives other than demanding change. This class will discuss common threads and differences between recent movements and those of the past. Lastly, this class will tackle those issues that have impeded progress in advancing a police force that promotes trust and service.

• M 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Basil A Jr Smikle
  Info
• 3 points

Rethinking Policing in the 21st Century

Rethinking Policing-21st Cent

Social movements and activists are reshaping the debate on the traditional role of policing in our society. The Black Lives Matter movement has been pivotal in leading the call for systemic change, accountability and transparency. A chorus of diverse voices has called into question unchecked police power. The tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner and other Black and brown people has led to a breakdown of trust between the public and police. This course is designed to examine current police practices through the lens of history, race, recent events, and jurisprudence.  This class will serve as a laboratory of ideas and recommendations as we analyze police training, disciplinary procedures, use of force guidelines and other practices in an effort to foster and improve community - police relations. Several cities have deconstructed police authorities, focusing on a more democratic force and in some cases diverting funds towards a more non-violent and community-based approach to policing. Some governmental leaders have criticized recent movements for their lack of structure and stated objectives other than demanding change. This class will discuss common threads and differences between recent movements and those of the past. Lastly, this class will tackle those issues that have impeded progress in advancing a police force that promotes trust and service.

• M 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Basil A Jr Smikle
  Info
• 3 points

Benchmarking Skills for Process & Organi

Benchmarking Skills-Proc & Org

This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the structural basis of benchmarking.  Using a public sector-based case study with “hands-on” group activities, as well as various other examples given by the instructors, this course will teach students the benchmarking process along with the different tools and techniques to be used in  implementation.

• F 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
• 1 points

Collaborative Social Justice and Health

Collab Social Justice & H

“Collaborative social justice” is an innovative program model where practitioners from different fields break down traditional disciplinary silos to join forces to tackle poor health, poverty, homelessness, discrimination, and other destabilizing social conditions. This course explores how policy practitioners can use this interdisciplinary program model to promote social justice.

• FS 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Instructor: Rose C Goldberg
  Info
• 1 points

The Tenets and Dilemmas of Humanitarian

Humanitarian Action

Never have more people been in need of humanitarian assistance globally. The impact of conflict, natural disasters, climate change and governance crises has led to the largest ever global Humanitarian Needs Overview and appeal in 2022. But is the system functioning the way it should, and has humanitarian action been shielded from politization and power dynamics?

The course will allow students to examine the history, norms, principles, actors and governance of the international humanitarian system, to assess with a critical lens whether the norms and actors established yesterday are still the ones needed today. Through a combination of thematic sessions and case studies, it will provide insights into how humanitarian responses are governed, implemented and coordinated, and help students understand the dilemmas faced by humanitarian actors on a daily basis. Students will be asked to reflect on the key issues, challenges and prospects facing the humanitarian system.

• Instructor: Laura Perez
  Info
• 3 points

Human Rights and Humanitarian Policy Pra

Hum Rights & Hum Pol Practicum

This 1.5 credit, 7-week course is designed as a forum in which human rights practitioners, humanitarian aid workers, practitioners and academics share their professional experiences and insights on the modern development of international human rights and humanitarian law, policy, and practice. The Practicum plays an important role in the Human Rights and Humanitarian Policy Concentration as a means by which students: 1. interact with speakers and gain an understanding of the different roles that humanitarian aid workers and actors play in a variety of contexts, and 2. examine current trends in the human rights field and remain informed on the different roles that human rights actors play in a variety of contexts. The Practicum is designed, therefore, to enhance students’ abilities to think critically and analytically about current problems and challenges confronting the field, and to do so in the context of a vibrant community of their peers. Whereas most courses integrate conceptual and theoretical perspectives of human rights, the Human Rights and Humanitarian Policy Practicum is meant to emphasize the processes of implementing human rights from the practitioner’s perspective.

• R 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Laura Perez
  Info
• 1.5 points

Quantitative Analysis I for Internationa

Open to MIA, MPA, and MPA-DP Only. 
This course introduces students to the fundamentals of statistical analysis. We will examine the principles and basic methods for analyzing quantitative data, focusing on applications to problems in public policy, management, and the social sciences. We will begin with simple statistical techniques for describing and summarizing data and build toward more sophisticated methods for drawing inferences from data and making predictions about the social world. The course assumed that students have at least high school algebra. Students will be trained on STATA. This powerful statistical package is frequently used to manage and analyze quantitative data in many organizational/institutional contexts. A practical mastery of a significant statistical package is an essential proficiency.

• M 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• M 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• M 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Doru Cojoc
  Info
• 3 points

Quantitative Analysis II for Internation

Priority Reg: DAQA Specialization or IFEP-Econ Policy Concentration. Pre-req: SIPA U6500 - Quant I.
 This course introduces students to regression analysis as a tool for policy analysis and program evaluation (i.e., econometrics). As future practitioners and policymakers, your professional decisions will impact the world in many ways. This course will equip you with the empirical skills needed to evaluate these impacts and assess the causal effects of programs and policies.

The first half of the course will focus on the fundamentals of multiple regression analysis (including a review of Quant I), emphasizing causal inference. The second half builds on this foundation, introducing experimental and non-experimental methods widely used in empirical research and program evaluation.

Note that this is not a math course. Instead of solving math problems, you will be asked to articulate the statistical concepts we have learned and how they relate to different policy settings. Beyond the technical and conceptual foundations, a key emphasis is developing the ability to apply and explain statistical concepts in non-technical language. This skill is crucial for communicating effectively with policymakers who are not statistical experts, as you would be expected to do in many jobs and with most audiences. This course will also prepare you to take any of SIPA’s Quant III courses. This course aims to achieve three broad goals: 


Develop the technical foundations and intuition to become intelligent consumers of statistical analysis for policy research and program evaluation. This enables you to assess empirical studies and articulate findings in non-technical language critically.

Understand causal thinking and its role in interpreting data analysis and empirical studies.

Build the skills to apply and explain statistical concepts in accessible language, fostering effective communication with policymakers and non-experts.

• T 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• T 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• W 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• W 9 a.m.-10:50 a.m.
• W 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Alan S Yang
  CULPA: 5 Info
• 3 points

Applying Machine Learning

The spread of information technology has led to the generation of vast amounts of data on human behavior. This course explores ways to use this data to better understand and improve the societies in which we live. The course weaves together methods from machine learning (OLS, LASSO, trees) and social science (theory, reduced form causal inference, structural modeling) to work on real world problems. We will use these problems as a backdrop to weigh the importance of causality, precision, and computational efficiency.

Pre-requisites:
Quantitative Analysis II, Microeconomics, and an introductory computer science course (INAF U6006 or equiv). Students who have attained mastery of the prerequisite concepts through other means may petition for an exception to the prerequisites using the form: 
https://forms.gle/na1oDntsce8w5aM8A

• W 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• W 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• F 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• F 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Daniel C Bjorkegren
  Info
• 3 points

Python for Public Policy

This 7-week mini course exposes the students to the application and use of Python for data analytics in public policy setting. The course teaches introductory technical programming skills that allow students to learn Python and apply code on pertinent public policy data. The majority of the class content will utilize the New York City 311 Service Requests dataset. It’s a rich dataset that can be explored from many angles relevant to real-world public policy and program management responsibilities.

• T 9 a.m.-10:50 a.m.
• T 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Aidan Feldman
  Info
• 1.5 points

Data Science & Public Policy

This course will bridge the gap between data science and public policy in several exciting ways. By drawing on a diverse student body – consisting of students from SIPA and the Data Science Institute – we will combine domain-level policy expertise with quantitative analytical skills as we work on cutting-edge policy problems with large amounts of data. Throughout the semester, students will have the opportunity to analyze real-world datasets on a broad range of policy topics, including, for example, data on Russian trolls disseminating misinformation on social media, data on Islamic State recruitment propaganda on the Internet, and granular information on natural disasters that can facilitate preparedness for future hazards. In addition, students will work in interdisciplinary policy – data science teams on semester-long projects that develop solutions to policy problems drawing on big data sources. By the end of the course, students will gain hands-on experience working with various types of data in an interdisciplinary environment – a setting that is becoming more and more common in the policy world these days.

• W 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Tamar Mitts
  h-index: 5 Info
• 3 points

Using Big Data to Develop Public Policy

Big Data to Develop Pub Policy

Prerequisites: SIPA U6500 Data are a critical resource for understanding and solving public policy challenges. This course provides an applied understanding of data analytics tools and approaches to policy. This course is designed to bridge the gap between the statistical theory and real-world challenges of using data in public policy. The course leverages the DATA2GO.NYC data set. DATA2GO.NYC was developed with the intention of empowering community members to understand the areas in which they work, play, and live by providing open access to aggregated city data. You will use the data set to conduct the in-depth analysis of an issue and ultimately develop a policy proposal or policy evaluation.

• T 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Francesco Brindisi
  CULPA: 1 Info
• 3 points

Basics of Cybersecurity

• T 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Elizabeth Cartier
  Info
• 1.5 points

Intro to Infographics and Data Visualiza

Intro Infographics & Data Vis

Priority Reg: DAQA and TMaC Specializations. 
This is a seven-week course that introduces students to design principles and techniques for effective data visualization. Visualizations graphically depict data to foster communication, improve comprehension and enhance decision-making. This course aims to help students: understand how visual representations can improve data comprehension, master techniques to facilitate the creation of visualizations as well as begin using widely available software and web-based, open-source frameworks.

• M 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Douglas Williamson
  Info
• 1.5 points

Data Driven Approaches for Campaigns and

Data Driven Approaches-Campaig

It is strongly recommended that students have completed Quantitative Analysis before taking this course. This class will focus on properly understanding a wide range of tools and techniques involving data and analytics in campaigns. We will study evolutions and revolutions in data-driven politics, including micro-targeting, random controlled trials, and the application of insights from behavioral science, as well as more current approaches using modern statistical techniques, machine learning/AI, and natural language processing/large language models. Our primary focus will be on developments in US political and advocacy campaigns, but we will also examine the uses of these tools in development and other areas. The course is designed to provide an informative but critical overview of an area where it is often difficult to separate hype from expertise. The purpose of the course is to prepare students to understand the strengths and limitations of Big Data and analytics, and to provide concrete and practical knowledge of some of the key tools in use in campaigns and advocacy. Students will be expected to examine the use of data in practical case studies and distinguish between proper and improper uses. The course includes a track to analyze data and will spend more time giving students practical experience with current data and analytic approaches.  Sample code will be provided, and students will be asked to execute and make minor revisions to the code to gain familiarity. Sample R projects will include reading and analyzing polling data, developing predictive models of voter behavior, and analyzing data from social media.  Students will leave with a set of applications that can be customized to work on new data sets.

• M 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Mark Steitz
  Info
• 3 points

Text as Data

This course is an introduction to the quantitative analysis of text as data – a rapidly growing field within the social sciences. The availability of textual data has grown massively in recent years, and so has the demand for skills to analyze it. Vast amounts of digital content are becoming increasingly relevant to various policy-relevant questions. For example, social media data are now commonly used to understand public opinion, engagement with politics, behavior during natural disasters, and even pathways to extremism; candidates’ statements and rhetoric during elections are useful for estimating policy positions; and large amounts of text from news sources are used to document and understand world events.

While the wealth of information in text data is incredible, its sheer size makes it challenging to summarize and interpret without quantitative methods. In this course, we will learn how to quantitatively analyze text from a social-science perspective. Throughout the course, students will learn different methods to acquire text, how to transform it to data, and how to analyze it to shed light on important research questions. Each week we will cover different methods, including dictionary construction and application, sentiment analysis, scaling and topic models, and machine learning classification of text. Lectures will be accompanied by hands-on exercises that will give students practical experience while working with real-world texts. By the end of the course, students will develop and write their own research projects using text as data.

• W 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Tamar Mitts
  h-index: 5 Info
• 3 points

Cyber Risks & Vulnerabilities

The purpose of this course is to familiarize SIPA students with the protocols and devices used in the function of the internet while focusing on the flaws and vulnerabilities. This course will approach each session in the following manner: discussion of the topic to include what the topic is and how it is used, vulnerabilities and specifically, and example, and will follow up with a video or other demonstration of a common hacker technique or tool to illustrate the problem so the students can better understand the impact. This course is intended to complement Basics of Cybersecurity with a tighter focus on specific vulnerabilities and how these can be exploited by hackers, criminals, spies, or militaries. This course is intended to be an introduction to cybersecurity and is thus suitable for complete newcomers to the area. It is a big field, with a lot to cover; however this should get students familiar with all of the basics. The class is divided into seven topics; the first five iteratively build on each other. Session six will look to future technologies. Session seven will challenge students to understand the authorities encountered and the friction between the authorities and agencies in responding to a cyber incident. Many cyber jobs are opening up with companies that need international affairs analysts who, while not cybersecurity experts, understand the topic well enough to write policy recommendations or intelligence briefs. Even if you don’t intend your career to focus on cyber issues, having some exposure will deepen your understanding of the dynamics of many other international and public policy issues.

• T 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Elizabeth Cartier
  Info
• 1.5 points

Cybersecurity & Business Risk

This course will examine cybersecurity and threats in cyberspace as a business risk: that is, the potential and consequent magnitude of loss or liability arising from conducting business connected to the Internet. Many organizations have traditionally viewed cybersecurity as a technology problem, “owned” by the Information Technology department. However, doing business connected to the Internet can create non-technical problems: legal, regulatory, financial, logistical, brand or reputational, even health or public safety problems. Increasingly, organizations are treating cybersecurity and cyber threats in a broader manner, viewing cyber as a risk to be managed, and owned ultimately by the most senior ranks of corporate governance. An example might be a bank managing cyber operational risk similarly to managing credit and market risk. However, organizations continue to face challenges as they try to translate, measure, manage, and report a risk that is highly technical, and still somewhat foreign to most risk managers. The objective of this course will be to introduce you to basic concepts of cybersecurity and threats in cyberspace, and enable you to apply them to tools, techniques, and processes for business risk management. It assumes no technical knowledge of cybersecurity, nor a deep understanding of risk management. Students will learn about the basic principles of cybersecurity, the main actors in the business and regulatory spheres, and approaches to business risk management: how to understand, describe, measure, and report risk in a cybersecurity context. Students will also understand different models and approaches used by leading institutions in various industries, including the financial services sector, critical infrastructure providers, high-technology companies, and governments.

• T 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• 3 points

Post-Soviet Geopolitics

Instructor: Renata Mustafina.
This 7-week class is designed as a journey through the complex geopolitics of the post-Soviet region, mediated by cultural artifacts, infrastructural objects, specific sites, and landscapes. The class adopts a bottom-up approach to geopolitics, moving beyond state-centric or national-level understandings of international politics to focus on the everyday experience of geopolitics at the micro level (Bono & Stoffelen, 2020; Dodds, 2019; Gaufman, 2023*). Each session aims to locate the “international” and ground various geopolitical processes in both practice and place. This perspective provides a starting point for discussing major geopolitical issues such as war, political violence, ethnic conflict, and energy crises. The six case studies—varied in both time and space—are carefully selected to offer students a glimpse of the diverse geopolitical dynamics in the region, as well as analytical frameworks that can be useful in approaching these dynamics. The seminar adopts an interdisciplinary perspective, engaging with political science, anthropology, literature, geography, and law. In addition to academic research, the seminar will incorporate visuals (photos, maps, videos) to help convey this often physically distant social reality.

• 1.5 points

Global Reliance on Russian Energy

Globl Reliance-Russ Enrgy

Russian unprovoked war in Ukraine dramatically changed the world energy landscape and created one of the primary energy crises in the world. Russian Federation is the world's largest energy exporter of fossil fuels. However, shocked by the war, the West imposed sanctions on the Russian energy sector. The course will discuss a significant energy geopolitical shift happening worldwide because of the war. We will focus on how the EU navigates this crisis and how Russia tries to escape sanctions. What new energy alliances appear, and what disappear because of this war?

• W 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Natasha Udensiva
  Info
• 3 points

Law and Politics of Spying and Lying

As far back as the Revolutionary War, American citizens have been engaged in secret intelligence operations in wartime. Over the past eighty years, the US government has made secret intelligence and covert operations a regular part of its toolkit for dealing with foreign challenges or domestic threats in peacetime as well as wartime. Reconciling these secret activities and the institutions and individuals responsible for them with a democratic Republic based on checks and balances and electoral accountability has been a ceaseless work-in-progress, whose tempo increases or decreases depending on world and domestic events.

Regardless of the tempo, however, the overarching question is unchanged: Can secret intelligence activities–including lying to deny or mask the government’s involvement–be reconciled with American democracy? This seminar examines the law, policy, and history of U.S. intelligence activities. It explores such issues as the constitutional allocations of power for intelligence, the evolution of American intelligence organizations over time, dilemmas created by new surveillance technologies and ways to address them (or not), congressional oversight of covert action–including lethal force–in which the U.S. government intends to hide its hand, and the roles of courts and the press as checks.

This is a joint offering between SIPA and the Law School, because the history, policy, and law of American intelligence activities are so intertwined. To understand the future in this area, one must understand those interconnections.

• Instructor: Timothy Naftali
  Info
• 3 points

Artificial Intelligence and Climate Chan

AI and Climate Change

Pre-req: INAF U6072 - Energy Systems Fundamentals.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a hot topic. Over 200 million people now use ChatGPT each month, tens of billions of dollars have poured into AI projects over the past year, and policymakers around the world are considering how best to respond to AI’s rapid growth.

At the same time, countries are grappling with the urgent challenge of climate change. Based on global average temperatures, July 22, 2024, was the warmest day ever recorded; 2023 was the warmest year ever recorded; and the 10 warmest years on record are the last 10 years. Despite encouraging developments, such as the dramatic drop in renewable energy costs over the past decade, global greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise.

Can AI help reduce greenhouse gas emissions? Will the increased power demand for AI result in more emissions, offsetting any benefits? Can AI aid in climate change adaptation? Should policymakers encourage AI use to combat climate change while discouraging AI applications that may increase emissions? If so, how?

This advanced seminar will explore these questions. After an introductory session on core AI concepts, we will examine how AI could reduce emissions and aid adaptation to climate change, as well as the ways AI could contribute to increased emissions. We will discuss barriers to using AI in climate action, risks associated with AI in this context, policy options to address these risks and barriers, and strategies for stakeholders to collaborate in leveraging AI tools to combat climate change.

• T 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• 1.5 points

AI: A Survey for Policymakers

AI for Policy Makers

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning have emerged as ubiquitous technologies in a wide range of areas, such as finance, healthcare, consumer internet platforms, and advertising, in addition to several domains in the public sector, including but not limited to law enforcement. In the past several years, ethical questions about how and whether to use AI for particular tasks have become much more prominent, partly due to its widespread use and partly due to publicly documented failures or shortcomings of a number of systems that can negatively impact people in sometimes serious ways.

This course will provide a broad overview of practical and ethical questions related to AI — such as those related to privacy, cybersecurity, fairness, transparency, and more — with a view towards policymaking. Policymaking will be interpreted broadly, including both the public and private sectors. The course will include a survey of how machine learning works so as to ground the discussion. 

The instructor recently served as the first Director of AI for New York City and will draw on this experience, which included collaborations with a number of other city governments internationally. The course will discuss and highlight a range of topics in urban policy and urban affairs, using concrete examples and case studies. There will also be opportunities for students to apply the material to areas in the Global South and other areas of interest.

• T 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Neal P Parikh
  Info
• 3 points

Building AI Tools with Large Language Mo

In the past two years, Large Language Models (LLMs) built using transformer frameworks have emerged as the fastest-growing area of research and investment in AI/machine learning. Recent releases of chatbots such as ChatGPT (OpenAI), Bing (Microsoft), and Bard (Google) quickly reached hundreds of millions of users and have become the face of artificial intelligence for consumers. There has also been an explosion in the number of applications that depend on LLMs for a variety of more specialized tasks. Recent models have shown impressive performance on both canonical machine learning tasks and for everyday use, yet are in many ways poorly understood and, in some cases, exhibit unexpected and potentially harmful behavior. 

Policymakers, analysts, and non-profit and industry leaders need an understanding of these models to take advantage of the opportunities they present and to mitigate potential harms. This course provides an overview of Large Language Models and gives students hands-on experience with various ways of interacting with LLMs. Students will learn to interpret model evaluation metrics, and we will discuss safety and ethics in applied contexts. Prerequisite: Working Python knowledge OR Python for Public Policy (U6504) OR Intro to Text Analysis in Python (U6502).

• W 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Mike Q Zhu
  Info
• 1.5 points

Artificial Intelligence Institutions

AI Institutions

Pre-requisites: Quantitative Analysis II and Microeconomics. Students would benefit from previous coding experience, but software development is not a strict requirement.
Our institutions were developed in a context with different technologies: where travel and communication were slow and expensive, and thinking had to be done by humans. New technologies afford—and may require—different ways of organizing society. We will consider historical episodes of technological change and our current era, following how shifts in technology can shift the economy and society. We will first use this course itself as a laboratory to explore the impacts of AI on education. We will then consider how AI may reshape other sectors, including governance, transportation, and defense; and the cross-cutting questions it raises about values, economic wellbeing, and purpose.

• R 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Daniel C Bjorkegren
  Info
• 3 points

Putin and Global Anti-Americanism

Putin & Global AntiAmeric

This course explores the development of relations between Russia and the United States from the end of the Cold War to the present day. It also reveals a broader trend: in the early 1990s, it seemed that Western liberal values were triumphant worldwide. However, as Russia failed to transition into a democratic state, anti-Americanism and revanchism began to flourish. After becoming president, Vladimir Putin exploited these sentiments, ultimately making anti-Americanism a central aspect of his international political agenda. Russian propaganda has not only influenced the Russian population but also seeks to spread these ideas and conspiracy theories beyond Russia’s borders. As an inherently unstable political system, Russia aims to destabilize the West. The course concludes with an analysis of present-day dynamics.

• 1.5 points

Politics of the Caucasus

This course tracks the trajectories of politics in the Caucasus, focusing on the political development of the independent states of the South Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. While the focus is on contemporary political dynamics, the course considers the mechanisms through which the legacies of Imperial Russian expansion and Soviet structures interact with current mechanisms of interest articulation and power. Students in this course will examine the contours and mechanisms of the collapse of Soviet hegemony in the South Caucasus, spending some time examining the conflicts that accompanied this process and persist today. The course will address the country contexts both individually and comparatively, thereby encouraging students to delve deeply into the politics of each state, but then also enabling them to find continuities and contrasts across major thematic considerations.

• T 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Julie George
  Info
• 3 points

Applied Peacebuilding and Conflict Resol

Appl Peacebuild & Conflict Res

This course exposes students to conceptual and practical skills needed to develop a reflective practice orientation to applied professional work in international peace building and conflict resolution. The class focuses on skills for designing, implementing, and evaluating conflict resolution interventions. During the semester, students co-design projects, creating specific objectives and activities in collaboration with a Project Supervisor in a pre-selected field-based partner institution. Students are encouraged to work in teams of 2-3 in the course. Students implement the project during the summer, taking into consideration changes on the ground, through internships under the guidance of their field-based Project Supervisors. Students return in the fall to deliver a report of their activities in the field reflecting on their experiences and presenting their findings to the SIPA community. The course supports students in developing critical practical skills and experiences in managing a conflict resolution project while exploring the professional field of applied conflict resolution. This course requires instructor permission in order to register. Please add yourself to the waitlist in SSOL and submit the proper documents in order to be considered.

• F 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Zachary B Metz
  Info
• 3 points

Data Collection for Evaluation, Policy,

Priority Reg: DAQA. Pre-req: Quant I.
Research is an important part of the policy process: it can inform the development of programs and policies so they are responsive to community needs, reveal the impacts of these programs and policies, and help us better understand populations or social phenomena. This half-semester course serves as an introduction to how to ethically collect data for smaller research projects, with an in-depth look at focus groups and surveys as data collection tools. We will also learn about issues related to measurement and sampling. Students will create their own focus group protocol and short survey instrument designed to answer a research question of interest to them.

• R 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• 1.5 points

R for Public Policy

This 7-week mini-course leads the students into the R world, helps them master the basics, and establishes a platform for future self-study. The course offers students basic programming knowledge and effective data analysis skills in R in the context of public policy-making and policy evaluation. Students will learn how to install R and RStudio, understand and use R data objects, and become familiar with base R and several statistical and graphing packages. The course will also emphasize use cases for R in public policy domains, focusing on cleaning, exploring, and analyzing data.

• W 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Mike Q Zhu
  Info
• 1.5 points

Economic Development for International A

The course has two objectives: 1) to explore how economics can be used to understand development and 2) to provide tools and skills useful in policy work. In the course we will describe the basic facts surrounding the development process, and use economic theory to make sense of these facts and to identify gaps in our understanding. We will also learn about the toolkit of development economists that are used to fill in those gaps. These will include analyzing real world data and thinking in terms of causality and its relevance for policy.

• R 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• R 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• F 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• F 4:30 p.m.-6:20 p.m.
• Instructor: Andrew Simons
  Info
• 3 points

Data Analysis for Policy Research Using

Data Analysis Using R

Prerequisites: Instructor-Managed Waitlist, Course Application, and SIPAU6501 - Quantitative Analysis II.
This course will develop the skills to prepare, analyze, and present data for policy analysis and program evaluation using R. In Quant I and II, students are introduced to probability and statistics, regression analysis and causal inference. In this course we focus on the practical application of these skills to explore data and policy questions on your own. The goal is to help students become effective analysts and policy researchers:  given available data, what sort of analysis would best inform our policy questions? How do we prepare data and implement statistical methods using R? How can we begin to draw conclusions about the causal effects of policies, not just correlation? We’ll learn these skills by exploring data on a range of policy topics: COVID-19 cases; racial bias in NYPD subway fare evasion enforcement; the distribution of Village Fund grants in Indonesia; US police shootings; wage gaps by gender/race; and student projects on topics of your choosing.

• T 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• T 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• R 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• R 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Harold B Stolper
  Info
• 3 points

Emerging Financial Systems: Brazil, Indi

Emerging Financial Systms

This course examines the workings of a select group of emerging financial systems, providing students with the tools to assess the efficacy of the financial system as a key pillar for a country’s sustained economic development and growth. Characteristics analyzed include the roles of domestic private, public sector and foreign banks; market volatility and credit supply; systemic resilience and regulation; fintech developments and implications; access to foreign capital; breadth and depth of domestic capital markets; and climate change developments and implications. The course methodology is to select an important emerging financial system as anchor (Brazil) for comparisons with those of three other major G-20 emerging economies: India, Indonesia, and Mexico.

• M 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Fernando Sotelino
  Info
• 3 points

Macroeconometrics

The course aims to analyze dynamic, multivariate interactions in evolutionary and non-stationary processes. The course first considers stationary univariate time-series processes and then extend the analysis to non-stationary processes and multivariate processes. The course covers a review of linear dynamic time-series models and focus on the concept of cointegration, as many applications lend themselves to dynamic systems of equilibrium-correction relations. In the final analysis, the course is aimed at presenting a certain number of econometric techniques the mastery of which is becoming increasingly inevitable in professional circles.

• R 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• W 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Noha Emara
  CULPA: 7 Info
• 3 points

Empirical Econometric Project

This course aims to provide students with further instruction on how (1) to motivate detailed empirical analysis on a research question of their choice, (2) to justify and to design appropriate econometric tests using relevant time-series, cross-sectional, or panel data, etc., and (3) to draw accurate inferences—as well as direct policy implications—from their results for a wide audience. To meet this objective, the key course requirement is to write an empirical policy paper that details (1)–(3) in no more than 5000 words total (including exhibits, references, etc.), geared not for academics but for economic policymakers or other practitioners. Also, students will be required to report their findings to their instructor, advisors, and fellow students during 10- to 15-minute slide presentations toward the end of the semester.

• M 9 a.m.-10:50 a.m.
• Instructor: John Benson Durham
  Info
• 1.5 points

North Korea: State, Society, Diplomacy,

N. Korea- State & Securit

After completing the course, students will be able to intelligently discuss and critically analyze issues related to North Korea’s state, society, diplomacy, and security. This includes a nuanced understanding of critical areas such as: the Korean Peninsula’s division and war, North Korea’s economic management, strategy, military, human rights abuses, gender roles, social changes, propaganda and outside information, denuclearization diplomacy, and alternate approaches to nuclear North Korea. To present a variety of perspectives and viewpoints, the reading list includes works of history, analyses by political scientists, primary documents including diplomatic cables, memoirs by North Korean refugees, documentary videos, and news articles. Students engage analytically with the material, steered by weekly guided questions to comprehend the different sides of issues and develop an informed perspective.

• T 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Jonathan Corrado
  Info
• 3 points

Advanced Computing for Policy

Prerequisite Course: INAF U6006 - Computing in Context
. In Computing in Context, students “explored computing concepts and coding in the context of solving policy problems.” Advanced Computing for Policy goes deeper, giving students a better understanding of computer science fundamentals and moving them beyond “beginners”. That code will then be applied to data using Python and packages like pandas. Students will also learn how data works in a broader context by using APIs, databases, and cloud services, culminating in building a complex end-to-end data system. These foundational computing and data skills will prepare students for more advanced data science coursework at SIPA.

• R 9 a.m.-10:50 a.m.
• Instructor: Aidan Feldman
  Info
• 3 points

China s Foreign Relations

This course will review and analyze the foreign policy of the Peoples Republic of China from 1949 to the present. It will examine Beijings relations with the Soviet Union, the United States, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Third World during the Cold War, and will discuss Chinese foreign policy in light of the end of the Cold War, changes in the Chinese economy in the reform era, the post-Tiananmen legitimacy crisis in Beijing, and the continuing rise of Chinese power and influence in Asia and beyond. This lecture course will analyze the causes and consequences of Beijing’s foreign policies from 1949 to the present.

• F 9 a.m.-10:50 a.m.
• F 11 a.m.-noon
• Instructor: Thomas J Christensen
  CULPA: 2 Wikipedia Info
• 3 points

Sustainable Finance I: Foundations of ES

This course discusses how Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) information and objectives can be incorporated in investment portfolios. ESG objectives are important for investors representing trillions of dollars, and may affect their portfolios’ risk and return. We will consider ways in which investors can articulate their financial and non-financial portfolio goals across a variety of asset classes, and the potential for ESG-minded asset owners to impact the issuers whose securities they invest in. The course will blend academic research with case studies from investment practice.

• M 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• T 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Lukasz Pomorski
  Info
• 3 points

Sustainable Finance II: System-level Inv

Prerequisites: Instructor-Managed Waitlist & Course Application.
Investing always evolves. The investing challenges of the 21st century are new, destabilizing, and systemic. They involve complex, interconnected global issues that impact societies and economies. To finance a more sustainable world—and, arguably, maximize returns while minimizing risk—investing needs to consider the interplay and interdependencies between investment, the real economy, and the most complex challenges facing our environmental, social, and financial systems. System-level investing does just that.

• R 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• 3 points

History of Sustainable Investing

This course will track the history of sustainable investing from the 1970s, in order to better understand the field, what it’s been doing, and where it stands now. We will start with the emergence of sustainable investment in the 1970s as it congealed strands of community organizing, consumer society, institutional activism from community organizing, labor activism, and institutional investor assertion into a new set of specific institutions and practices; continue through the shareholder activism and professionalization of the field in the 1980s and 1990; turn to the substantial growth and mainstreaming of the field from 2000s; and finally bring our history up to the present moment of policymaking, backlash, and self-doubt in the field. We will ask questions like: what did practitioners and advocates hope to achieve by building the field of sustainable investment? What kinds of work, in what kinds of institutions, made up the field? What are the political and ideological contexts in which the field emerged, and how have they changed over time? Why did something seen as so marginal back become so much more central to how we talk about finance and financial policy now? What does this history tells us about the (potential) utility of sustainable investment?

• W 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: David C Wood
  Info
• 1.5 points

Climate Finance, Policy, and the Just Tr

Clim Fin, Pol, & Transtn

The field of responsible investment has grown rapidly over the last twenty years, with the climate crisis serving as the paradigmatic ESG issue for investors. In the private sector, investors pledge to decarbonize their portfolios, ask for carbon reporting to manage that task, join together to engage corporations on their transition plans. As activity has grown, questions about the effectiveness and limitations of climate finance approaches to the climate crisis have grown along with them. A narrow focus on decarbonization has begun to give way to broader considerations of the transition and the risks and opportunities it poses for affected workers and communities, on the belief that social cohesion is a precondition for successful transition.

Private sector initiatives have been complemented with public policy and public investment efforts to shape environmental, social, and economic outcomes. Climate finance is in a moment of reflection, change, and doubt.

This course will survey and analyze the ways that public and private investment are being or could be directed in support of a Just Transition (i.e., a low-carbon transition that does not worsen social inequalities), and various ways to think about how effective climate finance can be. We will look at investors’ approaches to the decarbonization of the economy in political and social context, asking: how do or should investors integrate concerns for workers, communities, and environment into climate finance? what kinds of public policies are needed to ensure that investment points towards a Just Transition? The result, we hope, will lead both to a better understanding of the roles public and private investment in a Just Transition, climate policy, and an expanded critical capacity to analyze how well it’s working.

• W 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: David C Wood
  Info
• 3 points

Capital Market Mobilization for Mitigati

Climate change and biodiversity loss are existential threats to the planet, our own health and well-being, and the global economy. The course will identify several key players and leverage points in the capital market and elaborate on whether and how a “systems change” could be achieved to tackle these urgent challenges. In addition to governments and NGOs, the mobilization of capital markets plays a pivotal role.  To mobilize capital markets, a thorough understanding of capital markets as well as the mechanisms and obstacles at work is required, as well as innovative solutions that overcome these obstacles. This course will provide a deep dive into several financial innovations that aim to overcome these obstacles and help mobilize capital markets to mitigate climate change and biodiversity loss at the system level. In this course, students will learn to think at the system-level, to understand the opportunities and challenges faced in mobilizing capital markets, and to assess concrete obstacles and whether and how financial innovations can bring scalable solutions for the benefit of society.

• T 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Frederic Samama
  Info
• 1.5 points

Impact Investing II: Blended Finance

Impact Investing II: Blended Finance'' equips students with a detailed understanding of the tools, strategies and innovative approaches being utilized by investors seeking both financial and impact returns, via blended finance transactions. Students in this course will study cases, dig into transactions and be prepared to be a professional contributor to a transaction at a future employer. Moreover, the course provides students with a further understanding of opportunities that blended transactions can provide impact investors as they aim to unlock capital markets' support to mitigate climate change, reverse biodiversity loss, address social inequality, reduce poverty, and generate other system-level challenges.

• R 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• 1.5 points

Sustainability Reporting

ESG Reporting

The Sustainability Reporting course explores the ever-evolving global Sustainability and ESG reporting environment and the standards and frameworks that are being used by companies to report on their sustainability related performance. Environmental, Social, and Governance Reporting (“ESG”) also referred to in parts as Corporate Responsibility /Accountability Reporting. The course explores the market drivers that generate the demand for sustainability reporting by companies, key areas of focus for investors and other capital providers, regulatory activities and the intersection of sustainability reporting with traditional corporate financial reporting.

• W 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Avner Bukspan
  Info
• 3 points

Quantitative Valuation of the Environmen

Quant Valuation of Enviro

The Quantitative Valuation of the Environment course will explore theory and methods of economically valuing environmental benefits and disbenefits, and how they can be applied in decision-making processes to improve stated outcomes. Specifically, it examines model specification for stated preference valuation, generating awareness of the theoretical and empirical questions being investigated in the area, generating awareness of environmental and resource issues currently being debated, and practical issues such as how these welfare economics measures can be used in efficiency measures such as benefit cost analysis.

• 3 points

Middle East Conflicts & Global Security

Mid East Conflicts & Glob

This course analyzes the impact of domestic and regional conflicts in the Middle East on global security. Key concepts include: regime change, revolution, insurrection, conflict management, security sector reform, arms transfers, nuclear proliferation, and counterterrorism. These conceptual tools are used for comparative analysis of three sub-regional conflict zones (Egypt/Syria/Lebanon, Iraq/Iran/Saudi Arabia and Palestine/Jordan/Israel), each of which has galvanized substantial global engagement.

• R 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Naomi Weinberger
  CULPA: 11 Info
• 3 points

Innovations in Development Finance

Innovations in Dev't Fina

Priority Reg: EPD Concentration. 
The aspirations outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are in jeopardy as the world faces cascading and interrelated global crises and conflicts. It has become increasingly apparent that traditional funding modalities are falling tragically short to meet the financing requirements in addressing the SDGs - currently estimated to be around US$4.2 trillion per year. Hence, there is an urgent need to leverage alternative and innovative sources for financing development initiatives. This course will explore the intersection of development finance, strategy, and policy. It will examine the landscape of traditional development financing, provide an overview of various innovative development financing mechanisms, and reflect on the process for adapting them in particular contexts. The course will be highly interactive, involving six classes taking place over three weekends, with leading experts as guest speakers, and practical activities including an individual opinion piece, a group project and presentation, and a simulation exercise.

• F 11 a.m.-1:20 p.m.
• Instructor: Radha S Kulkarni
  Info
• 1.5 points

Gender and International Security

Gender and Intl Security

Gender has important implications for international security policy. Gender bias influences policy choices. It can lead to misunderstandings of military capability, especially for nonstate armed groups whose members include women combatants and supporters. It can aggravate the causes of war and lead to increased incidence of internal and interstate violence in settings where women are systematically mistreated or where sex imbalances create instability. And gender bias can discourage talented women from pursuing careers in security policy, denying states access to the talent and abilities in half their populations. The intersection between gender and international security has been codified internationally since at least 2000 with the passage of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (WPS).  Other international security organizations, including NATO, have created leadership positions and devised plans related to WPS. Finally, the United States passed the Women, Peace, and Security Act in 2017 and created associated policies focused on integrating gender into the work of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Defense.

The course will be a sustained exploration of the ways in which gender identities and associated identity power dynamics influence international conflict, internal conflict, and international security policy. Students will gain this knowledge through specific examples and case studies and will learn how to conduct their own gender analyses of situations and environments. During the semester, students will practice their gender analysis skills through research, writing, and presentations related to gender and security. The course will be a discussion-based seminar enabling students to work through ideas and concepts collaboratively.

To begin the exploration of the topic, the class will work to craft definitions of international security and gender and discuss why these concepts can be challenging to define or understand. Subsequent classes will build upon these definitions and discuss how gender intersects with other identity factors. The course will focus on the ways in which security institutions themselves are gendered and how to create gender responsive policies. After examining the gender dynamics of security institutions, students will examine gendered strategies in conflict and in state responses to conflict dynamics.

• T 9 a.m.-10:50 a.m.
• Instructor: Phoebe Donnelly
  Info
• 3 points

International Human Rights Law

Priority Reg: HRHP Concentration.
 The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with the legal regime that exists--or is absent--to respect, protect, and fulfill human rights. This course is intended to introduce students to international human rights through laws, institutions, and advocacy strategies. In this class, we approach human rights law from a practitioner's perspective, which is to say that we are most interested in exploring concrete opportunities for realizing rights once we understand their theoretical and legal bases.

But to start, what is a right? What are the various legal sources of authority for these rights? What are the instruments we can utilize--and how can we utilize them--to try to advance the range of rights from civil and political to economic, social, cultural, and environmental? Who is responsible for protecting and advancing rights, and who may be held accountable for their violations? Does the existence of a right necessarily indicate the existence of a remedy?

In the past decade, human rights advocacy has extended into new realms, well beyond the 'traditional' bounds of violations by repressive governments. Despite the fact that the intersection of human rights with other social and economic justice concerns, including the environment, corporate accountability, and health, has strengthened, questions remain as to how human rights lawyers and advocates can effectively use the law to "enforce" those rights. As a way to strengthen the law, advocates have pushed the boundaries of the tools of human rights advocacy: 'naming and shaming' is still at the core, but public-private engagement to negotiate long-term monitoring programs for private corporations, calls to rights-based programming, litigation, and other tactics are now nearly routine.

In this class, we will learn the law but also explore tools for assessing when, where, and how the law matters. We will explore developments in human rights and the environment, gender analysis, intersections between human rights and humanitarian action, and corporate accountability. The course will endeavor to provide an overview of the range of substantive and procedural rights and the mechanisms and gaps in their enforcement. 
Attendance in the first class session is mandatory.

• R 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• W 4:15 p.m.-5:15 p.m.
• Instructor: Betsy Apple
  Info
• 3 points

Risk Management for UN Crisis & Post-cri

Risk Management-UN Crisis Resp

The objective of the class is to introduce students to the practice of risk management as a tool for enabling delivery across the range of UN responses in crisis and conflict contexts, including in the areas of peace and security, human rights, development and humanitarian support. The class emphasizes skills development and their application to concrete UN crisis responses.

• M 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Marc Jacquand
  Info
• 3 points

Public Policy & Inequality in Developing

A proper development strategy must be inclusive and sustainable. Policies to fight poverty, alleviate all inequalities, and promote social mobility are the focus of this course. It deals with emerging and persistent issues in developing countries: the design of a social safety net, biodiversity and sustainability, education, gender and racial inequalities, public health, labor policies, fiscal and social responsibility, the distributive aspects of fiscal policy, taxation, and government size and efficiency. The course combines problem-based learning and lectures.

• R 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• R 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Medeiros Coelho de Souza Marce
  Info
• 3 points

Mediation in a World in Flux

This course examines the challenges and opportunities facing international peacemaking, with a particular focus on mediation as a tool to facilitate political solutions to violent conflict. Complementing other courses offered by CICR, it will provide students with an opportunity to deepen their understanding of how different peacemakers and mediators – the UN and other multilateral actors, states and non-governmental organizations – are approaching the changing realities of conflict and global politics. What are the factors that impede contemporary efforts to resolve conflict? How have mediators adapted, and how should they adapt in the future, to rapid changes in geopolitics, the fragmentation of non-state armed groups and an ever-more crowded mediation field, all while resources for peace and humanitarian assistance are in decline and previously agreed norms are meeting resistance? When and how can mediators encourage conflict parties to address rapidly evolving conflict issues, including the impacts of the climate emergency and evolving digital technologies on conflict dynamics and peace processes?

• Instructor: Teresa Whitfield
  Info
• 1.5 points

Negotiation & Conflict Resolution

Priority Reg: LID Specialization. 
There are two purposes to this course: 1. to develop your ability to negotiate in a purposeful, principled and effective way; and 2. to teach you how to build consensus and broker wise agreements with others. Negotiation is a social skill, and like all social skills you have to practice it if you want to get better at it. To give you the chance to practice, we'll do a number of simulated negotiations in and out of class. We'll also use lectures, case studies, exercises, games, videos, and demonstrations to help you develop your understanding. As we advance in the course, our focus will shift from simple one-on-one negotiations to more complex ones involving many parties, agents, coalitions, and organizations.

• W 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Seth Freeman
  Info
• 3 points

Seminar in International Political Econo

Sem. Int'l Political Econ

This course is about the politics of international economic relations. It considers major areas in the politics of international economic policy. It is not a general survey, although the range of issues covered is broad. The emphasis of the course is on contemporary topics, rather than “classics” in IPE or the historical development of the field.

• Instructor: Jeffry A Frieden
  Info
• 3 points

Global Monetary Policy in the 21st Centu

This SIPA seminar will study, analyze, and assess global monetary policy since 2000 with a primary focus on the challenges faced, policies pursued, and repercussions flowing from the actions taken by Federal Reserve, the ECB, and the Bank of England during the first two decades of the 21st century. These twenty plus years have been marked by the two deepest global downturns since the Great Depression, a Eurozone sovereign debt crisis, a global pandemic, and recently, the largest sustained surge in inflation since the 1970s. Confronting these challenges subject to the constraint of an effective lower bound on interest rates , major central banks introduced a number of unconventional – and controversial – policy tools and expanded substantially their presence in financial markets and in their economies.

The format of the course will combine lectures by the instructor with student presentation on recent central bank policy decisions and will conclude in the final weeks within class seminar presentations by teams of students of term papers that critically assesses the pandemic policy reponse and the post pandemic policy normalization plans pursued by a major central bank.

• R 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Richard H Clarida
  CULPA: 2 Info
• 3 points

Central Bank Crisis Management

Unconventional Monetary Policy

The extraordinary policy responses of global central banks to the 2023 banking turmoil, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the 2007–2009 financial crisis have sparked debate about the appropriateness and effectiveness of central bank actions. This course will explore the theory and practice of “unconventional” monetary policy tools—those used to address financial crises, widespread deflations, and deep recessions or depressions.

Course examples will be drawn from a wide range of crises, countries, and central banks in both the developed and emerging world over many decades. The bulk of the course will focus on how central banks adapt their policy rules and tools in the face of extraordinary financial or economic turmoil.

Different types of monetary policy tools will be discussed and analyzed, with particular emphasis on the design and effectiveness of various crisis policy tools. Understanding policy effectiveness will require examining how financial and macroeconomic conditions shape central bank policy design, and how financial markets and the macroeconomy respond to these extraordinary measures. The latter half of the course will examine the use of crisis management tools—both successful and unsuccessful—across different jurisdictions.

The course will conclude with discussions of several important and timely dilemmas: Where is the line between crisis monetary policies and traditional fiscal policy actions? Why was the inflationary impact of COVID-19 policy responses so different from previous episodes of instability? How do central banks “undo” their crisis management policies and return to “normal”? What challenges do central banks face in managing the economic side effects and political consequences of extraordinary policies?

• M 2:10 p.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Patricia C Mosser
  Info
• 3 points

Social Impact: Business, Society, and th

Social Impact:Bus,Soc,Env

The Social Impact: Business, Society, and the Natural Environment course explores the relationship between corporations, society, and the natural environment. Specifically, it examines the ways in which governments, (for-profit and non-profit) organizations, and investors (fail to) have positive impact and manage issues where the pursuit of private goals is deemed inconsistent with the public interest.

• W 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Caroline Flammer
  Info
• 3 points

Impact Measurement & Evaluation for Sust

Impact Measure & Eval-Sus

In a world driving towards the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, the measurement and evaluation (M&E) toolkit is critical for holding governments, philanthropies, impact investors and others accountable for creating benefit, preventing harm and contributing to effective solutions. During this course, we will explore both the demand and supply side of generating data and evidence for decision-making in the 21st century. We will also learn practical M&E skills that can be applied across all professions and thematic sectors and that are tailored to meet the needs of diverse stakeholders. Finally, we will ground-truth concepts and theories through discussions with experts and practitioners as well as place-based use cases (primarily from Asia and Africa) of the challenges and opportunities in measuring and evaluating impact. Students can expect to develop the critical skills needed to ensure they are able to navigate, negotiate and facilitate their way to a quality measurement and evaluation plan.

• R 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• Instructor: Veronica M Olazabal
  Info
• 3 points

Impact Evaluations in Practice

Prerequisites: SIPA U6500 This course will be useful for students who would like to participate in evaluations of development projects. At the end of the course, students will know how to plan an impact evaluation, how to manage one, and how to recognize and differentiate a good impact evaluation from a badly conducted one. Students should also come with one case study that they have been involved in and that would lend itself to an impact evaluation. Previous experience in implementing a development project is desirable.

• FS 1 p.m.-4:15 p.m.
• Instructor: Jyotsna Puri
  Info
• 1.5 points

Monitoring and Evaluation: Driving Evide

This course will go beyond technical or methodological materials (i.e. how to collect and analyze data) and instead focus on how M-E practically applies to day-to-day responsibilities of practitioners, regardless of their position title, and how anyone can (and should) become an effective producer and consumer of data and thus an impactful contributor in the field of international development and humanitarian assistance. For students interested in a career in M-E, this course will help them recognize and address some of the common challenges they will face at work (e.g. how to convince and collaborate with the chief of party to invest in and run effective M-E). For students who are interested in non-M-E career tracks, this course will help them do their jobs better and help the development and humanitarian fields overcome “pilot-itis” and become more evidence-driven. Students should also understand that they are likely to take on different roles throughout their careers, which may involve M-E - this course will prepare them to become versatile and impactful players in this challenging but meaningful line of work.

• W 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Kevin C Hong
  Info
• 3 points

Writing on Policy

“Writing About Policy” gives you the journalistic tools to intervene in public policy debates. You will learn to translate the expertise you’re gaining – as policy professionals and as SIPA students –for the rest of the public, whether in op eds, review essays or blogs. You will also report and write feature stories. This class is a workshop, as well as a seminar, and there will be writing assignments due almost every week. Students will publish their work in SIPAs student publications, as well as in media outlets reaching far beyond the IAB.

• T 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Liza Featherstone
  Wikipedia Info
• 3 points

Policy Solutions for Online Mis/Disinfor

Policy Sol for Online Mis-info

This course is part of a five-school course which operates under different course names at different schools and includes students from NYU, Cornell Tech, and Columbia Journalism School.  The entire five-school group meets most Mondays on Zoom for 90 minutes and then the SIPA cohort will meet with Dr. Schiffrin on Wednesdays at SIPA.

• W 9 a.m.-10:50 a.m.
• 3 points

Policies and Practices in Human-Centered

Pol & Practice in Digital Devp

The course takes a theoretical and critical look at the field from the instructor’s many years of experience working in technology and development, from organizations as diverse as Microsoft Research India to UN Women. ICTs have the power to fundamentally transform the lives of billions. Yet technological solutions are often offered as a “silver bullet”, not grounded in broader socio-economic networks. The course will discuss several case-studies in order to ground theory in practice, and will introduce students to several initiatives which have enabled “development” through ICTs, such as India’s Aadhaar, Kenya’s M-Pesa and others. We will also have participation from invited guest speakers. Through a group assignment, students will apply the principles and good practices explored in the course to develop a concrete digital development proposal. Students who are interested in careers in international development with a focus on technology will find this course a useful foundation.

• F 11 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Savita Bailur
  h-index: 16 Info
• 3 points

Digital Content Provenance: Path to Tran

The rapid proliferation of Generative AI is spurring creativity and changing industries but also fueling deception and fraud and fundamentally altering the global informational ecosystem. Global governments, multi-lateral institutions, and technologists around the globe are looking for ways to maintain fidelity in the brave new synthetic world.

This course will delve into one of the most promising approaches to mitigating risks: digital content provenance. An emerging open standard, which emphasizes transparency and authenticity in what we see and hear online, is backed by nearly 2,000 companies and has been embraced by global governments – most notably by the White House’s Executive Order on AI (October 2023). We will examine why the world needs provenance in digital content, how it works (What is a PKI? What is a certificate authority? Why is an open standard necessary?), how it is deployed (what are the technologies available) and how various industries from government, media, Gen AI, and are already using provenance to increase fidelity and trust in what we see and hear online. We will also examine its pathways to being legislated and assess if this will become the law of States, Nations, and even Internationally recognized standard.

We will include guest speakers from government, technology, technology, and private industry to help explain why/how digital content provenance is essential for society and the economy.

Students interested in the nexus of technology, Gen AI, policy development, and global security will be interested in this course. This course will give students a solid understanding of the theories and pillars of digital content provenance and the opportunity to use and test the emerging technologies associated.

• R 6:10 p.m.-8 p.m.
• Instructor: Mounir E Ibrahim
  Info
• 1.5 points