Selected themes in the analysis of Chinese society during late imperial and modern times.
Individual work with an adviser to develope a topic and proposal for the Ph.D. dissertation.
Prerequisites: SIPA U6501
The goal of this course is to provide students with a basic knowledge of how to perform some more advanced statistical methods useful in answering policy questions using observational or experimental data. It will also allow them to more critically review research published that claims to answer causal policy questions. The primary focus is on the challenge of answering causal questions that take the form "Did A cause B?" using data that do not conform to a perfectly controlled randomized study. Examples from real policy studies and quantitative program evaluations will be used throughout the course to illustrate key ideas and methods. First, we will explore how best to design a study to answer causal questions given the logistical and ethical constraints that exist. We will consider both experimental and quasi- experimental (observational studies) research designs, and then discuss several approaches to drawing causal inferences from observational studies including propensity score matching, interrupted time series designs, instrumental variables, difference in differences, fixed effects models, and regression discontinuity designs. As this course will focus on quantitative methods, a strong understanding of multivariate regression analysis is a prerequisite for the material covered. Students must have taken two semesters of statistics (U6500 & U6501 or the equivalent) and have a good working knowledge of STATA
This is a Public Health Course. Public Health classes are offered on the Health Services Campus at 168th Street.For more detailed course information, please go to Mailman School of Public Health Courses website at http://www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu/academics/courses
The United Nations Past and Present examines the transformation of the United Nations over the past seventy years with a focus on contemporary efforts to promote international peace and security, development and human rights. With the global availability of the internet and social media, the challenges facing the United Nations from the migration crisis in the Middle East and Africa and climate change to the Ebola crisis require a more coordinated international response. The emergence of major power centers in Asia, Africa and Latin America as well as of non-state actors ranging from international NGOs to multinational corporations create both opportunities and challenges for the United Nations system. The recent adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (2015-2030) reflects a new awareness of our interconnected global politics. The course will consider the prospects for the United Nations to adapt its international staff and organizational structure to meet these new challenges.
The purpose of this course is to prepare students to conduct research both in New York and in a peacekeeping operation and to make a contribution to the field of peacekeeping, building on the body of existing research. Through a combination of desk and field research, students will produce a policy‐oriented paper on a subject of interest to both the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and the mission itself. Through a Summer field placement, the course will expose students to the realities of the field, give them a first hand insight into the structure and functioning of a peace keeping operation, a unique understanding of the challenges it faces, and allow them to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Through intensive desk research the course will help students to build their research and analytical skills and familiarize themselves with the range of tools they will need to undertake rigorous, practical and action ‐oriented research in a peace operation. The course aims to provide students with an informed and nuanced understanding of the instrument of peacekeeping. It will examine some of the tools used by PKOs in the Implementation of their mandates and critically assess the usefulness of these tools in achieving their goals, with particular attention to the complex and difficult tasks of peace building and the achievement of sustainable peace. The summer placements will be confirmed through the Spring semester and will include two missions: the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) and the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL). Students will conduct research in designated field missions for four to six weeks over the summer of 2016.
This is a Public Health Course. Public Health classes are offered on the Health Services Campus at 168th Street.For more detailed course information, please go to Mailman School of Public Health Courses website at http://www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu/academics/courses
This is a Public Health Course. Public Health classes are offered on the Health Services Campus at 168th Street.For more detailed course information, please go to Mailman School of Public Health Courses website at http://www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu/academics/courses
This is a Public Health Course. Public Health classes are offered on the Health Services Campus at 168th Street.For more detailed course information, please go to Mailman School of Public Health Courses website at http://www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu/academics/courses
This is a Public Health Course. Public Health classes are offered on the Health Services Campus at 168th Street.For more detailed course information, please go to Mailman School of Public Health Courses website at http://www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu/academics/courses
This is a Public Health Course. Public Health classes are offered on the Health Services Campus at 168th Street. For more detailed course information, please go to Mailman School of Public Health Courses website at http://www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu/academics/courses
In this course, the participants will examine the governance structure and decision-making processes in the UN organizations. They will review the rules and regulations whereby the organizations handle people, money and tangible assets, and see how they manage their human and financial resources. Special attention will be paid to the way in which cultural and political factors influence management practices. Key issues such as decentralization, coordination and the management of change will recur throughout the course. The interaction of the UN system with donors, the private sector and with civil society as partners in the provision of services will be closely studied.
It is well understood that there are tectonic shifts underway in the development of a new world order. For the first time in more than two centuries, non-western players such as China and India are beginning to take center stage in a nascent multi-polar world. In what ways do these millennial civilizations develop a different policy trajectory from the historical Euro-American axis? What role, if any, does culture-history, memory, traditional belief systems, identity, arts, and perceptions-play in the foreign policy decision making of these two countries? How important are such considerations in managing relations with China and India? How do China and India as rising powers use the cultural medium in projecting their image abroad and how do they differ from other countries?
This course surveys historical and current case studies in the context of theoretical debates about the sources of security and insecurity and war and peace. The aim is to establish a foundation for analyzing the prospects for a secure order in Europe in the first part of the 21st century. The emphasis is on problems concerning strategic calculations, military strategy and war as well as political processes and institutional dynamics. Separate sections in the second half of the term are devoted to selected current policy challenges, such as transatlantic rifts, identity issues and ethnonational conflict, transitions in Central Europe and the former Soviet Union, NATO and EU enlargements, and European foreign and defense initiatives.