This course is not a traditional business law survey class. This course is an application oriented class that provides the business professional with an understanding of certain critical legal concepts that are an integral part of the decision-making process for a business enterprise to operate effectively in the United States. The purpose of this course is to provide the student with a framework that will enable the student to identify legal issues that arise in a variety circumstances during the life cycle" of the business enterprise beginning with the formation of the business enterprise through the dissolution of the business enterprise through sale or bankruptcy. This course will focus primarily on the legal regime in the United States, although the laws of other jurisdictions will be noted where appropriate. The course is highly interactive - legal principles will be imparted as students seek to identify legal issues arising in actual business situations. Daily student class participation is a significant element of the course and will account for 30% of the student grade. "
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.
Branding has become a hot topic. Many companies realize that they need to understand the financial value of their corporate brand and its products; manage brands strategically; and deliver implementations to customers that are relevant, differentiated and powerful to build an emotional bond and loyalty.This course shows you how this can be done. It familiarizes you with best practices in branding, from iPod and the launch of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty to successful branding initiatives in financial, pharmaceutical, consumer goods, entertainment and a wide range of other companies.We will focus on three topics: brand strategy and valuation; visual identity and experiential branding; and organizational branding issues. You will be asked to complete a couple of individual exercises and homeworks during the course and be part of a final group project. No midterm. No final.The course is unique in many ways. First, it will be fun. Second, just like the topic itself, you will learn how to combine analytical and strategic thinking with creative development of ideas and implementations. You will be exposed to lots of cases of successful and some unsuccessful branding campaigns so that you learn what to do and what not to do in your own job. You will learn about frameworks and concepts and be equipped with methodologies and tools to manage a branding project. You will meet people from the branding industry, both from within companies and from external service suppliers, such as corporate identity firms, packaging designers, advertising firms and brand agencies. Finally, you will be participating in a group project that will bring it all together, focusing on a specific company of your choice.Hope to see you in the fall. If you would like additional information on my own brand, check out www.MeetSchmitt.com."
The objectives of this course are to learn some key lessons about starting and running an entrepreneurial company, and to learn about the state of entrepreneurship in South Africa. The essence of the course will be our guest speakers, through whom we will learn not only about their personal experiences and lessons, but about entrepreneurship in general. Our guest speakers will be South African entrepreneurs from a wide variety of business sizes and backgrounds. In addition, we will have guest speakers from the local government and the leading business school. There will be a hands on project to be done with local South African entrepreneurs that will require preparation before leaving for Cape Town and a report to follow afterward.
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The course explores the relationship between policymakers and key actors in capital markets. Specifically, it examines the ways in which corporates and investors influence policymaking around climate and natural capital and identifies untapped opportunities for positive intervention by investors and corporates.
A seminar on the contemporary history and practice of economic statecraft. The course focuses on how the United States and other countries weaponize economic, financial, and technological interdependence to advance strategic objectives. Topics include economic sanctions and restrictions on trade and investment. Case studies include efforts to use economic statecraft to curb Iran’s nuclear program, counter Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, and check China’s drive for technological supremacy. The course also explores how the rise of digital currencies, the rapid advance of artificial intelligence, and a fragmenting global economy are reshaping the landscape of geoeconomic competition.
Enrollment in this course is restricted to students who have officially declared the IFEP concentration, as reflected in their Stellic profile. If space allows, enrollment may be extended to additional students at a later date.
Instructor permission required. Students must 1) submit an application via
https://forms.gle/TRbJrFMZKE8NbpJu7
and 2) join the waitlist in Vergil to be considered for enrollment. Without both of these steps complete, student applications cannot be considered. Please do not email any materials to the Professor or the TA.
The Sustainable Investing Research Consulting Project provides an action-oriented, client-based learning experience for students interested in sustainable investing, covering both sustainable investing in the financial sector (impact investing, climate finance, and sustainable finance) and the real economy (for-profit companies and some nonprofit organizations). The course is open to SIPA and non-SIPA students. Students will learn about the opportunities, challenges, and limitations faced by companies, institutions and investors to finance a more sustainable world. Moreover, they will learn how organizations of all types develop innovative products and services to mitigate climate change, biodiversity loss, and all forms of poverty.
Throughout the semester, students will work on a challenging sustainable investing research consulting project for a client. Clients include start-ups and established firms, nonprofit and for-profit organizations, primarily from the corporate, finance, and investing world. They will (e-)meet with the client on a regular basis, discuss their progress, obtain feedback, and present their research and recommendations to the client. Furthermore, students will conduct research and interviews to learn about the broader business environment and institutional context (including cultural, political, economic, and social factors) to better understand the opportunities and challenges the clients face. For more information on client projects and the student experiences, please see the SIRI website:
https://siri.sipa.columbia.edu/news
This course is ideal for students interested in pursuing careers in impact and sustainable finance, impact investing,impact and ESG accounting and assurance, corporate sustainability, social entrepreneurship, and sustainable development policy and practice.
Registration in this course is instructor-managed. Student
This course will cover practical time series forecasting techniques and consists of two parts. The first part focuses on the Box-Jenkins approach (ARIMA), including identification (selection) of the appropriate model, estimation of its parameters, and diagnostic checking of model adequacy. The second part of the course is on nonlinear models for time series, with emphasis on conditional volatility and ARCH models. By the end of the course, you will be able to apply these techniques to actual data, primarily financial and economic time series.
Enrollment in this course is restricted to students who have officially declared the IFEP concentration, as reflected in their Stellic profile. If space allows, enrollment may be extended to additional students at a later date.
This highly participatory course equips students with the tools and frameworks to negotiate effectively, resolve conflict, and build consensus in public and international affairs contexts. Through simulations, students learn to navigate a range of scenarios, including environmental disputes, diplomatic negotiations, and organizational conflicts, using both distributive and interest-based strategies. Core topics include preparation and strategy, cross-cultural communication, power dynamics, consensus building, and coalition management. Students will also explore measures of negotiation success and practice applying concepts to real-world challenges. The course emphasizes experiential learning, reflective writing, and practical skill-building to prepare students for high-stakes negotiations in diverse professional settings.
This seminar critically examines the evolution and current trajectory of Russian security policy, with particular attention to the ongoing war in Ukraine and its broad strategic implications. The course explores the political, historical, and structural factors that shape Russia’s national security outlook, as well as its use of military force, energy policy, diplomacy, and information operations to advance its interests. The course discusses Russia’s relations with the United States, Europe, China, and the Global South; the role of nuclear strategy and arms control; and lessons from recent military interventions. Readings and case studies are regularly updated to reflect the rapidly changing geopolitical landscape.
The seminar explores how political and legal philosophers, as well as leaders of political movements and established states, envision international order. It asks and critically assesses how they imagine international politics
is
governed and how it
should be
governed.
It begins with a reexamination of major Northern/Western traditions in international jurisprudence and political theory as seen through the eyes of classical and modern political leaders and philosophers. It covers Realism, Liberalism, Socialism, and Fascism. It then broadens the lens to include thinkers from the global South, including Nehru, Senghor, and Biko, and explores how they have addressed the challenges of post-colonialism. In considering their international orders, we will discuss their insights into the connections among issues of order and justice, identity and legitimacy, peace and war, cooperation and conflict, intervention and independence and international equality and inequality. We conclude with a discussion of Cosmopolitanism and Rawls’
Law of Peoples
.
This course aims at familiarizing students with major issues surrounding global economic governance, exploring both the issues that have been or are now subject to current debates, as well as the institutional questions involved. “Global economic governance” is understood in a broad sense, and thus includes not only global but also regional frameworks, and both formal institutions as well as informal groupings of countries (such as the G7/8 and the G20) and rules of international transactions that have been left to bilateral agreements or are under the domain of national sovereignty but do have global implications. “Economics” is also understood in a broad sense, to include social and environmental issues.
The course will start with three general lectures that will place the debates on global governance in relation to those on globalization, and will give a first look at the objectives of international cooperation, the historical evolution of the current governance, and typologies of the different rules, organization,s and governance structures that have been created at varied times. It will then deal in detail with major issues that involve international cooperation: the role of the UN system, development cooperation, global monetary and financial management, trade and investment, international tax cooperation, and climate change. It will end with discussion of the governance of the system, and a recapitulation of governance issues and reform proposals in light of global economic developments in the 2008-2019 period, during COVID-19, and during the current crisis that mixes geopolitical issues with an economic crisis.
This course serves as the foundation of the International Fellows Program (IFP), a year-long, interdisciplinary seminar examining the evolving role of the United States in global affairs. Drawing on history, policy, and current debates, the course explores how U.S. leadership has been shaped by ideology, military power, economic interests, and domestic politics—and how that role is being redefined amid global shifts and great power competition. Students will analyze key moments in American foreign policy, engage critically with foundational documents, and assess competing national security strategies in an election year context. Structured around weekly readings and team-led discussions, the course emphasizes active participation, policy application, and peer debate. The fall semester focuses on three core dimensions of U.S. foreign policy: human rights and values, the use of force, and transnational economic interests. IFP Fellows are expected to contribute meaningfully to class dialogue and leadership throughout the semester.
Required course for first-year PhD Students in the Art History Department.
This is the first of a two-course sequence for second-year students concentrating in Development and Governance (D&G), formerly Economic and Political Development (EPD). The second course is the Workshop in Sustainable Development Practice. These courses are integrated into a year-long encounter with the applied practice of sustainable development, guided by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In this course, students will learn how to design, plan, implement, monitor, and evaluate development interventions by mastering the fundamental aspects of program management for development. The course is designed to help students develop a critical understanding of some of the key frameworks, tools, and approaches used by organizations in the field of development practice, and to encourage students to use these methods in an ethical and discerning manner, by recognizing their limitations and implicit assumptions while identifying areas for innovation. Students will also come to appreciate the influence that methodology can have on the prioritization of sustainable development goals and the application of development strategies. Development practice, after all, is inherently political. Over the last few decades, the field of sustainable development has changed dramatically as development practitioners increasingly perceive themselves less as knowledge experts – delivering top-down transfers of technical expertise and resources to beneficiaries – and more as knowledge facilitators, recognizing the importance of evidence-based decision-making, local ownership and accountability, and participation of poor and marginalized groups as citizens and partners. However, this transition has been uneven, and externally-driven, top-down approaches and policies persist. Development practitioners, therefore, need to be continually aware of the values, assumptions, and biases that they bring to their work and that are implicit in the resources, approaches, and tools they use.
This course also seeks to illustrate the application of theories and concepts introduced in other D&G core courses, and to highlight some of the political, practical, and ethical issues and challenges facing development practitioners working in low- and middle-income countries, especially in the context of recent drastic cuts in official development assistance (ODA). While the course considers both quantitative and qualitative methods, the emphasis is on widely-used pro
The Capstone Consultancy Project Management course is the first of a two-course sequence. The second course is the Capstone Workshop (SIPA IA9000). The fall short course is designed to orient students to the core objectives of their Capstone project and provide key trainings such as client engagement strategies and project management. Students will have an initial introduction to the client contacts and faculty advisor and work with their advisor to design a preliminary work plan outlining the methodology for the Capstone project. Students will consider the travel needs for their project, in consultation and with the approval of their client, and submit all travel requests prior to the end of the fall semester. Students will also create their team guidelines and be assigned their specific role on the project (client liaison, lead editor, project manager, SIPA liaison, travel coordinator, etc).
The Capstone Consultancy Project Management course is the first of a two-course sequence. The second course is the Capstone Workshop (SIPA IA9000). The fall short course is designed to orient students to the core objectives of their Capstone project and provide key trainings such as client engagement strategies and project management. Students will have an initial introduction to the client contacts and faculty advisor and work with their advisor to design a preliminary work plan outlining the methodology for the Capstone project. Students will consider the travel needs for their project, in consultation and with the approval of their client, and submit all travel requests prior to the end of the fall semester. Students will also create their team guidelines and be assigned their specific role on the project (client liaison, lead editor, project manager, SIPA liaison, travel coordinator, etc).
The Capstone Consultancy Project Management course is the first of a two-course sequence. The second course is the Capstone Workshop (SIPA IA9000). The fall short course is designed to orient students to the core objectives of their Capstone project and provide key trainings such as client engagement strategies and project management. Students will have an initial introduction to the client contacts and faculty advisor and work with their advisor to design a preliminary work plan outlining the methodology for the Capstone project. Students will consider the travel needs for their project, in consultation and with the approval of their client, and submit all travel requests prior to the end of the fall semester. Students will also create their team guidelines and be assigned their specific role on the project (client liaison, lead editor, project manager, SIPA liaison, travel coordinator, etc).
The Capstone Consultancy Project Management course is the first of a two-course sequence. The second course is the Capstone Workshop (SIPA IA9000). The fall short course is designed to orient students to the core objectives of their Capstone project and provide key trainings such as client engagement strategies and project management. Students will have an initial introduction to the client contacts and faculty advisor and work with their advisor to design a preliminary work plan outlining the methodology for the Capstone project. Students will consider the travel needs for their project, in consultation and with the approval of their client, and submit all travel requests prior to the end of the fall semester. Students will also create their team guidelines and be assigned their specific role on the project (client liaison, lead editor, project manager, SIPA liaison, travel coordinator, etc).
The Capstone Consultancy Project Management course is the first of a two-course sequence. The second course is the Capstone Workshop (SIPA IA9000). The fall short course is designed to orient students to the core objectives of their Capstone project and provide key trainings such as client engagement strategies and project management. Students will have an initial introduction to the client contacts and faculty advisor and work with their advisor to design a preliminary work plan outlining the methodology for the Capstone project. Students will consider the travel needs for their project, in consultation and with the approval of their client, and submit all travel requests prior to the end of the fall semester. Students will also create their team guidelines and be assigned their specific role on the project (client liaison, lead editor, project manager, SIPA liaison, travel coordinator, etc).
The Capstone Consultancy Project Management course is the first of a two-course sequence. The second course is the Capstone Workshop (SIPA IA9000). The fall short course is designed to orient students to the core objectives of their Capstone project and provide key trainings such as client engagement strategies and project management. Students will have an initial introduction to the client contacts and faculty advisor and work with their advisor to design a preliminary work plan outlining the methodology for the Capstone project. Students will consider the travel needs for their project, in consultation and with the approval of their client, and submit all travel requests prior to the end of the fall semester. Students will also create their team guidelines and be assigned their specific role on the project (client liaison, lead editor, project manager, SIPA liaison, travel coordinator, etc).
The Capstone Consultancy Project Management course is the first of a two-course sequence. The second course is the Capstone Workshop (SIPA IA9000). The fall short course is designed to orient students to the core objectives of their Capstone project and provide key trainings such as client engagement strategies and project management. Students will have an initial introduction to the client contacts and faculty advisor and work with their advisor to design a preliminary work plan outlining the methodology for the Capstone project. Students will consider the travel needs for their project, in consultation and with the approval of their client, and submit all travel requests prior to the end of the fall semester. Students will also create their team guidelines and be assigned their specific role on the project (client liaison, lead editor, project manager, SIPA liaison, travel coordinator, etc).
The Capstone Consultancy Project Management course is the first of a two-course sequence. The second course is the Capstone Workshop (SIPA IA9000). The fall short course is designed to orient students to the core objectives of their Capstone project and provide key trainings such as client engagement strategies and project management. Students will have an initial introduction to the client contacts and faculty advisor and work with their advisor to design a preliminary work plan outlining the methodology for the Capstone project. Students will consider the travel needs for their project, in consultation and with the approval of their client, and submit all travel requests prior to the end of the fall semester. Students will also create their team guidelines and be assigned their specific role on the project (client liaison, lead editor, project manager, SIPA liaison, travel coordinator, etc).
The Capstone Consultancy Project Management course is the first of a two-course sequence. The second course is the Capstone Workshop (SIPA IA9000). The fall short course is designed to orient students to the core objectives of their Capstone project and provide key trainings such as client engagement strategies and project management. Students will have an initial introduction to the client contacts and faculty advisor and work with their advisor to design a preliminary work plan outlining the methodology for the Capstone project. Students will consider the travel needs for their project, in consultation and with the approval of their client, and submit all travel requests prior to the end of the fall semester. Students will also create their team guidelines and be assigned their specific role on the project (client liaison, lead editor, project manager, SIPA liaison, travel coordinator, etc).
The Capstone Consultancy Project Management course is the first of a two-course sequence. The second course is the Capstone Workshop (SIPA IA9000). The fall short course is designed to orient students to the core objectives of their Capstone project and provide key trainings such as client engagement strategies and project management. Students will have an initial introduction to the client contacts and faculty advisor and work with their advisor to design a preliminary work plan outlining the methodology for the Capstone project. Students will consider the travel needs for their project, in consultation and with the approval of their client, and submit all travel requests prior to the end of the fall semester. Students will also create their team guidelines and be assigned their specific role on the project (client liaison, lead editor, project manager, SIPA liaison, travel coordinator, etc).
The Capstone Consultancy Project Management course is the first of a two-course sequence. The second course is the Capstone Workshop (SIPA IA9000). The fall short course is designed to orient students to the core objectives of their Capstone project and provide key trainings such as client engagement strategies and project management. Students will have an initial introduction to the client contacts and faculty advisor and work with their advisor to design a preliminary work plan outlining the methodology for the Capstone project. Students will consider the travel needs for their project, in consultation and with the approval of their client, and submit all travel requests prior to the end of the fall semester. Students will also create their team guidelines and be assigned their specific role on the project (client liaison, lead editor, project manager, SIPA liaison, travel coordinator, etc).
The Capstone Consultancy Project Management course is the first of a two-course sequence. The second course is the Capstone Workshop (SIPA IA9000). The fall short course is designed to orient students to the core objectives of their Capstone project and provide key trainings such as client engagement strategies and project management. Students will have an initial introduction to the client contacts and faculty advisor and work with their advisor to design a preliminary work plan outlining the methodology for the Capstone project. Students will consider the travel needs for their project, in consultation and with the approval of their client, and submit all travel requests prior to the end of the fall semester. Students will also create their team guidelines and be assigned their specific role on the project (client liaison, lead editor, project manager, SIPA liaison, travel coordinator, etc).