Politics in the Global South

D&G Concentration Registration Priority.
This course approaches political development from the perspective of the Global South. Rather than treating development as a linear or universal process, it asks how colonial legacies, unequal insertion into the international economy, commodity dependence, late industrialization, and geopolitical competition have shaped different trajectories of political and economic change. We will examine how these forces affect state formation, institutional capacity, democratization, authoritarianism, populism, resource-dependent democracies, organized violence, corruption, clientelism, and political order.

A central theme of the course is the tension between commodity dependence and industrialization. We will compare regions and cases in which primary commodity exports, extractive economies, and external vulnerability have constrained development with cases in which states built industrial capacity, governed markets, and reshaped their position in the international economy. The course closes by returning to this question in the context of climate change and green neo-extractivism, asking whether the green transition creates new development opportunities or reproduces older patterns of dependence, extraction, and unequal environmental costs. 

Throughout the semester, students will engage with comparative cases and empirical evidence to evaluate competing explanations for political development and underdevelopment. The course is designed for students with interests in comparative politics, international development, political economy, public policy, and global governance. While theoretically grounded, it emphasizes analytical application to contemporary policy challenges facing emerging and developing countries.

• Department: Development and Governance
• M 5:10 p.m.-7 p.m.
• Instructor: Daniela Campello
  Info
• 3 points

PRIMARY CARE CLERKSHIP

• Department: Medicine
• 0 points

PRIMARY CARE CLERKSHIP

• Department: Medicine
• 0 points

WRITING SKILLS FOR NEUROSCIENTISTS

I:CRAFTING A RESEARCH PROPOSAL

• Department: Neurobiology and Behavior
• R 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m.
• 0.5 points

Speech, Democracy, and the Internet

Speech, Democracy, & Inte

This seminar examines the legal and policy issues that shape public discourse in the digital age. It provides a foundation in First Amendment principles, U.S. jurisprudence on free expression, and major debates over content moderation, platform accountability, data privacy, surveillance, and transparency. Students will explore how private technology platforms shape democratic engagement and how governments—particularly in the United States and the European Union—are responding through regulation and reform.

The course integrates case law, policy analysis, and applied research. Students will learn to assess regulatory frameworks, evaluate competing policy proposals, and develop original work at the intersection of law, technology, and public policy. This course may be taken on its own or as the gateway to a practicum in which students contribute to policy projects developed in collaboration with SIPA faculty and the Knight Institute.

• Department: Tech Policy and Innovation
• M 3:10 p.m.-5 p.m.
• Instructor: Nadine Johnson
  Info
• 3 points

BASIC DIAGNOSIS/TREATMENT PLAN

• Department: Dental and Oral Surgery
• 0 points

CPR/MEDICAL EMERGENCIES

• Department: Dental and Oral Surgery
• 0 points

INFECTION CONTROL

• Department: Dental and Oral Surgery
• Instructor: Sidney Eisig
  h-index: 24 Info
• 0 points

Viral Videos, Generative AI and Geopolit

AI, Viral Videos,& Geopol

This course examines how viral media, especially user-generated video, can expose human rights abuses, shape policy, and influence global narratives. Students will study real-world case studies, from chemical attacks in Syria to police brutality in the United States, learning the verification methods used by journalists, digital investigators, and human rights advocates. The course also addresses the risks posed by generative AI, deepfakes, and disinformation in a rapidly evolving media ecosystem.

Through readings, guest speakers, and a semester-long reporting project, students will sharpen research, verification, and writing skills while gaining insight into how visual evidence shapes geopolitical understanding. The course is ideal for students interested in journalism, human rights, international affairs, and emerging technologies.

• Department: Tech Policy and Innovation
• T 7:10 p.m.-9 p.m.
• Instructor: Erica E Berenstein
  Info
• 3 points

Algorithmic Republic: AI Policy Challen

Instructor: Karen Kornbluh.
Artificial intelligence is present in our individual lives, in education, industry, and government. Investment in AI is so large that it is driving GDP growth—and, some say, creating a bubble. Camps of AI “boomers,” who believe AI will usher in a new era of prosperity and enlightenment, are at loggerheads with AI “doomers,” who argue the technology must be stopped or it may kill us all. Yet in the U.S., there is remarkably little regulation of this new, influential technology. Attempts have been made to address potential bias and its documented shortcomings in important decision-making—such as credit, employment, and housing—or to increase transparency about its use. Meanwhile, developers of the technology, deployers who use it in applications, and enterprise customers are employing—to varying degrees—governance mechanisms to manage risks.

This course provides an overview of policy and regulatory discussions in the U.S. and other parts of the world and outlines some of the key questions that regulators and others are grappling with.

We will focus on three broad areas:
– The technology at the heart of AI: What is it exactly?
– How to read the signals—how the digital revolution has already changed so much about 21st-century life, as well as the early changes we see from AI deployment—to make projections about the real dangers and opportunities ahead.
– The big policy challenges—risky decision-making, safety, privacy, IP, liability, competition, geopolitics, employment—and why they matter, as well as what can actually be done to mitigate them. This requires an understanding of what can be regulated and what has already been tried.

The instructor served as the White House Director of the National AI Office as well as Acting CTO and will draw on this experience, which included co-chairing the federal government’s Council of Chief AI Officers. The course will also feature several guest speakers who directly engage with significant AI or AI policy projects in various fields.

• Department: Tech Policy and Innovation
• R 3:10 p.m.-5 p.m.
• Instructor: Karen Kornbluh
  Info
• 1.5 points

Writing for Innovation Leaders

• Department: Tech Policy and Innovation
• M 5:10 p.m.-7 p.m.
• Instructor: James P Holtje
  Info
• 1.5 points

NSF Graduate Writing Fundamentals

This intensive nanocourse will walk students through the process of writing an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program proposal. As only first year graduate students are eligible for the NSF GRFP, this course is intended for first year graduate students.

This is a highly interactive course – students will work with the instructors and each other to develop a project for the proposal, engage in multiple rounds of peer review, and finally go through two rounds of individual one-one-one review with two VIBRE Faculty members. See syllabus for submission date.

• Department: Biomedical Life Sciences
• 1 points

PRESENTATION SKILLS FOR NEUROSCIENTISTS

• Department: Neurobiology and Behavior
• R 10 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
• 1 points

Financial Economics

This course applies the economic approach to understanding financial markets, institutions, and business behavior. Students will learn core economic theories relevant to finance and apply them to practical problems. Topics include consumption and exchange, decision-making under uncertainty, asset pricing, market efficiency, and the limits of rationality. The course emphasizes conceptual understanding and economic intuition over technical rigor. Designed for students interested in the foundational principles underlying finance, it differs from
International Capital Markets
by focusing on theory over market structure and from
Corporate Finance
by approaching similar topics from an economic rather than a corporate perspective. While mathematical fluency helps, the course prioritizes clarity of thought over computation. Students should have prior exposure to microeconomics and basic algebra.

• Department: International Finance & Economic Policy
• W 8 a.m.-9:50 a.m.
• F 3:10 p.m.-5 p.m.
• Instructor: Drausio Giacomelli
  Info
• 3 points

Political Psychology and Behavioral Publ

Pol Psych & Behavioral Po

In a world of growing complexity, where politics often appears increasingly fragmented, affective, and detached from purely material interests, political psychology offers essential tools for understanding some of the most urgent political and policy challenges of our time.

Contemporary politics is increasingly shaped by polarized in-group and out-group identities, the politicization and criminalization of immigration, anxiety and denial surrounding climate change, the spread of conspiracy theories and misinformation, and growing support for strongman leaders amid distrust of institutions. At the same time, public policy often succeeds or fails not only because of institutional design or material incentives, but because of how people perceive problems, process information, respond to uncertainty, trust authorities, and make decisions in contexts of scarcity, fear, identity, and social pressure.

These developments make psychological mechanisms central to explaining how different political actors, including voters, politicians, policymakers, party elites, social movements, interest groups, media actors, and bureaucrats, perceive political reality, form judgments, design policies, and make decisions. Political psychology examines how human psychology shapes political life, and how political contexts, institutions, identities, and conflicts shape individual behavior.

This course introduces students to the main theoretical foundations of political psychology and connects them to behavioral public policy. We begin by examining major approaches to political behavior, including rational choice and its behavioral critiques, personality and evolutionary perspectives, emotion, nonverbal behavior, heuristics, and motivated reasoning.

The course then turns to policy applications, exploring how psychological mechanisms shape the design, communication, implementation, and uptake of public policy in areas such as poverty, prejudice and discrimination, climate change, and policymaking bias. Throughout the semester, students will engage classic and recent research, with particular attention to experimental evidence and its relevance for real-world political and policy problems.

The course is designed to help students critically assess empirical studies, compare different explanations of political behavior, and apply behavioral insights to concrete policy challenges.

• Department: Development and Governance
• W 3:10 p.m.-5 p.m.
• Instructor: Daniela Campello
  Info
• 3 points

TOBACCO CESSATION/SUB ABU

• Department: Dental and Oral Surgery
• 0 points

Legacies of Political Violence

Violent political conflict leaves durable legacies. In this course, we will explore the effects of various forms of political violence, including intrastate conflict, mass atrocities, communal violence, and forced displacements. We will begin with the processes of peace and reconciliation that often mark transitions from active conflict to post-conflict environments. We will then turn attention to cycles of violence before shifting to the influence of conflict and violence on state institutions and regimes. Turning to comparative political behavior, we will explore victimization from violent political conflict as a force in shaping the social and political lives of those directly affected as well as their descendants and communities. We will investigate why some iterations of violent political conflict generate politicizing effects – with victims voting more, protesting more, taking on more leadership roles, etc. – while others facilitate withdrawal from the political sphere. We will consider the role violence plays in shaping and reshaping the boundaries between groups (ethnic, national, religious, etc.). Tangentially, we will analyze how violence alters relationships within one’s in-groups. The final segment of the course will focus on the memorialization of past conflict as an arena in which identities and political goals are forged, contested, and remade.  Through the course, students will generate informed critiques of policy regimes in post-conflict contexts, and will apply course concepts and methods to evaluate policy outcomes in these contexts.

• Department: Development and Governance
• R 3:10 p.m.-5 p.m.
• Instructor: Joseph M Lasky
  Info
• 3 points

International Capital Markets

• Department: International Finance & Economic Policy
• T 1:10 p.m.-3 p.m.
• T 5:10 p.m.-7 p.m.
• R 5:10 p.m.-7 p.m.
• R 7:10 p.m.-9 p.m.
• Instructor: Richard Robb
  Info
• 3 points

Intro to Python for Neuroscientists

Learn how to use the most common Python packages for data science. Become
confident in managing your own data and building data pipelines.

• Department: Neurobiology and Behavior
• T 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
• Instructor: Aniruddha Das
  Info
• 1 points

Academic-Practice Research Fellowship

PRACTICE RESEARCH FELLOWS

This graduate course is designed to provide the student with the knowledge and skills to facilitate changes in practice delivery using quality improvement strategies. Historical development for total quality management and strategies for implementing process improvement are emphasized. Students will learn how to develop a culture of appreciative inquiry to foster inquisition and innovation. Upon completion of this course, students will design a plan for implementation of a quality improvement project.

• Department: Nursing
• Instructor: Kasey B Jackman
  Info
• 0 points

Sparking Innovation in International Org

Innovation in Intl Orgs

This course is the first in a two-course sequence on innovation in international cooperation and in low and middle-income countries. This fall course will focus on institutional reforms and how to leverage innovation to help drive organisational change within international organisations. The second course in the spring semester will focus on innovation in low and middle-income countries, including the role of innovation in fostering inclusive growth, in efforts to advance locally led development principles and in fostering inclusive innovation ecosystems, among other themes. 

In this course, students will learn how to frame innovation in the context of international cooperation and practical ways to advance change management within international organizations and government entities.  

The course is designed to help students gain a critical conceptual understanding of the practice of innovation in international organizations, obtain skills in change management, and learn the practical application of advancing innovation portfolio management within international organisations as well as a framework to support organisations build critical capabilities related to innovation and emerging technologies. Students will be exposed to a variety of frameworks, along with case studies and practical exercises. Students will gain an understanding of advancing innovation in international organisations in practice.

Students will explore the relationship between innovation practices and management practices that emerged over the last decade to infuse more flexible and adaptive practices. These include ‘working and thinking politically’, ‘adaptive management’, ‘doing development differently’ and others. These approaches intersect at times with innovation efforts in international organizations.

Case studies drawn from a variety of organizations and countries will anchor frameworks and theoretical content and help provide a greater understanding of the complexities and challenges of advancing impact and changing business as usual within international organizations.

• Department: Development and Governance
• SU 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
• Instructor: Benjamin Kumpf
  Info
• 1.5 points

Data and Conflict

This course equips students for humanitarian, human rights, foreign policy and political risk jobs that require real-time interpretation and analysis of conflict data. The course will introduce students to contemporary open-source data about conflict events, fatalities, forced displacement, human rights violations, settlement patterns in war zones, and much more. Students will learn about how this data is generated, what data reveals, what data obscures, and the choices analysts can make to use conflict data transparently in the face of biases. Then, students will learn introductory skills to visualize a range of conflict data in 
R
 and ArcGIS Pro. The objective is to give students the foundations to go further independently after the course using open-source training material and trouble-shooting portals. Each student will choose a conflict-related policy problem which they will investigate as the course progresses, culminating in a four-page policy brief or an ArcGIS Story Map, along with an explanatory memo.

• Department: International Security & Diplomacy
• T 10 a.m.-11:50 a.m.
• Instructor: Sophia Dawkins
  Info
• 3 points

Migration and Human Development

Migration & Human Develop

International migration’s substantial economic and social effects are at the forefront of today’s academic discussion, international debate, as well as national policy strategies. This course introduces students to the key notions, norms, and narratives of international migration from economic, sociological, legal, policy, international relations, and normative perspectives. Students learn about transnational livelihood strategies and channels through which migration and migrants can enhance human development, especially in their countries of origin, while creating better opportunities for themselves and contributing to their communities of destination. This includes in-depth discussions of the determinants, flows, and effects of emigration, immigration, return, financial and social remittances, and diaspora investments. While the course emphasizes economic migration, it also elaborates on the human development impact in specific forced migration and refugee scenarios. Highlighting migration phenomena in different scenarios in the global North, as well as in the global South, the course emphasizes the agency of migrants and gender differences in the experiences and effects, as well as the role their legal status plays. It addresses the root causes of migration and the protection of migrants’ human, social and labor rights. The course also furthers participants’ understanding of the role of technology for human mobility and the policy responses in both, the international and the domestic spheres. To this end, it introduces students to key policies and governance schemes and diaspora engagement institutions, including the role of United Nations agencies and processes. The learning experience culminates in a role-play simulation, in which students discuss and negotiate a revision of the UN Joint Program in Kigoma, Tanzania.

• Department: Development and Governance
• T 10 a.m.-11:50 a.m.
• Instructor: Daniel Naujoks
  Info
• 3 points

Evaluation in International Organization

Evaluation-Intl Organizat

International organizations play a critical role in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the implementation of their strategic work plans, in centering human rights, gender equality, and environmental sustainability as non-negotiable cross-cutting dimensions, and by supporting collective accountability and learning.
How then do international organizations determine not only whether they have achieved the results set out in their work plans, but whether those results are meaningfully contributing to sustainable development as envisioned? Are their results sustainable? Were there better ways to achieve the same or better results? Did their achievement also support advancement and respect for the cross-cutting dimensions?

Were any unintended or unplanned results identified and assessed to determine whether they undermine or reinforce progress?

Evaluation – considered a function, a practice and a profession – provides one avenue for answering such questions about how to best influence the complex change required to achieve sustainable development, while balancing different interests and needs. Students will be exposed to the theoretical and practical aspects of evaluation through the lens of international organizations. They will learn to apply evaluative and systems thinking, and build practical skills that will prepare them to commission, manage and/or conduct evaluations that consider cross-cutting dimensions. They will understand recent trends in the field such as Artificial Intelligence, decolonization and how impact is determined.  Weekly case studies spanning humanitarian, development and peace contexts and a mix of individual and group assignments will provide students with a hands-on learning experience in how to plan, conduct and use an evaluation, as well as the important role of stakeholders. This includes developing an Evaluation Inception Report using a real-world evaluation case to ground learning of theoretical concepts, evaluation types, methods and tools.

• Department: Development and Governance
• T 1:10 p.m.-3 p.m.
• Instructor: Shravanti M Reddy
  Info
• 3 points

Emerging Capital Markets: Theory & Pract

• Department: International Finance & Economic Policy
• T 7:10 p.m.-9 p.m.
• 3 points

FOUNDATIONS OF SW PRACTICE

• Department: Social Work
• W 9 a.m.-noon
• Instructor: Zelaika Clarke
  Info
• Instructor: Tonika Boston
  Info
• Instructor: Alissa C Silverstein
  Info
• Instructor: Helodia Dastine
  Info
• Instructor: Michelle Sanderson
  Info
• Instructor: Richard T Hara
  Info
• Instructor: Krystal Miller
  Info
• Instructor: Eishelle Tillery
  Info
• Instructor: Susan S Witte
  h-index: 28 Info
• Instructor: Krystal Miller
  Info
• Instructor: Jonathan Edwards
  Info
• Instructor: Onleilove Alston
  Info
• Instructor: Zelaika Clarke
  Info
• Instructor: Michelle Sanderson
  Info
• Instructor: Moradeyo Adeyi
  Info
• Instructor: Giorgio Handman
  Info
• Instructor: Jairo Hoyos
  Info
• Instructor: Christine D Holmes
  Info
• Instructor: Foluso O Otuyelu
  Info
• Instructor: Ife Lenard
  Info
• Instructor: Typhani D Carter
  Info
• Instructor: Maria del Mar Farina
  Info
• Instructor: Foluso O Otuyelu
  Info
• Instructor: Noel Ramirez
  Info
• Instructor: Marcella J Tillett
  Info
• 3 points

Science for Policymaking

In all societies, public policies are developed to solve social problems such as extreme poverty, inequality, basic sanitation, health and basic care, family planning, food security, mental health, abuse of illegal substances, education, and protection of vulnerable groups. How can we ensure that these public policies are based on solid evidence, which would guarantee the greatest probability of effectiveness? And how do we plan and adapt the implementation of these policies to different realities, respecting cultural and historical differences?

In order to achieve this, it is useful, if not necessary, to be acquainted with scientific thinking and the accumulation and use of evidence. It is also necessary to understand our own limitations and cognitive biases that interfere in the decision-making process. This course aims to provide students with the tools necessary to assess public policies critically and rationally, as well as to evaluate different types of scientific evidence and understand how and where it is appropriate to include scientific evidence in building effective public policy.

• Department: Tech Policy and Innovation
• T 5:10 p.m.-7 p.m.
• Instructor: Natalia Pasternak Taschner
  Wikipedia Info
• 3 points

Urban Policy, Politics, and Public Servi

Urban Pol & Public Servic

Policy plus politics equals governance. Good governance requires knowledgeable, ethical, and committed public servants—whether elected, appointed, or serving through nonprofits and NGOs—who can lead with vision, provide services, and uphold public trust. This course explores the motivations, responsibilities, and career pathways in public service, with a focus on real-world challenges at the local, state, and federal levels.

Taught by the Honorable Michael A. Nutter, former Mayor of Philadelphia and past President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the course draws on his experience in office and across national public leadership roles. Students will examine how individuals and institutions shape policy decisions around education, housing, transportation, healthcare, and more, especially in moments of crisis.

The course is structured in three phases: Municipal Administration; Stakeholders, Political Parties, and Ethics; and Implementing Innovation and Transformative Policy. It encourages students to reflect on their own paths into public service.

• Department: Urban and Social Policy
• W 10 a.m.-11:50 a.m.
• Instructor: Michael A Nutter
  Info
• 3 points

Artificial Intelligence and Conflict Pre

AI & Conflict Prevention

This course explores how artificial intelligence is shaping the future of conflict prevention. With case studies and insights drawn from real-world applications, students will examine how AI tools are being developed and used to anticipate political, economic, and military trends. Through critical literature reviews and debate-based discussions, the course engages students in the practical, policy, and ethical questions surrounding the integration of AI into peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations. Emphasis will be placed on the role of multilateral organizations, including the United Nations, in guiding responsible and inclusive AI deployment. No technical background is required.

• Department: International Security & Diplomacy
• W 5:10 p.m.-7 p.m.
• Instructor: Eduardo Albrecht
  Info
• 3 points

Business Analytics II: Foundations of AI

Business Analytics 2

• Department: Decision, Risk and Operations
• S 8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
• Instructor: Ashwin V Kamath
  Info
• 1.5 points

ORAL HEALTH CARE DELIVERY

• Department: Dental and Oral Surgery
• Instructor: C Kunzel
  h-index: 23 Info
• 0 points

Economic Espionage

Intelligence activities are traditionally thought to comprise the activities of a nation state’s intelligence organizations attempting to steal secrets, usually those pertaining to national security, from the organizations of another nation state.  However, intelligence activities have seldom, if ever, been confined to the government sphere.  Most nation states have employed their national intelligence systems to steal privately held economic information from other countries to benefit their economies: many continue to do so. Private enterprises have long employed methodologies associated with “traditional” intelligence to obtain trade secrets from domestic and foreign competitors.  The establishment of a legal and ethical framework to govern this activity –- the discipline of “competitive intelligence’, is a relatively recent phenomenon. 

This course will examine in depth the interaction of intelligence and private sector on these three levels.  Part one of the course will cover economic espionage:  the deliberate targeting of private sector entities by foreign intelligence services.  Soviet/Russian and Chinese conduct of Economic Espionage will be discussed in detail.  A separate class will examine the prevalence of economic espionage among democratic nations, usually considered allies of the United States in both theory and practice.  The U.S. attitude towards economic espionage, and the U.S reaction to the threat, will be the subject other class meetings. The course will then move on to industrial espionage, companies spying on other companies, and its’ more socially acceptable counterpart, competitive intelligence, attempting to distinguish between legal and illegal uses of intelligence by the private sector.

• Department: International Security & Diplomacy
• M 1:10 p.m.-3 p.m.
• Instructor: David Gutschmit
  Info
• 3 points

Adaptation to Climate Change

This course focuses on climate change adaptation, examining how communities, governments, and institutions manage climate risks and build resilience. Students will engage with key concepts such as vulnerability, resilience, adaptation effectiveness, and climate justice, using a risk reduction framework to analyze real-world challenges and responses.

Through case studies, collaborative labs, and applied assignments, students will assess adaptation strategies across sectors including food, water, health, cities, and biodiversity. The course emphasizes both global frameworks and local action, highlighting enabling conditions such as finance, governance, and information access. Students will also examine institutional dynamics and the political contexts that shape adaptation planning and implementation.

This course is designed for students from diverse academic and professional backgrounds. No technical prerequisites are required. It provides a foundation for evaluating adaptation programs, identifying feasible solutions, and developing effective climate policy.

• Department: Climate, Energy, & Environment
• M 10 a.m.-11:50 a.m.
• Instructor: Ben S Orlove
  Info
• 3 points

Service Operations Management

• Department: Decision, Risk and Operations
• F 12:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.
• Instructor: Medini Singh
  Info
• 3 points

International Intelligence Systems

Int'l Intelligence System

The collection and use of intelligence have been functions of the state for thousands of years, and an essential element of the national security and foreign policy systems of the modern nation state.  However, it has long been apparent that different states conduct intelligence activities differently.  What accounts for these differences?  Until recently, the secrecy surrounding the activities, structure and impact of the specialized organizations involved in the intelligence process have made them difficult to study on a comparative basis.  Recent advances in the unclassified literature have now made such study possible.   The comparative study of foreign intelligence systems provides important insights into the foreign policy priorities and goals of the states in question, relevant to the work of both the national security and wider foreign policy communities in the U.S. and elsewhere.
 
Moreover, the extent to which intelligence systems reflect the political culture of their host societies is also a subject of interest.   This course will begin with an introduction to intelligence systems as an academic subject.   It will continue with a comparative treatment of several Western and non-Western intelligence systems, to include those of major actors in the international system as well those of small powers.  For each intelligence system, we will examine the historical, institutional and cultural factors that make it unique.  Finally, the course will examine several functional intelligence challenges and compare how these are addressed by different states.  Particular attention will be paid to the identification of pathologies that can have a negative impact on the role of intelligence organizations within a given state, and the reform of intelligence systems to facilitate an appropriate role within a democratic or democratizing society.

• Department: International Security & Diplomacy
• R 10 a.m.-11:50 a.m.
• Instructor: David Gutschmit
  Info
• 3 points

Infrastructure Investment and Developmen

Infrastructure Invest & D

This intensive short course explores the financing, development, and policy landscape of energy and infrastructure projects. Students will examine how partnerships are structured to allocate risk, how capital is raised and deployed across project stages, and how political and regulatory environments shape investment decisions. Through real-world case studies, from carbon pipelines and LNG terminals to rail and airport concessions—students will analyze evolving infrastructure models and evaluate the roles of private, public, and multilateral actors. The course emphasizes practical skills in investment strategy, policy analysis, and project structuring.

• Department: International Finance & Economic Policy
• M 3:10 p.m.-5 p.m.
• Instructor: Joel Moser
  Info
• 1.5 points

ADVANCED CLINICAL PRACTICE

• Department: Social Work
• W 10 a.m.-11:50 a.m.
• W 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• W 2 p.m.-3:50 p.m.
• W 6:20 p.m.-8:10 p.m.
• T 11:10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• W 6:20 p.m.-8:10 p.m.
• T 2 p.m.-3:50 p.m.
• T 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• T 6:20 p.m.-8:10 p.m.
• T 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• T 2 p.m.-3:50 p.m.
• W 8:30 p.m.-10:20 p.m.
• T 4:10 p.m.-6 p.m.
• W 10 a.m.-11:50 a.m.
• T 11:10 a.m.-1 p.m.
• M 6:20 p.m.-8:10 p.m.
• Instructor: Craig S Schwalbe
  h-index: 10 Info
• Instructor: Natalie Mena
  Info
• Instructor: Helodia Dastine
  Info
• Instructor: Natalie Mena
  Info
• Instructor: Samantha G Schindelheim
  Info
• Instructor: Allison R Ross
  Info
• Instructor: Helaine C Ciporen
  Info
• Instructor: In Young Lee
  Info
• Instructor: Bushra S Husain
  Info
• Instructor: Helaine C Ciporen
  Info
• Instructor: In Young Lee
  Info
• Instructor: Rachel M Goldsmith
  Info
• Instructor: David F Swayne Jr.
  Info
• Instructor: Jillian Tucker
  Info
• Instructor: Christine B Carville
  Info
• Instructor: Jessica Chock-Goldman
  Info
• 3 points

Business Analytics III: Modern AI, Deep

• Department: Decision, Risk and Operations
• S 3:45 p.m.-6:45 p.m.
• Instructor: Ashwin V Kamath
  Info
• 1.5 points

Meeting the Climate Challenge at all Lev

Climate Challenge & Govts

This course explores how subnational governments, states, cities, and local jurisdictions are shaping climate policy and leading efforts to transition toward a clean energy economy. While national governments often receive the spotlight, much of the practical, political, and technical work happens closer to the ground.

Students will examine how subnationals regulate utilities, shape building codes, implement clean energy programs, and navigate complex federal dynamics. Topics include emissions reduction, climate resilience, environmental justice, clean energy finance, and political feasibility. The course is structured around real-world case studies, guest insights, and policy exercises that prepare students to develop actionable, context-sensitive climate strategies.

The course encourages practical thinking about political trade-offs, limited resources, and institutional constraints. It is ideal for students interested in public policy, sustainability, and climate leadership at all levels of government. Familiarity with the energy sector is helpful but not required.

• Department: Climate, Energy, & Environment
• M 10 a.m.-11:50 a.m.
• Instructor: Adam Zurofsky
  Info
• 3 points

Emerging Tech for Impact

MPA-DP Registration Priority.
Unlike typical “Ethical AI” or “Technology for Development” courses that debate whether technologies are good or bad or focus on isolated deployments, this course is designed for non-technical students who want to truly understand both the technologies themselves and the environments they operate in for current and future applications. It offers an accessible introduction to the core technology concepts behind emerging digital tools like AI, Generative AI, Blockchain, and IoT alongside a deep dive into what history and case studies reveal about the enabling environment required for these tools to succeed: infrastructure, policy, funding, localization, and more. It equips students with the foundational understanding and critical lens to ask better questions, increase their digital literacy, recognize patterns, and contribute to sustainable development. Through this course, students will be able to understand what readiness might look like and discover the role they can play in shaping a future where tech serves humanity more effectively. This course is designed for individuals without a technical background who want to engage productively with the growing world of digital technologies for social and environmental impact. Whether you're considering a career shift, seeking to better understand emerging tools like AI, Generative AI, Blockchain, and IoT, or looking to contribute more effectively within your current role, this course will help you build both the technical foundations and the critical insight to do so. It is especially valuable for those who are curious about how these technologies can support sustainable development and who want to explore what it takes to make real impact possible.

• Department: MPA-DEVELOPMENT PRACTICE
• T 3:10 p.m.-5 p.m.
• Instructor: Mariela J Machado
  Info
• 3 points

Urban Economics

More than 80 percent of the U.S. population lives in urban areas, which generate nearly 90 percent of the nation’s GDP. This course introduces the field of urban economics, which explores why cities exist, how they grow, and the economic forces that shape them.

The course begins by examining the distribution of people and firms across space and the incentives behind urban location decisions. It then turns to how housing and production activities are arranged within cities, how land is valued, and how it is allocated. The course also addresses the role of local government, including the provision of services, regulation, and municipal finance.

Selected topics such as housing, transportation, income inequality, segregation, and urban sustainability help students apply theoretical and empirical models to real policy challenges. By the end of the course, students will be able to interpret urban economic models, evaluate policies using efficiency and equity frameworks, and apply their knowledge to a specific issue in urban policy.

• Department: Urban and Social Policy
• T 7:10 p.m.-9 p.m.
• Instructor: Francesco Brindisi
  CULPA: 1 Info
• 3 points

PROGRAM PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT

• Department: Social Work
• W 9 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• T 2 p.m.-5:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Monique Jethwani
  h-index: 6 Info
• 3 points

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

• Department: Social Work
• T 6:20 p.m.-8:10 p.m.
• W 8:30 p.m.-10:20 p.m.
• Instructor: Desiree Bunch
  Info
• Instructor: Mindy Chen
  Info
• 3 points

MACRO COMMUNITY PRACTICE

• Department: Social Work
• W 9 a.m.-12:50 p.m.
• T 2 p.m.-5:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Jeanette Takamura
  Wikipedia Info
• 3 points

Communicating Science for Policy

Communicating Science Pol

This course examines the communication of scientific evidence in policy settings and prepares students to serve as effective intermediaries between scientific and policy communities. Recognizing that scientists are rarely trained to engage policymakers and that policymakers often lack training in evaluating scientific evidence, the course focuses on the skills required to translate complex scientific findings into actionable policy insights. Students learn how to synthesize evidence, communicate uncertainty, and tailor scientific information for diverse audiences, including government agencies, legislatures, industry, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations. Emphasis is placed on the role of the science advisor as an honest broker of knowledge rather than an advocate, as well as on strategies for communicating controversial or politically polarized issues with clarity, credibility, and respect. Through applied exercises and case studies, students develop practical tools for supporting evidence-informed decision making in complex policy environments.

• Department: Tech Policy and Innovation
• W 10 a.m.-11:50 a.m.
• 3 points

Comparative Urban Policy

Studying not just global cities such as New York, London, and Tokyo, but especially developing global cities like Rio de Janeiro, Cairo, Jakarta, Dubai, Shanghai, and Mumbai, has never been more important. Over half of the world’s population is now urban, and twelve of the world’s sixteen largest cities are outside of the “affluent core” (i.e. Western Europe, the U.S., Canada, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand). As developing cities continue to expand, we must acknowledge the critical role that they play as sociocultural centers and as nodes in the world economy. We should also recognize that, in spite of these cities’ conspicuous differences, many of them share a set of challenges including: sprawl, poor sanitation, poverty, inequality, pollution, corruption, and crime. This course in comparative urban policy will help you develop a keener understanding of these challenges while also introducing you to some innovative solutions.

Our focus will be on how academics and analysts study and debate urban policy. Global developing cities will serve as the central geopolitical context for our discussion on governance strategies. We will explore questions such as: What political strategies do citizens have available to influence their city governments? Are the structures of governance in developing cities designed to respond to citizens’ needs? How do governments redistribute resources and responsibilities from federal to regional and local institutions to balance urban growth and social equity? How do governments and the private sector respond to the need for infrastructure and social services? What are the problems with publicly vs. privately operated infrastructure and services? What is the role of local institutions and civil society in addressing problems of the slums and housing crises caused by heightened urban growth? How do urban governments and private actors prevent center city decay? Who benefits from mega-projects? What sort of innovations can help improve service delivery, ensure environmental sustainability, and promote orderly growth in developing cities? How do governments, international organizations, and social movements impact urban policies to resolve problems of segregation, displacement, and economic inequality?

• Department: Urban and Social Policy
• R 10 a.m.-11:50 a.m.
• Instructor: Vojislava Filipcevic
  Info
• 3 points

Policy Through Partnerships for the Liva

Urban Policy Partnerships

This course explores the growing role of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in addressing urban challenges across housing, education, and economic development. Students will examine how cities are responding to crises with innovative, cross-sector collaborations, and analyze the implications for governance, equity, and service delivery. Drawing on recent trends and practical examples, the course equips students with tools to assess partnership models, evaluate policy tradeoffs, and develop effective interventions. Emphasis is placed on critical thinking, negotiation, and strategic planning in the context of building livable cities through collaborative approaches.

• Department: Urban and Social Policy
• T 1:10 p.m.-3 p.m.
• Instructor: Ashley R Macquarrie-Tomey
  Info
• 3 points

INTEGRATED PRACTICE AND PROGRAMMING

INTEGRATED PRACT & PROGRA

Students learn to think and practice as advanced generalist social work practitioners. Emphasis is placed on helping students to develop a conceptual framework with which they can differentially assess the multiple, interrelated interventions needed to respond to clients' issues. The course focuses on advanced direct practice; assessment of the service needs of individuals, families, client populations, and neighborhoods; case management; and community social work with vulnerable populations.

• Department: Social Work
• W 2 p.m.-3:50 p.m.
• Instructor: Anna M Hedrick
  Info
• Instructor: Katherine K Tineo
  Info
• Instructor: Amy S Kapadia
  Info
• 3 points

India: A Study of an Emerging Market Eco

India-Emerging Market Eco

This course is devoted to an in-depth study of India’s economy. Topics include growth, poverty, inequality, the fiscal deficit, public debt, the current account deficit, exchange-rate management, the financial sector, taxation, trade policy, foreign direct investment, capital account convertibility, urban land markets, and labor-market policies. Post-independence economic history and political economy would be integral to the study of these topics.  The course assumes knowledge of introductory micro- and macroeconomics.

• Department: International Finance & Economic Policy
• R 3:10 p.m.-5 p.m.
• Instructor: Arvind Panagariya
  Wikipedia Info
• 3 points

SEMINAR ON POLICY PRACTICE I

• Department: Social Work
• T 2 p.m.-3:50 p.m.
• Instructor: John G Robertson
  Info
• 3 points

The Israeli Economy

This course examines the evolution of the Israeli economy from its founding to the present, with particular attention to contemporary economic conditions, policy challenges, and growth strategies. Drawing on economic theory and comparative perspectives, students analyze major structural transformations in the Israeli economy, including its emergence as a global center for innovation and technology. The course explores key issues such as economic growth, productivity, labor markets, inequality, fiscal and monetary policy, and international integration, while also assessing the effects of recent domestic and global economic shocks and the policy responses they have generated. Through the study of Israel as a young, small, open economy, students develop a deeper understanding of the opportunities and constraints facing policymakers in an increasingly interconnected global economy.

• Department: International Finance & Economic Policy
• W 3:10 p.m.-5 p.m.
• Instructor: Karnit Flug
  Info
• 1.5 points

Navigating China

IFEP Concentration Registration Priority.
No business and no government can ignore China. The People's Republic of China is the world's second-largest economy and is on track to surpass the US economyin the future. China represents enormous opportunities for businesses and public policies, but it also presents a set of tough challenges. This course is designed to provide a framework for understanding these issues. As several other emerging market economies hope to follow China's footsteps, the conceptual framework in the course should help one appreciate the risks and rewards in these economies better as well. In this course, we will discuss what motivates the Chinese as savers, consumers, workers, and entrepreneurs. We will examine both the people factor and the government factor that underpin China's growth story. We will not be satisfied with simply repeating the conventional wisdoms, but will probe deeper than what we often read or hear. We will also combine conceptual knowledge with practical insight by inviting distinguished speakers with rich business or government experience to share their perspectives on China's business environment and other related topics.

• Department: International Finance & Economic Policy
• W 9 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
• Instructor: Shang-Jin Wei
  Wikipedia h-index: 96 Info
• 3 points