Students must complete an internship in the summer between the first and second year of study. Students will be matched to an appropriate internship related to one of the program's five pillars (Global Security, Human Rights and Global Justice, Global Markets, Global Development, Innovation Policy). The internship allows students to apply their knowledge to significant global problems from the vantage point of one of the program's five focus areas, and provides an opportunity to develop and enhance skills, and build networks, in areas of professional interest. A report on the internship will be required and will be graded pass/fail. A faculty member, in consultation with relevant teaching faculty in the program, will grade the report. Internships may be paid or unpaid.

The aim of this course is to introduce you to basic concepts in microeconomics, which will allow you to think systematically about economic issues. This course won't turn you into an economist, but it will allow you to understand economic phenomena from a microeconomic perspective, using a conceptually sound, empirically driven approach. This foundational course in microeconomics will give you the basis on which to make evidence-based policy decisions by understanding how economic incentives work.

This course provides an introduction to cross-national study of the role of the state in industrial development, innovation, and business-government relations. The emphasis is on providing a broad base of the competing theoretical perspectives with particular attention to the different ways in which state and markets interact in rapid-innovation-based industries. Special consideration is given to the role of Science and Technology Industrial Policies, Innovation, and Economic Development. Centering our attention on politics, the seminar examines the nature and extent of government in business and business in government.

This course introduces quantitative methods to conduct research for policy purposes. The course introduces statistical concepts with a focus on applications that go from descriptive and inferential statistics to regression analysis and explores research design, case studies in the context of observational and experimental studies. Students will come away with a good grasp of the concepts such as correlation, causation, randomization and the use of data to evaluate policy choices and outcomes.

This course introduces the key challenges that shape development policy at the international level. The course comprises three main components: first, an introduction to the main approaches to international development, covering economic (growth), political (governance) and social (civil society) perspectives; second, an overview of the primary international actors shaping development policy and outcomes, with a focus on the management and impact of foreign aid; and, third, detailed discussion of selected key issues, likely including economic liberalization, resource rents, conflict and post-conflict reconstruction, social development, and participatory development. By the end of the course students will have a detailed knowledge of the most important contemporary debates in the field along with the analytical tools to engage with a broader range of development issues in practical work.

This course focuses on challenges and opportunities on issues of justice, including attention to how claims to justice are made and how justice systems operate. Course materials will focus on attention to everyday and social movement demands for justice, the relationship between justice and inequality, calls for the reform of justice organizations, and the ways in which these challenges are addressed domestically, internationally, and in different parts of the world. The course will offer a survey of these issues with a focus on different substantive topics, that may include human rights and civil rights, current pressures on justice systems, substantive concerns such as violence, international migration, corruption and illicit trades, and issues of systemic bias. At the core of each of these topics is a focus on justice systems in action, including ideals of justice and the capacity to deliver on these ideals, rather than a primary emphasis on doctrinal legal rules, and the ways in which states, non-state actors, and international organizations address justice system challenges.

The capstone course will rely on clients — representing the private sector, an international organization, a non-governmental organization, or government — and students will work in teams to tackle a current issue confronting these clients and their organizations. Students will learn to analyze these problems across dimensions of global economy and markets, global institutions, and global civil society. Throughout the course, students will engage in activities designed to assist global problem-solvers, while also looking for opportunities to defend and advance their clients' organizational interests.

This course is both an historical overview of the evolution of the global financial and monetary systems (with reference, as well, to the trade and investment systems) and additionally a policy examination of the sources and continuing consequences of the global economic crisis and the global economy since 2008. What must market participants as well as policy people — whether from the investment or institutional banking, finance, macro-economic, or the trade and investment side — know — and do? The course examines authorities at the national capitals — central banks and Treasury folk, officials at the global economic institutions (IOs and transgovernmental regulatory networks) — and the coordination efforts in the global economy from various NSAs (non-state actors) especially private corporations, NGOs, and trans-governmental networks.

This course interrogates the key tensions and challenges in the field of development through an in-depth exploration of one sub-field: tax and development. Key debates and issues in development are frequently presented in relatively broad terms. Doing so captures key challenges and trade-offs, but often offers few answers or ways forward. This course seeks to provide a more focused investigation of these key development debates and issues, through an applied deep dive into the field of tax and development. Students will gain an in-depth understanding of the rapidly emerging sub-field of tax and development — part of the broader 'financing for development' agenda — while using this sub-field to understand broader development debates as they occur in practice. Key overarching topics will include, among others: a) the roles of capacity, policy, institutions and politics in shaping outcomes, b) linking the local, national and international in understanding and addressing development challenges, c) the financing for development agenda, local ownership, and donor coordination, d) linking research, evidence, and practice in development, e) effective design and implementation of reform programs, f) pathologies of aid programs and delivery, and g) 'doing development' in a changing global context. The course will draw on the instructor's active involvement in research, policy formulation, and implementation for tax and development programs, and will aim to design key assignments that feed directly into ongoing policy, research, and reform processes.

The course introduces students to international monetary and financial relations over the last century, and focuses on the issues of financial power, cooperation, conflict and institutions in the world economy. Topics covered are the politics of exchange rate adjustment, the role of the IMF, the political economy of financial crises, and the domestic and international political implications of global monetary developments. Case studies are used to link theory, policy, and practice.

The Global Affairs Externship offers the opportunity for an MGA2 student to earn academic credits, totalling 0.5 FCEs, for the completion of a part-time, work-based placement with a select Munk School of Global Affairs Externship partner. The student is expected to work at a local institution (government, private, NGO, etc.) to support projects and programs of the host organization's choosing, relevant to the student's field of study in the Master of Global Affairs program during the academic year.

The selection of successful candidates is at the discretion of the host partner organization based on academic and professional qualifications. The work assigned will be determined by the host partner organization, in consultation with the Master of Global Affairs Program.

Academic credit is based on the successful completion of the externship and the submission of a final academic paper, to be graded by an appointed faculty assessor.

This course is an intensive examination of the evolving terrain of global digital‐electronic‐telecommunications through the lens of the research of the Citizen Lab. After setting the stage with some general readings on background and context, we turn to several modules organized as detailed examinations of the Citizen Lab's mixed methods research on information controls, including analyzing Internet censorship and surveillance, investigating targeted digital espionage, uncovering privacy and security risks of mobile applications, security and privacy issues around COVID-19, and the role of the private sector in information controls. We conclude with an exploration of threat modelling and how each of you can improve your own digital hygiene.

Who belongs to a political community, and according to what criteria? This course will explore questions of citizenship and belonging that have become hot-button political issues in recent years in Canada, the United States, across Europe, and increasingly, in other parts of the world. We will survey key debates and topics such as admission requirements, steps to naturalization, the rights of non-members, civic integration tests, identity-based claims for exemption and accommodation, cultural diversity, barriers to full membership, citizenship and global inequality, dual nationality, and the surge of populist nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiment. We will place these developments in a broader theoretical, comparative, and international context. Emphasis will also be given to the impact of globalization on new regimes of migration control, the political economy of refugee responsibility sharing arrangements, the rise of supranational and regional conceptions of membership, and the future of borders in a post-pandemic world.

This course investigates the choice of trade policy and its institutional context. Emphasis is placed on giving students an understanding of the fundamental models of the political economy of trade. The course then applies these to various issue-areas, among them the role of the GATT and the WTO, regional trade agreements, trade in services, and trade and development. Case studies are used to link theory, policy, and practice.

Various descriptions related to global violence. Topics will change from year to year depending on the instructor and course emphasis.

This seminar challenges you to open your mind and ask crucial questions regarding to innovation and economic development in the global economy. This course introduces the complex relationships between innovation, technology, and policy. During the course, students will acquire improved understanding and critical insight about: 1) Different perspectives on the meaning of economic development and the interpretation of economic development problems. 2) An understanding of globalization and its impact on innovation and economic growth. 3) Context of national and international trends, including issues of competitiveness, technological change, and globalization that influence economic development. 4) New strategies and themes for economic development, including those that focus on knowledge, technological innovation, and creativity. 5) Key aspects of the literature and debates about innovation and local economic development policy and practice, including perspectives of scholars and practitioners.

This class explores how communities can design effective and equitable social policies. The course opens by addressing several common misconceptions about the welfare state, including the connection between economic competition and social protection, the relationship between social spending and inequality, and the role of the state. The second part of the course examines the politics of reform in three broad areas: Old people (pensions and health care), young people (housing and labour markets), and identity (gender and immigration). The course concludes by exploring new approaches to social protection, including non-state alternatives. By the end of the course, students should be able to develop a politically feasible, economically competitive strategy to reform social policy in a community of interest.

One of the ironies of globalization is that the forces that were supposed to make distance less relevant have concentrated innovative activity within regions. As a result, some of the most important policy and business decisions are made locally. This course explores how municipal actors can navigate the opportunities, and challenges, associated with globalization. After explaining why innovation is concentrated in cities, the course debates why some cities are more innovative than others. To this end, the course discusses the role of size, government policy, human capital, social capital, branding and other issues. Two additional questions frame the analysis. How can municipal actors, who lack the fiscal resources and regulatory tools of a nation-state, promote innovation? And if innovative activity is concentrated in a handful of large cities, what options are available to smaller communities? By the end of the course, students are expected to develop a strategy to promote innovation in Toronto (or another community).

This course explores the fundamental theories of the political economy of development. It covers topics such as the role of formal and informal institutions in economic growth and governance, the geography hypothesis, colonial legacies, dependency theory, neo-liberalism, and the Washington Consensus, causality between democracy and development, and resource curse. Empirical evidence is drawn from countries from around the world.

This seminar focuses on teaching and applying central concepts in the cross-national study of global innovation and institutions broadly defined. The emphasis is on providing a broad base of the competing theoretical perspectives and then applying them working with a leading organization on strategic problems.

The course investigates the politics of justice reform in global context in two ways: first, by examining the indicators of justice that are used by local and national governments, civil society organizations, and international institutions to induce reform, manage staff, and otherwise "govern" operations in justice; second, by "commensurating" change in systems of justice and governance across a range of cities, countries and institutions. The course is a problem-solving practicum: students will work in teams to compare the structure of problems in different settings and propose solutions to challenges in the measurement of some ailment in a foreign justice system.

Information technology is ubiquitous. It powers the global economy, improves government administration, enhances military power, and connects modern civil society. For the same reasons, technology creates new opportunities to leverage these same networks for espionage, subversion, and disruption. While the technology is new, practices of deception and counterintelligence are very old. This course examines the problems of cybersecurity through the lens of intelligence. Students will be introduced to enduring concepts from the world of intelligence and learn to apply them through a series of case studies of modern cyber conflict.

This course is one of the second-year electives in the MGA program, and only open to MGA and MPP students unless explicit permission of the instructor is obtained. In this course, we will conduct a series of analyses of current economic policy challenges, write up research briefs and longer research notes, and possibly publish these on the web. The course is aimed at students in the Global Markets emphasis who aspire to positions in the private or public sector that relate to.

Examination of ethics and moral reasoning applied to the study of global affairs. Current debates in moral philosophy and how they help us to better understand contemporary controversies in global affairs. Examination of a number of current policy debates, such as issues of justice in social and environmental policy, the use of military intervention in international affairs, and the accommodations of religious and ethnic differences in liberal democracies.

This course initially explores the latest science of climate change followed by the international legal and policy framework to address climate change developed over time including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement highlighting the key points for the post-2020 climate change regime. Students will then be given an understanding of the international and domestic legal, economic, and financial dimensions of climate change. They will be provided with some of the strategies national governments can use to bring down greenhouse gas emissions as well as to adapt to climate change including the process for developing and updating Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). In addition to reviewing the obligations of national governments as parties to the Paris Agreement as a legally binding international treaty on climate change, the course will also discuss the roles of: subnational governments including cities, states, provinces, as well as the partnerships that exist among these groups; civil society (non-state actors) including Indigenous peoples and non-governmental (NGOs) organizations; and business in the net-zero transition.

Grand strategy is policy for using all instruments of national power to advance security interests. Even small states and non-state actors can have grand strategies, even if they don't write about them or if their policymakers don't understand them very well. New technologies, economic globalization, and changes in the political fortunes of states have created a complex and uncertain threat environment in the 21st century. The proliferation of nuclear weapons to new actors, the development of autonomous conventional weapons, ubiquitous dependence on cyberspace and satellites, and global terrorism pose major challenges for the formulation of national security policy. This is a project-based course designed to give you some conceptual tools to quickly "field strip" a state or region with which you might be unfamiliar by using rough but time-tested concepts to flag potentially relevant dynamics and triangulate more detailed questions.

This core elective introduces students to scholarship on the psychology of decision-making and the analytics of strategic thinking. Drawing from the literature on public policy making, behavioural economics, and strategic analysis, the seminar will develop the analytical tools and the practical leadership skills students need to navigate the intersection among the global economy, global institutions, and global civil society. Students are required to analyze and craft strategies to address global public policy problems in the context of the three sectors.

This course introduces students to public international law and its relationship with global affairs and public policy. The course will present foundational information such as the history and sources of international law, international legal personality, and key actors in international law, questions of jurisdiction, the relationship between international and domestic law, and the settlement of international legal disputes. It will also introduce students to key topics and themes in international law such as the protection of human rights and the environment, the laws of armed conflict, international criminal law, and economic and trade law, considering both the content and application of the law.

How do governments conduct bilateral diplomacy? We will explore this topic by examining the real-world diplomacy of Canada and the United States vis-a-vis Japan. We will review the academic literature on foreign policy making and the specific context of these bilateral relationships. We will then engage directly with practitioners at the forefront of foreign policy making in Canada, Japan, and the United States, exploring contemporary policy challenges and how the respective governments seek to resolve them. Students will work on collaborative group projects designed in consultation with practitioners to provide value to immediate policy making priorities. Students may need to be available outside of the designated class time occasionally for online meetings with counterparts abroad.

This course provides an introduction to financial management and financial reporting for corporations, governments, and civil society organizations. The course focuses on fundamental concepts and principles and explores a range of stakeholder perspectives. It will provide students with a financial management and reporting toolkit as well as practical skills to understand and evaluate financial state of global organizations and the relevant risks they face. The course will also prepare students for more advanced finance and financial reporting courses.