MIA Curriculum
Master of International Affairs Curriculum
Students pursuing the Master of International Affairs will study national and international public policy and its underlying principles in a global context.
A multidisciplinary and integrated curriculum allows students to specialize in International Nongovernmental Organizations, Western Hemisphere Affairs, Trade Policy and Global Economic Governance, or a Special Concentration in which students will have the opportunity to design, in concert with a faculty advisor, a special concentration tailored to his or her particular interest and career ambitions.
The program offers a rigorous, multidisciplinary academic understanding and analysis of global governance and policy in the international setting. It introduces students to skills essential for the analytical study of public policy and for the assessment of the main issues in governance currently facing international policy-makers. It equips students with the theoretical tools and empirical evidence necessary for an in-depth understanding of policy-making within the general theories of public policy, comparative public policy and governance, international public administration, social and public policy in international and cross-national contexts. It also provides the intellectual and practical capabilities to pursue high-level tasks in the fields of political planning and political management in the public and private sector at the national, international and supranational level.
Students also receive advanced training in key techniques of policy analysis, budgeting, assessment of political culture, global communication strategies, regionally specific issues and comparative methods. The program offers opportunities for study in a variety of substantial social and public policy areas (e.g. welfare and social security, international development, housing, migration, health), across a range of national, regional (Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the European Union) and global settings. While our concentration in Western Hemisphere Affairs will focus on that region, the MIA program is committed to analyzing problems in a global context. The School has relationships with educational institutions in Europe, Latin America and Asia and students will have the opportunity to do internships or study abroad.
Required
(27 credits, 30 credits if internship required)
Prerequisite: Spreadsheet knowledge strongly recommended
Prerequisite: Not open to students who have received credit for PAF 9317
Prerequisite: PAF 9170 or permission of instructor
Prerequisite: The course is not open to students who have completed PAF 9130 or ECO 9704
Prerequisite: PAF 9172
Prerequisite: Instructor permission
Baruch has one of the nation’s largest and most distinguished professional nonprofit education degrees, as well as executive certificate and research programs focused on the sector. New York City is home to one of the world’s largest concentrations of internationally focused nongovernmental organizations.
This track examines questions fundamental to the emergence and conduct of civil society at the national and international level: how political and social participation is mediated by INGOs, how the relationship between governments and INGOs emerges in different historical, legal, and cultural contexts, how INGOs can collaborate across national boundaries, and INGO management can improve sensitivity to local self-determination. As the number of domestically and internationally focused INGOs quickly expands throughout the world (e.g. in Brazil, Turkey and China) this focus will provide Baruch graduates with relevant expertise in policy impact and practical management. Concentration in this area will prepare students for careers at international institutions such as the United Nations, the World Bank and the IMF, local, national, and international issue-focused INGOs, as well as at corporate foundations, and businesses committed to promoting development through international public-private partnerships.
International Non-Governmental Organizations Curriculum
(15 credits; completed in addition to the MIA Core Curriculum)
Required
(3 credits)
Prerequisites or Co-requisite: PAF9120, or PAF 9150, or permission of instructor
Electives
(9 credits from list below, plus 3 credits either from same list or from another graduate program with advisor approval)
Prerequisite: PAF 9415
This course introduces the fundamental concepts and techniques for managing government and nonprofit organizations. It focuses on structural models; individual behavior, including group dynamics and leadership; effective use and management of human resources; and political and cultural frameworks. It considers questions of effectiveness, responsibility, and professional relations. Not open to students who have completed PAF 9302, PAF 9309, MGT 9300, or PSY 9788.
Prerequisite: PAF 9140 or permission of instructor
Prerequisite: PAF 9120, or PAF 9150, or PAF 9151
Prerequisite: Grad 8 status or permission of the Office of Student Affairs and Graduate Admissions
Prerequisite: Grad 8 status or the permission of the Office of Graduate Admissions and Student Services. This course can be taken two times
Integration in a globalizing economy can be a path to economic success. But for many countries the political adjustment has not been easy and the promises of equity have yet to follow. The challenges of managing trade, once the exclusive province of national governments, are an increasing and necessary interest of state and local governments as well. Trade can be nurtured, sometimes by governments, and more often by NGOs, to deliver a wider distribution of benefits, access for non-traditional participants, as well as more protection for the planet.
Students seeking to concentrate in this program will learn about the nuts and bolts of international trade and commerce, drawing on the School’s resources as well as the resources of our sister school, the Zicklin School of Business, which is the largest collegiate business school in the nation with over 12,000 students.
Students will study the treaty relationships, including the history of efforts to develop free trade agreements, and government policies that shape trading environments — and either advance or hinder related goals such as public health, environmental regulation, worker safety, and family integrity. They will examine tools such as micro-finance, insourcing, crowd funding and other approaches to ensuring wide access to the opportunities and benefits of trade. Potential employers for graduates from this concentration would include INGOs, the US government, international businesses, local governments seeking economic opportunity abroad, ports and regional transportation consortia, power companies, among others.
Trade Policy and Global Economic Governance Curriculum
(15 credits; completed in addition to the MIA Core Curriculum)
Required
(6 credits)
Prerequisite: PAF 9415 or PAF 9130 or ECO 9704
Prerequisite: PAF 9415 or PAF 9130
Electives
(9 credits)
Prerequisite: PAF 9415 or PAF 9130 or ECO 9704 and PAF 9410
Prerequisite: PAF 9415 or PAF 9130.
Prerequisite: Grad 8 status or permission of the Office of Student Affairs and Graduate Admissions
Prerequisite: Grad 8 status or the permission of the Office of Graduate Admissions and Student Services. This course can be taken two times
Prerequisite: MKT 9703
- How information technology has created a fertile ground for the emergence of commerce on the Internet
- What institutional parameters are required to form an efficient market for commerce on the Internet to flourish
- How firms are using the new medium/market to reconstruct their value chain and create/sustain competitive advantage
- How the new electronic medium will affect key international dimensions of trade, foreign direct investment, and alliance formation
The western hemisphere is home to the world’s largest developed economy, one of the fastest emerging economies, one of its most vital trading blocs, and some of the most vigorous and complicated migration patterns anywhere on the planet. While there are several university centers that address the hemisphere as a whole, there are no degree programs in a policy school offering a concentration that considers all of North, Central and South America.
Specific topics of study in this concentration include migration, remission flows, trade policy and economic cooperation, regional planning, intra-hemispheric security, energy production/policy, and fostering closer relations among institutions of higher education throughout the hemisphere. The program draws on Baruch’s considerable strengths in migration studies and Latin American studies, the Master program in Higher Education Administration and CUNY’s Bildner Center in Western Hemisphere Affairs.
Graduates will aspire to careers in government, INGOs, international institutions, and private industry.
Western Hemisphere Affairs Curriculum
(15 credits; completed in addition to the MIA Core Curriculum)
Required
(3 credits)
Electives
(9 credits from list below, plus 3 credits either from list below or from another graduate program with advisor approval)
Prerequisite: PAF 9415 or PAF 9130 or ECO 9704
Prerequisite: PAF 9415 or PAF 9130 or ECO 9704 and PAF 9410
Prerequisite: PAF 9415 or PAF 9130 and PAF 9170
Prerequisite: Grad 8 status or permission of the Office of Student Affairs and Graduate Admissions
Prerequisite: MKT 9703
- How information technology has created a fertile ground for the emergence of commerce on the Internet
- What institutional parameters are required to form an efficient market for commerce on the Internet to flourish
- How firms are using the new medium/market to reconstruct their value chain and create/sustain competitive advantage
- How the new electronic medium will affect key international dimensions of trade, foreign direct investment, and alliance formation
Working with a faculty adviser, students can design a rigorous program of study tailored to their interests and career ambitions. Examples may include migrations and diasporas, hemispheric security, and hemispheric marketing, among other topics.
This will consist of 15 credits.