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 Core
(24 credits, 27 credits if internship required)
This course focuses on the budget cycle and budget decision-making. It includes tools for developing, implementing, and controlling a budget within a, typically, public organization. Topics include development of operating budgets, cash budgets, break-even analysis, cost behavior, the time value of money, capital budgeting, long-term financing, and variance analysis. Basic budget accounting concepts are studied. The course includes development of spreadsheet skills for budgeting.
Prerequisite: Spreadsheet knowledge strongly recommended
Data Collection and Description (PAF 9270) is the first course in the research methods sequence. Upon completion of this course, students can choose between Data Analysis for Public Service (PAF 9171) and Causal Analysis and Inference (PAF 9272). PAF 9270 teaches students how to collect qualitative and quantitative data for domestic and international policy or practice purposes and how to analyze and present data for descriptive purposes. It also teaches students how to interpret existing descriptive analyses to extract relevant and accurate information. The course will introduce the following topics: research questions and concepts, descriptive vs. causal research, case-oriented vs. variable-oriented approaches, sampling, data cleaning, and determining and maintaining data collection for organizations. Students will develop the following specific skills: using spreadsheets, univariate and bivariate descriptive statistics, data visualization, conducting interviews or qualitative observation, analyzing and coding qualitative data, designing and assessing measures, and designing survey questionnaires and procedures. Course sections will use applications tailored towards students’ interests and concentrations (e.g., sections more populated with MIA students will have a greater international focus). (Students who took PAF 9170 or PAF 9172 cannot get credit for this course.)
Prerequisite: none
PAF 9271 Data Analysis for Public Service is the second course in the research methods sequence. Upon completion of Data Collection and Description (PAF 9270), students can choose between this course and Causal Analysis and Inference (PAF 9272). PAF 9271 is meant for students pursuing domestic or international careers in management, fundraising, budget analysis, and other practice areas and will use data and applications relevant to such work. It emphasizes managerial, organizational, and practice examples and context. This course teaches students how to extract from existing analyses relevant and accurate information to enhance practice. It also teaches students how to conduct basic quantitative and qualitative analyses within organizations to shed light on which programs do and do not work, how well they work, and which features contribute. Specific topics include: logic models and mechanisms; developing and curating administrative data; collecting and analyzing interview, focus group, qualitative observation, and extant qualitative data; analyzing organizational data using spreadsheets and dashboards; pre-post, interrupted time series, comparative designs, and difference-in-difference analysis; methods for rolling out and managing programs to get good causal evidence; recognizing natural experiments. Course sections will use applications tailored towards students’ interests and concentrations (e.g., sections more populated with MIA students will have a greater international focus). (Students who took PAF 9170 or PAF 9172 cannot get credit for this course.)
Prerequisite: PAF 9270
OR
PAF 9272 Causal Analysis and Inference is the second course in the research methods sequence. Upon completion of Data Collection and Description (PAF 9270), students can choose between this course and Data Analysis for Public Service (PAF 9271). PAF 9272 is meant for those interested in becoming analysts, researchers, or making quantitative data analysis an important element in their careers. It teaches students how to critically evaluate existing causal analyses of both qualitative and quantitative data and how to conduct statistical analyses to answer causal questions for domestic and international policy and practice. Compared to PAF 9271, PAF 9272 places greater emphasis on observational and experimental data from representative surveys and requires students to write programs (coding) to carry out statistical analyses using advanced statistical software such as Stata or R. The course provides a hands-on introduction to understanding causal evidence, covering logic models and mechanisms, case-oriented vs. variable-oriented approaches, correlation vs. causation, observational vs. (quasi) experimental data, treatment effect, confounding and omitted variable bias, complex survey sampling, generalizability, standard error, confidence interval estimation, hypothesis testing, statistical and practical significance, power analysis, multiple regression, and difference-in-differences estimation. Course sections will use applications tailored towards students’ interests and concentrations (e.g., sections more populated with MIA students will have a greater international focus). (Students who took PAF 9170 or PAF 9172 cannot get credit for this course. They, and all other students looking for an advanced causal methods and statistics course, should consider taking PAF 9177.)
Prerequisite: PAF 9270
In a world of globalization and global threats—financial contagion, terrorism, proliferation, climate change, health crises—this course examines the role of international institutions and norms and asks whether they can make the world a safer, more just place. Why did states create global institutions—and why in these forms? How does their structure limit or reinforce their ability to address problems? How do norms develop and change? What is the role of NGOs and of multinational corporations? How must the system adapt to new actors and challenges?
This course introduces students to the basic micro- and macro-economic principles that underlie international economic relations. Students will gain an understanding of international trade and finance and the effects of various international economic policies on domestic and world economic well-being.
Prerequisite: The course is not open to students who have completed PAF 9130 or ECO 9704
This course focuses on international variations in public affairs through a comparative analysis of the factors that drive policymaking and determine the configuration of the public and nonprofit sectors around the globe. The course provides students with a basic toolbox of theories and methodologies needed to conduct comparative analyses of public policies and governance systems.
In this class students will apply a comparative perspective to the communicative conditions that prevail in countries across the world, from everyday cultural practices (e.g. diplomatic ways of communicating in various societies) to organizational and policy considerations (e.g. free speech protections or restrictions). Students will sharpen their professional communication skills by speaking and writing on topics addressing issues of policy and administration in global contexts.
This course is an advanced seminar in which students in their last semester before graduation produce a semester project drawing from the full course of study toward the Master of International Affairs. The project may involve policy research, intensive study of an organization, development of a rationale for new or changed policy or programs, or some combination of these. Special attention is placed on incorporating knowledge from the core MIA curriculum. Open with permission to Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs students.
Prerequisite: PAF 9172
This course provides students with real-world administrative experience in a public or nonprofit organization. The work assignment requires 150 hours. Class sessions are determined by the instructor. The course is graded on a pass/no-credit basis. The internship pass/no-credit selection does not preclude the completion of another MIA elective course for pass/no-credit. PAF 9195 may be repeated, but only with the permission of the instructor and the Associate Dean of the School of Public Affairs. It is not open to students who have completed PAF 9191, PAF 9192, or PAF 9322.
Prerequisite: Instructor permission
Global Security Curriculum
This concentration focuses on 21st century security challenges including kinetic and cyber conflict, weapons proliferation, drug trafficking, terrorism, ethnic conflict, humanitarian disasters and the competition for scarce resources and displacement that will increasingly be the result of climate change.
(6 courses, 18 credits completed in addition to the MIA Core Curriculum)
Required
(TWO required electives, 3 credits each, 6 credits total)
All students in this concentration must take PAF 9436 in addition to either PAF9434 or PAF9437. Some of these required classes are only offered once a year. Check the schedule of classes to view offerings every Fall and Spring semesters.
(Choose ONE; 3 credits total)
(Choose THREE; 3 credits each, 9 credits total)
Prerequisite: PAF 9415 or PAF 9130 or ECO 9704
(Choose ONE additional PAF elective; 3 credits)
Students can choose any PAF elective IN CONSULTATION WITH AN ACADEMIC ADVISOR to complete elective requirements for the degree.
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
(18 credits completed in addition to the MIA Core Curriculum)
Required
(6 credits)
This course examines the international dimension of the nonprofit world. It focuses on those nonprofit organizations that work across borders because: 1) they seek to influence global issues such as economic justice, human rights or the environment; 2) they deliver aid or capacity building programs in developing countries; or 3) they are the secretariat or headquarters of an international network of organizations. The course will explore international and cross-cultural management issues, relationships with national governments and supranational entities, and international advocacy strategies.
Prerequisites or Co-requisite: PAF9120, or PAF 9150, or permission of instructor
PAF 9151 In this class, students study management techniques and strategies applicable in nonprofit agencies. Topics include agency interaction with governmental and political institutions, planning and control systems, the role of the governing board, and the role of the executive director. Special attention is paid to the needs of community service/social welfare and cultural/arts organizations.
OR
3 hours; 3 credits
PAF 9174 This course examines program evaluation in public and nonprofit contexts. Topics include: the nature, types, and purposes of evaluation; program theory and logic models; data collection, monitoring, and analysis; experimental and quasi-experimental evaluation designs; internal and external validity; politics of evaluation; stakeholder analysis; and ethics and standards.
Electives
(9 credits from list below, plus 3 credits either from same list or from another graduate program with advisor approval)
In the absence of global government, global economic governance organizations have emerged to coordinate, monitor, manage, and direct the economic and monetary activities of states and firms. This course will introduce students to the agreements and predominant institutions that compose global economic governance regimes, including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization. It will examine organizational and voting structures, rules for legitimate state and non-state participants, compliance mechanisms, and agenda setting.
By 2050 68% of the world’s population will live in cities with particular growth occurring in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. This course will examine urban policymaking from a comparative perspective in cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Karachi, Lagos, Shanghai, Cape Town, and Mumbai. The course will put particular emphasis on policies regarding housing, public safety, and climate change.
This course examines the factors that affect countries’ economic growth in the long run. The class will critically assess various domestic and international policies that have (or have failed to) promote growth and reduce poverty across the world. Students will use data to deconstruct the growth performance of a country into its main determinants and discuss policy recommendations for fostering macroeconomic development.
This course will examine the contemporary policy agenda for political, economic, and social relations among countries in the Western Hemisphere. Among the contemporary cases under study will be: trade and regional economic integration; foreign investment and finance; energy; the environment; security and regional diplomacy; transnational migration; drug trafficking; and democratization and human rights.
This course examines the role of illicit trade in the international system with a focus on its integration with other social, political, and economic processes. This class begins with an overview of the policy challenges associated with illicit trade and then examines a broad array of illicit trade activities. These activities include the drug trade, the arms trade, various forms of human trafficking, the trade in natural resources, and cyber -crime. Students should gain a knowledge of illicit trade broadly and its implications for international policymaking. Students will be expected to write policy related papers related to various illicit trade activities.
Review of the principles and practices of government contracting and analysis of the major types of government contracts. Administration and management problems of the government procurement function are identified and analyzed. Major policy questions, including societal implications of large-scale government contracting, are explored.
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.
Historical and contemporary perspectives on nonprofit organizations and the nonprofit sector in the United States. The course will emphasize the size, scope, and functions of the nonprofit sector as they have evolved, with particular emphasis on relations with the public and business sectors and current issues affecting the environment in which nonprofit organizations operate.
In this class, students study management techniques and strategies applicable in nonprofit agencies. Topics include agency interaction with governmental and political institutions, planning and control systems, the role of the governing board, and the role of the executive director. Special attention is paid to the needs of community service/social welfare and cultural/arts organizations.
This course examines the strategies and techniques for acquiring voluntary and governmental support for local nonprofit agencies. The course focuses on the role that fund raising plays in the economics of the nonprofit organization and its relationship with government agencies, foundations, and other donor/granting institutions.
This course is for students whose career path is the nonprofit world and aspire to hold senior level positions in nonprofits. The course provides the tools for budgeting in a nonprofit, and the tools of financial analysis and managerial control as is currently practiced in nonprofit organizations.
Prerequisite: PAF 9140 or permission of instructor
The purpose of the course is to introduce students to policy, planning and management of human services issues that arise in preparing for and responding to disasters and emergencies that have broad effects on people, property, and communities. The course includes the role of both government and nonprofit organizations in responding to disasters and in providing services for relief and recovery. The course also addresses issues of readiness and planning by public and community organizations. Recent and historical events provide examples for students to examine and compare.
This course considers the complex system of private giving that supports civil society, examining the ways in which private funds are given and the vehicles through which they are administered. It emphasizes the philanthropic motivations, strategic frameworks, and practices of individuals and institutions in the U.S. and other regions, as well as the public impact of these private activities. It also examines the current legal and regulatory framework within which philanthropy operates and emerging controversies about philanthropic institutions and activities.
Prerequisite: PAF 9120, or PAF 9150, or PAF 9151
This course examines program evaluation in public and nonprofit contexts. Topics include: the nature, types, and purposes of evaluation; program theory and logic models; data collection, monitoring, and analysis; experimental and quasi-experimental evaluation designs; internal and external validity; politics of evaluation; stakeholder analysis; and ethics and standards.
Introduction to the social, economic, political, and technological constraints, requisites, and institutions used in development programs both national and transnational.
This course introduces students to the major features and debates in environmental policy, focusing primarily on the metropolitan environment in the United States. Students are introduced to environmental issues with respect to both the human and physical environments; the major interests groups that affect environmental policy; and the regulatory procedures under which environmental policy is implemented, particularly environmental impact analysis under NEPA and state and local environmental reviews.
Topic will vary from offering to offering.
The course focuses on major areas in nonprofit management. Topics vary from offering to offering.
Prerequisite: Grad 8 status or permission of the Office of Student Affairs and Graduate Admissions
Focuses on major substantive areas of public policy. Topics vary from offering to offering and could include such policy issues as transportation, environmental protection, housing and urban policy, urban development, health and labor.
Prerequisite: Grad 8 status or the permission of the Office of Graduate Admissions and Student Services. This course can be taken two times
The rise of emerging markets is changing the world of international business and raises distinctive challenges and opportunities for companies. This course addresses these changes from the perspective of foreign firms entering emerging markets, therefore examining the distinctive business environments of emerging markets and analyzing the strategic options for responding to these effectively. Also, this course considers firms originating in emerging markets, examining their nature, and their impact on the international business environment and on international competition. Differences between emerging markets are explored, with an emphasis on understanding how political systems, market size, and resource availability influence the types of opportunities available.
This course develops an understanding of how global markets are simultaneously interconnected and separated by differences in culture, economics, and governments. With the aid of case studies, discussions, and group projects, students will gain insights into these different forces and how they impact global business. These topics will be examined from regional and major country perspectives, reflecting current global business and economic trends.
This course is relevant to managers in all disciplines who will face technological decisions in a global business environment. This course will focus on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) environments around the world, national infrastructures and regulatory regimes, global IT applications, global IS development strategies, global supply chains, offshore outsourcing, global management support systems, and global IS/IT strategies. The course will provide an in-depth understanding of managing information resources across national borders, time zones, cultures, political philosophies, regulatory regimes, and economic infrastructures. This is an interdisciplinary course covering multiple perspectives addressing technical, socio-economic, socio-cultural, policy, regulatory, legal, and ethical issues.
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
(18 credits completed in addition to the MIA Core Curriculum)
Required
(6 credits)
This course focuses on the processes by which domestic and international actors shape trade policy. Protectionist, mercantilist, economic nationalist and liberalist policies are addressed in the context of the international economy. Students will study trade law and the obligations and privileges established by treaty relationships. The role of the World Trade Organization and the significance of regional trade agreements will be discussed.
Prerequisite: PAF 9415 or PAF 9130 or ECO 9704
The course provides an overview of the competing theories of economic development and growth, highlighting the importance of fundamental factors related to culture, geography, and institutions in shaping the prosperity of nations today. Students will learn about the challenges faced by governments, international organizations, and NGOs in addressing poverty and global income inequality, and the related approaches (successful and unsuccessful) taken. Open to Austin W. Marxe School of Public and International Affairs students; others with Marxe School permission.
Prerequisite: PAF 9415 or PAF 9130
Electives
(9 credits from list below, plus 3 credits either from same list or from another graduate program with advisor approval)
In the absence of global government, global economic governance organizations have emerged to coordinate, monitor, manage, and direct the economic and monetary activities of states and firms. This course will introduce students to the agreements and predominant institutions that compose global economic governance regimes, including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization. It will examine organizational and voting structures, rules for legitimate state and non-state participants, compliance mechanisms, and agenda setting.
By 2050 68% of the world’s population will live in cities with particular growth occurring in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. This course will examine urban policymaking from a comparative perspective in cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Karachi, Lagos, Shanghai, Cape Town, and Mumbai. The course will put particular emphasis on policies regarding housing, public safety, and climate change.
This course examines the factors that affect countries’ economic growth in the long run. The class will critically assess various domestic and international policies that have (or have failed to) promote growth and reduce poverty across the world. Students will use data to deconstruct the growth performance of a country into its main determinants and discuss policy recommendations for fostering macroeconomic development.
This course will examine the contemporary policy agenda for political, economic, and social relations among countries in the Western Hemisphere. Among the contemporary cases under study will be: trade and regional economic integration; foreign investment and finance; energy; the environment; security and regional diplomacy; transnational migration; drug trafficking; and democratization and human rights.
This course examines the role of illicit trade in the international system with a focus on its integration with other social, political, and economic processes. This class begins with an overview of the policy challenges associated with illicit trade and then examines a broad array of illicit trade activities. These activities include the drug trade, the arms trade, various forms of human trafficking, the trade in natural resources, and cyber -crime. Students should gain a knowledge of illicit trade broadly and its implications for international policymaking. Students will be expected to write policy related papers related to various illicit trade activities.
This course will examine the contemporary policy agenda for political, economic, and social relations among countries in the Western Hemisphere. Among the contemporary cases under study will be: trade and regional economic integration; foreign investment and finance; energy; the environment; security and regional diplomacy; transnational migration; drug trafficking; and democratization and human rights.
This course will examine the most pressing issues in US national security and international security–including weapons proliferation, cyber warfare, pandemics, climate change, a rising China and a revisionist Russia– and how this country’s ongoing debate on global engagement is affecting the liberal world order and the ability to address these challenges.
This course analyzes the role that government plays in shaping production, investment, consumption and allocation of resources through domestic economic policy as it interacts with other states and international institutions. Students will learn about important theories of international political economy including liberalism, realism and Marxism and become familiar with the role and history of the major institutions that have been created by states to organize international economic relations. The course also addresses the way international economic policy impacts broader social forces and tries to manage the participation of civil society in formulating policy.
Prerequisite: PAF 9415 or PAF 9130 or ECO 9704 and PAF 9410
The course will address competitive regulatory regimes, through which governments seek to attract human capital, taxpayers, industries and jobs; the policy areas which governments alter to compose those regimes, including tax, trade, property rights, social welfare and research policy; and how the areas which are subject to increasing international cooperation, intellectual property rights, accounting practices, movement of persons, and food safety, privilege the participation of different actors in formulating regulatory standards.
Prerequisite: PAF 9415 or PAF 9130.
This course identifies how the media advances or limits democratic values. Students will examine how policy leaders work with media systems to influence public opinion, and the domestic and global policies that shape media diversity. The course also covers the ways individuals and groups monitor, preserve, or challenge the power of the media.
Study and application of theories of organization, with special emphasis on public organizations. Topics include bureaucracy and the nature of organizations, organization environment, interface, organization goals, authority and power in organizations, communications, participation, and problems of alienation.
This course examines program evaluation in public and nonprofit contexts. Topics include: the nature, types, and purposes of evaluation; program theory and logic models; data collection, monitoring, and analysis; experimental and quasi-experimental evaluation designs; internal and external validity; politics of evaluation; stakeholder analysis; and ethics and standards.
Introduction to the social, economic, political, and technological constraints, requisites, and institutions used in development programs both national and transnational.
This course introduces students to the major features and debates in environmental policy, focusing primarily on the metropolitan environment in the United States. Students are introduced to environmental issues with respect to both the human and physical environments; the major interests groups that affect environmental policy; and the regulatory procedures under which environmental policy is implemented, particularly environmental impact analysis under NEPA and state and local environmental reviews.
The course provides an introduction to basic map making skills and the use of maps and spatial data in policy applications. Students will learn how to create and interpret thematic maps, by hands-on experience with mapping software. Advanced topics will include spatial construction of data, and use spatial data in quantitative applications.
Topic will vary from offering to offering.
The course focuses on major areas in nonprofit management. Topics vary from offering to offering.
Prerequisite: Grad 8 status or permission of the Office of Student Affairs and Graduate Admissions
Focuses on major substantive areas of public policy. Topics vary from offering to offering and could include such policy issues as transportation, environmental protection, housing and urban policy, urban development, health and labor.
Prerequisite: Grad 8 status or the permission of the Office of Graduate Admissions and Student Services. This course can be taken two times
This course is relevant to managers in all disciplines who will face technological decisions in a global business environment. This course will focus on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) environments around the world, national infrastructures and regulatory regimes, global IT applications, global IS development strategies, global supply chains, offshore outsourcing, global management support systems, and global IS/IT strategies. The course will provide an in-depth understanding of managing information resources across national borders, time zones, cultures, political philosophies, regulatory regimes, and economic infrastructures. This is an interdisciplinary course covering multiple perspectives addressing technical, socio-economic, socio-cultural, policy, regulatory, legal, and ethical issues.
The rise of emerging markets is changing the world of international business and raises distinctive challenges and opportunities for companies. This course addresses these changes from the perspective of foreign firms entering emerging markets, therefore examining the distinctive business environments of emerging markets and analyzing the strategic options for responding to these effectively. Also, this course considers firms originating in emerging markets, examining their nature, and their impact on the international business environment and on international competition. Differences between emerging markets are explored, with an emphasis on understanding how political systems, market size, and resource availability influence the types of opportunities available.
This course develops an understanding of how global markets are simultaneously interconnected and separated by differences in culture, economics, and governments. With the aid of case studies, discussions, and group projects, students will gain insights into these different forces and how they impact global business. These topics will be examined from regional and major country perspectives, reflecting current global business and economic trends.
This course is designed to introduce the student to the legal issues affecting business in a global economy. The first segment of the course deals with international transactions in goods and covers allocation of risks in international trade, documentary sales, bills of exchange, and letters of credit. The second segment addresses “jurisdiction to prescribe,” the question of what country’s (substantive) law applies to conduct abroad that has an effect within its borders. The third segment, “jurisdiction to adjudicate,” includes the competence of courts, international arbitration, and enforcement of foreign money judgments. The fourth segment covers the treaties and laws that address the international trading systems, i.e., GATT, the U. S. Trade Act, free-trade agreements, the EEC, and the IMF. The final segment, “Act of State and Foreign Sovereign Immunity,” deals with the special risks of doing business abroad and with foreign governments, specifically addressing problems of nationalism
This course provides a framework for understanding how global advertising and marketing communications (public relations, promotions, events, sponsorship, etc.) campaigns are developed and how they succeed and fail in today’s highly competitive and rapidly changing world. It will cover areas such as account planning, market research, consumer insight, branding, positioning, segmentation, creative development and media. Secondarily, it addresses the global environment ranging from developed to developing markets and what makes them unique as well as similar in terms of cultural, social, consumer and other factors.
Prerequisite: MKT 9703
This course focuses on understanding:
- 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
(18 credits completed in addition to the MIA Core Curriculum)
Required
(6 credits)
This course will examine the contemporary policy agenda for political, economic, and social relations among countries in the Western Hemisphere. Among the contemporary cases under study will be: trade and regional economic integration; foreign investment and finance; energy; the environment; security and regional diplomacy; transnational migration; drug trafficking; and democratization and human rights.
PAF 9430 This course will examine migration, diaspora and transnational life in the Western Hemisphere, with comparative reference to other cases. A first section of the course will examine the historical development and causes of migration within the hemisphere, including economic development, immigration laws, recruitment practices and others. A second section of the course examines the emergence of transnational life between migrant sending and receiving societies, at the local, provincial state and national levels. Topics include hometown associations, development, political change, and trans-nationalization of civic and political life. A third section examines the ways in which nation states have addressed the changes resulting from migration, including analysis of different kinds of state-diaspora relations and of types of diasporas in history.
OR
3 hours; 3 credits
PAF 9435 This course examines the multidimensional security agenda in the Western Hemisphere, which encompasses traditional and non-traditional threats. Specifically, it takes an historical approach, analyzing at how “security” has been defined over time by primary state and non-state actors in the hemisphere. The course will also examine the region’s diverse multilateral forums for security cooperation, as well as “nontraditional” security issues, such as human trafficking, drug trafficking, and citizen security.
Electives
(9 credits from list below, plus 3 credits either from list below or from another graduate program with advisor approval)
In the absence of global government, global economic governance organizations have emerged to coordinate, monitor, manage, and direct the economic and monetary activities of states and firms. This course will introduce students to the agreements and predominant institutions that compose global economic governance regimes, including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization. It will examine organizational and voting structures, rules for legitimate state and non-state participants, compliance mechanisms, and agenda setting.
By 2050 68% of the world’s population will live in cities with particular growth occurring in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. This course will examine urban policymaking from a comparative perspective in cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Karachi, Lagos, Shanghai, Cape Town, and Mumbai. The course will put particular emphasis on policies regarding housing, public safety, and climate change.
This course examines the factors that affect countries’ economic growth in the long run. The class will critically assess various domestic and international policies that have (or have failed to) promote growth and reduce poverty across the world. Students will use data to deconstruct the growth performance of a country into its main determinants and discuss policy recommendations for fostering macroeconomic development.
This course examines the role of illicit trade in the international system with a focus on its integration with other social, political, and economic processes. This class begins with an overview of the policy challenges associated with illicit trade and then examines a broad array of illicit trade activities. These activities include the drug trade, the arms trade, various forms of human trafficking, the trade in natural resources, and cyber -crime. Students should gain a knowledge of illicit trade broadly and its implications for international policymaking. Students will be expected to write policy related papers related to various illicit trade activities.
This course will examine migration, diaspora and transnational life in the Western Hemisphere, with comparative reference to other cases. A first section of the course will examine the historical development and causes of migration within the hemisphere, including economic development, immigration laws, recruitment practices and others. A second section of the course examines the emergence of transnational life between migrant sending and receiving societies, at the local, provincial state and national levels. Topics include hometown associations, development, political change, and trans-nationalization of civic and political life. A third section examines the ways in which nation states have addressed the changes resulting from migration, including analysis of different kinds of state-diaspora relations and of types of diasporas in history.
This course examines the multidimensional security agenda in the Western Hemisphere, which encompasses traditional and non-traditional threats. Specifically, it takes an historical approach, analyzing at how “security” has been defined over time by primary state and non-state actors in the hemisphere. The course will also examine the region’s diverse multilateral forums for security cooperation, as well as “nontraditional” security issues, such as human trafficking, drug trafficking, and citizen security.
This course will examine the most pressing issues in US national security and international security–including weapons proliferation, cyber warfare, pandemics, climate change, a rising China and a revisionist Russia– and how this country’s ongoing debate on global engagement is affecting the liberal world order and the ability to address these challenges.
This course focuses on the processes by which domestic and international actors shape trade policy. Protectionist, mercantilist, economic nationalist and liberalist policies are addressed in the context of the international economy. Students will study trade law and the obligations and privileges established by treaty relationships. The role of the World Trade Organization and the significance of regional trade agreements will be discussed.
Prerequisite: PAF 9415 or PAF 9130 or ECO 9704
This course analyzes the role that government plays in shaping production, investment, consumption and allocation of resources through domestic economic policy as it interacts with other states and international institutions. Students will learn about important theories of international political economy including liberalism, realism and Marxism and become familiar with the role and history of the major institutions that have been created by states to organize international economic relations. The course also addresses the way international economic policy impacts broader social forces and tries to manage the participation of civil society in formulating policy.
Prerequisite: PAF 9415 or PAF 9130 or ECO 9704 and PAF 9410
The course provides an overview of the competing theories of economic development and growth, highlighting the importance of fundamental factors related to culture, geography, and institutions in shaping the prosperity of nations today. Students will learn about the challenges faced by governments, international organizations, and NGOs in addressing poverty and global income inequality, and the related approaches (successful and unsuccessful) taken.
Prerequisite: PAF 9415 or PAF 9130 and PAF 9170
This course identifies how the media advances or limits democratic values. Students will examine how policy leaders work with media systems to influence public opinion, and the domestic and global policies that shape media diversity. The course also covers the ways individuals and groups monitor, preserve, or challenge the power of the media.
Study and application of theories of organization, with special emphasis on public organizations. Topics include bureaucracy and the nature of organizations, organization environment, interface, organization goals, authority and power in organizations, communications, participation, and problems of alienation.
This course examines program evaluation in public and nonprofit contexts. Topics include: the nature, types, and purposes of evaluation; program theory and logic models; data collection, monitoring, and analysis; experimental and quasi-experimental evaluation designs; internal and external validity; politics of evaluation; stakeholder analysis; and ethics and standards.
This course introduces students to the major features and debates in environmental policy, focusing primarily on the metropolitan environment in the United States. Students are introduced to environmental issues with respect to both the human and physical environments; the major interests groups that affect environmental policy; and the regulatory procedures under which environmental policy is implemented, particularly environmental impact analysis under NEPA and state and local environmental reviews.
The course provides an introduction to basic map making skills and the use of maps and spatial data in policy applications. Students will learn how to create and interpret thematic maps, by hands-on experience with mapping software. Advanced topics will include spatial construction of data, and use spatial data in quantitative applications
Topic will vary from offering to offering.
The course focuses on major areas in nonprofit management. Topics vary from offering to offering.
Prerequisite: Grad 8 status or permission of the Office of Student Affairs and Graduate Admissions
Focuses on major substantive areas of public policy. Topics vary from offering to offering and could include such policy issues as transportation, environmental protection, housing and urban policy, urban development, health and labor. Prerequisite: Grad 8 status or the permission of the Office of Graduate Admissions and Student Services. This course can be taken two times.
This course is relevant to managers in all disciplines who will face technological decisions in a global business environment. This course will focus on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) environments around the world, national infrastructures and regulatory regimes, global IT applications, global IS development strategies, global supply chains, offshore outsourcing, global management support systems, and global IS/IT strategies. The course will provide an in-depth understanding of managing information resources across national borders, time zones, cultures, political philosophies, regulatory regimes, and economic infrastructures. This is an interdisciplinary course covering multiple perspectives addressing technical, socioeconomic, sociocultural, policy, regulatory, legal, and ethical issues.
The rise of emerging markets is changing the world of international business and raises distinctive challenges and opportunities for companies. This course addresses these changes from the perspective of foreign firms entering emerging markets, therefore examining the distinctive business environments of emerging markets and analyzing the strategic options for responding to these effectively. Also, this course considers firms originating in emerging markets, examining their nature, and their impact on the international business environment and on international competition. Differences between emerging markets are explored, with an emphasis on understanding how political systems, market size, and resource availability influence the types of opportunities available.
This course develops an understanding of how global markets are simultaneously interconnected and separated by differences in culture, economics, and governments. With the aid of case studies, discussions, and group projects, students will gain insights into these different forces and how they impact global business. These topics will be examined from regional and major country perspectives, reflecting current global business and economic trends.
This course is designed to introduce the student to the legal issues affecting business in a global economy. The first segment of the course deals with international transactions in goods and covers allocation of risks in international trade, documentary sales, bills of exchange, and letters of credit. The second segment addresses “jurisdiction to prescribe,” the question of what country’s (substantive) law applies to conduct abroad that has an effect within its borders. The third segment, “jurisdiction to adjudicate,” includes the competence of courts, international arbitration, and enforcement of foreign money judgments. The fourth segment covers the treaties and laws that address the international trading systems, i.e., GATT, the U. S. Trade Act, free-trade agreements, the EEC, and the IMF. The final segment, “Act of State and Foreign Sovereign Immunity,” deals with the special risks of doing business abroad and with foreign governments, specifically addressing problems of nationalization and expropriation.
This course provides a framework for understanding how global advertising and marketing communications (public relations, promotions, events, sponsorship, etc.) campaigns are developed and how they succeed and fail in today’s highly competitive and rapidly changing world. It will cover areas such as account planning, market research, consumer insight, branding, positioning, segmentation, creative development and media. Secondarily, it addresses the global environment ranging from developed to developing markets and what makes them unique as well as similar in terms of cultural, social, consumer and other factors.
Prerequisite: MKT 9703
This course focuses on understanding:
- 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
(18 credits completed in addition to the MIA Core Curriculum)
Working with a faculty adviser, students can design a rigorous program of study tailored to their interests and career ambitions. Examples may include climate and migration, hemispheric marketing, global health, international education, financial crimes and economic governance.
MIA Academic Plan – Enrolled PRIOR to Fall 2022 For ALL Concentrations
MIA Academic Plan – Enrolled Fall 2022 and after – For ALL Concentrations
MIA Special Concentration- Fall 2022 and AFTER
MIA Trade Policy & Global Economic Governance Concentration – Fall 2022 and after
MIA Western Hemisphere Affairs Concentration – Fall 2022 & After
MIA International Non-Governmental Organizations Concentration – Fall 2022 and after