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.

U.S. agricultural practice has been presented as a paradigm for the rest of the world to emulate, yet is a result of over a century of unique development. Contemporary agriculture has its historical roots in the widely varied farming practices, social and political organizations, and attitudes toward the land of generations of farmers and visionaries. We will explore major forces shaping the practice of U.S. agriculture, particularly geographical and social perspectives and the development and adoption of agricultural science and technology.

The objective of this course is to understand the role of micro- and small- and medium- enterprises (MSMEs) in developing economies and to identify and assess a range of policies and programs to promote their development. By tracing the evolution of development thinking in finance and MSME development, students will be exposed to the intellectual underpinnings of -and practical tools used in- a wide variety of approaches to MSME development.

This course provides a rigorous survey of the key areas of natural science that are critical to understanding sustainable development. The course will provide the theories, methodological techniques and applications associated with each natural science unit presented. The teaching is designed to ensure that students have the natural science basis to properly appreciate the co-dependencies of natural and human systems, which are central to understanding sustainable development. Students will learn the complexities of the interaction between the natural and human environment.

This course explores how Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) objectives and data are integrated into investment decision-making. Through a combination of academic theory, real-world case studies, and hands-on exercises, students examine how ESG considerations affect risk, return, and portfolio design. Key topics include ESG portfolio theory, impact investing, fixed income and labeled bonds, engagement and proxy voting, and climate-aware investing.

Instructor permission required. Join the waitlist in Vergil to request registration.

Today’s most pressing challenges, including climate change, social inequities, and financial instability, are complex, global, and systemic. This course explores how investors can respond through system-level investing, an emerging approach that considers the deep interconnections among financial markets, the real economy, and long-term environmental, social, and governance (ESG) outcomes.

Impact Investing I: Foundations introduces students to the core principles, tools, and actors shaping the field of impact investing. The course provides a foundational understanding of how capital markets can be leveraged to address global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, inequality, and poverty, while also generating financial returns.

Impact Investing II: Blended Finance'' equips students with a detailed understanding of the tools, strategies and innovative approaches being utilized by investors seeking both financial and impact returns, via blended finance transactions. Students in this course will study cases, dig into transactions and be prepared to be a professional contributor to a transaction at a future employer.

Instructor permission required. Students must 1) submit an application via https://forms.gle/TRbJrFMZKE8NbpJu7  and 2) join the waitlist in Vergil to be considered for enrollment. Without both of these steps complete, student applications cannot be considered. Please do not email any materials to the Professor or the TA.

How do the world’s poorest people save money without access to banks or credit? This course explores the power of informal savings systems, such as tandas in Mexico, susus in West Africa, and dhikutis in Nepal, that help hundreds of millions build financial stability through trust, discipline, and community support.

The objective of this course is to learn and apply practical approaches to leveraging business innovation to spur socially and environmentally sustainable development, based on an understanding of the role of enterprises—especially small and growing businesses (SBGs)—in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs).

This course provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the global financial system through the lens of sustainable development. Rather than focusing on ESG or impact investing, the course examines the structures, incentives, and decision-making processes of key financial actors, including public finance institutions, development banks, asset owners, central banks, and private capital markets, and how they can be mobilized to support the goals of sustainable development.

Current and future public sector leaders face serious challenges in overcoming society’s most difficult and intractable social and environmental issues. Although many of our world’s problems may seem too great and too complex to solve—inequality, climate change, affordable housing, food insecurity—solutions to these challenges do exist, and will be found through new partnerships bringing together leaders from the public, private, and philanthropic sectors.

Prerequisite: SIPA IA6200 Accounting. (Note: Based on their performance in SIPA IA6260 Accounting Fundamentals, IA6260 students may be allowed to register if space remains.) 

MIA & MPA Leadership and Management II Core. This course builds on core leadership concepts by focusing on startup strategy, entrepreneurial execution, and organizational leadership in uncertain environments. Through case studies and practitioner insights, students will apply Lean Startup methodologies, explore the ethical and cultural dimensions of entrepreneurial leadership, and assess the impact of generative AI on innovation.

MPA Financial Management Core I and II. This course introduces the principles and practices of financial reporting, with the goal of enabling students to become informed users of financial information in both public and private sector contexts. Emphasis is placed on understanding the three primary financial statements: the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows; and the accounting concepts and rules that shape them.

MPA Financial Management II Core. This course introduces students to budgeting and financial management in the public sector, with an emphasis on real-world application and analytical skill development. Drawing on current and historical challenges—including the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic—students will explore the political, technical, and managerial dimensions of public budgeting in the United States. 

MPA Financial Management II Core. This course introduces nonprofit and social enterprise finance, financial management, and budgeting. The course is practical and hands-on.  The course will examine how financial management principles assist nonprofit and social enterprise leaders make operating, program, and long-term financial and strategic decisions.

This workshop-style course introduces students to the principles of social entrepreneurship and human-centered design. Working in teams, students will identify pressing social or environmental challenges, conduct stakeholder research, and develop new venture ideas through iterative prototyping, budgeting, and pitching. The course emphasizes design thinking methodologies and includes instruction in customer discovery, solution testing, and storytelling for social impact.

Instructor permission required. Join the waitlist in Vergil to request registration.

This course explores the strategies, tools, and policy environments required to scale ventures beyond the startup phase, particularly in regions outside traditional tech hubs such as Silicon Valley. Students examine the entrepreneurial journey from early traction to sustained growth, considering both bottom-up approaches focused on talent, capital, and customer acquisition, and top-down approaches focused on policy and ecosystem design. Emphasis is placed on high-impact sectors including AI, blockchain, fintech, and edtech, as well as opportunities in underserved markets.

This intensive course introduces students to the principles and practice of impact investing and financial innovation in both developed and emerging markets. With a focus on sustainability, students explore how capital can be deployed to generate financial, social, and environmental returns. The course analyzes key instruments such as social impact bonds, green bonds, and microfinance, and examines the role of policy, measurement frameworks, and regulatory developments shaping the field. Students develop their own applied projects, either research papers or business plans.

This course provides an applied introduction to cost-benefit analysis (CBA) as a tool for evaluating public policies. Students will learn how to interpret and produce CBAs through lectures, problem sets, and real-world case studies focused on environmental, financial, agricultural, and transportation policies. Emphasis is placed on CBAs conducted by government agencies, including critical review of regulatory analyses and formulation of public comments.

How has the quest to produce enough food shaped societies, economies, and the environment in the United States and beyond? This course examines the powerful historical forces that have driven transformations in food production and policy over the past century, and how those forces continue to shape debates around sustainability, food security, and development today.

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.

This course explores the foundational and advanced dimensions of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), alongside relevant aspects of International Human Rights Law (IHRL) as they apply to situations of armed conflict. Designed for students interested in the legal regulation of contemporary warfare, the course focuses on providing the conceptual and practical tools to identify, interpret, and apply international legal norms in real-world conflict situations.

In many parts of the world, humanitarian actors cannot successfully alleviate and prevent the suffering of people living in areas affected by armed conflict without engaging with armed groups.  The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) estimates that there are over 450 armed groups of humanitarian concern worldwide, over 130 of which are parties to a non-international armed conflict. Africa accounts for over 40% of these groups, with about 20% in each of the Near and Middle East (NAME), the Americas, and in the Asia and Pacific.

Whilst the global number of people living in poverty has significantly decreased over the last decades, there is an increasing number of severe and protracted humanitarian emergencies, caused by conflict, governance failures, climate change, and man-made disasters. These challenges are compounded by recent changes in geopolitical strategies and policies, which already have profound immediate and will have long-term impact on reducing extreme poverty, resolving conflicts, and making the Sustainable Development Goals increasingly elusive..  

According to the 2025 Global Humanitarian Overview, humanitarian partners are seeking over $47 billion to assist nearly 190 million people facing life-threatening and urgent needs across 72 countries. These alarming figures are driven by various factors, including conflicts, political instability, climate change, disease outbreaks, poverty, and natural disasters. Additionally, a rise in nationalism is impacting multilateral cooperation, which is essential for the effective functioning of the humanitarian system.

This short course is designed to enable participating students to weigh and apply humanitarian principles, concepts, best practices, and minimum standards to a simulated humanitarian emergency response. The simulation exercise challenges student participants with issues and dilemmas confronting humanitarian practitioners when responding to a complex emergency, and inspires them to work within the humanitarian system and architecture to solve problems in creative ways.

This advanced seminar critically examines the evolving challenges, limitations, and potential of human rights and humanitarianism as frameworks for justice and global governance. Centering human rights discourse, the course invites students to examine foundational concepts such as universality, accountability, sovereignty, and identity, while addressing complex topics and challenging cases.

This is a two-day intensive course. Over the past decade, the number of civil wars globally has increased dramatically, driven by a proliferation of non-state armed groups, illicit transnational networks and regional actors. The rise of civil wars has meant conflicts are not only harder to resolve via traditional forms of diplomacy, but also more likely to relapse; in fact, 60 per cent of the civil wars that reached peace agreements in the early 2000s have since fallen back into conflict.

This course introduces the study and practice of international conflict resolution, providing students with a broad understanding of the subject and a framework for approaching more specific strands of study offered by CICR. Can a war be stopped before it starts? Is it realistic to talk about ‘managing’ a war and mitigating its consequences? What eventually brings adversaries to the negotiating table? How do mediation efforts unfold and how are the key issues resolved? Why do peace processes and peace agreements so often fail to bring durable peace?

This highly participatory course equips students with the tools and frameworks to negotiate effectively, resolve conflict, and build consensus in public and international affairs contexts. Through simulations, students learn to navigate a range of scenarios, including environmental disputes, diplomatic negotiations, and organizational conflicts, using both distributive and interest-based strategies. Core topics include preparation and strategy, cross-cultural communication, power dynamics, consensus building, and coalition management.

Education is often the first casualty of crisis—and the cornerstone of recovery.

This course examines the challenges and opportunities in 21st-century public education policy, spanning from Pre-K to higher education, with a particular focus on issues of race, poverty, equity, and access in the post-COVID landscape and within the context of the 2024 U.S. election. Through a case-based, solutions-oriented approach, students examine the role of government, philanthropy, and other stakeholders in shaping public education outcomes.

This course examines the central challenges of climate change policy and diplomacy through three core questions: What should the world do about climate change? Why have past efforts largely failed? How can more effective strategies be developed? Drawing on perspectives from science, economics, ethics, international law, and game theory, students will explore both normative and practical dimensions of global climate action.

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.

This course explores how Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and climate considerations are reshaping public market investment strategies. Students will learn how institutional investors use ESG signals and climate-related data to assess risk, identify opportunity, and support real-world outcomes—all while meeting fiduciary obligations.

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.

This course examines the relationship between human well-being and the natural environment through the lens of economics and policy analysis. Students will explore the causes and consequences of environmental degradation, the behaviors that drive it, and the policy tools available to address it. The course introduces a conceptual framework grounded in economics, while drawing from environmental science, ethics, political science, law, and game theory to address questions of efficiency, equity, incidence, and institutional design.

This course introduces students to the structure and strategy of international project finance in the energy sector, with emphasis on projects central to the global energy transition and LNG market expansion. Through real-world case studies and hands-on modeling exercises, students will analyze project risks, develop risk ratings, and assess cashflows to determine equity returns and lender credit metrics.

This course provides a rigorous introduction to renewable energy project finance modeling, focusing on the concepts, structures, and financial mechanisms that underpin investment in renewable energy projects such as wind and solar. Through lectures, demonstrations, and guided analysis of actual project documents and contracts, students will develop a comprehensive understanding of the key drivers of renewable energy economics and financing.

Carbon pricing has become a central tool in global climate policy, with over 70 jurisdictions implementing carbon taxes or emissions trading systems that now cover more than one quarter of global emissions. This course explores how carbon markets and taxes are designed, reformed, and evaluated, using real-world case studies from Europe, the Americas, Asia, and beyond.

Existing energy sources and the infrastructures that deliver them are undergoing a period of rapid change. Limits to growth, fluctuating raw material prices, and the emergence of new technologies contribute to heightened risk and opportunity in the energy sector. This course aims to establish a core energy skill set for students and prepare them for more advanced coursework by introducing a foundational language and toolset for analyzing energy issues.

This course examines the evolution and future of electricity markets worldwide in the context of liberalization, decarbonization, and technological change. As clean energy costs decline and electrification accelerates, the power sector faces increasing pressure to deliver reliable, affordable, and low-emission electricity.

This course examines the pathways, technologies, and policies for transitioning energy systems from fossil fuels to low-carbon alternatives. Energy systems underpin modern economies and human well-being but remain the primary driver of climate change. The course introduces the scientific, economic, and political foundations of energy decarbonization and surveys the barriers to reducing emissions across major sectors, including power, transportation, buildings, and industry.

This course examines global and national energy policies with international implications, focusing on the intersections of energy sustainability, energy security, and energy equity, commonly referred to as the "energy trilemma." Students will explore how national decisions shape global outcomes and how international frameworks influence domestic policies. Special attention is given to the political economy of the energy transition, with case studies on fossil fuels, renewables, subsidies, and critical mineral supply chains.

This course examines the relationship between energy production, human development, and sustainability. It explores how energy projects, businesses, and policies—collectively referred to as “energy enterprises”—operate in frontier markets and developing countries. Students will analyze how energy access and use intersect with critical issues such as poverty, gender, health, displacement, and environmental justice.

Emerging and developing economies are expected to account for the bulk of the energy demand and carbon emissions growth in the coming decades. Drastic changes are necessary to their current energy systems and future energy infrastructure so that it is in line with global climate goals—an effort that will require significant amounts of capital. This course will look at the formidable task of financing the energy transition in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs).

The field of responsible investment has grown rapidly over the last twenty years, with the climate crisis serving as the paradigmatic ESG issue for investors. In the private sector, investors pledge to decarbonize their portfolios, ask for carbon reporting to manage that task, join together to engage corporations on their transition plans. As activity has grown, questions about the effectiveness and limitations of climate finance approaches to the climate crisis have grown along with them.

This interdisciplinary seminar examines the role of multinational energy companies in the context of international human rights, corporate responsibility, and global governance. Drawing on case studies and legal frameworks, the course explores how extractive industries intersect with political, environmental, and social systems, particularly in transitional and emerging economies.

This course provides a rigorous survey of the key areas of natural science that are critical to understanding sustainable development. The course will provide the theories, methodological techniques and applications associated with each natural science unit presented. The teaching is designed to ensure that students have the natural science basis to properly appreciate the co-dependencies of natural and human systems, which are central to understanding sustainable development. Students will learn the complexities of the interaction between the natural and human environment.

This course provides an applied introduction to cost-benefit analysis (CBA) as a tool for evaluating public policies. Students will learn how to interpret and produce CBAs through lectures, problem sets, and real-world case studies focused on environmental, financial, agricultural, and transportation policies. Emphasis is placed on CBAs conducted by government agencies, including critical review of regulatory analyses and formulation of public comments.

Research shows that countries with deeper levels of financial inclusion -- defined as access to affordable, appropriate financial services -- have stronger GDP growth rates and lower income inequality. In recent years, research around the financial habits and needs of poor households has yielded rich information on how they manage their financial lives, allowing for the design of financial solutions that better meet their needs, boosting financial inclusion. Nevertheless, an estimated 1.3 billion people globally remain underserved by financial services. 

How do the world’s poorest people save money without access to banks or credit? This course explores the power of informal savings systems, such as tandas in Mexico, susus in West Africa, and dhikutis in Nepal, that help hundreds of millions build financial stability through trust, discipline, and community support.

Gender equality, and women’s and girls’ empowerment, are now widely accepted as development goals in their own right, and essential to inclusive and sustainable development.    But despite progress in many areas, gender gaps and discrimination persist.  How did gender equality move from the periphery to the center of development discourse, and what difference has this made?

Race, along with other social identifiers – for example, gender, caste, ethnicity, and religious affiliation – have shaped the history, practice and culture of international aid and development since its post-World War II foundations. In 2020, global uprisings for Black lives were catalyzed by the murder of George Floyd in the U.S. and a growing recognition of the disproportionate impacts of state violence against racial and ethnic minorities around the world.

This course introduces the legal frameworks, institutions, and advocacy strategies that underpin the international human rights system. With a practitioner’s lens, students will explore civil, political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights through treaties, customary law, and jurisprudence. Emphasis is placed on understanding where and how the law offers avenues for redress, and the evolving role of human rights advocacy in confronting modern challenges, including corporate accountability, gender discrimination, and climate justice.

This course equips students with practical skills for designing and implementing human rights advocacy strategies. Through a mix of case studies, simulations, and applied writing assignments, students will learn how to identify advocacy goals, analyze targets and power structures, and select effective tactics. The course explores advocacy with governments, legislatures, and UN bodies, as well as the use of media, digital tools, and coalition-building to advance human rights.

This course explores the evolving relationship between the private sector and human rights, with emphasis on legal frameworks, global standards, and practical approaches to corporate accountability. Students examine the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and other key instruments that shape responsible business conduct across sectors.

This course examines the intersection of human rights and economic inequality, exploring how political and economic governance influence access to rights and justice. Students will assess how human rights principles are integrated into economic policy frameworks, including trade, labor, development, and environmental regulation, and how these frameworks shape both public accountability and corporate responsibility.

This course examines the political and ethical challenges of confronting historical violence and the demands for redress in transitional, democratic, and post-conflict societies. Through case studies from across the globe, students explore how memory, historical responsibility, and justice intersect in efforts toward reconciliation.

This advanced seminar critically examines the evolving challenges, limitations, and potential of human rights and humanitarianism as frameworks for justice and global governance. Centering human rights discourse, the course invites students to examine foundational concepts such as universality, accountability, sovereignty, and identity, while addressing complex topics and challenging cases.

This course introduces students to gender mainstreaming, gender analysis, and intersectionality as both theoretical frameworks and applied methodologies in global affairs. Students will examine how gender perspectives are integrated into international policymaking, development programming, and institutional change across diverse fields, including education, public health, economic development, international finance, peace and security, and sustainability.

This interdisciplinary seminar examines the role of multinational energy companies in the context of international human rights, corporate responsibility, and global governance. Drawing on case studies and legal frameworks, the course explores how extractive industries intersect with political, environmental, and social systems, particularly in transitional and emerging economies.

The European Union (EU) has a deep and broad commitment to the respect and promotion of human rights, both in its internal and its external policies. However, it often faces difficulties in living up to this commitment. In this course we will study the EU’s commitment to human rights as outlined in its founding Treaties, the role of its institutional actors in following up on this commitment, and the EU’s internal and external actions and policies in this respect. For the EU’s internal policies we will focus in particular on its non-discrimination policies as well as its migration policy.