Core courses

Instructor: Seva Gunitsky 

Lecture: Mon 11 AM -1 PM 
Tutorials: Tue 1-2 PM & Thurs 1-2 PM

This course introduces students to the theories, concepts, histories, and actors that are fundamental to the field of peace, conflict, and justice. Students will discuss meanings, causes, obstacles, and sustainability of peace and justice through the discussion of historical and contemporary cases from around the world. Stemming from the interdisciplinary aspect of the field, students will learn a wide range of theoretical, empirical, and policy-oriented perspectives on thematic topics such as protection and violation of human rights, social and economic inequalities, and causes of violence and oppression. This course is intended for first year PCJ students and it serves as a gateway for all other courses offered in the PCJ program. This course is a requirement for PCJ majors and specialists.

Instructor: Paola Salardi

Lecture: Wed 11 AM - 1 PM
Tutorial: Thurs 1 - 2 PM

The goal of this course is to introduce students to data literacy and applications in the topics of peace, conflict, and justice. The course is broadly divided into two parts. The first part will introduce data in the context of peace, conflict, and justice studies and outline the research process. Students will learn advanced quantitative research designs and will work with fundamental descriptive statistics tools. Students will work with different datasets, learn how to summarize data for different types of variables through graphs and tables, and explore measures of association between variables. In the second part of the course, students will work on data projects related to peace, conflict, and justice. Students will also design their own research relevant in PCJ. This course is a requirement for PCJ Specialists and open to PCJ Majors with approval from the Director.

Instructor: Benoît Gomis

Lecture: Tue 11 AM - 1 PM

This course provides students an opportunity to learn by providing valuable services to local, national, or international organizations. This model of experiential learning is called organization partner experiences, in which students work in teams on a project that is of relevance to the partner organization. The overarching theme in this course is inclusion through access to public services. Access to public services such as education, health, and public provision of services is one of the most important ways in which disadvantaged populations experience upward socioeconomic mobility. Students will gain insights about inequality of access to public service, conduct critical analysis of current issues, and produce deliverables to understand issues of socio-economic inequality in societies around the world. This course is a requirement for PCJ majors and specialists.

Instructor: David Zarnett

Lecture: Mon 9 -11 AM

This course guides each student through their own individual research project, embedded in an interactive group learning process, to offer an applied introduction to research methods for peace, conflict and justice studies. Students work through the research in the field of peace, conflict and justice studies, such as: identifying a research question, learning how to write a critical literature review, developing a rigorous research design, and applying quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods to answering research inquires. The final deliverable is a draft of a research proposal or an empirical research-based paper. This course is a requirement for PCJ Specialists and open to PCJ Majors with approval from the Director.

Instructor: Nina Srinivasan Rathbun 

Lecture: Tue 1- 3 PM 
Tutorials: Fri 11 AM - 12 PM & 12 - 1 PM

This course introduces students to key research design and methods employed in the study of peace, conflict and justice. It considers both qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research frameworks prominent in research drawn from a range of disciplines and approaches. Some methods explored in this course might include: descriptive analysis, correlational studies, bivariate or multivariate regression models, surveys, interviews, focus groups, and country case studies. The class teaches students how to read, understand and critique these frameworks and the scholarship they influence/produce. Concepts of causality, internal and external validity, inductive and deductive reasoning, and ethics in research will also be covered. This course is a requirement for PCJ majors and specialists.

Instructor: Laura Garcia-Montoya

Lecture: Tue 3-5 PM 
Tutorial: Fri 1-2 PM

This course builds on various multi-disciplinary approaches to explore how inequalities shape violence, conflict, and post-conflict dynamics. It teaches students to understand and engage critically in debates in the field and to discover connections between the power structures that shape the emergence of violent conflicts, their dynamics, and their legacies. In addition, this course will offer students practical tools to analyze the intersection of conflict and inequality, as well as the implications of that intersection for pursuing peace. This course is a requirement for PCJ major and specialists.

Instructor: Jonathan Ostry

Lecture: Wed 3-5 PM

Neoliberal thinking has dominated economic policy advice for decades. Such thinking is premised on the notion that policy makers should “go for growth” because a rising tide lifts all boats. Politicians increasingly reject such advice as being at best politically naïve and at worst responsible for outcomes that have not been inclusive (some boats rise much higher than others with the tide—higher inequality). Policy makers need to make choices about both the level of economic growth and the inclusiveness of such growth, taking account of interactions between the two variables, including the extent to which high inequality undercuts the sustainability of healthy economic growth. This course will familiarize students with a range of empirical evidence on the growth experience of both advanced and developing countries; about the nexus between economic reforms and growth; and about the drivers of rising inequality, including policy drivers. It will also cover the political economy of reform, including how to design pro-growth policies that do not contribute to an electoral backlash.

Instructor: Shiri Breznitz

Lecture: Wed 9 - 11 AM

This course explores the complex relationship between innovation, technology, and policy. Students will investigate different perspectives on the meaning of economic development and develop an understanding of globalization and its impact on innovation and economic growth. We will consider new strategies for economic development that focus on knowledge, technological innovation and creativity, considering national, regional and local economic development policies and practices.

Instructor: Sverrir Steinsson

Lecture: Thurs 3 - 5 PM

This course explores how the Internet and digital technology more broadly are affecting politics, as well as how politics is affecting the Internet. Students will consider ways in which the Internet is affecting relations between states. This can include the creation of new governance structures to regulate the Internet, as well as use of the Internet for malicious purposes and to coerce adversaries. Students will learn how the Internet is changing markets, creating new challenges for governments, businesses, and labor. The course explore how states, corporations, and users compete to control technology platforms such as Facebook, Google, and Wikipedia, which play a pivotal role in shaping the global public sphere.

Instructor: TBD

Lecture: Thurs 11 AM - 1 PM

This course explores selected issues in the field of Peace, Conflict ands Justice. Topics may vary from year to year. Through a suite of recent readings, students will strive to critically examine implications and challenges of, and solutions to the issues being studied. Please visit the Trudeau Centre for Peace, Conflict and Justice website for current offering information.

To enroll, please contact the Munk School Undergraduate Program Coordinator at undergraduatecoordinator.munkschool@utoronto.ca to request an application form, which should be filled out in consultation with the faculty supervisor and include a detailed description of the course topic, reading list, and assignments/marking scheme, at least three weeks before the start of term.

Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. Details at https://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/academics/research-opportunities/research-opportunities-program. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

This course is designed to provide students with the opportunity to explore topics not covered in the curriculum, or to develop a more detailed focus on topics covered. Approval of the program director is required. The student must obtain written agreement of the instructor who will supervise the independent study, submit the proposal to and obtain approval from the director and program administrator, who will then add the student to the course. Not eligible for CR/NCR option. Applications are due two weeks before course enrolment deadlines.

Instructor: Sverrir Steinsson

Lecture: Thurs 1 - 3 PM

This course explores the role of state size in world politics. Students will consider different ways to categorize states and analyze the ways in which power is exercised in world politics. The course explores how states have varied in size over the course of history and seeks to explain this variation. Students will consider the unique political, economic, and social advantages, disadvantages, challenges, and needs of states of varying sizes. Lastly, the course seeks to understand how and whether the size of states explains their foreign policy behaviors, economic outcomes, and domestic policies.e offers upper year students the opportunity for an in-depth examination of various themes in Global Affairs & Public Policy. Topics vary from year to year, depending on the instructor. Course may not be repeated under the same subtitle.

Instructor: Marci Shore

Lecture: Wed 11 AM - 1 PM
Tutorials: Wed 1 - 2 PM,  2 - 3 PM & 3 - 4 PM & Thurs 1 - 2 PM, 2 - 3 PM & 5 - 6 PM

This course explores the role of language and moral claims in shaping controversies and their potential resolutions. We will grapple with how ideas define perceptions of fairness, of good and evil, of groups and their boundaries, and of challenges and controversies. The course will draw examples from history, law, philosophy, and politics.

Instructor: Paola Salardi

Lecture: Wed 1-3 PM 
Tutorial: Thurs 3-4 PM

This course examines the relationship between violent conflict and socio-economic development. Students will investigate how political violence shapes education, health, labor markets, and migration, and how these micro-level impacts connect to broader challenges of governance, institutions, and long-term growth. The course combines theoretical frameworks with empirical evidence, drawing on both country case studies and cross-country analyses, to help students critically assess how conflict and development interact and reinforce one another.

Instructor: Jonathan Ostry

Lecture: Wed 3-5 PM

Neoliberal thinking has dominated economic policy advice for decades. Such thinking is premised on the notion that policy makers should “go for growth” because a rising tide lifts all boats. Politicians increasingly reject such advice as being at best politically naïve and at worst responsible for outcomes that have not been inclusive (some boats rise much higher than others with the tide—higher inequality). Policy makers need to make choices about both the level of economic growth and the inclusiveness of such growth, taking account of interactions between the two variables, including the extent to which high inequality undercuts the sustainability of healthy economic growth. This course will familiarize students with a range of empirical evidence on the growth experience of both advanced and developing countries; about the nexus between economic reforms and growth; and about the drivers of rising inequality, including policy drivers. It will also cover the political economy of reform, including how to design pro-growth policies that do not contribute to an electoral backlash.

Instructor: Julia Gray

Lecture: Thurs 11 AM - 1 PM

This course examines how states and firms design, erode, and reinvent trade cooperation across regions and time. From the failed International Trade Organization to the WTO’s stalled rule-making, exclusion and backsliding have long shaped global commerce. Students explore when actors favor flexible bilateral deals versus institutionalized arrangements, with cases spanning ASEAN, the European Union, Latin America, North America (CUFTA, NAFTA, CUSMA), and newer mega-regionals. Combining theory and evidence, the course equips students to analyze tariff bargaining, non-tariff barriers, institutional change, and geopolitics, situating contemporary trade conflicts within decades of experimentation in rules-based trade.

Instructor: Alexandra Rahr

Lecture: Thurs 1 - 3 PM

It is no secret that populism is resurgent in many parts of the global West, or that this revival often features unabashed demagogues trumpeting a politics of exclusion. But what do these terms mean, precisely, and what cultures and histories inform them? This class will examine the figure of the demagogue and the ideology of populism, in the context of the United States. We will consider how appeals to “the people” mobilize rage and resentment, dig into populism's progressive Black roots and interrogate the techniques which pit the “average American” against putatively corrupt institutions and privileged elites. Along the way, we will read a range historical and contemporary populist texts, from Alexander Hamilton's letters railing against demagoguery, to Occupy Wall Street's aspirational post-capitalist tweets, to the National Rifle Association's TV show “Armed and Fabulous” and contemporary country music's “pickup truck” populism.

Instructor: Nina Srinivasan Rathbun 

Lecture: Mon 9 - 11 AM

An exploration of selected issues in global affairs and public policy involving an overseas and/or practicum component. Students will engage in partnership‑based academic internships. By applying their classroom learning to real community and workplace settings, they will further develop and strengthen their professional skills.

Eligible students who wish to do a placement must submit an online application form early in the preceding term, which can be found on the Munk School’s undergraduate courses webpage along with instructions and the application deadline.

Instructor: Aaron Gluck Thaler

Lecture: Thurs 3-5 PM

This course considers how technology and surveillance has shaped modern society. Tracing changes in surveillance over time, the course examines how different actors, from scientists to social theorists, policymakers, and activists, have differentially conceptualized surveillance and its consequences. The course pays special attention to the social, political, and economic contexts central to the emergence of data-intensive surveillance. The course assesses how new surveillance practices, including the use of artificial intelligence, are reconfiguring the relationship between industry and the state, as well as introducing human rights concerns.

To enroll, please contact the Munk School Undergraduate Program Coordinator at undergraduatecoordinator.munkschool@utoronto.ca to request an application form, which should be filled out in consultation with the faculty supervisor and include a detailed description of the course topic, reading list, and assignments/marking scheme, at least three weeks before the start of term.

Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. Details at https://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/academics/research-opportunities/research-opportunities-program. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Instructor: Manjari Chatterjee Miller

Lecture: Mon 11 AM - 1 PM

India is a rising power, the world's fifth largest economy, a nuclear power, and a demographic powerhouse. But it has also has comparatively low literacy levels, high levels of poverty, dropping fertility rates, and an education and health system in crisis. It has fractious relationships in its neighborhood, and a tense relationship with China, but a strong friendship with Russia, as well as a growing partnership with the United States. In short, India is a country of contradictions, and engages in foreign policy behavior that is not only puzzling to other countries - it has stayed studiedly neutral in the Ukraine crisis for example - but is also a challenge for analysis. The goal of this course is to teach how we can identify and understand the puzzling foreign policy behaviors of any country by using India as an example. Designed as a collaborative workshop, this course will teach you to research, analyze and write a paper on the foreign policy behavior of a country of your choice.

*Please note that 400-level courses are cross-listed with the MGA program; as a result, enrollment space for undergraduate students is limited.

Instructor Sheryl Lightfoot 

Lecture: Tue 4 - 6 PM

This course examines the persistent gap between the formal recognition of Indigenous rights in international and domestic legal frameworks and their implementation in practice. It explores the legal, political, and institutional barriers that shape policy outcomes, including government commitments, judicial interpretations, corporate interests, and grassroots advocacy. Case studies from different jurisdictions will highlight challenges such as Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), land rights disputes, and self-determination efforts, offering a critical analysis of how political dynamics and legal structures interact to enable or obstruct Indigenous rights realization.

*Please note that 400-level courses are cross-listed with the MGA program; as a result, enrollment space for undergraduate students is limited.

This course is designed to provide students with the opportunity to explore topics not covered in the curriculum, or to develop a more detailed focus on topics covered. Approval of the program director is required. The student must obtain written agreement of the instructor who will supervise the independent study, submit the proposal to and obtain approval from the director and program administrator, who will then add the student to the course. Not eligible for CR/NCR option. Applications are due two weeks before course enrolment deadlines.

Instructor: Bruce Schneier

Lecture: Mon 9 - 11 AM

This course aims to give students the tools necessary to understand legal and policy issues in cyberspace. While it is impossible to become a cybersecurity expert in a single semester, students will leave the course as intelligent laypeople, adept at discussing computer and Internet security policy issues and able to spot political agendas disguised as technical arguments. Students will understand how technology and policy interrelate, when it’s time to turn to technical experts, and how to use technical expertise to form effective policy.

This course is designed for policymakers rather than for implementers of preexisting policy. As such, we will not discuss how to implement Internet security policies within government organizations. Rather, we will discuss how to effectively determine which policies are the correct ones to mandate: for government, for private industry, and for individuals. This course is less about learning a body of answers, and more about learning a way of thinking about the topics in general. After completing this class, you will be more sophisticated when you approach new Internet security policy issues. Specifically, you will be able to weigh pros and cons, examine consequences of policies, and craft and recommend policies of your own.

*Please note that 400-level courses are cross-listed with the MGA program; as a result, enrollment space for undergraduate students is limited.