Undergraduate Courses

Wednesday, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Instructor: Shari Eli

Does welfare really encourage people to have more kids? How do contraception bans affect women’s work? Do new immigrants create competition that makes wages drop? Economic demography – applying economic analysis to the study of populations – can help us understand all these questions and more. Among other topics, this class will examine how pension systems, health care, immigration policy and economic growth, marriage and divorce laws and women’s labor force participation relate to public policy.

Restricted to first-year students only. Not available for CR/NCR.

Tuesday, 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Instructor: Randall Hansen

This course will introduce the study of Europe by exploring the political history of European authoritarianism, and resistance to it, from the 1930s right up to the present day. The accent will be on the present: we will seek to explain the growing appeal of populist authoritarianism seven decades after World War II, the Holocaust, and the defeat of German Nazism and Italian fascism. Are current politics in Europe a matter of back to the future? Or is there something new? Is there one authoritarianism in Europe or multiple?

Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Tuesday, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Instructor: Irene Poetranto

What are digital technologies, exactly? How do we govern them? Do they threaten or protect human rights? In this course, we’ll look at the Internet, advanced computing, ‘Big Data’ analytics, and artificial intelligence – the technologies which form the basis of everything from facial recognition software to home appliances to social media. We’ll consider how to govern and use these technologies, and the consequences of those choices for global human rights. Evaluation is based on essays, a presentation, and class participation. There is no exam.

Restricted to first-year students. Not eligible for CR/NCR option.

Monday, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm 

Instructor: Farzana Afridi

An introduction to microeconomics, for application in public policy analysis. Designed specifically for students with training in calculus and linear algebra, and who are pursuing a certificate in public policy, the course will explore preference and choice, classical demand theory and the utility maximization problem as well as expenditure minimization problem, welfare evaluation of economic changes, regression analysis and ordinary least squares.

*This course is a part of the Certificate in Public Policy and Engineering and offered to Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering students enrolled in an engineering program only. 

Tuesday, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm 

Instructor: Craig Smith

Knowledge of how governmental and non-governmental institutions work is essential to the study and development of public policy. This course will examine the formation, consequences and dynamics of institutions – from legislatures and courts to militaries and interest groups – in both democratic and authoritarian societies. We will also consider how institutions inform the relationship between individuals and the state, and how these social structures are instruments of policy implementation.

*This course is a part of the Certificate in Public Policy and Engineering and offered to Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering students enrolled in an engineering program only. 

Thursday, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Instructor: Lucan Way

This course transcends time and place to delve into the overarching dynamics of revolution. This exploration of revolutions goes beyond simple chronology to uncover common threads that unite these transformative events. From the spirit that ignited the English Revolution to the fervor of the American Revolution, the course navigates through the social and political forces that reshaped societies. Students will dissect the emergence of radical change, tracing its evolution from the French Revolution to the Revolutions of 1848 and the birth of modern political ideologies. The course then navigates through the 20th century, from the Russian and Chinese Revolutions to the Cuban Revolution and the intricate web of Latin American revolutionary movements. Comparative analysis delves into the universal and unique aspects of these revolutions, offering students an understanding of the power and influence of these transformative moments.

Wednesday, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Instructor: Emile Dirks

From security cameras and cell phones, to drones and social media, our data are collected in countless ways. But who controls our data? Do we have a right to privacy? Does mass surveillance make us safer?

This course invites students to explore the global politics of mass surveillance, and the role played by states, big tech, police, activists, and ordinary people. Through in-class discussion and analytical writing assignments, students will engage with surveillance studies through many dimensions, including public policy, human rights, international relations, economics, technological development, and race, class, and gender.

Restricted to first-year students only. Not eligible for CR/NCR.

Wednesday, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Instructor: Darius Ornston

This course provides students across the Munk School with a forum to discuss and engage with major global issues across a variety of disciplinary perspectives and regional studies centres. Team-taught by Munk faculty from economics, geography, history, literary studies, and political science, the course will tackle several global controversies including the use of direct and slow violence, the legacies of violent conflict, demographic change, inequality, and authoritarianism. In addition to individual assignments, students will have the opportunity to address a global challenge from two different disciplinary perspectives, working small groups under the direct supervision of the head instructor.

This course is restricted to Munk School students who have either completed MUN105Y1 or enrolled in one of the following programs: American Studies Major; American Studies Minor; Contemporary Asian Studies Major; Contemporary Asian Studies Minor; European Affairs Major (formerly European Studies Major); European Affairs Minor (formerly European Union Studies Minor); Peace, Conflict and Justice Major; Peace, Conflict and Justice Specialist; Major in Public Policy; South Asian Studies Minor.

This course will provide students with an understanding of key microeconomic principles and examples of how to apply these to public policy issues. Microeconomic analytical frameworks explored will include consumer and firm decision making, markets and the rationale for and consequences of government intervention in markets. There will be a wide range of public policy applications of these frameworks explored including (but not limited to) income inequality, environment and climate change, housing and government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. A recurring theme will be the expected results of government intervention in the economy and potential unintended consequences. Ultimately the goal is for students to be able to provide public policy advice that is appropriately and correctly informed by microeconomic principles.

Tuesday, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Instructor: Dylan Marando

This course introduces students to the field of public policy - the means by which governments respond to social issues – and considers both why and how governments respond in these ways. To that end, we’ll examine the policy cycle, including how policy is proposed, made and reformed, as well as the role of regulation. And we’ll explore both theories of public policy and case studies of policy-making in action.

*This course is a part of the Certificate in Public Policy and Engineering and offered to Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering students enrolled in an engineering program only.