The courses listed below are offered by the Munk school as a whole and not by any of our individual programs.
Fall 2025 Courses
100-Level Courses
Successful Societies (MUN150H1)
Wednesday, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Instructor: Brian Rathbun / Darius Ornston
What is a "successful society"? What makes a society “successful?” How do we identify, measure, and assess “success?” What data do we need and what data should we collect? And what data are we able to collect and compare? The answers to these questions are surprisingly complex and differ across the social sciences, political theory, philosophy, and law. This course invites students to engage with theories and ideals about societies while doing a deep dive into cross-national and sub-national data, exploring the trade-offs of different societal outcomes. Students will grapple with questions about health, crime, security, creativity, inequality, belonging, solidarity, and institutions.
Tutorials:
- Wednesday, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
- Wednesday, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
- Thursday, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
- Thursday, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Digital and Algorithmic Disruptions (MUN160H1)
Tuesday, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Instructors: Aaron Gluck-Thaler / Sverrir Steinnson
This course interrogates how the digital turn – social media, algorithms, monitoring, digital disruption in business models, security, militaries, and more - is shifting social, political, and economic life. Drawing together expertise in both public policy and digital technologies, the course combines the study of technical capacities and future trajectories of digital change with analyses of political institutions, labour markets, social relations, political segmentation, and changing areas of public and private concern. The course will grapple with the implications of digital and algorithmic disruptions for ethics, leadership, our everyday institutions and public policy making.
Tutorials
- Tuesday, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
- Tuesday, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
- Wednesday, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
- Wednesday, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
200-Level Courses
Microeconomics for Engineers (PPG201H1)
Monday, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Instructors: TBA
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.
300-Level Courses
Institutions and Public Policy for Engineers (PPG302H1)
Tuesday, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Instructor: TBA
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.
Independent Study in Global Affairs & Public Policy (MUN310H1)
This course is an independent research project on a global affairs or public policy topic. Students must find a faculty supervisor appointed at the Munk School, submit a proposal, and receive approval for the project. Contact hours with the supervisor may vary, but typically comprise one hour per week. To enrol, 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.
Pre-requisites:
MUN105Y1/MUN200H1, or enrolled in at least one of the following programs:
American Studies Major (ASMAJ0135); American Studies Minor (ASMIN0135); Contemporary Asian Studies Major (ASMAJ0235); Contemporary Asian Studies Minor (ASMIN0235); European Affairs Major (formerly European Studies Major) [ASMAJ1626 (formerly ASMAJ1625)]; European Affairs Minor (formerly European Union Studies Minor) [ASMIN1626 (formerly ASMIN1011)]; Peace, Conflict and Justice Major (ASMAJ1228); Peace, Conflict and Justice Specialist (ASSPE1228); Major in Public Policy (ASMAJ2660); South Asian Studies Minor (ASMIN1333).
Winter 2026 Courses
100-Level Courses
Democracy in Crisis: Democratic Breakdown and Resilience in the 21st century (MUN170H1)
Wednesday, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Instructor: Lucan Way
Democracy in Crisis provides an in-depth introduction to theories of democratization and the roots of contemporary populism. The course will cover democratic transitions in developing countries in the late 20th and early 21st centuries as well as threats to democratic survival in high-income Western countries. We will focus in particular on the roots of the democratic crisis in the United States. Why is the world’s oldest and wealthiest democracy facing such serious challenges today?
Tutorials:
- Wednesday, 10:00 am - 11:00 am
- Thursday, 10:00 am - 11:00 am
Hitler and Stalin Today (MUN180H1)
Tuesday, 9:00 am - 11:00 am
Instructor: Timothy Snyder
Democracy requires strategies for the future, but these depend upon a reckoning with the past. How is freedom defined in a post-colonial world? How can a mass society protect individual citizens? A study of European totalitarianism and the American present prepares us to answer these questions. To that end, this course studies the Stalinist and Nazi regimes, reviews the mass atrocities of the mid-twentieth century, and considers the legacies of these regimes in contemporary memory and politics.
Tutorials:
Tuesday, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm - Tuesday, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm - Tuesday, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm - Tuesday, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm - Tuesday, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm - Tuesday, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Wednesday, 10:00 am - 11:00 pm - Wednesday, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm - Wednesday, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm - Wednesday, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm - Wednesday, 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm - Wednesday, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm - Wednesday, 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm - Wednesday, 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Thursday, 10:00 am - 11:00 pm
200-Level Courses
Understanding Global Controversies (MUN200H1)
Wednesday, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Instructor: TBA
This course provides students from different programs with a forum to discuss and engage with major global issues within the framework of thematic and regional studies and with comparative and multidisciplinary perspectives. Because this course will be team-taught by Munk faculty from the Humanities and Social Sciences, it will provide students with an introduction to interdisciplinary studies. The course envisions examining several topics which will be based on current global controversies including climate change, sustainability, inequality, democracy, migration and conflict. This course is restricted to students who have either completed MUN105Y1 or MUN100H1, 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.
Pre-requisites:
MUN105Y1 or MUN100H1, or enrolled in at least one of the following programs:
American Studies Major (ASMAJ0135); American Studies Minor (ASMIN0135); Contemporary Asian Studies Major (ASMAJ0235); Contemporary Asian Studies Minor (ASMIN0235); European Affairs Major (formerly European Studies Major) [ASMAJ1626 (formerly ASMAJ1625)]; European Affairs Minor (formerly European Union Studies Minor) [ASMIN1626 (formerly ASMIN1011)]; Peace, Conflict and Justice Major (ASMAJ1228); Peace, Conflict and Justice Specialist (ASSPE1228); Major in Public Policy (ASMAJ2660); South Asian Studies Minor (ASMIN1333)
Tutorials:
- Wednesday, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
- Thursday, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
- Thursday, 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
300-Level Courses
Independent Study in Global Affairs & Public Policy (MUN310H1)
This course is an independent research project on a global affairs or public policy topic. Students must find a faculty supervisor appointed at the Munk School, submit a proposal, and receive approval for the project. Contact hours with the supervisor may vary, but typically comprise one hour per week. To enrol, 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.
Pre-requisites:
MUN105Y1/MUN200H1, or enrolled in at least one of the following programs:
American Studies Major (ASMAJ0135); American Studies Minor (ASMIN0135); Contemporary Asian Studies Major (ASMAJ0235); Contemporary Asian Studies Minor (ASMIN0235); European Affairs Major (formerly European Studies Major) [ASMAJ1626 (formerly ASMAJ1625)]; European Affairs Minor (formerly European Union Studies Minor) [ASMIN1626 (formerly ASMIN1011)]; Peace, Conflict and Justice Major (ASMAJ1228); Peace, Conflict and Justice Specialist (ASSPE1228); Major in Public Policy (ASMAJ2660); South Asian Studies Minor (ASMIN1333).
400-Level Courses
Public Policy Analysis for Engineers (PPG402H1)
Tuesday, 5:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Instructor: TBA
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.
To enrol and learn more, visit:
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NEW UNDERGRADUATE COURSES? WE ARE HERE TO HELP.
MIO OTSUKA
Undergraduate Program Coordinator