New York University School of Professional Studies, Center for Global Affairs

 

“Our MS in Global Affairs program is responsive to current global developments,” says Vera Jelinek, divisional dean of the NYU School of Professional Studies (NYUSPS) Center for Global Affairs (CGA). “Flexibility and adaptability are our hallmarks, and those qualities are terribly important in a fast-changing world.”

The curriculum is quick to respond to crucial global developments. For example, the program has recently added several new courses, such as “Infrastructure Security and Resilience,” “Strategic Foresight,” and “Gender and Migration.”

“The MS in Global Affairs is a program in which the latest global trends and critical issues are examined and vigorously debated in the classroom and at public events,” says Jelinek. “It is a program where individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and nationalities come together to explore how to make our world a better and more just place; a program that embraces a world where diplomacy and global transactions occur in a 21st-century milieu composed of state and non-state actors.”

Students in the MS in Global Affairs program take required core courses and choose one of eight concentrations:
• Environment/Energy Policy
• Global Gender Studies
• Human Rights and International Law
• International Development and Humanitarian Assistance
• International Relations/Global Futures
• Peacebuilding
• Private Sector
• Transnational Security

Each of the concentrations is multidisciplinary. For example, the Private Sector concentration offers a broad introduction to international business and finance and also examines issues such as corporate power and social responsibility, and the relationship between economic growth and human development. Students choose from a wide range of elective courses, from “Political Risk: A Multidimensional Analysis” to “Big Data, Prediction and Global Affairs: How to Use 21st- Century Computing.”

“I can take a headline in the news and tell you how the issue can be approached from a different perspective in each of our concentrations,” says Jelinek. Many courses are applicable to more than one concentration. For example, “Gender in International Affairs: Sex, Power and Politics” is a required course in the Global Gender Studies concentration, and it is also an elective in several other concentrations.

In CGA’s popular Global Field Intensives, students travel to worldwide locations such as Bolivia, South Africa, the Balkans, and beyond.

Jelinek says that students in the MS in Global Affairs program tend to be extraordinarily motivated, nuanced thinkers who are able to understand other people’s experiences and perspectives. Successful students at CGA enter the program with a global outlook, international experience, and a thoughtful and committed desire to contribute and make a difference.

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