Spring Course Sampling

One of the special things about the Woodrow Wilson School’s policy programs is that they offer tremendous cross-pollination opportunities between fields. WWS has four academic fields of specialization:

• International Relations (I)
• Development Studies (II)
• Domestic Policy (III)
• Economics & Public Policy (IV).

WWS also offers four certificates, including:

• Demography (OPR)
• Health and Health Policy (HHP)
• Science, Technology & Environmental Policy (STEP)
• Urban Policy/Urban Policy & Planning (UP/UPP).

Consider yourself at the nexus of two or more fields? No problem — you can take a full year of electives the second year of the MPA in as many different fields as you like, and you can change between fields after enrolling with no additional application processes! It’s always fascinating to have discussions with classmates who can relate combating homelessness in the US to rural poverty in the developing world, or take macroeconomic lessons and apply them to international security treaties! It is also great to have MPAs, MPPs and PhDs in the same classes, as people’s personal backgrounds and storied careers really enrich the academic experience.

To give you a taste of the diversity in coursework offered, I surveyed some of my WWS classmates from different fields about their spring courses. Enjoy!

MPA1, International Relations (Field I)

Military and Diplomatic Power: Getting the Right Mix – Adm. Michael Mullen
Military Force Planning & Decision Making – Col. Michael Meese
Protection Against Weapons of Mass Destruction – Frank Von Hippel
Macroeconomic Analysis – Richard Rogerson
Econometrics & Public Policy – Kristin Mammen
Psychology for Policy Analysis/Implementation – Deborah Prentice, Alexander Todorov & Alin Coman

MPA2, Development Studies (Field II), Health and Health Policy Certificate (HHP)

Making Government Work in Fragile States – Jennifer Widner
The Development Challenge of HIV/AIDS - Keith Hansen
Poverty, Inequality & Health in the World – Angus Deaton
Maternal & Child Health: Culture, Controversy & Policy - Elizabeth Armstrong
Economic Analysis of Development - Jeffrey Hammer

MPP, Domestic Policy (Field III)

Economics of the Welfare State - Paul Krugman
Leadership – Nannerl Keohane
Social Entrepreneurship for Policymakers – Brian Trelstad (Acumen Fund)
Controversies in State and Local Health Regulation – Heather Howard
Psychology for Public Policy for MPPs – Emily Pronin

MPA2, Economics & Public Policy (Field IV), Urban Policy Certificate (UP)

International Trade Policy – Paul Krugman
Financial Management in the Corporate and Public Sector – Uwe Reinhardt
Policymaking in Diverse Societies - Rafaela Dancygier
U.S. Foreign Policy History – Bradley Simpson
Urban Economics – Germa Bel Queralt

PhD, Science, Technology & Environmental Policy (STEP)

Environmental Governance - Michael Oppenheimer
Risk Analysis - Amy Craft
Economic Analysis of Development (Advanced) – Marcos Rangel
Econometrics & Public Policy (Advanced)  - Tom Vogl

Article written by Becca Gong

Becca is originally from lovely Seattle, WA and went to high school in Beijing, PRC. She graduated from Harvard College in 2008 as a Social Studies concentrator and Russian Studies minor. After working for one year at a law and policy NGO in DC and volunteering for the Election Protection coalition during the 2008 presidential election, she returned to her international roots and joined the US Peace Corps. Becca served as a NGO development volunteer in southern Kazakhstan, working with a women’s rights organization and helping found a new youth NGO promoting human rights, volunteerism and reproductive health. After the Peace Corps, she moved to Osh, Kyrgyzstan with the Aga Khan Development Network, managing a wide portfolio of development projects on health, education, infrastructure, post-conflict rehabilitation, local governance, and climate change adaptation. Becca is pursuing a joint MPA/MBA degree with the Woodrow Wilson School and the Yale School of Management. She is excited to return state-side at long last, and plans to continue her passions of pick-up basketball, karaoke, and mango-eating while at Princeton. After graduate school, she wishes to return to civil society building in post-Communist states.