Courses

Understanding geographic relationships between people, land use, and resources is fundamental to planning. Urban planners routinely use spatial analysis to inform decision-making. This course will introduce students to Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a tool to analyze and visualize spatial data. The course will emphasize the core functions of GIS: map making, data management, and spatial analysis. Students will learn cartographic best practices, how to find and create spatial data, spatial analysis methodology, and how to approach problem solving from a geographic perspective.

This four-day course aims to develop your ability to build, lead, and participate in high-performing teams. We will draw from research in psychology, management, strategy, behavioral economics, and sociology to discuss best practices for designing, launching, participating, and coaching in-person and online teams.

This four-day course aims to develop your ability to build, lead, and participate in high-performing teams. We will draw from research in psychology, management, strategy, behavioral economics, and sociology to discuss best practices for designing, launching, participating, and coaching in-person and online teams.

This course introduces the theory and practice of institutional reform in developing and transitional countries. It reviews the evolution of international development paradigms, examining how the role, structure, and management of institutions, the public sector, and non-governmental organizations have changed in response to shifting economic and political trends, with a particular emphasis on accountability. The focus is on major institutional and managerial reforms intended to promote good governance as less developed economies liberalize and their societies democratize.

This two-day course is designed to develop your ability to build, lead, and participate in high-performing teams. We will draw from the fields of psychology, management, strategy, and sociology to discuss best practices for designing, launching, participating in, and coaching in-person and virtual teams. We will also focus on the benefits and challenges of managing diverse teams, using teams in various contexts (including Capstone teams), understanding and managing conflict, and developing problem-solving techniques for team effectiveness.

In this course, students will be introduced to methodological and practical issues involved in carrying out spatial analyses when planning for (and emerging from) an emergency or disaster. The course is, therefore, composed of lectures, discussions, and technical exercises pertaining to data collection, analysis, and interpretation for disaster management. Along with demonstrating the analytical capability of GIS for planning, risk, and vulnerability assessment, this course introduces students to different tools required in hazard mitigation, risk analysis, and mapping.

This course provides graduate students with experiential learning in healthcare consulting through live projects with early-stage technology founders funded through private equity and venture capital dollars. Students work in teams with one of three companies:

Continuation CAP-GP.3148. As part of the core curriculum of the NYU Wagner Master's program, Capstone teams spend an academic year conducting research on a pressing social question. Wagner's Capstone program provides students with a centerpiece of their graduate experience, enabling them to experience first-hand the full research process. Under the guidance of an experienced faculty member, students will develop a research question, conduct a literature review, formulate hypotheses, identify relevant datasets, run analyses, and write up their findings.

Couples with CAP-GP.3149. As part of the core curriculum of the NYU Wagner Master's program, Capstone teams spend an academic year conducting research on a pressing social question. Wagner's Capstone program provides students with a centerpiece of their graduate experience, enabling them to experience first-hand the full research process. Under the guidance of an experienced faculty member, students will develop a research question, conduct a literature review, formulate hypotheses, identify relevant datasets, run analyses, and write up their findings.

This course explores ethical dilemmas in creating health policies and running health systems, though the ethical dilemmas have relevance beyond the health sector and non-health students are welcome as well. We begin with two policy-making sessions, taking up the question: under what conditions can one violate their personal values in an effort to get a policy deal that would benefit many done?

Climate change is one of the defining public policy challenges of the 21st century. This course begins by reviewing the essential climate science most relevant to policymakers before turning to policy responses and the political challenges of implementation. The first part of the course focuses on decarbonization, or how societies can transition away from the use of fossil fuels to renewable energy.

This is an introductory course for students who want to better understand theories, principles, and methods of community-based participatory action research (CBPAR), which is research done with communities and community partners. CBPAR is a means for community planning and organizing to address local issues and social needs that center individuals and communities directly impacted.

While some countries have achieved unprecedented rates of economic growth in the past half century, other countries have experienced set-backs. For those that have seen rapid growth, economic changes have not always translated into proportional social changes – and sometimes rapid social changes have occurred in the absence of economic growth.

In study after study, people lying on their deathbeds overwhelmingly say they regret five things at their end of their life: 1. Not living a life of authenticity 2. Working too hard at the expense of their relationships 3. Not having the courage to express their feelings 4. Not staying in touch with friends. 5. Not letting themselves be happier. For leaders, it's not any different.

Whether as an action agency or a source of analysis or raw material, the intelligence community is a key but little understood participant in the policymaking cycle. This course introduces students to the contemporary intelligence community and its role in shaping US national security policy, providing students with a hands-on appreciation of the role of intelligence through participation in class simulations of case studies of national security policymaking. 

Using “business as a force for good”, social entrepreneurs implement innovative private sector approaches to solve social, cultural and/or environmental problems.  Surviving start-up and scaling to maximize impact is both an art and a science, especially when attempted without outside investments.  Statistics show that approximately 10% of small businesses surpass $1 million in revenues, while only 0.5% surpass $10 million.  Fundamentals of Social Entrepreneurship will draw upon the real-life successes and challenges faced by the professor and other social entreprene

This course introduces students to basic statistical methods and their application to management, policy, and financial decision-making. The course covers the essential elements of descriptive statistics, univariate and bivariate statistical inference, and introduces multivariate analysis. In addition to covering statistical theory the course emphasizes applied statistics and data analysis. The primary goal of this course is to introduce these basic skills and encourage a critical approach to reviewing statistical findings and using statistical reasoning in decision making.

Alternate title: "How to Use a Bit of Code to Do Things That Would Be Really Hard in Spreadsheets." Students will learn data analysis through the Python programming language — exploring, manipulating, visualizing, and interpreting open data to answer policy questions. The class incorporates use of generative AI for coding problems, helping students understand its strengths and weaknesses. No coding experience required.

In our increasingly data-reliant and data-saturated society, people who understand how to leverage data to generate insights have the power to change the world. Data visualization and storytelling is a crucial skill for policy and data analysts, communications and marketing professionals, and managers and decision-makers within nonprofits, social organizations and the government. With the advent of visualization tools that do not require coding, data storytelling in the digital age is also an attainable skill set for people with varying levels of technical ability.

Management and Leadership is designed to empower you with the skills you will need to make meaningful change in the world—whether you care about bike lanes, criminal justice, prenatal care, community development, urban planning, social investment, or something else. Whatever your passion, you can have an impact by leading and managing. In this course, you will enhance the technical, interpersonal, conceptual, and political skills needed to run effective and efficient organizations embedded in diverse communities, policy arenas, sectors, and industries.

This course provides an introduction to the political institutions and processes through which public policy is made and implemented in the United States (although the key concepts are applicable to other political systems as well). The course also introduces students to the tools of policy analysis. The first half of the course presents the major models of policymaking and policy analysis. The second half of the course applies these concepts to specific policy areas such as health, education, and environment, as illustrated by real-world case studies.