Electives
Students choose four to five elective courses (depending on the credit units) over two semesters with the advice of the Graduate Program Director. They may choose from courses offered by CGT Faculty, as well as from hundreds of available graduate courses across the university. The students shape their own course of study to accommodate and develop their interests. Courses must be taken at 4000-level or higher.
Students may harmonize their electives with the topic of their M.A. essays, or split their electives between their research concentration, global themes, methodological work, or other areas of interest that enhance their intellectual and professional prospects.
Use Columbia’s Directory of Classes to find the widest range of courses open to students of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
Past Elective Courses
Our students enrolled in courses in Columbia’s:
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS)
Chinese Political Economy ● Contemporary African Politics ● Reincarnation and Technology ● Processes of Stratification and Inequality ● Architecture and Human Rights ● Managing and Adapting to Climate Change ● Human Rights & Human Wrongs ● History of American Capitalism ● Armed Groups & Political Violence ● Buddhism & Neuroscience ● Capitalism and Political Subjectivity in Latin America ● Creativity/Technology: War & Commerce ● Data Analysis for the Social Sciences ● Engineering & Ownership of Life ● Exhibition Cultures, Feminist Postcolonial Theory ● From the Inquisition to Guantanamo ● GIS & Spatial Analysis ● Global Politics of Reproduction ● Human Rights: History, Law, Literature ● Language Documentation and Field Methods ● Narrative, Health & Society ● Parties/Elections in Developing Countries ● Psychology of Culture & Diversity ● Sociology of Expertise ● US-Asia Relations/Global Perspective ● Processes of Stratification and Inequality ● Cultural Rights as Human Rights ● Dark Ecologies ● Feminist Activism in Latin America ● International Political Economy of Developing Countries ● Philosophy of AI ● Race, Ethnicity, and Politics ● Capitalism and Democracy ● The Frequency of Black Life ● Gender-Based Violence and Human Rights ● China and the Politics of Desire ● Religion and Public Life ● Climate and Empire ● Populism ● Indigenous Peoples ● Disease Ecology
School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA)
Political Economy of Finance ● Gender and Development in Southeast Asia ● Security and International Politics of the Persian Gulf ● International News: Reporting, Propaganda, and Disinformation ● Diplomacy in Practice: European Union ● Corporations and Human Rights ● Crowdsourced Storytelling ● Communications for Corporations, Nonprofits, and Governments ● The Transatlantic Economy ● American Decline? Locating the United States in World Order ● Communications Policy in the Digital Age ● Corporate Sustainability and the Role of Government in Advancing Environmental and Social Performance ● Culture and Foreign Policy: China, India ● Economics of Sustainable Development ● Effective Management in the Public Service ● Environment, Conflict & Resolution Strategies ● Global Financial Services in the 21st Century ● Human Rights and Development Policy ● International Environmental Policy ● Leadership and Innovative Policy-Making ● Managing Data Science for Social Innovation Development ● Media Campaigning and Social Change ● Practical Problems in Urban Politics ● Public-Private Partnerships to Foster Effective, Sustainable and Scalable Nonprofits ● Human-Centered Design ● Comparative Development ● Central Issues in American Foreign Policy ● Finance for the World’s Poor ● System Corruption ● Adaptation to Climate Change ● Impact Investment and Financial Innovation ● Foreign Policy Crisis Decisions ● Sino-African Relations ● African Development Strategies ● International Banking ● Creating Social Impact Campaigns ● EU Policymaking and New Global Challenges ● Climate Change and Migration ● Cyber Risks and Vulnerabilities ● Oil, Rights, and Development ● Social Justice in the Age of Social Media ● Russia’s Energy between West, East, and South
School of Professional Studies (SPS)
Public/Private Partnerships ● Fundraising for Nonprofits ● Global Emerging Markets ● Global Environmental Markets ● Women in Cities: Sustainable Urban Design ● Planning, Management, Water Resources & Climate ● Writing Global Science in International Media ● Ethics & Values for Sustainable Development ● Policy & Legal Context for Sustainable Development ● Practical Innovation ● Sports Business Communications/Public Relations ● Sustainability Management ● Innovation and Entrepreneurship ● Ethical Decision Making for Communications ● Impact Finance for Sustainability ● Social Purpose Business ● Negotiation for Everyday ● Introduction to Comparative Media
Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP)
Conflict Urbanism ● Land Use Planning ● Local, Global, Postcolonial: Contemporary Urbanism in Emerging Societies ● Mapping for Architecture, Urbanism, and Humans ● Our New Normal ● Philosophies of the City ● Building China Modern
Teachers’ College (TC)
Education Across the Americas ● Foundations of Bilingual and Bicultural Education ● Urban Politics and Education ● Education in Emergencies ● ISS/Institutions & International Education ● International Perspectives in Peace & Human Rights ● Globalization and Mobility ● Group Dynamics: Systems Perspective ● Global Citizenship Education ● Education Equality
Business School
Launch Your Startup ● Launching Social Ventures ● Family Enterprise & Wealth ● Family Business Management ● NYC Immersion Seminar ● Managing Brands and Identity ● Digital Marketing ● Think Bigger ● Game Theory and Business ● Retail Fundamentals
School of the Arts
The Business of Film ● Digital Storytelling ● Documentary Activism ● Reporting Non-news ● New Media Producing ● The Documentary Tradition ● Reality Television
School of Journalism
Disinformation and Democracy ● Narrative Writing ● Seminar & Production: Long Form Digital Memory ● China Seminar ● Journalism and Society
Law School
International Law ● Foreign Direct Investment & Public Law ● Global Constitutionalism ● Refugee Law and Policy ● Law and Policy: Homelessness
School of Public Health (SPH)
Introduction to Medical Sociology ● Disparities in Women’s Health
School of Social Work
Research Methods for Policy ● Research Methods for Foreign Policy ● Human Behavior in the Social Environment
Please be advised these courses are not consistently available and vary year by year.