Global Governance and Human Security, PhD
In fall 2012, the University of Massachusetts Boston will open its doors to the first cohort of a new PhD program in global governance and human security. The goal of this interdisciplinary program is to educate a community of global problem solvers -- scholars and analysts able to train and inform global leaders, as well as practitioners who can craft solutions that are grounded in solid research and theory.
The new program will focus on outcomes that matter most to individuals—a secure form of economic welfare and human development, ecological sustainability, public health, education, human rights, and political freedom— and on the interrelationships among them.
The curriculum is designed to expose students to methodological pluralism; it includes coursework on substantive issues, a variety of research skills and methodologies, and the processes of conflict resolution and consensus building. Its focus is on understanding and making connections between local and global issues, both intellectually and geographically.
Program and Curriculum Design
Students in the program will acquire expertise in at least one substantive field of global governance and human security, conduct original research on a specific global concern, and develop analytical tools and practical skills for problem resolution— including an understanding of global governance and organization, quantitative and qualitative methods, and cross-cultural collaboration.
Concentrations
The program’s primary tracks will mirror the interconnected strands of a set of global issues:
• conflict resolution,
• the environment,
• gender, human rights and human development (including, global public health)
• political economy,
Students who wish to explore a new area of inquiry can elect to develop their own track and course of study.
Research Skills and Opportunities
Students will be trained in a multiplicity of research methods and approaches. In addition, early in the program students will participate in two research groups directed by program faculty. Each student will have the opportunity to learn as a research apprentice and to collaborate on research with faculty and other students. UMass Boston’s many research centers will provide platforms for student-faculty collaborative research and outreach into the policy world.
Support for Career Development
While completing his or her dissertation research, each student will work with program faculty, administrative staff, and the program advisory board to develop a job search strategy for the specific field or fields that the student plans to enter or return to. Workshops on job-search strategies, presentation of credentials, interviewing, and research talks will be offered.
Program Collaboration
Housed within the Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies, the program is a collaborative effort of the McCormack School, the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Science and Mathematics, and the College of Management.
The program has established a partnership with the Horn of Africa Regional Environment Centre at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, and is pursuing collaborations with similar programs in other countries, including Germany, the United Kingdom, India, and South Africa.
