UMass Boston

Study anywhere anytime with our new online options.

Many potential students get to know our programs by enrolling to take a single course with us. This is a great way to "sample" the programs before applying. It lets you assess whether the content of the program meets your goals and interests and if the structure of the program is manageable given your other commitments. 

All classes are 3-credits unless otherwise noted.  These graduate-level courses require that students have completed a bachelor's degree in order to enroll. If you take a course as a non-degree student, earn a grade of B or better, and are later admitted to one of our degree programs the credits earned will be counted towards your degree (maximum of 6 credits allowed). 

All course options can count towards:

• Master's International Relations
• Conflict Resolution Master's
• Master's in Global Governance and Human Security
• Conflict Resolution Certificate in person or online

Please visit: the tuition and fee page of the Bursar’s Office website for up-to-date information regarding the cost to take a class.

Note: All courses regardless of modality are subject to regular session rates and the New England regional rate is not applicable for non-degree students.

Please visit: the Guest Students (Non-Degree/ Nonmatriculated) page of the Registrar's Office website for more information regarding non-degree registration.

• Courses are taught in person unless otherwise noted
• Course are 3 credits unless otherwise noted
• Fill out the Take a Class button to get started

Fall 2023 Course Options

Contact Conresglobal@umb.edu

Issues In World Politics: Monday, 5:30-8:15 pm

This seminar focuses on contemporary policy problems relevant to world politics. A critical examination of these global policy problems permits the application of key concepts and theories of international relations from a variety of different perspectives at the domestic, national, and international levels. Typically, this course focuses on selected regions or issues as illustrations of broader themes in world affairs.

Mediation/Court Internship: Monday, 5:30-8:15 pm

Mediation Certification 6 credit court mediation internship which includes 40 hours of classroom training and more than 30 hours of district court mediation, mentoring, and evaluation, meeting all the requirements of the Guidelines for Implementation of Qualification Standards for Neutrals, adopted January 24, 2004, pursuant to Rule 8 of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Uniform Rules on Dispute Resolution.   Prerequisite: ConRes 621 Negotiation or previous negotiation experience.  You may be eligible to take this class as a non-degree student.

Students mediate cases, under close faculty supervision, in one of the small claims courts in Greater Boston. Each day of mediation is followed by a debriefing session with the supervisor. A mediation seminar is part of the internship. The seminar enables students to compare mediating experiences, focus on particular problem areas encountered by mediators, and re-examine theoretical concepts.

Intro To (CR) Theory offered both in person  Monday, 5:30-8:15 pm or Asynchronous/Online Course

This course examines the theories and assumptions underpinning the practice of negotiation and mediation. It identifies the major schools of thought that influence models in practice and shape research agendas. It examines theories critically, with three aims-uncovering implicit assumptions of practice, testing those assumptions against empirical evidence or other theories, and gleaning insights to assist practitioners.

Theories of International Relations, Thursdays, 5:30 - 8:15

This course provides students with an introduction to the major explanatory theories and core concepts that define international relations as a field of study. It identifies key agents, examines the historical evolution of international systems, and describes processes and institutions that contribute to various forms of international conflict and its resolution. This course provides a foundation for more specialized course in international relations.
Pre-requisite: Graduate standing or permission of instructor

Global Health and Development: Concepts, Policies, and Practice Thursdays 4:00 - 6:45

The course examines the evolution, key concepts and practice of global health as an emergent field. It is concerned with engaging and exploring the dominant themes, key relationships, and central questions that radiate from the trans-disciplinary field of global health. The aim is for students to critically engage the global public health questions and concerns introduced in the course. Students will apply analytical thinking skills to understand a range of global public health and development problems and trends, implications, and responses.

Global Governance: Tuesday, 5:30-8:15 pm

''Global governance'' refers both to something empirical -- ''what (limited) world government we have'' -- and to an approach to the study of global problems, one that highlights the economic and cultural contexts of political globalization and foregrounds the questions of whether and how current processes can be made more effective. Students will become familiar with the variety of theoretical approaches to global governance and knowledgeable about its context, including the globalization of industrial capitalism in which global governance emerged, and its empirics, what it is today. Students' final papers and in-class presentations will investigate the prospects for reform of global governance in an issue area of their choice.

Intervention: Organizational/Large Groups: Tuesday, 5:30-8:15 pm

This course applies the principles of mediation and other forms of intervention to a particular context. Each year, the specific course context changes. Possibilities include intervention in environmental disputes, family disputes, organizational disputes, or international disputes.

Advanced Negotiation & Mediation: Nonviolent Action: Asynchronous/Online Course

Nonviolent action refers to conflict waged by nonviolent means. Also known as civil resistance, nonviolent action requires collective action, it is strategic and oriented toward a shared goal (usually resisting harm, righting an injustice, toppling an oppressive regime, or liberating a territory), it involves contentious action outside of normal institutional channels, and those practicing it refrain from using violence, despite using a range of other quite assertive and coercive tools of noncooperation or disruption, and often being the recipients of repression or violence from their opponents. Given the power asymmetries in many societies, other conflict resolution, peacebuilding and dialogue tools may prove insufficient if one party benefits from the status quo and does not perceive an incentive to negotiate. In these cases, nonviolent action can be a way of using ‘People Power’ to change power dynamics and the opponent’s perception of how costly it is to refuse to negotiate. This online course will introduce the foundational concepts and theories of nonviolent action, explore the research on its effectiveness, study cases from the United States and around the world of how it has worked even in very challenging or repressive contexts, and introduce tools to analyze and plan a campaign relying on nonviolent action to address an injustice or threat.

Gender and Human Security: Wednesday, 4:00-6:45 pm

Drawing on examples from across the globe, this course will explore how attention to gendered assumptions and hierarchies can refine and deepen our understanding of the way conflict, violence, and (in)security are affecting everyday life, communities, societies, and regions in different parts of the world. The course will develop skills in gender analysis, and use them to evaluate the impact of culturally-specific gendered assumptions and practices on state security and realist thinking, the ''new wars'' of the post-Cold War period, the emergence of human security with its focus on freedom from fear and want, and the critical reactions to this move. The course aims to move beyond established approaches to security, including human security, and to develop a more gender-sensitive analysis of theory, policy, and practices seeking to address (in) security issues in our increasingly complex, unequal, and global world.

International Development: Wednesday, 5:30-8:15 pm

This course examines the major concepts and theories necessary for a critical understanding of the social, political, and economic problems and possibilities facing countries in their quest for development. While exploring the domestic determinants of development, the course also considers the role of international institutions and the most powerful countries in shaping the policy options of developing countries, with particular attention to the process of globalization as a recent contributor to the problem of underdevelopment.

Negotiation: Thursday, 5:30-8:15 pm

Negotiation is the bedrock skill in this field. The course addresses the development of negotiation techniques and fosters student knowledge of the substantial body of negotiation theory that is now available.