Jackson M.A. students take 16 courses over two years, including three required foundation courses.

Required Courses

GLBL 801, Economics: Principles and Applications
This course deals with the application of basic microeconomic analysis to public policy issues. The principal goal is to teach students the process of economic reasoning and how to apply that reasoning to policy issues in the real world. The course covers the basic topics in microeconomic theory: consumer theory, production theory, market models from competition to monopoly, theories of labor and capital markets, and models of externalities and other common market failures. Some calculus will be used without apology along with a great deal of algebra and graphical analysis.

GLBL 802, Applied Methods of Analysis
The course focuses on useful analytical approaches in public policy and the social sciences. The first part of the course focuses on mathematical skills. The second part focuses on methods for analyzing empirical data and builds on the mathematical skills from the first part of the course. Special focus is devoted to developing the skills necessary to synthesize and evaluate empirical evidence from the social sciences. Students leave the class with an applied understanding of how quantitative methods are used as tools for analysis in public affairs.

GLBL 803, Power Shifts: Understanding Global Change through History
This course introduces the study of different aspects of power in international affairs through a set of critical cases ranging from antiquity to our own time. The main themes are how to build a strong and capable state, how to decide on issues of war and peace, and how to set strategies that have lasting value. The course also familiarizes students with different ways of thinking about the past and of turning an understanding of history to their advantage in interpreting the present. History and historical methodologies can give policy makers a keener appreciation of what is possible to do, but also of what must be avoided and what needs to be changed. The course is entirely case-taught, with a high level of student involvement.

Building your Individualized Curriculum

In addition to the three core courses, M.A. students take courses from throughout Yale’s Graduate and Professional Schools in building their individualized program of study.

Each semester, the Jackson Institute provides its M.A. students with a “matrix” of courses, a list of interesting and relevant courses from across the University. The matrix serves as a guide for students, but students are not limited to choosing courses from the matrix in building their curriculum that best matches their interests and goals.

Students meet with the Director of Student Affairs at the start of each term, and throughout the program, and course schedules approved by the Director of Graduate Studies. Students’ overall program of study adhere to policies and procedures outlined by the Graduate School and the program.

Full Course Catalog

All Jackson courses are listed in the full Yale University course catalog (search for “Global Affairs”). 

For a list of courses offered by the School of Management, School of Law, and other Yale professional schools, please visit their websites.