Class participants will develop their own project proposals. The course explores their superior accumulation of physical and human capital, able allocation of physical and human resources to highly productive investments, and acquiring and mastering technology. Attention is given to the recent vulnerabilities of these economies and essential reforms to restore their economic progress. Jody Spiro teaches this course. Beginning with an understanding of the nature of change, students will explore conceptually the implications of change, and will develop the necessary specific skills to manage change successfully.
Special emphasis is placed on industrialized nations, particularly Canada and Western Europe.
There is also a session on Japan, on third-world countries, and on Central and Eastern Europe. Additional topics include an introduction to comparative data sources and software, methods and problems of comparative analysis, and the use of case studies in cross-national comparisons. This yearlong course allows students to integrate their previous course work to diagnose and solve actual problems in international public and nonprofit organizations. Students work in teams on a problem identified by a client in an international public service organization. The teams are required to develop a work plan, to provide periodic progress reports to the class, and to produce a final written and oral presentation of results.