overview
In Munk One, you will enroll in three classes: two small, discussion-based seminars and one global affairs research lab.
Munk One courses earn you 2.0 credits of the usual 5.0 credit load in your first year. Most students choose the rest of their courses based on the programs of study they intend to pursue, such as medicine, psychology, political science, computer science, physics or commerce.
Munk One students intending to pursue Peace, Conflict and Justice, Public Policy, Contemporary Asian Studies, and Political Science programs (undergraduate programs in the Faculty of Arts & Science), are also eligible to count some of their Munk One coursework towards their degree requirements.
YOUR COURSES
Global Innovation I: Innovating for the Global (MUN101H1)
Two generations ago we put a man on the moon. We’ve since experienced an information technology revolution. Virtual reality has become a lived reality. Medical technologies are better, smarter, faster and more effective. Physical infrastructures are modern and cheap to implement. Consequently, people live longer. Fewer children die each year. Work and labour have been revolutionized. Simply put, innovation and invention have transformed the world – or much of it, anyway.
The truth: this transformation has not been global in scope. We have iPads. Hundreds of millions do not have clean water. This seminar course examines this tension. It is about invention, innovation, growth, development and doing better.
Global Innovation II: Governing Global Public Goods (MUN102H1)
What are global public goods and how can we address the challenge of providing them sustainably to all? How do we co-operate for the public good without sacrificing our individual goals and why do certain areas of our lives, such as the Internet, seem to produce public goods without any formal mechanisms of co-operation?
This seminar introduces different propositions from sociology, political science, economics, philosophy and history to help us understand the roles of government, market and communities in building global solutions.
Global Problem-Solving: Research Methods & Lab Opportunities (MUN105Y1)
No white coats or test tubes in this lab! Instead, you will learn how to conduct analytically rigorous social science research and improve your insights into a complex global problem. Then, you will devise an innovative solution to address it.
You will work hands-on in one of five labs dealing with some of the most intractable global problems of our time in the areas of the environment, health, digital governance, security and the gap between rich and poor. Over the course of the academic year, you learn to conduct social science research and narrow the scope of a complex challenge into a manageable research problem and develop a viable, compelling and implementable solution to that problem.
At the end of the year, you get to pitch your solution to a jury of global affairs experts. The winning lab team has the opportunity to travel to a symposium or global organization to pursue their solution.
YOUR LABS (based on 2019-2020)
In the second semester of MUN105Y1, you will get the chance to research and develop solutions that contribute to achieving one of five United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:
GOAL 1. NO POVERTY: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
GOAL 3. GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
GOAL 4. QUALITY EDUCATION: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
GOAL 15. LIFE ON LAND: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
GOAL 16. PEACE, JUSTICE AND STRONG INSTITUTIONS: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
