Space technologies play a major role in everyday life—from GPS on our phones to satellite imagery used for weather forecasting and national security. This course introduces students to how decisions about space activities are made, including which missions to fund, how space exploration priorities are set, and how governments engage with the commercial space industry. Students will gain a basic understanding of key institutions, policies, and milestones that have shaped space activities over time.

The course also explores the importance of international cooperation and competition in space activities. From the geopolitical context of the space race to the challenges of addressing space debris in an increasingly congested environment, we examine how countries determine when and how to work with other nations. By the end of the course, students will have a clear, accessible introduction to the major issues, actors, and debates in space policy.

Selected topics will vary from term to term.

Selected topics will vary from term to term.

Selected topics will vary from term to term.

Selected topics will vary from term to term.

Focus on technology, design, adoption, and use as seen through the lens of global development.

Explore the meaning of global citizenship in scholarly and public debates and how it is "practiced" by individuals and "institutionalized" by universities, corporations and organizations.

This course examines the intersection of development, national security, and foreign policy. It explores how development programs function as instruments of statecraft in addressing instability, violent extremism, fragile governance, and humanitarian crises. Students will analyze the strategic use of development assistance by governments and international actors, assess the effectiveness and ethical implications of development-security integration, and evaluate real-world case studies across regions.

This course centers around the guiding question: why do advancements in science and technology sometimes fail to produce sustained improvements in the human condition? The aim of the course is to enhance students' abilities to critically analyze both potential benefits and limitations of new technologies through political, social, economic, and environmental lenses. To this end, students will survey both historical case studies and cutting-edge research at Georgia Tech, identifying the benefits they provide – as well as barriers to their widespread adoption and their unintended adverse byproducts/consequences.

Surveys theories of economic development and political change, and examines a range of cases that include the European-American experience, the East Asian episode, and the transition from socialism.