Teaching

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO (since 2014)

POL435/2235 Business and Politics: Power in a Global World

This seminar course explores the political power of business from an international and comparative perspective. We examine the various ways in which business can acquire and exert political power and the ways in which politics and policy can shape business power. We draw from various disciplines, such as international and comparative political economy, global governance, management, and sociology. Topics of discussion include the role of public authority in governing business behavior, the formation of business interests and preferences, business’ instrumental, structural and discursive power, corporate lobbying and agenda setting, capitalist ideology, civil society activism toward business, corporate social responsibility and transnational private governance.

POLC69 Political Economy: International and Comparative Perspectives

Interactions between politics and economics lie at the heart of many of today’s most important issues. The renegotiation of NAFTA, Brexit, the rise of China, environmental change, and increasing inequality both within and among countries are in essence political economy topics. They deal with questions around the governance of the economy and the influence of economic conditions on political outcomes. This course is designed to explore such topics by discussing core concepts and theories from the field of political economy. We explore the history of the globalization of the economy, discuss traditional and contemporary theories of political economy, examine topics such as the role of corporations, trade, production, development, poverty and inequality, and environmental change, and critically explore how core concepts of economic welfare are defined and measured.

PPGC66 Public Policy Making: Domestic, International and Transnational Perspectives

This course provides an introduction to the process of public policy making. The course addresses the nature and context of public policy making and the influence of key actors and institutions at the domestic, international and transnational levels of policy making. We review several theoretical approaches to policy making while focusing on the various stages of the policy process (agenda setting, decision making, implementation, and evaluation), policy durability and change, policy making beyond the state, and the emergence of private forms of governance.

PPGD64 Comparative Public Policy

Why do countries adopt different policies to deal with similar problems? How can we explain that countries at times adopt similar policies, even though they come from different starting points? This seminar course explores these questions of policy divergence and convergence across countries in North America and Europe. To do this, we analyze four main factors that influence policy making: institutions, interests, ideas, and the international context. We examine how each of these factors determine policy making as well as how they interact with one another. This course predominantly adopts a political economy perspective, in the sense that we will pay particular attention to the influence of economic factors on policy making and to explaining economic policy and the economic aspects of various policy areas. Substantively, the course discusses several issue areas of contemporary relevance, such as policies dealing with sustainability, new technologies, and economic crisis.

POL2318H1 Public Policy: Theories and Approaches

This course serves as the core course for PhD students who are specializing in Public Policy as one of their fields. It provides an overview of developments in public policy theory and the various methods used by public policy scholars. The course readings combine classics (frequently cited and theoretical breakthroughs) and more recent contributions to theories and empirical analyses of public policy. They are representative of the different theoretical and empirical work regarding the causal factors that explain policy-making dynamics and outputs across time and place. The course concentrates on addressing a number of questions that have preoccupied students of public policy, including: What micro-theories of individual behaviour best explain collective decision-making by political actors? What causal factors and processes – structural, institutional, ideational, and psychological – explain variations in public policies across policy sectors and jurisdictions? What causal mechanisms and processes explain policy stability and policy change? And how have policy processes been reshaped by the dynamics of globalization? The course draws on literature that is largely, but not exclusively, derived from studies of public policies in industrialized democracies.

YALE UNIVERSITY (2009-2014)

EVST 245/F&ES 245/PLSC 146 International Environmental Policy and Governance, Prof. B. Cashore. Undergraduate course. Teaching Fellow, fall 2010.

F&ES 85023 The New Corporate Social Responsibility: Public Problems, Private Solutions, and Strategic Responses, Prof. B. Cashore. Graduate course. Teaching Fellow, fall 2009.

F&ES 85401 Institutions and the Environment, Prof. B. Cashore. Graduate course. Teaching Fellow, spring 2010; spring 2014.

UNIVERSITY OF LEUVEN (2005-2007)

S0053 Seminar in International Relations: Private Actors in International Relations. Graduate course. Lecturer, 2005-2006 and 2006-2007.

S0A57 International Organization, Prof. H. Bruyninckx. Graduate course. Teaching Assistant, spring 2006.

S063 International Environmental Politics and Sustainable Development, Prof. H. Bruyninckx. Teaching Assistant, fall 2005.

S0A55 Theories of International Relations, Prof. H. Bruyninckx. Teaching Assistant, fall 2005.

Preparation and facilitation of two-day workshops (3 per year) for the students of the Master in Conflict and Sustainable Peace Studies, 2005-2007.