The world’s biggest and most pressing challenges cannot be solved by any one government or organization alone.
That’s why the Middlebury Institute has launched a new Master of Arts in Global Governance and Policy program, enrolling for fall 2025. The hands-on, interdisciplinary degree prepares professionals to address transnational challenges in areas such as human and economic development, security, and human rights.
“The time is right for this degree. There’s increasing understanding and appreciation that the issues that we’re trying to prepare our graduates to face transcend borders,” said Scott Pulizzi, chair of the new program. “Global governance focuses on the structures, the processes, the systems, and the policies for responding to these enduring global and borderless challenges.”
Program Chair Scott Pulizzi walks through why the time is right for this degree.
The three-semester program combines policy analysis and program design with practical field experience through a semester-long practicum. The curriculum emphasizes hands-on experience, with students working on projects for real clients throughout their studies. Students can take courses in sustainable development, human security, policy analysis, and international trade, with flexibility to customize their studies based on their career goals.
“This work is really about improving lives,” said Pulizzi. “If you’re interested in promoting health, supporting human development, increasing economic participation, or responding to crisis and conflict, this program is for you.”
Students work closely with faculty members who bring both academic expertise and professional experience to projects preparing graduates to pursue careers with international institutions, national and local governments, civil society organizations, and social entrepreneurship firms in the private sector.
The Middlebury Institute is a uniquely international community. More than 40 percent of students are international, hailing from over 30 different countries. Many students have lived or worked outside their home countries and speak at least two languages.
“ I would want international students to know that not only are they welcome here, but they’re embraced,” said Neshae Johnson, vice president of the Student Advocacy Council. “The close-knit community at the Institute really values the diversity that each one of us brings. It’s very peaceful for you to study, live, and enjoy your life here. You can expect to have a great educational journey here, and the staff and professors overall are very helpful.”
Johnson, who hails from Jamaica, is completing both an MPA and an MA in International Policy and Development, which shares faculty and courses with the new global governance degree. In January, she headed to Costa Rica for an experiential learning course focused on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Institute offers four options annually, with past locations including the Balkans and Rwanda.
Intercultural competence is part of every degree program. Students also have the opportunity to learn in language through content-based courses such as U.S. Foreign Policy in Latin America (conducted in Spanish) or Traditional and Nontraditional Security Issues in Modern Russia (in Russian).
Monterey County, located on California’s beautiful coast south of Silicon Valley, is a great place to explore global issues at the local level. The diverse community is one of the most important agricultural regions in the U.S., as well as a popular tourist destination and home to one of the world’s largest and most biodiverse marine sanctuaries.
CoLab connects students with local nonprofits and businesses to work in partnership on real projects. These have included analyzing local data on homelessness, conducting surveys on access to disaster relief after flooding, and creating bilingual materials for the transportation authority.
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The analyses run by Middlebury Institute students have supported federal investigations into trade-based financial crimes—and helped students land jobs.
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International trade student and veteran Tom Short navigated the complex and evolving economic dynamics of Vietnam during his practicum semester working for a global regulatory services firm.
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“The key for any diplomat is to go into any country with some humility and the ability to listen,” says James Golsen, whose career in commercial diplomacy has taken him from China to Myanmar to Russia and beyond.
