a special two-unit course offered Spring 2025 from April 18 to May 2

 

 

 

This Spring, USC students had the special opportunity to study international politics and economics with a world leader. Former U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown, alongside Professor Emeritus Steve Lamy, one of USC’s most highly regarded professors, led this special two-week course.

An analysis of changing global geopolitics and what the world may look like in 2025 was the course centrepiece as lectures examined China-US-Europe relations, the role of the US in the global economy, the current interlocking food, energy, debt, currency, COVID and climate change crises, and the future of international institutions. Drawing on Brown’s leadership in convening world leaders to address the Global Financial Crisis, he took students inside the rooms where history was made — from the financial crisis of 2008 to the 2009 climate change summit — and discussed prospects for global growth, the role of the United Nations in eliminating poverty and disease while delivering an education for all, and an analysis of seismic shifts altering the global order.

More About MDA 325

  • This special two-unit section of MDA 325 is open to all undergraduate students.  All students registered in this course must attend every scheduled class meeting as noted below.

    • April 18, 3:00 – 4:50 pm
    • April 19, 9:30 am – 2:20 pm
    • April 23 – 25, 3:30 – 4:50 pm
    • April 28 – May 2, 3:30 – 4:50 pm

  • Gordon Brown is former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the current United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education. Previously, he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007, making him the longest-serving Chancellor in modern history. He is a passionate advocate for global education and works closely with key partners to help galvanize support for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal #4 to deliver a quality and inclusive education for every child. He is Chair of the High Level Steering Group for the Education Cannot Wait fund for education in emergencies, Chair of the Inquiry on Protecting Children in Conflict, and also serves as Chair of the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity.

  • Steve Lamy is former Vice Dean for Academic Programs in USC Dornsife and Professor Emeritus of International Relations specializing in foreign policy analysis, human security, and foreign policies of the Western nation-states with emphasis on Western European states, the U.S. and Canada.  Professor Lamy has worked with faculty development programs abroad and has received numerous awards for excellence in teaching, research and civic engagement.  He is an active contributor to major international relations journals, conferences and workshops.

Contact Details

Dornsife Undergraduate Programs
undergraduateprograms@dornsife.usc.edu
213.740.2961