BRI Policy Paper: Assessing the Strategic and Developmental Impact of Belt and Road Projects

Author: Ryan Hitch Objective of the activity The goal of this assignment is to help students critically evaluate the political, economic, and social implications of a real-world Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure project. Students will learn how to connect development outcomes with broader questions of international political economy and Read more…

Geek Industry in China and U.S. with Class Activities (Part 2)

Author: Jun Yoo Objective of the activity Purpose • Deepen understanding of regulatory differences (top-down China vs. fragmented U.S.). • Build comparative policy-analysis and concise-presentation skills. Pre-class activities Create teams of 4–5 students. Each team tackles the following policy-transfer prompt: “Design a 2026 Beijing version of California’s Proposition 22, drawing Read more…

Composition of Trade, Comparative Advantage, and Political Autonomy (Experimenting with the Atlas of Economic Complexity)

Author: Tyler Crown Objective of the activity Learning goals: (1) Students will experiment with freely available data and reinforce theoretical knowledge by observing correlations. (2) Students will familiarize themselves with key economic indicators, and apply theoretical knowledge to the interpretation of data. Pre-class activities The main reading for this class Read more…