The School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia integrates world-class scholarship, teaching, research, and policy engagement to contribute towards positive change. SPPGA's approach equips policy leaders with the diverse perspectives, skills, and knowledge needed to contribute towards solutions to complex local and global issues.
As an interdisciplinary hub with particular expertise in Asia Pacific and sustainability policies, SPPGA draws on the expertise of UBC institutes, research centres, and faculties, and invites engagement with communities that span the globe.
The School of Public Policy and Global Affairs was founded in 2017 within the Faculty of Arts. The school encompasses the following units: The Institute of Asian Research (IAR) and its five regional research centres, the Liu Institute for Global Issues (Liu Institute), the Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions (CSDI), and the Office of Regional and International Community Engagement (ORICE).
SPPGA's key programs and initiatives include the Phil Lind Initiative, the Liu Scholars program (Liu Institute), the IAR Fellows program (IAR), the Himalaya Program (IAR), the Program on Inner Asia (IAR), the Xinjiang Documentation Project (IAR), the Institute for Future Legislators (CSDI), and the Scholars At Risk & Human Rights Collective (ORICE).
| Name | Research Interests |
|---|---|
| Baines, Erin | transitional justice; the politics of humanitarianism and forced displacement; and, the study of gender and armed conflict, with a regional focus on northern Uganda |
| Cheek, Timothy | 20th century Chinese history, the history of the Chinese communist party, the role of intellectuals in public life in China |
| Cookson, Tara | Public policy; Development; Social protection; Care work; Gender equality |
| Dierkes, Julian | Sociology, n.e.c.; All other social sciences, n.e.c.; Sociology of education; Public Policy; Mongolia; policy communication; contemporary Japan; digital diplomacy; supplementary education; mining policy; Japanese education; Democratization |
| Hopewell, Kristen | Public policy; International Political Economy; international relations; international trade; Trade Policy; Global Governance; industrial policy; Development; emerging powers; China; India; Brazil; World Trade Organization (WTO); US-China relations |
| Kandlikar, Milind | Climate change impacts and adaptation; Product life cycle; Environmental policy; Research, science and technology policy; Environmental impacts; Climate Change and energy transition; Technological Risk; Technology and Development |
| Khanna, Tarun | Economics; Renewable energy systems (except smart systems engineering); Environmental policy; energy economics; Evidence synthesis; policy evaluation; electricity markets; energy in development; decarbonization of the energy sector |
| Kim, Sooyeon | international political economy, trade politics, politics of trade agreements |
| Kunz, Nadja | Mining engineering; Public administration; Public policy; Public security policy; Decision Analysis; Environmental engineering; Hydrology; Risk management; Systems engineering; water resources management |
| le Billon, Philippe | Geography, politics, africa, environmental, human geography, development, security |
| Macfarlane, Allison | Research, science and technology policy; science and technology policy; energy policy, nuclear energy, nuclear waste management; regulation |
| Margulis, Matias | International Organization; Globalization; Human Rights and Liberties, Collective Rights; Global Governance; International Political Economy; United Nations; World Trade Organization; Food and Agriculture; Human Rights |
| Ostwald, Kai | Political science; Comparative Politics; Development; Southeast Asia; geopolitics; Elections; hybrid regimes and authoritarian politics |
| Park, Kyung Ae | Korean politics (North and South Korea); U.S.-Korean relations; Korean unification, North and South Korean Politics, US-Korea Relations, Gender and Development |
| Ramana, M. V. | Public administration; Public policy; Public security policy; arms control; Energy transitions; degrowth; nuclear disarmament; nuclear energy; nuclear policy; political economy of energy; risk of nuclear accidents |
| Ramankutty, Navin | Natural environment sciences; Public administration; Public policy; Public security policy; Agriculture; Climate Changes and Impacts; Climate impacts; Environment and Society; Global food security; Land use change; Sustainable agriculture |
| Shakya, Tsering | confluence of politics, ethno-national identity and religious practice in cultural production and social transformation across both historical and contemporary Tibet and the Himalayas; contemporary minority policy and social media in the PRC. |
| Sriram, Veena | Social sciences; Global health policy; Politics of policy processes; South Asian Studies; Governance; Health workers; power |