Master's degree (2 years)Full timeGlobal Economy and Politics
The Master program will give you a solid understanding of the economic factors and political structures that shape global economic interactions. The program imparts knowledge on both the economics behind current and likely future trends. You will explore the politics and security concerns that shape bilateral and multilateral relations among countries and organiations in which economic interests are articulated or contested.
Application deadline:
Norwegian, Nordic, EU/EEA and Swiss citizens: 15th of April.
Students outside EU/EEA/EFTA: 1st of December. Tuition fees: nmbu.no/en/studies/tuition-fees
Start of Studies:
Autumn 2024
Number of students:
30
Requirements:
The program is open to students with a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in economics, social, natural, environmental, engineering, agricultural sciences or similar. Applicants must have: 100-level equivalent of economic theory courses, mathematics, and statistics; and have at least 80 ECTS deemed relevant for the program. Minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) of C (or the equivalent) or higher.
The program is open to students with a bachelor’s degree or equivalent in the social, natural, environmental, engineering, or agricultural sciences. Applicants must have: 100-level equivalent of economic theory courses, mathematics, and statistics; and have at least 80 ECTS deemed relevant for the program. The student must demonstrate a grade point average of C (or the equivalent) or higher.
Applicants are encouraged to submit a one-page (A4 sized) motivation letter outlining the candidate’s background (personal, professional, and academic), reasons for interest in studying in the program, and a statement of their potential contribution to the learning environment.Admission is based on the applicants' academic transcripts and the motivation letter.
Applicants must demonstrate English language ability in accordance with the NMBU regulations for programmes taught in English: Language requirements for programmes taught in English at NMBU | NMBU
The Master program in Global Economy and Politics is multidisciplinary, based primarily within the disciplines of economics and political science. The course is tailored to emphasizes political risk analysis as a cross-cutting method and analytical tool. You will have the option to select an internship as part of your studies.
Students will examine complex interactions involving national political actors, international organizations and multilateral institutions, state and non-state actors, and civil society that affect and are affected by the global economy. This includes cross-cutting subjects such as trade, capital and finance, development aid, remittances and labour migrants, international organizations and global policy networks, security tensions and sanctions, debt, lobal inequality and poverty, commodity markets, and sustainability and societal wellbeing.
Career opportunities
Students graduating with this Master's degree are ideal candidates for jobs in both the public and private sectors. In a changing world, governments, NGOs and businesses need people who understand global economy and politics. Through the program, students will develop skills applicable to the real world. The Master's is conducted in English.
Our graduates qualify for jobs within public administration, management, policy analysis, communication, and more. Tasks that graduates are qualified for include preparing policy briefs, analyzing policy impacts, and make recommendations for decision makers.
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Learning outcomes
The solid interdisciplinarity platform of the program aims at addressing cross-cutting sustainability issues that are at the core of NMBU’s mission and strategy. Students will acquire general competency to address real-world problems through:
- An understanding of the relevance (and limitations) of microeconomic theory to explain consumer behavior, producer/firm behavior and to the functioning of markets;
- An understanding of how different national stakeholders affect and are affected by the global economy and the governance of the relevant international organizations;
- Knowledge of the multilateral institutions, key actors, and global networks and actors (state and non-state) that shape the governance of the global economy; and
- A critical perspective on power relations, ethical issues and conflicts of values, and how sustainability (e.g., global income inequality and poverty, commodity market dependence, climate change) is linked to international transactions involved trade, capital and finance, and labor migration.
Students will develop knowledge that demonstrates the:
- Ability to identify a contemporary problem that links understanding of political science and economic theory to conduct a literature review, collect data, and analyze the problem;
- Ability to apply economic theory to analyze and assess development and trade policy and domestic regulations against the legally based multilateral rules affecting trade, capital and financial flows; and the
- Ability to critically engage in debates involving sustainability issues using concepts from political science approaches to discuss the global economy and to relate economic theory to their arguments.
Graduates will develop social skills to work collegially with consciousness and integrity:
- Proficiency to report results and communicate insights through written and oral presentation to decision makers in multilateral organizations, policy makers in government and to society-at-large;
- Ability to work independently, or with direct responsibility to a diverse, interdisciplinary team to organize, plan, and conduct assigned tasks to achieve common goals according to a given deadline; and
- Ability to conduct research, communicating the limitations of the data and problematizing and reflecting on the choice of methods used.
The program highly recommends its students to include a semester of study abroad in their education. The university has exchange agreements with universities in Europe and the USA at the master`s level.
For students interested in a semester exchange, the spring semester of the first year is ideal because there is one core in economics that is required and a required elective in international relations. Substitute courses for these should be relatively easy to find while a student is away on a semester exchange. The student advisor can facilitate students going on exchange by finding programs at other universities that offer similar courses. There are several existing international exchange programs that can support students interests in study abroad.
The master’s degree consists of 120 ECTS, including a 30 ECTS master’s thesis. The compulsory courses amount to 25 ECTS and include: and Introductory course in the August block of the first year, an intermediate microeconomics theory course in the autumn semester of year 1, and a research methods and thesis preparation course in the autumn of year 2. The program requires a package of 30 ECTS in economics courses related to international trade, economic integration, and development. A package of 30 ECTS in international relations and political science is also required. Finally, an elective of 5 ECTS is prescribed from a list of economics and international relations courses.
Full overview of programme structure
The coursework making up the program differ depending on class size, content, and teaching method. All courses include lectures and/or seminars and mandatory activities that either require a pass to be approved for a final exam or which count toward the final grade. Among the various learning activities there are: in-class group work exercises and/or problem sets; case studies; semester projects that require submission of a paper and/or oral defence of the work; flipping the classroom to have students leading a seminar session; and critiques of colleagues’ position papers.
Digital materials are expected to be provided, including reading materials, videos that complement the lectures or that provide additional background or historical context. The problem-solving nature of this interdisciplinary study provides an important avenue for research-based learning and teaching. Self-study is expected to be an important component of the learning activities that are directly related to the tasks and assignments in the course. Instructor feedback on assignments and projects is a necessary part of the learning and for the assessment of learning. Given the breadth of material to be covered in the program and the pedagogical difference in approaches in how economics and political sciences are taught, the assessment of the learning should also be flexible to include written and oral exams, and activities that promote use of communications skills through written and oral defence of that work.
- Students are assessed throughout the learning process (assignments requiring discussions and feedback and oral presentations) and by final oral and written examinations. The ability to structure complex problems and a scientific approach to problem solving are important assessment criteria.
- In this study program we use computers in learning situations and on exams. Therefore, every student must have their own laptop as per the Academic Regulations for the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, § 17-4.
Study advisor(s):
Globalization through political, economic, social, and cultural integration is a salient feature of the modern world. However, the existing post-war multilateral institutions and international organizations are weakened and under increasing strain to remodel themselves for relevance and legitimacy to address contemporary problems. The world faces unprecedented global challenges and a series of overlapping crises that pose serious risk for the future welfare of humankind: (i) geopolitical rivalry; (ii) economic and financial instability, with the risk of increased protectionism and isolation; (iii) war, conflict and insecurity threats; (iv) climate change that is already affecting millions in the form of an increase occurrence of extreme weather; (v) pandemics and other health crises which greatly have affected and will continue to affect the global economy and the ability to find collective solutions; and (vi) international migration, pushed by the above crises, testing national economies and international solidarity.
Navigating within this global landscape requires solid knowledge about both the economics behind current and likely future trends, as well as the politics and security concerns that shape bilateral and multilateral relations and organizations in which economic interests are articulated or contested. The master’s in global economy and politics (M-GEP), jointly constructed by the School of Economics and Business together with the International Environment and Development Studies unit (Noragric) of the Faculty of Landscape and Society (LANDSAM), is a two-year English language interdisciplinary program that bridges the study of international economics and the related multilateral political institutions that govern the global economy.
The target group for the program are students interested in developing a thorough understanding of and the tools for analyzing the risks, political structures and trends that are shaping global economic interactions. The student will examine complex interactions involving national political actors, international organizations, multilateral institutions, state and non-state actors, and civil society who affect and are affected by the global economy. This includes a focus on key cross-cutting topics, such as: trade, capital and finance, development aid, remittances and labor migrants, international organizations and global policy networks, security tensions and sanctions, debt, global inequality and poverty, commodity markets, sustainability and societal wellbeing. The M-GEP will give students a solid interdisciplinary platform, resting primarily on the disciplines of economics and political science and brought into synergy through a tailored course that emphasizes political risk analysis as a cross-cutting method and analytical tool.