The Munk School for Global Affairs at the University of Toronto is an interdisciplinary academic centre on global issues that integrates research with teaching and public education. It occupies the historical Devonshire House, a former residential hall of the university's Trinity College.
The school was founded as the Munk Centre for International Studies in 2000, named after Canadian businessman and philanthropist Peter Munk who made a $6.4 million donation to finance the construction.[1] It was renamed the Munk School for Global Affairs on April 13, 2010 when Munk and his wife made a further $35 million donation. According to the University of Toronto, the donation made by the Munks to create the Munk School allows the University to "expand U of T's research capacity, enable the hiring of new faculty and drive the expansion of new facilities".[2] The Munk Centre now functions as a unit of the Munk School.
The centre is located in the north and south wings of Devonshire House[3] building on Devonshire Place. The refurbished Devonshire House is shared with Trinity College's John W. Graham Library.
The current director is Professor Janice Stein, an acknowledged expert on conflict resolution and international relations, with an emphasis on the Middle East.
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The Munk School's Master of Global Affairs (MGA) program is two-year interdisciplinary professional degree aimed at equipping students with an awareness of global and financial systems, global civil society, and global strategic and security issues. Students are also encouraged to think critically and responsibly on global issues, and are provided with leadership training and management skill-building. The program requires students to complete a relevant intership experience (be it an NGO, an international organization such as the UN or WTO, or at an embassy or consulate abroad) during the summer between the first and second year of the program.
After a general first year of study, students specialize in one of three streams:
As well, MGA students can also complete their degrees concurrently with an MBA at the Rotman School of Management or with a JD at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.
The Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies is a division of the Munk School of Global Affairs. It administers the 'PCS' major and specialist programmes and three courses on the topic. It grew out of the Peace and Conflict Studies programme established by Anatol Rapaport in the early 1980s. In 1990, Thomas Homer-Dixon assumed the Directorship and continued in that role through 2001 when the programme was institutionalized as the Trudeau Centre. Homer-Dixon's Directorship ended in 2007. Ron Levi is the current Director.