The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs continues to strengthen its rigorous and relevant curriculum for the next generation of policymakers with several new offerings this fall. The School is introducing a new course and policy task force focused on artificial intelligence, as well as a timely course on campaigning, taught by a former governor, ahead of November’s midterm election. These are among several new offerings for the School’s graduate and undergraduate students.
Focus on AI
The course, Managing Dual-Use Aspects of AI and Robotics, is for the School’s graduate students and will be taught by Alexander Glaser, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and international affairs and co-director of the Program in Science and Global Security. It explores the use of emerging technologies for both civilian and military functions at a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell the difference between them. According to Glaser, the course will focus on the approaches currently taken by Europe, China, and the United States, and on policies that could help align these respective approaches and foster future cooperation.
“We will examine ideas aimed at regulating and shaping key technologies underlying modern AI and robotics such that they can minimize dual-use concerns and help prevent the misuse of civilian technologies for military purposes,” Glaser said.
The Policy Task Force “Public AI: Designing the Digital Future,” taught by Akash Kapur, a visiting scholar and lecturer, explores an emerging approach to artificial intelligence that conceives of AI not merely as private technology, but as infrastructure aligned with democratic governance, economic development, and social welfare. Topics of the globally focused Task Force include open source, frugal and edge AI, safety, and lessons from previous waves of technical innovation, such as the Internet.
“We are in the very early days of this remarkable and transformative technology, and there are many different forms of impact it could have, both positive and negative,” Kapur said. “So — AI boosters and pessimists notwithstanding — the die is not cast yet, and we need smart, informed people working in technology and technology policy to help guide what AI does in the world. I'm hoping to help students better understand the pathways available, as well as the levers, such as markets, states, and technology, that will influence AI's impact.”
New Policy Task Forces
European Defense and Security Policy will be led by Philippe Étienne, a former ambassador of France to the United States and Germany. The course will begin with post-World War II integration and cover the European Union’s relationships with NATO and the U.S., and the EU’s place on the world stage. Specific topics will include European treaties of foreign and security policy and the goal of a defense policy going through the different fields including industrial policy.
“Natural touch points will be the concepts of strategic autonomy, European sovereignty, and positions taken by different stakeholders and member states accounting for the rapidly changing strategic environment,” Étienne said. “We will assess the possibilities of an orderly transition where the Europeans would take more responsibilities while keeping the Americans involved in the security of their continent and building a resilient, adapted alliance, in spite of the current and potential upheavals in the world and in domestic policies. This will be the core of the recommendations expected from the Task Force.”
The Policy Task Force Immigration Policy Addressing the Undocumented Immigrant Population, led by Phillip Connor, a lecturer with Princeton SPIA, will explore how the United States’ undocumented immigrant population came to exist, past policy efforts to address the issue, the political challenges, and potential legislative policy solutions.
"Congress has wrestled with the undocumented population issue for decades, unsuccessfully delivering legislative solutions meeting family and workforce needs for undocumented families that also benefits Americans,” Connor said. “Fresh eyes are needed, and it is my hope that students in this course — potential future policy makers on this issue — will develop new ideas to meet the current moment, including the political challenges in passing legislation on the undocumented population."
New Graduate Courses
Policing and Civil Rights will focus on how legal doctrine, policy, and political decisions have shaped policing powers today. Instructor Udi Ofer, the John L. Weinberg/Goldman Sachs and Co. Visiting Professor and lecturer of public and international affairs, will review the foundational constitutional cases that have framed policing powers as we know them today and examine major policy debates on policing over the past century.
“What I hope that students gain out of this class is the ability to approach difficult and often polarized questions on policing with a strong foundation of constitutional law, history, and respect for competing viewpoints,” Ofer said. “By the end of the course, students should be able to distinguish claims from evidence, understand both the possibilities and limitations of legal and policy reform, and be able to evaluate policing strategies in a thoughtful and rigorous manner.”
The international relations course Secrecy, Accountability & the National Security State will look at the tensions between national security secrecy and democratic accountability in the post-war United States. Barton Gellman ’82, a visiting lecturer, plans to use the Pentagon Papers, Wikileaks, and the Edward Snowden disclosures as case studies.
“I want my students to set aside preconceptions and reason together about whether, for example, more secrecy and more security always coincide,” Gellman said. “Does security always come first, when it conflicts with public consent? What are the tradeoffs? Who gets to decide them? We will explore these questions in the context of whistleblowing, investigative journalism, and congressional oversight.”
New Undergraduate Courses
How Federal Regulation Works will be team-taught by Greg Jaczko, a lecturer of public and international affairs and director of the Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative, and Deborah Pearlstein, the Charles and Marie Robertson Visiting Professor in Law and Public Affairs and director of the Program in Law and Public Policy. Students will learn about the legal foundations and origin of the administrative state; the structure, processes, and tools of regulatory agencies; and the future of the administrative state.
“Since the end of the 19th century, Congress has utilized dedicated, fact-based federal agencies to regulate virtually all sectors of American life,” Jaczko said. “We will survey the foundation, structure and tools, and effectiveness of the so-called ‘administrative state,’ which grew to accommodate Congress’s recognition of the need for these expert-driven agencies to tackle an increasingly complex world.”
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will teach How to Run a Winning Political Campaign. Featuring input from candidates, political operatives, pollsters, and others at the federal, state, and local levels who have firsthand experience running political campaigns, the course will examine a variety of topics, including the increasing dependence on technology, greater difficulty in communicating, personal challenges, positions on issues, fundraising, and what Christie calls “the most important question of all: If I do win, what do I want to accomplish and what kind of leader do I want to be?”
“This fall, we won’t just be talking about campaigns,” Christie said. “We’ll be watching them unfold in real time. The 2026 elections will give students a chance to take what we discuss in class, watch campaigns put it into practice, and then ask the most important questions: What worked? What didn’t? And why?”
In addition to teaching the course, Christie will join the School’s SPIA in NJ initiative as its Faculty Fellow.
“Through his teaching and other engagement, the Governor will enhance the conversations within the School about crucial issues such as what’s at stake for democracy in this moment and about the value of bipartisanship,” said SPIA in NJ Director Anastasia Mann.