GPPAG Research and Teaching Opportunities

GPPAG is substantively interested in the intersection of globalization and national security. President Obama has described the post-war security architecture as "buckling under the weight of new threats." The list of concerns before us now seems quite familiar: fragile states, WMD proliferation, economic crises, climate change, terrorism, and pandemics are frequently cited. GPPAG is one touch-point at NPS for these concerns, with a focus on organizational and institutional capacity issues, and the improvement of strategic thinking and strategy in a multipolar world. In addition, we are the center of several international partnerships and forums, have an active presence in Geneva and elsewhere, and promote a conversation about 'next era' globalization issues in human, energy, and the economics of security.

GPPAG is funded to conduct a variety of research as well as to conduct classes and convene seminars. These result in the production of manuscripts, course and website materials, and conference reports that require highly expert research and analysis.

Research positions are possible for work in-residence at NPS full-time (with benefits) for increments of 1, 3 or 9 months, or part-time (without benefits) working primarily off-campus as needed for projects. Researchers divide their time among faculty research projects, administration, and their own research. Tasks include data collection and analysis, interviews, literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, and report writing.

Specific topics of interest include the following:

• Theories of organization, decisions, and learning in policy context;
• Economic geography of security and risk;
• Scenarios, futures studies and simulation models: global applications;
• Organization theory and jurisdiction studies of civil-military affairs;
• Dynamic modeling of transnational, global, and international organization fields;
• Social network methods and applications in global context: strategic alliances, partnerships, informal and extra-legal economies;
• Risk, decisions, and policy with organizational and interorganizational focus;
• Integrated multi-media case development.

Instructor opportunities include course teaching in one of our three Security and Development certificate courses (these are 4-credit graduate courses on globalization effects, complex operations, and analytic methods). We conduct this program quarterly for a cohort of 26 students.

The first month is taught by distributed learning (Sakai), the second month is in-residence (in some cases, NPS provides travel and per diem for the visiting instructor), and students complete assignments in the final month. The next planned iteration is Winter quarter: 10 Jan 11 (DL Begins) - 7 Feb 11 (In Residence) through 4 March.

Our philosophy is that research leads instruction, so we ask that our visiting instructors also lead a general discussion, such as special seminar or a brown-bag discussion as requested.

To apply, please send a c.v., a statement of research consisting of a 250-word executive summary; narrative proposal of no more than 2000 words; and a bibliography. Please also send the names of two references.

To apply, please send a c.v., a statement of research interests, sample courses, and teaching evaluations if available. Please also send the names of two references.

Send all materials as PDF documents to gppag@nps.edu 

To learn more, contact Prof. Charles J. LaCivita.