Courses at the Harvard Kennedy School

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Courses at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS)

All Government concentrators are allowed to meet up to 2 of their 3-4 elective requirements through courses at the Harvard Kennedy School, chosen from the list below. Please note that secondary-field requirements cannot be met through coursework at HKS. Enrollment in HKS courses is always at the discretion of the HKS professor; please refer to the HKS website for additional instructions.  

Concentrators do not need to request permission to count the courses below for concentration credit. Concentrators may petition to count other HKS courses for concentration credit by completing the following form: https://bit.ly/Gov_Elective_Credit_Petition.

Please note that as of July 2024, no classes taken through cross-registration are counted toward a student’s official undergraduate GPA (unless a student receives a failing grade). See the FAS Registrar’s webpage on cross-registration for more information.

Harvard Kennedy School Courses Preapproved for Government Concentration Credit, 2025-26

Business and Government Policy 

BGP 100 The Business-Government Relationship in the United States Roger Porter Spring  
BGP 610 The Political Economy of Trade  Robert Lawrence Spring 

Democracy, Politics and Institutions 

DPI 120The U.S. Congress and Law Making David King Spring 
DPI 122Becoming a Policy Entrepreneur in the United StatesDavid KingFall
DPI 207 Philosophy of Technology: From Marx and Heidegger to AI, Genome Editing, and Geoengineering Mathias Risse Spring 
DPI 415 Comparative PoliticsPippa Norris Fall 
DPI 418The Rise of Authoritarian PopulismPippa NorrisFall
DPI 450The Political Economy of Transition in ChinaAnthony SaichFall
DPI 543 Corruption: Finding It and Fixing It Jeeyang Rhee Baum Fall 
DPI 703 Democracy: The Long View and the Bumpy History Alex Keyssar Fall 

Development and Economic Growth

DEV 130 Why Are So Many Countries Poor, Volatile, and Unequal? Ricardo Hausmann Fall 
DEV 308 Social Institutions and Economic Development Michael Woodcock Spring 

International and Global Affairs 

IGA 103 Global Governance Lotem Bassan-NygateFall 
IGA 105 International Law and Global Justice Kathryn Sikkink Fall 
IGA 109Negotiation and DiplomacyNicholas Burns & James SibeniusSpring
IGA 217U.S. Foreign Policy in a Global AgeFredrik LogevallSpring
IGA 229Sex and Violence in Global PoliticsDara Cohen Fall
IGA 236 Cybersecurity: Technology, Policy, and Law Simson GarfinkelSpring 
IGA 412Energy, the Energy Transition, and Global PoliticsMeghan O’SullivanSpring
IGA 513 Science, Power, and Politics Sheila Jasanoff Fall 
IGA 538 Technology, Privacy, and the Trans-National Nature of the Internet James Waldo Fall 
IGA 632Africa in Global PoliticsZoe MarksSpring
IGA 655  Middle Eastern Politics and Policy Tarek Masoud Spring 
IGA 662The Future of the EU: Migration, Policy, and PoliticsJames DennisonFall

HKS Courses Cross-Listed or Jointly Offered with the Government Department

The following HKS courses are cross-listed or jointly offered with the Government Department and will show up in my.harvard with separate HKS and Government course numbers. College students should sign up for these courses under their Government course numbers, not the HKS ones. When taken under the Government course numbers, these courses are treated the same as any other Government Department courses for the purpose of concentration policies:

DPI 115 / Gov 1540
The American Presidency 
Roger Porter 
Fall
DPI 348 / Gov 1092Progressive Alternatives: Institutional Reconstruction TodayRoberto UngerSpring
DPI 505 / Gov 1535The Supreme Court, Law, and Public PolicyMaya SenFall
DPI 608 / Gov 1719Political Communication Breakdown: Causes, Consequences, and Solutions Matthew BaumSpring
DPI 610 / Gov 1003Data Science for PoliticsBenjamin SchneerSpring
IGA 211 / Gov 1796Central Challenges of American National Security, Strategy, and the PressGraham Allison, David Sanger, & Derek ReveronFall

(Last updated 8/26/2025)