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Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto
The University of Toronto, Canada's largest university and the leading research institution in the country, has a long tradition of excellence in the field of international studies. In the mid-1970s, an interdisciplinary Centre for International Studies emerged out of established teaching and research programs in international relations based at Trinity College. (The University is a federation of colleges and universities, some of which pre-date its establishment. Trinity is one of the oldest colleges in the country.) Over time, the mission of the Centre broadened considerably. A constituent unit of the University's School of Graduate Studies, its activities drew together scholars, students, visitors, and interested members of various policy communities. From the late 1980s through the mid-1990s, the Centre was prominently identified with advanced research in international economic policy. Major studies sponsored by the Centre focused on such topics as the rationale for and impact of freer trade in North America, international institution-building in the trade arena, foreign direct investment, the political economy of competition policy, the implications of global financial integration, and the liberalization of telecommunication regimes. Without losing the critical mass of expertise fostered by this work, CIS entered into an exciting new phase of its history in the summer of 1997.
In the context of an institution-wide re-thinking and re-articulation of its scholarly mission, the University at that time identified international studies as one of its top priorities and a principal area for future growth. The move reflected a widespread sense that a rapidly widening set of intellectual and policy concerns demanded cross-disciplinary approaches and that today's students would be much better equipped for tomorrow's world if their university experience extended beyond a narrow set of specialized fields. The emergence of a global economy, the deepening of cross-cultural linkages, the spread of democratic forms of governance, the acceleration of technological change, the rise of new environmental and public health challenges--such developments underlined the need to encourage meaningful discussion, solid research, and innovative teaching across traditional borders between departments, faculties, and professional schools.
Teaching and Research Programs in the Munk Centre
Against this background and among other initiatives, the University established a Collaborative Master's Degree Program in International Relations. Headquartered at CIS, the program enables students to combine a range of studies in the social sciences with professional degree programs in law, management, and other applied fields. The first class of students entered the program in the fall of 1997. Simultaneously, members of the Centre initiated a significant expansion in the scope of its research activities. Faculty members now associated with CIS include prominent political scientists, economists, geographers, sociologists, anthropologists, engineers, legal scholars, medical researchers, management specialists, and humanists. An active series of seminars, workshops, and conferences was launched. Many prominent scholars, political leaders, and policy professionals subsequently visited the Centre. In addition to hosting such visitors, the day-to-day work of CIS is organized around several research programs and projects led by University of Toronto faculty, visiting professors, and post-doctoral students in residence. (See Programs & Projects.)
Having been identified as one of its academic priorities, the University announced in October 1997 that a distinguished alumnus, Mr. Peter Munk, had made a significant donation in support of international studies. In partnership with Trinity College, this donation allowed the University to renovate three inter-connected buildings in the middle of its main campus. In those buildings are now housed the library for Trinity College (noted for its international relations collection) and the Munk Centre for International Studies, of which CIS is a constituent unit.
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