At the undergradate level, I primarily teach: BSGC102 Globalization BSGC102 Global Issus GVPT289A Appetite for Change: The Politics of Global Food GVPT409 The Politics of Global Corporations. The BSGC courses are limited to students in the Global Communities Living-Learning program, which I direct. Global Food is an I-series course, and Global Corporations is an upper division course. I have supervised over a dozen undergraduate teaching assistants and a number of undergraduate research assistants. In addition, I have mentored students undertaking Independent Majors (IVSP); pursuing an Honors thesis in GVPT; participating in the McNair Scholars program; and freshmen in the SURE undergraduate research program. At the graduate level, I regularly teach graduate seminars on International Political Economy, and International Political Organization/ Global Governance. In the past, I have co-taught the core International Relations seminar. I have mentored many students on their dissertation, both as chair and as committee member. I held the position of Graduate Placement Director for a number of years, and in that position mentored graduate students seeking academic and non-academic positions. I also taught a course on teaching in political science.
Haufler, Virginia
Bio
Virginia Haufler (M.A./Ph.D. Cornell University) is a Professor of International Relations in the Department of Government and Politics. She is affiliated with the Center for International Development and Conflict Management. Her research focuses on the changing nature of governance in the global political economy, especially issues of accountability and authority of corporations in a world of sovereign states but global companies. Her work broadly examines global governance, private authority, and corporate social responsibility in diverse policy arenas, including finance, conflict prevention, climate change, and food.
In 2022 Prof. Haufler was awarded a competitive Fulbright Canada-Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Fellow. She spent Fall 2022 in Montreal affiliated with the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, writing and conducting research. For the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, she participated in workshops and institutions while mentoring graduate student scholarship students. The fellowship was extended an extra two years to align with the three-year terms of the rest of the 2022 cohort of fellows, mentors and students.
Dr. Haufler is currently Director of GVPT Global, a commitment by the Department to expanding global learning opportunities for students and instructors. As part of this, she is currently developing a new course that will include a spring break study abroad week in Montreal in 2025.
From 2011-21, Prof. Haufler directed the Global Communities Living-Learning Program. This residential program introduced freshmen from diverse majors to scholarship and experiences that explore globalization, global issues and intercultural understanding. During her tenure, she redesigned the academic curriculum, established new admissions processes, developed new courses, and expanded the program.
Dr. Haufler is a Research Fellow with the Earth System Governance network, and has been a visiting fellow with the Global Governance Institute at University College London; the International Studies Program at the University of California, Irvine; the Center on Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California; the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore; and a Senior Associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. She served on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF/ HSFK), the Research Advisory Board of the OEF Foundation, the USIP Task Force on Business and Peace, and the Principles for Responsible Investment. She has been a consultant to international organizations, including the UN Global Compact, and to many nonprofits. She has been a long-time member, officer and supporter of the nonprofit Women in International Security (WIIS), which supports women in international affairs careers and research on gender in national security.
Areas of Interest
- International Political Economy
- Global Governance
- Corporate Social Responsibility
Research Topics
- International Relations
How does the world get governed, and what role does the private sector play in this? This is the central question of my research. My early projects focused primarily on the conditions under which the private sector establishes global standards, using the international risks insurance industry as a case study. Later work explored the arena of "corporate social responsibility" as a form of voluntary self-regulation by international business, comparing environment, labor, and information privacy standards. My current research looks at global governance more broadly, including the multi-stakeholder institutions that have become increasingly common. I am currently working on two projects. In one, I examine the interaction between transnational activism and the creation of multi-stakeholder institutions designed to regulate trade relations and corporate behavior as a mechanism to reduce civil conflict in resource-rich areas of the world (e.g., the Kimberley Process for the Certification of rough diamonds, the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, and others). In another, I compare participation in global governance initiatives by different financial sectors, transnational climate activism, and net zero climate commitments by the financial sector.
Virginia Haufler
Professor and Director of GVPT Global
| 3117J Chincoteague
| vhaufler@umd.edu
| (301) 405-4122