Localizing the International Relations Classroom: Evaluation of Academic Partnerships with City Government

As the world becomes increasingly “smaller,” global governance too shifts beyond states and formal agreements to include norms and actors at all levels of government and society. Cities, in particular, are emergent actors in global affairs. This paper examines a new type of experiential learning model for this burgeoning local–global governance: academic partnerships with city governments for undergraduate international relations courses. Occidental College and Pomona College have partnered with the Los Angeles Mayor's Office to localize and adopt the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study focuses on two Spring 2021 Task Force courses, where students worked in consultation with the Mayor's Office to conduct policy research on local implementation of SDG 5 on gender equality. It analyzes the pedagogical value of the Task Force courses with a focus on student learning outcomes and challenges. Through qualitative content analysis of student reflection papers, we find that the courses generate substantial student learning, particularly in higher forms of learning, including development of research and professional skills and metacognitive reflection on “doing theory,” or praxis, within the international relations discipline. Further, these partnerships also benefit the city, as they generate valuable data that inform policymaking.