Resilience studies is an emerging field of inquiry that focuses on how global, national, and subnational actors manage a range of chronic transnational challenges—such as terrorism, organized crime, weapons proliferation, cyberattacks, bioterrorism, climate change and catastrophic disasters, migration, and radicalization—that can be destabilizing to societies. It explores how strategic doctrines, organization processes, bureaucratic behaviors, and security tools and tactics are adapting to these challenges by placing greater emphasis on resilience. Resilience is a concept rooted in multiple disciplines that is gaining widespread currency at the community, societal, and global levels given the prevalence of human-made and naturally occurring threats that do not lend themselves to preventive and protective measures. Strategies for dealing with these threats emphasize measures that mitigate, respond to, recover from, and adapt to risk in order to safeguard essential functions and societal values. Many of these measures involve the role of technologies, system design, and engineering as well as policy, regulatory, and governance issues. Students at Northeastern University who enroll in the Master of Science in Resilience Studies have an opportunity to become prepared to inform and support domestic and international efforts to deal with the major sources of turbulence in the 21st century.
The master’s program offers an optional cooperative education experience to eligible students. Co-op is central to both the Northeastern experience and to the College of Social Sciences and Humanities experiential liberal arts framework. Northeastern’s signature co-op ecosystem provides qualified master's students with six-month work experiences in businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies in Boston and across the United States. Graduate students take their work from campus learning spaces, apply their knowledge outside of the classroom, and then bring knowledge and skills gained in community learning spaces back to our campus learning spaces during the cocurricular experiential integration course.
To earn the Master of Science in Resilience Studies degree at Northeastern, you must successfully complete 32 semester hours (or 33–34 semester hours with co-op). Full-time students can expect to complete the degree within one calendar year. Cost per semester hour may vary based on the college that offers the course. See Tuition and Fees for more information.
Academic Standing/Progress
Satisfactory progress in the MS program includes maintaining a minimum grade-point average of 3.000.
- Concentrations and course offerings may vary by campus and/or by program modality. Please consult with your advisor or admissions coach for the course availability each term at your campus or within your program modality.
- Certain options within the program may be required at certain campuses or for certain program modalities. Please consult with your advisor or admissions coach for requirements at your campus or for your program modality.
Core Requirements
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| POLS 7341 | Security and Resilience Policy 1 | 4 |
| POLS 7346 | Resilient Cities | 4 |
| or PPUA 7346 | Resilient Cities |
| 4 |
| Crime Mapping | |
| Research Methods in the Social Sciences | |
| Statistical Analysis | |
| Geographic Information Systems for Urban and Regional Policy | |
| PPUA 7673 | Capstone in Public Policy and Urban Affairs | 4 |
Electives
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| 16 |
| Counterterrorism | |
| International Security | |
| Climate and Development | |
| Participatory Community Planning Methods | |
| Sustainable Urban Coastal Policy | |
| Energy Democracy and Climate Justice: Technology, Policy, and Social Change | |
| Climate Policy and Justice | |
| Special Topics in Public Policy and Urban Affairs | |
| Managing People in Public and Nonprofit Sectors | |
| Building Resilience into Local Government | |
| Operations and Supply Chain Management | |
Optional Co-op Experience
Course List | Code | Title | Hours |
| 1-2 |
| Co-op Work Experience
and Experiential Integration | |
Program Credit/GPA Requirements
32 total semester hours (33–34 with optional co-op) required
Minimum 3.000 GPA required
