How It Works
Instead of a traditional thesis, all Lauder students fulfill the research and writing requirement for their MA by completing a team-based paper and an individual paper known collectively as the Global Knowledge Lab (GKL). Extending over 20 months, the GKL is the vehicle through which each Lauder student is expected to demonstrate the ability to conduct master’s degree level research in the social sciences or humanities, and often on cutting edge topics of interest to policymakers, non-government organizations, and the business community. Students additionally illustrate mastery of their program of concentration through their use of target language, intercultural awareness, and research topic.
In preparation for research, the Lauder Institute provides training to students in comparative analysis, research design, as well as secondary and primary research methodology. In addition, we have a dedicated faculty member who oversees the GKL, including student training, design of student milestones, student performance, and faculty advisor recruiting.
Each student team of 4 persons has two faculty advisors who collectively guide and evaluate student research on both the individual and team-based papers. Faculty advisors also assess and advise on matters of research scope, methodology, and feasibility. Students with faculty advisor-approved research designs are eligible for a research stipend in support of their team paper field research. Students select their team members, as well as their team and individual GKL paper topics.
For the team-based paper, students often work in a group with membership from different programs of concentration to facilitate comparative cross-regional analysis on a topic of mutual interest. GKL teams are formed at the start of the first semester of a student’s first full academic year. Students remain within these teams until final completion of their team GKL paper in their second year.
For the individual paper, region-centered program of concentration students are required to focus on a topic within their region. Global program of concentration students are expected to focus on a cross-regional topic or to select a topic related to a global institution or a global phenomenon.
The Language Component
The GKL also provides students with a venue to further enhance and demonstrate competency in their target language. In the past, students have had the opportunity to design surveys, conduct interviews, and well as gather library materials in their target language. Past students studying Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish, for example, worked together to investigate the intercultural aspects of changing consumer patterns in Latin America, Russia, and China. Other teams have made use of their language skills to explore the drivers of entrepreneurial ecosystems, the success of public health policies, as well as the intersection between social norms and socially acceptable forms of humor around the world.
GKL Faculty Advisors
GKL faculty advisors are drawn from across the university, with each student having one advisor representing Wharton or the Law School and the other from the School of Arts & Sciences or another appropriate School of the University (e.g., Engineering, Education, or Design). Advisors are assigned to student teams early in their first semester of their academic year and meet regularly with students to monitor their progress and to suggest bibliographic and other resources needed to deepen student knowledge. They help students define questions and research methodologies, refine hypotheses, and select appropriate research sites and interviewees for the summer research trips. The following faculty, among others, have served as GKL advisors:
Regina Abrami
The Lauder Institute
Balkan Osman
The Lauder Institute & Swarthmore College
Janet Chrzan
Department of Anthropology & Nursing
Stephanie Dick
History and Sociology of Science Department
Eileen Doherty-Sil
Political Science Department
Ann Farnsworth-Alvear
Department of History
Julia Gray
Political Science Department
Mauro Guillén
The Wharton School
Jennifer Hasty
Department of Anthropology
Witold Henisz
The Wharton School
Mireia Lizandra
Independent International Sports Consultant
Joao Neiva de Figueiredo
Saint Joseph’s University & The Wharton School
Stephen Sammut
The Wharton School
Joseph Westphal
The Lauder Institute
Research Topics
Student team-based research topics are wide-ranging, but broadly fall into the following categories: Culture & Consumption, Comparative Corporate Governance, Entrepreneurship & Economic Development, The Comparative Politics of Gender, Race & Sexual Orientation, Global Small Business Development, Global Supply Chains Industrial Policy and Geopolitical Competition, Informal Economies and Economic Development, New Energy and the Environment, New Tech Start-ups, Patterns of Foreign Direct Investment, Social and Economic Inequality, and Trade & Development.
Student individual GKL research topics are equally diverse. Faculty advisors nominate the very highest quality papers for the Lauder Institute’s “Reginald H. Jones Research Prize.” Nominated papers are blind-reviewed by a committee representative of faculty from the Wharton School and the School of Arts and Sciences.
GKL Prizewinners
Class of 2020
Research Prize Winner
James Juchau, Les Oubliés: North African Soldiers Fighting for the French Army in World War II
First Runner-up
Danielle Cerepnalkovic, Women at the Top: A Comparative Study of Corporate Board Gender Quotas in France and Spain
Second Runner-up
Second runner-up: Tyler Wigington, Narco-Trafficking in Colombia: Drawing on the Past for a Modern Path Forward
GKL and Careers
Learn how Lauder alum Louis Gilbert’s (G’19, WG’19) GKL project propelled him to a dream-role at the NHL here.
GKL Inspired Books & Examples
- Women Entrepreneurs: Inspiring Stories from Emerging Economies and Developing Countries, by Mauro F Guillén
- Green Products: Perspectives on Innovation and Adoption, by Joao Neiva de Figueiredo, Mauro F Guillén
- Green Power: Perspectives on Sustainable Electricity Generation, by Joao Neiva de Figueiredo, Mauro F Guillén
- “Far From Silicon Valley: The Entrepreneurial Gap in Emerging Market” Lauder GKL Team Project
GKL Team Research Destinations
Angola, Argentina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Easter Island, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, France, Germany, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Liberia, Madagascar, Malta, Mexico, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, North Korea, Oman, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Tahiti, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam
Contact Us
For more information, contact
Dr. Ecaterina Locoman
Senior Lecturer, Department of Political Science
Faculty Lead, The Global Knowledge Lab
The Lauder Institute

The Joseph H. Lauder Institute
256 South 37th street
2nd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6330