Courses

All courses carry 3 credits unless otherwise specified.

601 Politics and the Policy Process
Examination of the influence of political factors, including institutions and interests, on the initiation, formulation, and implementation of public policy. Examines the role of information and expertise in politics.

602 Public Management
Overview of organization theory including theories of administration, motivation, budgeting, decision making, inter-organizational relationships, and ethics. Uses case studies to provide a broad range of policy areas and organizations.

603 Public Policy Analysis
Integrates material from core courses and applies it to actual and hypothetical policy issues in many areas. Looks at social, economic, organizational, political, and other influences on policy decisions. Students complete a client-based project.

604 Policy and Program Evaluation
This course equips students with tools to evaluate the success of public and nonprofit policies and programs.  Course topics will survey basic practices such as process and outcome evaluation, as well as techniques such as experimental and quasi-experimental designs for effective policy and program administration.  In addition, the course explores the advantages of using evaluation as a mechanism for program improvement. 

605 Economics and Public Policy
Introduction to microeconomics theory and policy analysis. Examines economic rationales for and against government policy and the economic consequences of public policy.

606 Applied Public Sector Economics
Examines economic implications of public policy changes. Review of market failure, non-market failure, public expenditure analysis, taxation and tax incidence, fiscal federalism, regulation, and other topics of applied public finance.

607 Policy Methods
Introduction to methodologies for analyzing, implementing, and evaluating public policy. Topics include research methods, participant observation survey research and questionnaire construction, research design, measurement theory and practice, and framing categories.

608 Introduction to Statistical Methods for Public Policy and Administration
Introduction to statistics including use and interpretation of statistics in policy research. Topics include statistical methods, descriptive statistics, probability theory, analysis of tabular data, correlation and regression, and multiple regression.

610 Capstone in Public Policy and Administration
Students synthesize what they learned in the M.P.A. program in a paper that addresses an important gap in knowledge about a particular issue in public policy or management.

611 Comparative Public Policy
This course introduces the politics of policy-making in explicit cross-national focus. It satisfies a core requirement for CPPA MPP/MPPA students. Focus is on how values, institutions, and choices shape outcome.

613 Public Policy Seminar
Theories of policy-formation are applied to several timely issues of US and global policy.  Issues are grouped around a broad theme, such as environmental policy or security.  Relevant experts/policymakers will help students complete policy simulations on our issues.

614 Professional Development
Through skill development and contact with professionals, this course prepares students for successful careers in public policy and administration. Students gain an understanding of their strengths and develop career goals.

621 Conflict Resolution
The theory and practice of conflict resolution. Based on seven principal propositions, explored and dissected through the assigned readings, class discussion, simulations and role-plays, guest lecturers, and individual research.

622 Ethics and Public Policy
Examination of the moral and ethical dimensions of decision making in public policy and administration, including individual responsibility for collective decisions, democratic theory, multiculturalism, and theories of injustice.

630 Nonprofit Management
For students interested in pursuing careers in the nonprofit sector. Covers management topics related to human resources, financial management, and managing for mission.

631 Information Technology
The role of information technology in public and nonprofit settings. Issues related to the management of information systems. Hands-on experience in the design and development of World Wide Web systems and relational databases. Broader societal impacts of information technology.

633 Political Economy of Public Policy
This course uses the methods of political economy to analyze public policy, with an emphasis on contested policies.  Our approach will examine class and other conflicts in framing public policy debates.  We will give particular attention to competing economic theories and to the role of expertise in conflicts over public policy.  By the end of the course, students should be able to identify the intellectual origins of alternative economic critiques of policy and to apply this method to policies of interest.  Topics may include: the welfare state and poverty; macroeconomic policy; social insurance; deregulation and competition; labor markets and policy; environment; and globalization and trade.

636 Qualitative Policy Research
A hands-on introduction to qualitative methods for policy research.  Students design a qualitative research project, conduct field work, analyze qualitative data, and write up findings.  Students learn key concepts, research design, methodological strategies, and the ethics of applied qualitative research.  Cross-listed with Anthro 775.

650 U.S. Education Policy
An introduction to primary and secondary education policy in the United States, and to research on education policy.  Emphasizes history and qualitative political science, but also includes other methodological and disciplinary approaches.

651 Social Inequalities, Technology and Public Policy
This seminar examines how communication policy has addressed social equity issues in light of domestic and global structural and technological transformations of the last two decades. We will focus on how notions of access, diversity, expression, control and development have evolved within the structure of the U.S. and global communication policy regimes, discussing their implications for social exclusion. Some of the debates addressed by this seminar include: policy implications of different conceptualizations of ICT gaps (from digital divide to digital inequalities and digital citizenship), persistent access gaps and current formulations of broadband policy, and social media, public participation and copyright issues. Throughout the course, we will reflect on issues of power, democratization and inclusion by keeping a critical eye on the ends and means by which advocate groups, community organizations, and citizens participate in the policy process, and in the development of interventions designed to addressed digital gaps. While the focus of the class is on U.S. policy, international cases from Latin America and Africa will be examined for their import to current discussions on the consolidation of more democratic and inclusive communication systems.

653 Family Policy
This course explores interdisciplinary approaches to family policy addressing issues such as public spending on child care and elder car, divorce and child support legislation, and work/family balance.

654 Gender & Social Policy
Seminar emphasizing the intersection of the family, the economy, and the state through the lens of social policies such as employment, poverty, and reproductive policies.

656 Topics in Urban Housing Policy
This course will examine selected topics in urban and housing policy, with an emphasis on the role of cites in the economy and the impact of economic forces on urban structure and function. Particular attention will be paid to relationships between government and cities and to the role of institutions and history in shaping policy decisions.  Class sessions will focus on analysis and discussion of weekly readings done by all students. Students will write papers in which they explore topics of their own choice (selected in consultation with Professor Heim).

696 Independent Study

697 Special Topics

797 Special Topics