Program of study devised by an undergraduate student in collaboration with an instructor.Routinely offered: This course is offered every year.
Undergraduate Course
PA 327 Administrative Internship
This course provides students with opportunities for learning and working in organizations that integrate knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application and skills development in a professional setting.
PA 366 U.S. Environmental Politics and Public Policy
Public policies to protect natural resources and the environment are among the most important and controversial issues in local, state, and national government.
PA 380 Analytic Tools for Public Policy
This course offers an introduction to the role of policy analysis and the analytical concepts and tools that are used in the practice. The first part of the course will introduce students to policy analysis, rationales for public policy, tools for framing policy problems, and the application of key concepts and methods from economics. In the second part of the course, we will apply these concepts and tools through guided hands-on data exercises, interpreting and generating relevant informational graphics, producing a policy memo, and presenting results to technical policy problems and solutions.
PA 520 Inequality, Race and Public Policy
In this course, students explore the impact of public policies and programs on the distribution of income, wealth, and opportunity in the United States.
PA 523 Policy, Privacy, and Personal Identity in the Postgenomics Era
Social genomics integrates theories and methods in the genomic, social, and population health sciences to answer questions relevant to public health and social well-being. Research topics in social genomics and their implications for social and public policy are covered in this course. Key concepts in human genetics, population genetics, and statistical genetics are introduced, as well as historical and contemporary policy debates surrounding scientific advances in genomics. Fundamental questions include social repercussions of genomics research, the rationale for government intervention, and how to approach policy analysis in an era where the genomic revolution is changing how we think about privacy and personal identity.