Undergraduate Programs

A survey of the policy studies discipline, including the key concepts and process models used to analyze public policy in the United States. The course introduces students to the major sub-fields of policy studies such as the policy process, policy analysis, policy implementation, and program evaluation. The course will explore these concepts, models, and analytic sub-fields by applying them to a variety of federal, state, and local policy areas such as health and welfare, education, economic policy, tax policy, trade policy, and environmental policy. The course will feature guest lectures by state and local policy makers, who will present an inside view of the policy making process, while allowing students to explore the occupational avenues open to policy experts in the public and private sectors.

The meaning of economic development. The interaction of economics, social and cultural forces in development. Widely different time periods will be considered.

Review and analysis of major social problems faced by cities; emphasis on origin, causes and possible solutions for poverty and minority problems. Cross-listed as AAS 103, LST 103, and WMS 103.

Basic analysis of problems of economic growth, job creation, and unemployment; structure of work and jobs will be explored, along with current issues surrounding the government's impact on inflation, taxation, and economic planning. Cross-listed as LST 111 and WMS 111.

Prerequisites: ECO 231, 232 
Comparisons in terms of structure and performance between different types of market economies, ranging from smaller to larger public sectors, market socialist economies, and mixed economies. The case study method is used, taking examples from the economies of the European Union, export-oriented Asian economies, and less developed African and South American economies.

Prerequisites: None. This course may be taken before ECO 231
Survey of introductory macroeconomics with focus on economic growth, unemployment, and inflation. Topics covered include national income accounting, inflation, unemployment, fiscal policy, money, the banking system, and monetary policy are covered. Balance of payments and currency exchange rate issues are analyzed.

General survey of a specific public policy area or issue. Topics will vary depending on the instructor's current research or in response to significant public policy issues. Sample topics include the policies of globalization, environmental policy, regional economic development, women's rights, and others.

Theories and models of the policy-making process, including pluralism, elitism, Marxism, systems analysis, structuralism, and state autonomy/issue-network models. The course examines how different theories view the role of political leadership, bureaucratic institutions, interest groups, social movements, academic experts, and business in the policy-making process. The course examines how different social actors and institutions influence the policy outcomes process at various stages of the policy process. The course provides students with the analytic tools to understand variations in the policy-making process across issues and the opportunity to develop their own ideas and applications.

Prerequisites: PST 102 or upper-division standing 
Critical evaluation of the multidimensional impacts of globalization. The course examines some of the social and political impacts of globalization, including global terrorism, the global drug trade, political violence, sex trafficking, cultural homogenization, environmental deterioration, the spread of infectious diseases and other topics. The course also examines the underlying economic foundations of globalization, including the role of supra-national governance institutions and their impact on domestic social policy and institutions.

Prerequisites: ECO 231, 232; or permission of instructor 
The theory of labor markets and the problem of discrimination. Current problems facing women and minorities will be examined. Existing programs and trends will be explored. Cross-listed as AAS 343, LST 343, and WMS 344.

Prerequisites: ECO 231, 232; or permission of instructor 
Study of changes in the labor force, the impact of labor market processes and how they effect work motivation, job performance and income distribution. Formerly ECO 453, and may be be repeated under this new number. Cross-listed as LST 344 and WMS 344.

Prerequisites: ECO 231, 232; or permission of instructor 
The economics of renewable and nonrenewable, common and private resources. The focus of this course will be comparison between markets and planning in the use of resources; the international distribution and use of resources will also be covered.

Prerequisites: ECO 231 
This course will study the fascinating and growing field of environmental and natural resource economics. All the topics covered (e.g., property rights and externalities, regulation and pollution control) will be examined as part of the general focus on the problem of economic growth in the presence of limited environmental and natural resources. We will employ the tools from 'basic' microeconomic theory to study the relationship between the economy and the natural environment.

Prerequisites: ECO 231, 232 
Structure of the American monetary and banking system. Monetary theory is developed and monetary policies are considered.

Prerequisites: POL 102 
A survey of major policy content areas such as economic policy, tax policy, social security and welfare, education, health care, immigration and trade, with an emphasis on the inter-institutional and societal dynamics of the policy-making processes unique to each area. The content areas may vary with instructor. The course will include guest lectures and discussions by one or more expert practitioners in each area.

Prerequisites: PSC 101 and upper-division standing 
The policy-making roles, processes, and dynamics of U.S. political institutions, including the federal bureaucracy, media, think tanks, and universities. Major theme and dynamics examined include: governmental secrecy, covert action, the role of scientific experts, and the right to privacy.

Prerequisites: SOC 101 or 203 
An analysis of the relationship between social needs and societal response with an examination of the effectiveness of current policies in meeting human needs. The policies selected for analysis will be programs and provisions directed toward a specific population, e.g. elderly, women, etc. The policies to be studied will focus on a particular substantive area and may change with each semester that the course is offered.

An examination of the political and legal framework of U.S. labor relations. The course will include analysis of legislation and Supreme Court and NLRB cases which shape national labor policy and define relations among workers, employers, and the state. Cross-listed as LST 332.

Prerequisites: PSC 101 and upper-division standing 
Examines public policies and landmark Supreme Court opinions relating to gender equality and women's interests in the United States. Topics may include educational policies, employment policies, child care policies, health care policies, reproductive rights, and policies relating to women as criminals. Cross-listed as WMS 339.

Family policy issues in the U.S. such as childcare, family leave, job equity, and marriage and family relationships. U.S. public policy is compared with that of other countries. Cross-listed as WMS 336.

Course provides a foundational understanding of environmental policy, including the historical, political, and institutional context of environmental policymaking. Course provides the skills and concepts for the analysis and evaluation of environmental policies.

An exploration of public policy in a criminal justice context. The causes and consequences of public policy will be explored to demonstrate the complexity of the relationships between criminological knowledge, policy and practice. Cross-listed as MPP 566.

The emergence and development of the American city from the seventeenth century to the present., stressing the colonial town, cities and the new nation, immigration and the nativist reaction, slavery in the city, the completion of the urban network, the political machine, the urban reformer, the company town, the African-American migration to the city, and the emergence of the metropolis.

Prerequisites: PST 102 
Methods and techniques for analyzing public policy issues. The course reviews the role of the policy analyst in defining social problems, establishing criteria and values for analyzing problems, identifying and analyzing alternative policies, and implementing the selected policy.

Prerequisites: PST 102 
Methods, techniques, and data sources for conducting applied policy research. The course prepares students to write analytic reports for decision-makers in government, business, education, and other organizational settings. It reviews the practical nature of policy research, the process of preparing to conduct policy research, how to conceptualize a research project, and how to conduct technical analysis and best practices research. Students learn to communicate their research findings to relevant audiences through briefing papers, press releases, newspaper editorials, and formal testimony.

Prerequisites: POL 102, POL 201, and upper-class standing 
A policy-related internship tailored to each student's career preferences or academic interests. The selection of an internship venue will occur in consultation with the student's Policy Studies advisor and with the approval of the Policy Studies Internship Coordinator. The Internship venue will be selected from a pre-approved list of local, state, and federal agencies, non-profit organizations, and private sector businesses. This variable credit course may be taken for 6 to 15 credits, but no more than three credits may count toward fulfilling requirements toward the minor in Policy Studies. The course is open to all students, although preference will be given to Policy Studies majors and minors.

Prerequisites: upper division standing 
The constitutional and institutional structure of Massachusetts state government, state level political and policymaking processes, state level instruments of public policy, and substantive areas of state level policy, including fiscal and tax policy, economic development, labor and workforce development, housing, higher education, health and human services, transportation, and ethics policy. Course examines the roles of official actors in the policy process, such as elected functionaries, the bureaucracy, and the courts, as well as the unofficial actors, such as political parties, interest groups, and think tanks.

Prerequisites: ECO 231, 232, 301; or permission from instructor 
First of a two semester inquiry into the role of government in a market economy. Topics include economic efficiency and the public interest, rationale for government intervention in the private sector and an economic model of the democratic process.

Prerequisites: ECO 231, 232, 301, 441; or permission of instructor 
Concerns itself with the economic and behavioral effects of government's spending tax policies. Topics include the effect of tax policy on private investment, saving and labor supply, as well as other issues related to the effects of different government economic policies.

Prerequisites: ECO 231 and upper-class standing 
Explores the major economic decisions of subnational governments- taxation and expenditures- and how these decisions affect the allocation of private resources. Specifically, the course focuses on the constraints imposed on state and local governments that are not placed on the federal government.

Prerequisites: ECO 231, 232; or permission of instructor 
Review of labor market problems and programs in growing and depressed regions, with special emphasis on New England. Attention focused on the impact of education, training and government manpower programs. Cross-listed as LST 452.

Prerequisites: ECO 231, 232; or permission of instructor 
An examination of the economic, public policy and regulatory issues affecting coastal zone resources. The focus will be on specific case studies with an emphasis on examining policy and environmental issues. Students will be involved in projects on specific cases.

Prerequisites: POL 102, POL 201, and upper class standing 
Seminar conducted on a graduate school model. The seminar requires students to do in-depth research on a specific policy area. The topics will vary depending on the instructor's current research and policy consulting activities and in response to the emergence of significant public policy issues. Sample topics include freedom of information and information policy, science and technology policy, regional economic development, marine policy, and environmental policy.

Prerequisites: PST 102 or upper division standing 
Comparative examination of human rights issues that affect women's lives and the ways that women's experiences of human rights violations are gendered throughout the world. The course will explore how the attainment of women's rights in the economic, social, and political realms vary significantly by cultural, geographic, and national boundaries, and the strategies that women use to challenge and overcome obstacles to the realization of these rights. The course investigates a range of global policy issues, including international human rights conventions; gender-based violence; cultural relativism versus universalism; religious fundamentalism and the oppression of women; harmful traditional practices; women's political and civil rights; the impact of authoritarianism and democratization on women's status; the impact of economic globalization on women's economic and labor rights; and the shortcomings of the international human rights regime in protecting women's human rights.

Prerequisites: PST 102 or upper division standing 
Environmental impacts of contemporary globalization. The course reviews the effects of unregulated economic activity, rapid industrialization, and population growth in the Global South. The course also examines the effects of profligate consumption patterns, the practices of Northern-based corporations, and other aspects of the globalization process that impact the world's collective environmental security, such as unsustainable environmental practices that impact climate change, biodiversity, the world’s natural resource base, and food supply.

Prerequisite: PST 443 
The interrelation between law and policy in the context of the marine environment. Course surveys coastal zone management, offshore resource management, marine pollution, domestic and international ocean policy.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor, Program Director, and College Dean 
Study under the supervision of a faculty member in an area covered in a regular course not currently being offered. Conditions and hours to be arranged.

Prerequisites: Permission of instructor, Program Director, and College Dean 
Study under the supervision of a faculty member in an area not otherwise part of the discipline's course offerings. Conditions and hours to be arranged.