Course Descriptions

Required Courses

PST 500 - Public Institutions and the Policy Process

The institutional, political, and normative context of the public policy process. The course introduces students to the central issues and major areas in U.S. public policy, such as health and welfare, education, economic policy, tax policy, and environmental policy. The course also reviews the key concepts and process models used to analyze public policy in the United States.

PST 562 - Environmental Policy

The broad context of environmental policy making. The importance and effects of historical, political, and institutional issues are explored. The course also teaches the essential skills and concepts important for the analysis and evaluation of environmental policies.

Elective Courses

PST 560 - Environmental Consequences of Globalization

The environmental consequences of unregulated economic activity, rapid industrialization, and population growth. The course focuses on the Global South, but 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. Unsustainable environmental practices that impact climate change, biodiversity, the world's natural resource base, and food supply are examined.

PST 611 - Administrative Law

Formulation and implementation perspectives on administrative law . The goal is to create a basic understanding of the relationships between federal and state laws, and the implementing regulatory bodies. Topics covered include administrative power creation, implementation, and review, and the general relationships between principles of administrative law and of environmental policy are explored.

PST 661 - Environmental Law

The major policy implementation and legitimization stages typical of environmental law and regulation development. Students gain understanding of the ways the law establishes "frameworks" within which policies must be developed and must interact, and the roles of policy professionals in the several stages of development.

PST 663 - Ocean Policy and Law

The interrelation between law and policy in the particular context of the marine environment. The course surveys coastal zone management, offshore resource management, marine pollution, and domestic and international ocean policy. Students are offered a broad perspective on legal and administrative issues affecting the oceans worldwide.