Faculty Lead: Dr. Alexandra Cockerham
An alternative to choosing the general option, ISS major students can select the Public Policy Specialization as a combination of primary and secondary areas of study.
Description
The Public Policy specialization uses multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives to examine public policy in the United States. Public policy is the output of government and the primary mechanism through which we can mitigate collective action problems and other social problems. However, there is no one policy solution to these problems. Although it is created by government through a political process, public policy has important implications for society and the economy, making this an important field to study from an interdisciplinary perspective. In this specialization students will develop a policy area specialization and learn skills for analyzing public policies and their role in mitigating societal problems with an eye toward different social scientific perspectives. Students will learn how social science concepts and research can help us understand public issues in the United States. Students interested in the undergraduate certificate instead can click here.
Specialization Learning Objectives
- Apply key social science concepts and methods useful in studying public policy.
- Analyze information about public problems and think critically about alternative methods of resolving these problems.
- Integrate disciplinary insights to better understand policy problems and solutions.
- Analyze the effectiveness of public policies in the United States.
- Understand the complexities of the policy landscape in a policy area of interest.
- Explain why policy problems warrant public intervention.
- Compose a professional policy memo in clear coherent language that provides an overview of a policy problem and the systematic analysis of multiple policy alternatives.
Policy Area Offerings
Environmental Policy
Government Regulation
Health and Aging
Poverty and Inequality
Risk Management
Education & Family
Criminal Justice
Structure
This is a 10-course specialization, organized as follows.
1. For the primary area of study, students will complete their Primary Public Policy coursework, covering general interdisciplinary public policy and public policy analysis. Coursework includes: Evidence Based Public Policy (ISS4014), The Policy Seminar (currently offered as a DIS), ISS3330 Interdisciplinary Research Methods, ISS4304, and students will choose two courses from the following course list:
Policy Analysis Courses List
- PAD 4120. Managing Florida’s Government and its Key Policy Issues
- PAD 4223. Budgets and Finances in Managing Public Affairs
- PAD 4432. Public Program Evaluation
- POS 3182. Florida Government
- PUP 3002. Introduction to Public Policy
- PUP 4008. Public Policy Analysis
- PUP 4034. Organizations and Public Policy
2. As a secondary area of study, students will specialize in their chosen policy area. This coursework will consist of four classes (twelve hours) and the respective course lists can be found below. Each policy area has courses listed across several disciplines. Students must choose their policy-area courses from at least two disciplines.
Policy Area: Environmental Policy
Economics
ECP 3302 Economics of Natural Resources, Energy and The Environment
ECP 4312 Economies of Energy, Environment and Sustainability
Geography
GEO 4340 Living in Hazardous Environments
Political Science
PUP 2403 Environmental Politics and Policy
Urban and Regional Planning
URP 4022 Collective Decision Making
URP 4402 Sustainable Development Planning in the Americas
URP 4423 Intro to Environmental Planning and Resource Management
Policy Area: Government Regulation
Economics
ECO 3004 Debating Economic Issues
ECO 3130 Free to Choose
ECO 4504 Public Sector Economics
ECP 3451 Economics and the Law
ECP 3617 Land Use, Housing and Government Regulation
ECP 4413 Government Regulation of Business
Political Science
CPO 3703 Comparative Democratic Institutions
CPO 3743 States and Markets
POS 3122 State Politics
POS 3182 Florida Government
Public Administration
PAD 3003 Public Administration in Society
PAD 4120 Managing Florida’s Government and Its Key Policy Issues
Urban and Regional Planning
URP 4104 Consequences of Planning
Policy Area: Health and Aging
Political Science
PUP 4604 Health Services Organizations and Policy
Economics
ECP 4530 Economics of Health
Geography
GEO 4450 Medical Geography
GIS4421 GIS and Health
Public Administration
PAD4844 Public Health and Emergency
Sociology
SYA 3741 Sociology of Death and Dying
SYA 4930 Neighborhoods, Stress & Health
SYO 4402 Medical Sociology
SYP 3730 Aging and Life Course
SYP 4550 Alcohol & Drug Problems
SYP 4062 Sexual and Reproductive Health
SYP 4764 Aging Policies & Services
Policy Area: Poverty and Inequality
Economics
ECO 4132 Economics of Compassion
ECP 3143 African Americans in U.S Political Economics
Interdisciplinary Social Science
ISS 4164 Intersections, Power, and Policy
ISS 4159 Perspectives on Race, Ethnicity and Equality
Sociology
SYA 3741 Sociology of Death and Dying
SYD 4700 Race & Minority Group Relations
SYD 3800 Sex and Gender
SYO 3530 Social Class and Inequality
SYO 4250 Sociology of Education
SYP 4062 Sexual and Reproductive Health
Political Science
POS 4070 Race, Ethnicity and Politics
POS 4624 Supreme Court, Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
Public Administration
PAD 4382 Disaster Recovery and Mitigation
PAD 4301 Disaster Management Planning for Urban Poor Communities
Urban and Regional Planning
URP 4811 Multicultural Urbanism
URP 5540/4936 State and Local Economic Development
Policy Area: Education & Family
Education
EDF2085: Teaching Diverse Populations
EDF4210: Educational Psychology Developing Learners
SOW 4633 The Social Worker in the Public School System
Sociology
SYO 4250. Sociology of Education
IFS 3016. Examining the Educational Achievement Gap
SYO 3100. Family Problems and Social Change
Family and Child Sciences
CHD 3472 Child Guidance
CHD 4615 Public Policy: Child and Family Issues
CHD 4630 Methods of Studying Families and Children
FAD4455 Family Life Education
CHD2220 Child Growth and Development
FAD 2230: Family Relationships: A Life Span Development Approach
Policy Area: Criminal Justice
Criminology and Criminal Justice
CCJ 3644. White Collar Crime
CCJ 3666. Victimology
CCJ 3673. The Social Reality of Black Males
CCJ 3677. Crimes against Humanity
CCJ 4004. Comparative Criminology and Criminal Justice
CCJ 4036. Communities and Crime
CCJ 4497. Criminal Justice and Public Policy
CCJ 4344. Punishment and Punitiveness
CCJ 4623. Violence in America
CCJ 4507. Networks and Crime: Peers, Groups, and Gangs
CCJ 4505. Juvenile Delinquency
CCJ 4663. Women, Crime and Justice
CCJ 4667. Crime Victimization and Victim Services
CCJ 4684. Family Violence
CCJ 4687. Evaluation and Assessment of Victim Services
Sociology
SYP 3454. The Global Justice Movement
SYP 4550. Alcohol and Drug Problems
SYP 4570. Deviance and Social Control
SYP 3540. Sociology of Law
Political Science
POS 4284. Courts, Law, and Politics
POS 4624. The Supreme Court, Civil Liberties, and Civil Rights
POS 3691. Law and Society
Policy Area: Risk Management
Economics
ECO 3933 Economics of Risk and Uncertainty
ECP 3302 Natural Resources, Energy and the Environment
ECP 4312 Economics of Energy, the Environment, and Sustainability
Geography
GEO 4340 Living in a Hazardous Environment
Political Science
PUP 4203 Environmental Politics and Policy
Sociology
SYP 3000 Social Psychology of Groups
SYP 4570 Deviance and Social Control
Public Administration
PAD 4372 Leadership and Communication in Emergency Management
PAD 4391 Foundations in Emergency Management
PAD 4393 Emergency Management Programs, Planning and Policy