Honors College 260H - Science Informed Public Policy

The purpose of this course is to better understand the links between science and public policy. Using social justice topics (e.g., food security, the built environment, health care access) as a stepping stone, students explore the questions: How does where we live influence our health? What determines the availability of healthful foods or safe places to live in our communities? What options do we have as engaged scholars to facilitate changes in a local community and beyond? How does our social identity influence the solutions we develop to address injustice? Students work individually and in small groups to explore connections between service, research, and public policy. The course prepares and places students with a community partner. Each student participates in a weekly service placement with a community-based organization that works to improve the quality of life for its constituents. Preparing for and learning from these experiences are a major component of the course. Student experiences in service placements are brought into conversation with readings and other course materials as a source of their learning. The service sites and service projects provide experiences that have a connection to the social justice topic. Students apply observations from their service-learning to discuss the process of public policy creation, how science informs public policy, and why research findings often don't translate to policy decisions. This course is a designated Service-Learning (SL) course and fulfills key requirements for a UMass interdisciplinary Certificate in Civic Engagement & Public Service (CEPS).

Open to Sophomores in Commonwealth Honors College Students only Open to students accepted into the CHC program "Sophomores-Serve"