School of Public Policy 690STB - State&LocalLdrship/Millennial

This highly demanding course is for graduate students with a passion for getting things done through political and government processes. Students must be able to commit to participating fully in the class through careful preparation of the reading and through in-class discussion and problem solving. The course will examine key challenges facing many local governments such as financial distress and economic development; how elected officials build resources and support to address complex challenges at the state and local levels; and will closely examine a set of concrete cases drawn from local governments in New England. The course will examine the political DNA of the millennial generation, study the unique obstacles young people face when they run for office, examine the techniques for finding success in large, complicated government and legislative institutions, and closely analyze specific policy areas where millennial state legislators, mayors, and city councilors are making a real difference. This course will conclude with a rigorous final project where students identify and analyze a real-life challenge in their home community, draft state or municipal-level legislation to tackle that challenge and complete a ?roadmap? memo outlining their strategy to secure passage of that legislation, drawing on real-life examples from class discussions, reading assignments, and independent research.

Undergraduate juniors and seniors will be admitted on a space-available basis at the discretion of the Director of Undergraduate Advising for SPP (fnussbaum@umass.edu)