Over the last decade or more, there has been a detectable and growing dissatisfaction among students with the "status quo" in the way the society works. Students have witnessed terrorism, long-term war, a "great recession," the "Occupy" movement, effects of climate change and worse projections to come, and most recently, a global pandemic with a great impact on the economy. Many students are looking for models of hope and alternatives to the status quo on how society at local, regional and global levels might operate to collectively address problems.

Examination of the influence of political factors, including institutions and interests, on the initiation, formulation, and implementation of public policy. Examines the role of information and expertise in politics.

Introduction to microeconomics theory and policy analysis. Examines economic rationales for and against government policy and the economic consequences of public policy.

Introduction to methodologies for analyzing, implementing, and evaluating public policy. Topics include research methods, participant observation survey research and questionnaire construction, research design, measurement theory and practice, and framing categories.

Students will learn about the distribution of political power and legal authority in the U.S. (and the relationship between the individual and government) through the lens of constitutional and administrative law. We will examine the architecture of government at the federal, state, and local level; and explore the principles and practices of federalism and the separation of powers, including the gaps between principles and practices.

Although we negotiate all the time, both in our professional and personal lives, most of us have not systematically learned and practiced effective negotiation strategies. Negotiating is a skill that can be learned and improved. But, like playing tennis or chess, it requires know-how and practice. Learning to become an effective negotiator is not predominantly a matter of listening to lectures, but of actively participating in negotiation simulations that give you a chance to experience and experiment with different negotiation strategies and tools.

This course will look at social change through the perspective of policies and strategies that have made a large positive difference in people's lives. Each week we will cover a successful public policy and a strategy that helped make that policy successful. Successful policies could include desalinization projects, a poverty alleviation program, and/or a new way of providing access to justice. We will study these policies in the context of successful social-change strategies, such as systems thinking, asset mapping, impact measurement, and appreciative inquiry.

To imagine changing even a small part of the world is a daunting, yet exhilarating proposition. Through class exercises, readings, exploration of social policy, guest speakers and a project that takes you to parts of the campus you might otherwise not explore, you will acquire knowledge and skills necessary for becoming a person who can make a difference. By the end of the semester you will have learned to connect ideas with action, have made a positive contribution to your community, and understand, through experience, the personal and social value of community engagement.

This course is for students who dream of starting, running, or working for a social or environmental enterprise---an organization that places "people" and "planet" ahead of or on an equal footing with ?profit.? In this class, students will take initial steps towards creating a fictional social mission enterprise, with practicing social entrepreneurs acting as mentors. Students will also complete a project that will help solve an issue facing the social enterprise with which their mentor is affiliated.