Overview
Faculty
Paul G. Wyckoff, director
The Public Policy Program is administered through the departments of Economics, Government and Philosophy. A concentration in public policy consists of PPOL-251, PPOL-382 and the Senior Project; GOVT-116 and GOVT-230 (students should take ECON-166 prior to GOVT-230); and courses chosen from the following options:
One of the following sequences:
ECON-101 and ECON-102 and ECON-254
ECON-100 and ECON-166 (Students must receive instructor permission to enroll in ECON-166 if they have already taken GOVT-230.)
Two of the following ethics courses:
BIO-223 -- Bioethics
CLASC-350 -- Ethics and Politics in Ancient Greece and Rome
PHIL-117 — Introduction to Political Theory
PHIL-206 --Ethical and Social Issues in the Digital Age
PHIL-219 -- Introduction to Moral Theory
PHIL-221 -- Food and Philosophy
PHIL-235 — Environmental Ethics
PHIL-452 -- Evolution and Morality
RELST-260 -- The Self Beyond Itself
And one of the following “issue areas” courses:
ECON-318 -- The Economics of Technology and Innovation
ECON-325 — Comparative Economic Systems
ECON-331 — International Trade Theory and Policy
ECON-333 -- Development and Social Change
ECON-340 — Economic Development
ECON-341 -- Energy Economics
ECON-348 -- Economics of Social Responsibility
ECON-350 — Economics of Poverty and Income Distribution
ECON-360 — Health Economics
ECON-378 -- Economics of Gender
ECON-380 — Environmental Economics
ECON-390 -- Labor Economics
ECON-415 -- Economics of Higher Education
ECON-433 -- International Finance
ECON-435 -- Industrial Organization Theory and Applications
ECON-440 — Public Economics
ECON-446 -- Monetary Policy
ECON-453 -- Economic Development in Latin America
GOVT-212 -- Climate Change
GOVT-273 -- Law and Justice Laboratory : Seminar in the Criminal Justice System in Oneida County, New York
GOVT-285 — Introduction to Environmental Politics
GOVT-287 -- Political Theory and the Environment
GOVT-335 — Criminal Law
GOVT-338 -- American Public Administration
GOVT-340 -- Race and American Democracy
GOVT-356 -- The Political Theory of Personal Privacy
GOVT-359 -- The Organization and Politics of American Policing
GOVT-360 -- The Politics and Theory of Place and Space
GOVT-363 -- Poverty and Development
GOVT-365 -- Free Speech Theory
GOVT-376 -- Government Failure? The American Administrative State
GOVT-389 -- Capitalism, Democracy, and the Workplace
SOC-204 -- Social Class in American Society
SOC-216 -- Sociology of Aging
SOC-223 -- Law and Society
SOC-226 -- The Sociology of Health and Illness
SOC-278 -- Race, Class, Gender
SOC-308 -- Issues in Higher Education
SOC-319 -- Globalization and Its Discontents
SOC-326 -- The Sociology of Mental Health and Illness
SOC-345 -- Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration in Urban America
SOC-372 -- Sociology of Disability
SOC-373 -- Seminar on the Constitution and Social Policy
Students are strongly encouraged to take ECON-100 and GOVT-116 in their first year, and to take GOVT-230 and PPOL-251 in their sophomore year. No student may declare a concentration in public policy without either completing or being enrolled in PPOL-251. Concentrators must complete the following courses by the end of the junior year: PPOL-251; PPOL-382; ECON-100 or ECON-101; ECON-102 or ECON-166; GOVT-116 and GOVT-230; one of the required courses in ethics; and one of the “issue areas” courses listed above. The Senior Project may be completed in one semester (PPOL-500) or two semesters (PPOL-500-PPOL-501). Concentrators fulfill the college’s Social, Structural, and Institutional Hierarchies (SSIH) requirement by completing PPOL-251 and PPOL-382. To qualify for honors in public policy, a student must submit a distinguished record in the concentration and perform with distinction in the Senior Project.
After declaring the concentration, students may not take any course on a credit/no credit basis if the course will be used to fulfill concentration or minor requirements.
Credit from the Term in Washington Program may be substituted for up to two of the courses required for the concentration, with the approval of the program director. Students interested in pursuing graduate study in public policy or public administration are encouraged to take additional courses in economics, in substantive areas of public policy, and in mathematics and statistics.
A minor in public policy consists of PPOL-251, ECON-100 or ECON-101, ECON-102 or ECON-166, GOVT-230, and one of the required ethics courses above. If the student’s concentration is in economics, government or philosophy, these courses cannot count in both the student’s concentration and the minor. Instead, courses that are required for both the concentration and the minor will be used to satisfy concentration requirements, and they will be replaced by alternative courses in the minor requirements. These alternative courses will be chosen by the program director in consultation with the chair of the student’s concentration department. In addition to the required courses, there are many other courses in the College curriculum that will be of interest to public policy concentrators. Students interested in the concentration should consult as early as possible with Professor Wyckoff.