Course Descriptions
Note:
- The core courses listed below are available only to students admitted into the Ph.D. in Public Policy or to students admitted to other Ph.D. programs.
- Permission of the instructor is required on all courses in the Public Policy Ph.D.
- There are no specific prerequisites for many of the courses listed below; however, the general levels of preparation are described in greater detail on the program’s website and in the Student Handbook.
- Occasionally these courses will be offered during one of the summer sessions as well as during the semester.
PPOL 8000. PPOL 8000 002, PPOL 8000 003, PPOL 8000, 004, PPOL 8000 005, PPOL 8000 006, PPOL 8000 090 Topics in Public Policy. (1-4) Prerequisites: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Study of selected topics in Public Policy. Maybe repeated for credit. (On demand)
PPOL 8050. Accelerated Introduction to Public Policy Quantitative Techniques. (2). Pre-requisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or Permission of the Instructor. This course is graduate-level, two-week intensive review of mathematics, and social science quantitative skills course to prepare students for the advanced microeconomic and quantitative sequence with a focus on policy analysis. May not be repeated for credit.
PPOL 8511. Energy and Environmental Economics. (3) Economic issues of both energy and environment. Energy issues include the historical development of energy resources, supply and demand considerations, and projections of the future energy balance. Environmental issues are externalities, common property resources, and government regulation. Policy considerations include environmental standards, pollution charges, and property rights. Cost-benefit analysis and microeconomic theory are applied. (On demand)
PPOL 8600. Policy Process I. (CORE) (3) Prerequisites: Prior coursework or experience relevant to political and legal processes, behaviors, and institutions. Examination of the field of public policy analysis to include both theory and practice. Process includes everything from sources of public problems to feedback mechanisms after policy implementation. Emphasis on the policy process in growing urban regions and the ability to communicate with stakeholders to determine value conflicts and to communicate policy solutions. Examination of the context (legal, institutional, historical, philosophical, social, political, physical and spatial) within which policy is made with sensitivity to gender, race and ethnicity, and class concerns. (Fall)
PPOL 8602. Research Design in Public Policy. (CORE) (3) Introduces students to various quantitative and qualitative approaches to doing policy research. Considers such major issues in philosophy of science as causality, measurement, and post-positive approaches to research. Students may use the course to prepare their dissertation proposals or research grant and contract proposals. Students should have completed at least two quantitative analysis courses and one qualitative analysis course before registering for PPOL 8602. (Fall)
PPOL 8610. Urban Regional Environment. (3) Cross-listed as GEOG 6123 and 8123. Prerequisite: Prior coursework or experience relevant to the nature of urban regions. Examination of the nature of urban regions. The basic factors that shape urban regions as they grow. Impact of: geography; history; social factors; economic factors; concerns about gender, race and ethnicity, and class; and other determinants of the nature of urban regions, their problems, and possible policy solutions. (Fall)
PPOL 8611. Metropolitan Governance and Administration. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Introduction of major issues in urban politics and related trends and problems in urban governance and administration. (Spring)
PPOL 8612. Theory of Urban Development. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Analysis of urban economics and politics within the context of public policy and planning. Focuses on theory and application to understand the rationale for and effects of urban policy, urban economic development, and planning. Provides basic understanding of the operation of urban real estate markets and the motivation for public sector interventions. Applies theoretical foundations to the study of current urban problems and controversies. Familiarity with introductory microeconomics is required. (Fall)
PPOL 8613. Transportation Policy. (3) Cross-listed as GEOG 6600 and 8600. Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the instructor. Examines surface transportation from a broad public policy perspective with a special focus on its institutional components and the changing role of government in transportation policy-making including the evolution of, and relationships among, various federal, state and local policies that affect investment decisions in transportation infrastructure. (On demand)
PPOL 8614. Colloquium in 20th Century Black Urban History. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Examination of major and topical monographic works in African-American urban history during the twentieth century. The focus will be on such topics as” classical urban examinations by black scholars, ghettoization and alternative theories, community and its institutions, riot sand urban rebellions, biography, black mayors, and urban policy. (Fall as needed)
PPOL 8615. The Restructuring City. (3) Cross-listed as GEOG 6210 and 8210. Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. This course places at center stage the causes and consequences of contemporary urban restructuring and evaluates the theoretical, planning, and policy challenges inevitably presented. (Spring)
PPOL 8616. Urban Planning Theory and Practice. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Alternative planning theories and application of theories in urban planning practices. (Alternate years)
PPOL 8617. Law and Management. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Constitutional and administrative law issues, including a survey of academic debates over contested issues, and selected areas in constitutional law on civil liberties and civil rights. (Spring)
PPOL 8618. Growth Management Systems. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Exploration of growth management programs, legal and planning issues, and legislation to determine their merits, weaknesses and abilities to promote more sustainable development patterns. Will emphasize difficulty of changing traditional procedures of development and land use. (On demand)
PPOL 8622. Qualitative Methods in Public Policy (3) Pre-requisite: Advanced qualitative methods as applied to analysis and solution of public problems. Use of qualitative methods to analyze public problems; to devise appropriate, effective, acceptable public policies; to evaluate public programs; and to present the results of qualitative analysis to appropriate audiences. (On demand)
PPOL 8625. Advanced Seminar in Spatial Decisions Support Systems. (3) Cross-listed as GEOG 8625. Prerequisite: GEOG 5120 or permission of the Instructor. Theoretical aspects of spatial DSS including technical, social, political and psychological considerations; systems design; systems manipulation; and case studies. Three hours of lecture and one-two hour lab per week. (Fall)
PPOL 8630. Advanced Program Evaluation. (CORE) (3) Development and application of policy analysis to the evaluation of existing public policies. Particular attention to the use of multiple techniques of analysis and presentation of program evaluations to relevant audiences. (Spring)
PPOL 8635. Ethics of Public Policy. (CORE) (3) Ethical questions in the study, formation, implementation, and evaluation of public policies. Ethical dilemmas faced by the public policy analyst, and the importance of use of values analysis. Emphasis on understanding how values are communicated by a variety of stakeholders in policy systems and how communicating public policy solutions involves an understanding of the role of values in successful policy formation and implementation. (Spring)
PPOL 8636. The Social Context of Mental Health. (3) Cross-listed as SOCY 6635, SOWK 6635, and PSYC 8636. Prerequisite: Admission to graduate program or permission of instructor. This course draws upon contributions from the field of psychiatry, psychology, social work, and anthropology. The focus is on mental health and illness in it’s social context, with an emphasis on the relationship between social structure and mental health/disorder. We will examine the social factors which shape psychiatric diagnosis, the effects of socio-demographic variables on mental health, and the role of social support and stress for different groups. The course also examines the organization, delivery, and evaluation of mental health services, and mental healthcare policy. (On demand)
PPOL 8640. Economic Analysis of Public Policy I. (CORE) (3) Economic role of government, efficiency versus equity, externalities, and public goods, market failures and government failures, economics of centralized versus decentralized decision making, public choice theory, economics of privatization, economic role of non-profits and non-governmental organizations. (Fall)
PPOL 8641. Economic Analysis of Public Policy II. (CORE) (3) Prerequisite: PPOL 8640. Economics of taxation and government borrowing, benefit-cost analysis, regional growth and development, econometric analysis of local and regional public policy issues. (Spring)
PPOL 8642. Regional Economic Development. (3) Cross-listed as GEOG 6302 and 8302. Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy; PPOL 8610; Intermediate microeconomics; or permission of the Instructor. Course covers classical, neo-classical and contemporary theories of trade, economic geography, and regional development. Topics include: theories of urban and regional growth, location theories, human capital, labor force and entrepreneurial contributions to growth. Policy dimensions of urban growth and development are addressed from theoretical and empirical perspectives. (Fall)
PPOL 8643. Rural Development Issues. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. This course provides research experiences that focus on policy formulation, and demographic, economic and planning issues in rural areas (Fall)
PPOL 8644. Public Budgeting and Financing. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Focus is on the public budget process as a means of policy development, analysis and implementation. It will also address in more depth issues of financing the policies authorized in the budget and for which appropriations are sought. (Spring)
PPOL 8650. Environmental Policy. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. This course draws upon concepts and tools from economics, geography, law, sociology, political science, and planning to explore the concept of sustainable development, a central tenet of environmental policy. Environmental policy will be analyzed within the federalist framework. (On demand)
PPOL 8652. Energy and Environmental Economics. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Economics issues of both energy and environment. Energy issues include the historical development of energy resources, supply and demand considerations, and projections of the future energy balance. Environmental issues are externalities, common property resources, and government regulation. Policy considerations include environmental standards, pollution charges, and property rights. Cost-benefit analysis and microeconomic theory are applied. (On demand)
PPOL 8653. Urban Air Quality. (3) Prerequisites: Ph.D. student and permission of instructor. Examination of the relationships between climatic processes and urban air quality with emphasis on trends and patterns. Topics will include health and environmental effects of air pollution, ozone climatology, pollutant transport, transportation related emissions, risk assessment, and air quality management. (Fall)
PPOL 8655. Watershed Science Policy. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Examination of the cycling of water and chemical elements within forested, agricultural and urbanized watersheds. Land use regulations designed to protect water quality are examined with respect to hydrologic and biogeochemical process that operate at the watershed scale. (On demand)
PPOL 8656. Earth Systems Analysis: Biogeochemical Cycles. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Examines the Earth’s water and major elemental cycles including those of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus and the major crustal elements. Uncertainties in the current state of global elemental cycles are examined. Special emphasis is placed on how these cycles are currently being modified through human activities. (On demand)
PPOL 8661. Social Organization of Healthcare. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Focuses on the structures and operations of healthcare institutions and providers. The topics covered include the socio-historical development of the existing healthcare system, healthcare occupations and professions, professional power and autonomy, professional socialization, inter-professional and provider-client relations, healthcare organizations, and how change affects the delivery of healthcare services. (Spring/Summer)
PPOL 8663. Health Policy. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy and a graduate level course providing an adequate introduction to the U.S. healthcare system such as HADM 6112, MPAD 6172 or permission of the Instructor. This doctoral seminar examines the formulation, adoption, implementation, and evaluation of health policy at national, state, and local levels through extensive readings in relevant health and policy literatures. (Spring)
PPOL 8665. Analytic Epidemiology. (3) Cross-listed as HCIP 6260, HLTH 6260, and HSRD 8003. Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy and a graduate level course such as KNES 6189 and HADM 6103 or permission of the Instructor. Principles and methods of studying advanced epidemiology, with emphasis on analytical approach. Includes advanced techniques in the establishment of disease causation in groups and communities. Such topics as risk assessment, environmental exposures, stratification and adjustment, and multivariate analysis in epidemiology are covered. (Fall/Spring)
PPOL 8667. Economic of Health and Healthcare. (3) Cross-listed as ECON 6260 and HSRD 8004. Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy, Uses economic theory and econometrics to analyze the functioning of the healthcare sector and appropriate public policy. Topics include: how markets for medical care differs from other markets, the demand for medical care, the demand and supply of health insurance, the role of competition in medical markets, managed care, managed competition, and the role of the public sector in regulating and financing healthcare. (Fall Alternate Years)
PPOL 8669. Investigating Health and Health Services. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy and PPOL 8620 and PPOL 8621 or permission of the Instructor. The emphasis of this course is how to conduct and evaluate research necessary to health policy. Students are expected to conduct research utilizing a variety of methodologies and will also learn how to access available secondary data sets relevant to healthcare and policy. Topics include: multidisciplinary collaboration, measurement of health related constructs and healthcare outcome, and health evaluation (cost, quality, access). Students will be expected to develop their dissertation proposals as one outcomes of this course. This course is designed to be a seminar, and active participation in class discussion and activities is essential. (Fall/Spring Alternate Years)
PPOL 8671. Criminal Justice Policy. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Examination of the criminal justice subsystems (law enforcement, courts, corrections) with particular focus on the development of policy and the effectiveness of current policies aimed at reducing crime. (Spring)
PPOL 8672. Theories of Crime and Justice. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Exposes students to mainstream and critical theoretical approaches to crime, justice, and criminal behavior. An emphasis on both broad conceptual orientations allows us to assess the development of criminology within an array of historical and philosophical contexts during the past three centuries. (On demand)
PPOL 8000. Criminal Justice Management*. (3) Pre-requisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. This course applies generic principles of management and organizations to operational problems confronted by criminal justice agencies with particular attention to decision and policy-making. Students will also be required to complete workshops on decision and policy-making and grant proposal writing. (Fall)
PPOL 8673. Law and Social Control. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Examines how the criminal law functions as a powerful tool of social control in our society. Particular emphasis is given to understanding the constitutional limitations placed on construction of law, the elements of criminal offenses, and criminal defenses. (Fall)
PPOL 8681. Race, Gender, Class and Public Policy. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. An overview of major theories, trends, and debates on the topic of gender, race and economic inequality in the contemporary United States. (Spring)
PPOL 8682. Stratification and Social Policy. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Examines: (a) structures and processes underlying social stratification in the United States, particularly the inequality that is grounded in social class, gender, ethnicity, and race; and (b) the social policy implications that follow from our analysis of the nature and sources of stratification. (Spring)
PPOL 8683. Population Dynamics and Social Policy. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Basic population characteristics, such as age distribution, life expectancy, fertility, and trends in these characteristics are relevant to nearly all social policy. An introduction to basic concepts and tools of demographic analysis and how they may be applied to the study of social policy including family policy, aging policy, and minority groups’ policy. (Spring)
PPOL 8685. Aging and Social Policy. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Utilizes the concepts of social gerontology as a Springboard for examining social policy for an aging population. Examination of the public policy making process with attention to aging policy. Consideration of determinants of aging policy and institution and actors in the policy making process and piecemeal development of legislation analyzed as factors related to the making of policy for the aged. (Spring)
PPOL 8687. Education Policy. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Examines equity, efficiency, and diversity tradeoffs among alternatives systems of delivering K-12 education. The course also examines how to evaluate educational policies and programs. (On demand)
PPOL 8688. Political Economy of School Reform. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Examines between business leaders’ vision for school reform and the school restructuring movement, the reforms which arise from their construction of the problem, local educational restructuring efforts within the context of the larger national reform movement, and the opportunities and dangers of corporate-inspired educational policies. (Spring)
PPOL 8689. The Social Context of Schooling. (3) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the Instructor. Examines the relationships among certain aspects of the contemporary social structure and educational processes and outcomes. It explores the ways that the social class structure, race, and gender stratification affect the ways individuals experience, understand, and acquire education. (Fall)
PPOL 8690. PPOL 8690 001, PPOL 8690 002, PPOL 8690 003 Seminar in Public Policy. (CORE)(1) Prerequisite: Full graduate standing in the Ph.D. in Public Policy or permission of the instructor. Series of guest speakers and exercises on a range of policy issues. Designed to increase familiarity with the variety of topics and methods covered by policy making and analysis as well as career options. Student participation and oral critique of a selected speaker and their topic. Must be repeated for a total of 3 credit hours. (Fall/Spring)
PPOL 8701. Advanced Macroeconomic Theory. (3) Cross-listed as ECON 6201. Prerequisites: Admission to graduate program and permission of program coordinator. Theories of aggregate income determination, inflation, unemployment, interest rates and economic growth; macro-economic consumption and investment behavior; the business cycle. (Fall/Spring)
PPOL 8703. Advanced Microeconomic Theory. (3) Cross-listed as ECON 6202. Prerequisite: Admission to graduate program and permission of program coordinator. Theories of the firm, of the consumer, and of resource owners; determination of prices under different market structures; general equilibrium analysis and welfare economics. (Fall/Spring)
PPOL 8705. Advanced Urban and Regional Economics. (3) Cross-listed as ECON 6250. Prerequisite: Admission to graduate program. Applications of microeconomic theory to problems of cities, metropolitan areas and regions; methods in regional analysis, location theory, land use planning, measurement of economic activity; transportation, housing, poverty, and growth issues. (Spring)
PPOL 8707. Game Theory and Experiments. (3) Cross-listed as ECON 6206. Prerequisite: Permission of the graduate program coordinator. The focus of this course will be on game theoretic analysis and the experimental methodology which can be used to test game theoretic models. The primary topics in game theory covered will be static games with complete information, dynamic games with complete information, static games with incomplete information, and dynamic games with incomplete information. Some topics will be introduced by way of an economic experiment, and the experiment will be followed by a rigorous analysis of the game theoretic solution to the game. The latter part of the course will focus on how to design economic experiments as a means of testing the predictions of game theoretic models. (Spring)
PPOL 8709. Public Economics. (3) Cross-listed as ECON 6256. Prerequisite: MATH 1241 or equivalent, and permission of the program coordinator. Public economics is the study of the way governments choose spending, taxation, and regulatory policy; the ways such policies may affect economic welfare; and mechanisms to evaluate the economic effects of such policies. (Yearly)
PPOL 8711. Monetary and Financial Theory. (3) Cross-listed as ECON 6235. Prerequisites: ECON 6112 or equivalent and either ECON 6201 or 6202. Theory and empirical tests of money supply, money demand, and financial markets; portfolio theory with special attention to portfolio choices of banks; term structure of interest rates; dynamic models of money and economic activity. (On demand)
PPOL 8800. Independent Study. (1-3) Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor and the PPOL Director. Supervised study of a public policy topic or problem of special interest to the student and within the instructor’s expertise. May be repeated for credit. (Fall/Spring/Summer)
PPOL 8801. Dissertation. (1-9) Prerequisite: passage of qualifying examinations, and approval of dissertation topic by the student’s advisory committee. In-depth study of a practical problem in public policy. Analysis of the problem, preparation of a policy solution, and presentation of the solution to appropriate stakeholders and the public. Graded on a Pass/Unsatisfactory basis. Maximum of 18 hours allowed under this course designation. (Fall/Spring/Summer)
GRAD 8101. Linear Regression (CORE) (3) (Spring) Prerequisites: PPOL 8050. This course will cover conveying a basic understanding of the linear regression model so that students are able to both employ the technique in their own research and comprehend research employing the technique and provide a strong foundation in the underlying model such that they will have little difficulty in future classes that move beyond the OLS framework.
GRAD 8102. Categorical Outcomes (CORE) (3) (Fall) Prerequisites: GRAD 8101. This course will cover alternative estimation techniques for analyzing most models with non-continuous (e.g., dichotomous, nominal, ordinal) and/or censored (e.g., event count or event history) dependent variables.
GRAD 9999. Doctoral Graduate Residency Credit. (1) Meets Graduate School requirement for continuous enrollment during final term prior to graduation when all degree requirements (including dissertation) have been completed. This course is non-graded, and credit for this course does not count toward the degree. May be repeated once. (Fall/Spring/Summer)