SOC_POL 307-0 Educational Policy (1 Unit)   Conflict between societal imperatives to select and prepare young people for future careers and to offer youths opportunity; how society and schools address this conflict; various approaches to policy reform.

SOC_POL 312-0 Social Policymaking and Implementation (1 Unit)   Examines the process by which social policies are made, the process and realities of their implementation, and the attendant politics.

SOC_POL 313-0 Race, Inequality, and the Political Analysis of Public Policy (1 Unit)   The purpose of this course is to make you a better political analyst. This course will familiarize you with substantive research on politics that has concrete insights for reformers, political advocates, and other public policy stakeholders. The class will cover substantive issues in politics along with how they intersect with class, race, gender and partisanship. While the main focus of the course is to discuss critical issues, there will also be an emphasis on public policy and political science writing formats, styles and standards. It cannot be emphasized enough how important research, analytic and writing skills are to virtually all careers; nothing is more quickly discrediting of good ideas than bad writing. The first half of class is mainly lecture and discussion. The second half of class has been designed to promote your learning as a writer and thinker in public policy. It will provide students with a designated forum for developing and “work shopping” their written work and discussing issues covered in class. The TA will offer feedback on questions as students write, edit, and revise their papers. We will also frequently practice skills in responding critically to colleagues’ texts. One or more quizzes may be administered as well.

SOC_POL 315-0 Global Human Trafficking (1 Unit)   We will examine the context of modern slavery against a backdrop of colonialism and slavery to understand key features of modern slavery, both as the crime is perpetuated and variations in legal definitions.

SOC_POL 330-0 Economics of Social Policy (1 Unit)   Economic concepts and empirical tools to analyze the design and effects of social policies. Topics include the social safety net, health insurance, minimum wage, and taxation. Pre-Requisites are Econ 281 and Econ 310-1 or SESP 310 for SESP students. SOC_POL 330-0 and ECON 333-0 are taught together; may not receive credit for both. SESP students must register for SOC_POL 330-0.

SOC_POL 331-0 Economics of Inequality and Discrimination (1 Unit)   Economic concepts and empirical tools to analyze the causes and consequences of inequality and discrimination. Topics include housing policy, crime, earnings inequality, and the role of education. Prerequisites: ECON 202-0 or equivalent and SESP 210-0 or equivalent.

SOC_POL 332-0 Economics of Education Policy (1 Unit)   Economic concepts and empirical tools to analyze the design and effects of education policies, including school choice, accountability, education finance, class size policy, and teacher compensation and retention. Prerequisites: ECON 202-0 or equivalent and SESP 210-0 or equivalent.

SOC_POL 333-0 Economics of Health, Human Capital, and Happiness (1 Unit)   Understanding causal relationships is a central goal in social science and science in general. It is not sufficient to observe what is happening, we need to know why it is happening. In this course students will learn the toolbox of causal inference econometrics with applications to the economics of health, human capital, and subjective wellbeing. The empirical methods we will cover include multivariate regressions, panel data, difference-indifference designs, instrumental variables, randomized control trials, and regression discontinuities. Health, human capital, and subjective wellbeing (“happiness”) are core dimensions of social welfare and inequality in our society. To develop effective social policies, however, it is crucial to understand the causal mechanisms driving these factors. Prerequisites: ECON 202-0 (Intro to Microeconomics) or equivalent and a 200-level statistics class (SESP 210-0, STAT 202-0, STAT 210-0 and PSYCH 201-0 are all suitable).

SOC_POL 334-0 Quantitative Tools for Policy Analysis (1 Unit)   Hands on analysis of the real time challenges facing a range of policy areas and industries across federal and state governments and the private sector. Formal Studies Distro Area

SOC_POL 335-0 Women and American Political Leadership (1 Unit)   With women comprising 51% of the American population, yet having significantly lower political representation, we will explore the evolution of women’s political leadership in our nation.

SOC_POL 351-0 Special Topics in Social Policy (1 Unit)   Advanced work on special topics.