Public Policy Minor
Public policy, as defined by Kraft and Furlong (2007), is “what public officials within government, and by extension the citizens they represent, choose to do or not to do about public problems. Public problems refer to conditions the public widely perceives to be unacceptable and therefore requiring intervention.” The minor in Public Policy is designed to give Bucknell students from a variety of academic majors the additional analytical and theoretical skills to supplement their academic majors and to participate knowledgeably and effectively in the public arena once they leave Bucknell, whether as policy makers or as engaged citizens.
The gateway course UNIV 225 Introduction to Public Policy is an introductory course that incorporates public policy theories and topics from two or more social sciences. The methods requirement ensures that students have exposure to at least one social science research discipline. Elective courses offered in various disciplines give students the opportunity to apply the basic theoretical and analytical tools to specific areas of public policy. These courses will prepare students completing the minor for graduate programs in public policy and other social science disciplines, as well as for fruitful careers in government and industry.
The minor consists of an introductory course, a social science research methods course, and three electives from the list below. If the student has fulfilled the methods requirement in their major, the minor consists of the introductory course and four of the elective courses. Sociology majors wishing to fulfill the public policy minor may count SOCI 208 Methods of Social Research or SOCI 209 Analyzing the Social World as their methods requirement, but these courses are not open to non-majors. Students must distribute their electives in the following way:
- For depth, they must take exactly two electives from a single department; and,
- For breadth, the third (and fourth, if applicable) elective must be taken from a different department.
- None of the electives may be in the same discipline as the student's major.
| Core Course 1 | ||
| UNIV 225 | Introduction to Public Policy | 1 |
| Methods Course in Social Sciences | ||
| Select one of the following: | 1 | |
| ANTH 201 | Field Research in Local Communities | 1 |
| ECON 241 | Econometrics | 1 |
| EDUC 362 | Quantitative Research Methods | 1 |
| EDUC 364 | Qualitative Research Methods | 1 |
| POLS 296 | Quantitative Methods | 1 |
| POLS 297 | Qualitative Methods | 1 |
| PSYC 291 | Advanced Methods in Abnormal Psychology | 1 |
| PSYC 297 | Advanced Methods in Developmental Psychology | 1 |
| PSYC 298 | Advanced Methods in Personality | 1 |
| PSYC 299 | Advanced Methods in Social Psychology | 1 |
| SOCI/ANTH 201 | Field Research in Local Communities | 1 |
| UNIV 140 | Introduction to Social Science Research Methods | .5 |
| Electives in Different Disciplines 2 | ||
| Select three of the following: | 3 | |
| ANTH 202 | Ecopolitics in Latin America | 1 |
| ANTH 235 | Modern Africa | 1 |
| ANTH 248 | Latin America: Challenges for the 21st Century | 1 |
| ANTH 251 | Women and Development | 1 |
| ANTH 260 | Environmental Anthropology | 1 |
| ANTH 267 | Anthropology of Tourism | 1 |
| CEEG 432 | Sustainable Transportation Planning | 1 |
| ECON 103 | Economic Principles and Problems | 1 |
| ECON 225 | Cultivating Change | 1 |
| ECON 231 | Economics of Climate Change | 1 |
| ECON 236 | Gender, Race and Poverty | 1 |
| ECON 237 | Health Politics and Health Policy | 1 |
| ECON 238 | Urban Economics | 1 |
| ECON 271 | The British Economy: Structures and Policies | 1 |
| ECON 277 | The French Economy: Structures and Policies | 1 |
| ECON 280 | Political Economy of Media and Advertising | 1 |
| ECON 311 | Labor Economics | 1 |
| ECON 313 | Public Economics | 1 |
| ECON 328 | Money and Financial Institutions | 1 |
| ECON 412 | Health Economics | 1 |
| ECON 431 | Industrial Organization Economics | 1 |
| EDUC 101 | Social Foundation of Education | 1 |
| EDUC 227 | Immigrant Youth in U.S. Society | 1 |
| EDUC 232 | Remaking Public Education | 1 |
| EDUC 350 | Higher Education in the United States | 1 |
| ENST 209 | Ecopolitics in Latin America | 1 |
| ENST 215 | Environmental Planning | 1 |
| ENST 226 | Water Politics and Policies | 1 |
| ENST 245 | Environmental Policy and Politics | 1 |
| ENST 255 | Environmental Injustice | 1 |
| ENST 355 | Advanced Topics in Environmental Policy | 1 |
| GEOG 216 | Borders and Politics of Mobility | 1 |
| GEOG 234 | Human Ecology | 1 |
| GEOG 236 | Third World Development | 1 |
| GEOG 257 | Climate Change | 1 |
| GEOG 345 | Food and the Environment | 1 |
| HIST 274 | Africa and International Relations in Historical Perspective | 1 |
| IREL 210 | The Politics of International Aid and Development | 1 |
| IREL 229 | Middle East Conflict and Revolution | 1 |
| IREL 240 | Human Security | 1 |
| IREL 252 | Political Economy of Global Resources | 1 |
| IREL 272 | Poverty Amid Plenty: Development in India and South Asia | 1 |
| IREL 275 | Global Governance | 1 |
| IREL 276 | Comparative Foreign Policy | 1 |
| LAMS 202 | Ecopolitics in Latin America | 1 |
| LAMS 250 | Latin America: Challenges for the 21st Century | 1 |
| MGMT 302 | The Stakeholder Organization | 1 |
| MSUS 215 | Topics in Managing for Sustainability | .5-1 |
| MSUS 301 | Managing for Sustainability II | 1 |
| MSUS 315 | Advanced Topics in Managing for Sustainability | .5-1 |
| MSUS 316 | Organizing for Justice and Social Change | 1 |
| MSUS 320 | Sustainable Development Management | 1 |
| POLS 140 | American Politics | 1 |
| POLS 231 | American Public Policy | 1 |
| POLS 234 | State and Local Internship Program | 1 |
| POLS 240 | The American Congress | 1 |
| POLS 248 | Political Psychology | 1 |
| POLS 257 | Ethics and Public Policy | 1 |
| POLS 263 | Race and Ethnicity in American Legal Thought | 1 |
| POLS 271 | American Foreign Policy | 1 |
| POLS 272 | U.S. National Security Policy | 1 |
| POLS 364 | Justice and Public Policy | 1 |
| SOCI 123 | Law and Society | 1 |
| SOCI 130 | Medicine and Society | 1 |
| SOCI 235 | Nongovernmental Organizations | 1 |
| SOCI 245 | Remaking America: Latin American Immigration | 1 |
| SOCI 247 | Class and Politics in the US | 1 |
| SOCI 322 | Sociology of Medicine | 1 |
| UNIV 200 | Integrated Perspectives Course (Climate Change, Science and Policy) | 1 |
| WMST 332 | Women and the Penal System | 1 |
| 1 | In some circumstances, students may substitute the main anchor course, Introduction to Public Policy (UNIV 225), with American Public Policy (POLS 231). |
| 2 | Other courses may count as a public policy elective with the approval of the coordinator. |
Faculty
Coordinator: Amy M. Wolaver
Steering Committee: Soundarya Chidambaram, John A. Doces, Elizabeth Durden, Christopher Ellis, Abra N. Feuerstein, R. Douglas Hecock, Michael R. James, Janet T. Knoedler, Esra Kose, Gregory A. Krohn, Carl Shu-Ming Lin, Christopher S. P. Magee, Vanessa A. Massaro, Scott R. Meinke, Amanda Wooden