This is an archived copy of the 2020-2021 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://coursecatalog.bucknell.edu.

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 225Introduction to Public Policy1
Methods Course in Social Sciences
Select one of the following:
ANTH 201Field Research in Local Communities1
ECON 241Econometrics1
EDUC 362Quantitative Research Methods1
EDUC 364Qualitative Research Methods1
POLS 296Quantitative Methods1
POLS 297Qualitative Methods1
PSYC 291Advanced Methods in Abnormal Psychology1
PSYC 297Advanced Methods in Developmental Psychology1
PSYC 298Advanced Methods in Personality1
PSYC 299Advanced Methods in Social Psychology1
SOCI 201Field Research in Local Communities1
UNIV 140Introduction to Social Science Research Methods.5
Electives in Different Disciplines 2
Select three of the following:
ANTH 202Ecopolitics in Latin America1
ANTH 235Modern Africa1
ANTH 248Latin America: Challenges for the 21st Century1
ANTH 251Women and Development1
ANTH 260Environmental Anthropology1
ANTH 267Anthropology of Tourism1
CEEG 432Sustainable Transportation Planning1
ECON 101Economic Principles/Problems1
ECON 225Cultivating Change1
ECON 231Economics of Climate Change1
ECON 236Gender, Race and Poverty1
ECON 237Health Politics and Health Policy1
ECON 238Urban Economics1
ECON 271The British Economy: Structures and Policies1
ECON 277The French Economy: Structures and Policies1
ECON 280Political Economy of Media and Advertising1
ECON 311Labor Economics1
ECON 313Public Economics1
ECON 328Money and Financial Institutions1
ECON 405Comparative Economic Systems1
ECON 412Health Economics1
ECON 431Industrial Organization Economics1
EDUC 101Social Foundation of Education1
EDUC 227Immigrant Youth in U.S. Society1
EDUC 232Remaking Public Education 1
EDUC 350Higher Education in the United States1
ENST 209Ecopolitics in Latin America1
ENST 215Environmental Planning1
ENST 226Water Politics and Policies1
ENST 245Environmental Policy and Politics1
ENST 255Environmental Injustice1
ENST 355Advanced Topics in Environmental Policy1
GEOG 216Borders and Politics of Mobility1
GEOG 234Human Ecology1
GEOG 236Third World Development1
GEOG 257Climate Change1
GEOG 345Food and the Environment1
HIST 274Africa and International Relations in Historical Perspective1
HIST 374Human Trafficking: Ancient to Present Day1
IREL 210The Politics of International Aid and Development1
IREL 229Middle East Conflict and Revolution1
IREL 240Human Security1
IREL 252Political Economy of Global Resources1
IREL 272Poverty Amid Plenty: Development in India and South Asia1
IREL 275Global Governance1
IREL 276Comparative Foreign Policy1
LAMS 202Ecopolitics in Latin America1
LAMS 250Latin America: Challenges for the 21st Century1
MSUS 320Sustainable Development Management1
MSUS 321Organizing for Justice and Social Change1
POLS 140American Politics1
POLS 231American Public Policy1
POLS 240The American Congress1
POLS 248Political Psychology1
POLS 257Ethics and Public Policy1
POLS 263Race and Ethnicity in American Legal Thought1
POLS 271American Foreign Policy1
POLS 272U.S. National Security Policy1
POLS 364Justice and Public Policy1
SOCI 123Law and Society1
SOCI 130Medicine and Society1
SOCI 235Nongovernmental Organizations1
SOCI 245Remaking America: Latin American Immigration1
SOCI 247Class and Politics in the US1
SOCI 322Sociology of Medicine1
SOCI 332Women and the Penal System1
UNIV 200Integrated Perspectives Course (Climate Change, Science and Policy)1
WMST 251Women and Development1
WMST 332Women and the Penal System1

Faculty

Co-coordinators: John A. Doces, Christopher Ellis

Steering Committee: Soundarya Chidambaram, John A. Doces, Elizabeth Durden, Christopher Ellis, Abra N. Feuerstein, R. Douglas Hecock, Michael R. James, Joseph Jozwiak, Janet T. Knoedler, Esra Kose, Carl Shu-Ming Lin, Christopher S. P. Magee, Vanessa A. Massaro, Scott R. Meinke, Amy M. Wolaver, Amanda Wooden