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Curriculum Notes
Spring 2002 International Health Care: Issues and Services in
Developing Countries This course explores the determinants of and responses to morbidity and mortality in developing countries. After introducing students to basic epidemiological and demographic research methods, the course turns to an in-depth examination of several major health care issues, such as malaria, HIV-AIDS, maternal mortality, child survival, and malnutrition. The course focuses on the roles of a variety of institutions and actors, including national ministries of health, international organizations, nongovernmental groups, donor agencies, and private enterprises in responding to these issues. Specifically, students examine how these actors have responded to the various health-care issues, what options are open to them, and how they can influence and limit each other. Fertility/Reproductive Health in the Third World This course reviews recent trends in fertility, HIV infection, and maternal and child health in Third World countries. Remaining “trouble spots” are identified, and research and theory-based interventions are discussed that could improve conditions. Policies and Aging This course examines the historical development of public policies on aging. Attention is given to the design and delivery of services and their implications for the social, economic, and physical welfare of the aged and their caregivers. The unique dynamics that accompany the initiation, implementation, and impacts of aging policies will also be considered as students contemplate the design and development of future policy. Digital Government and Public Policy Digital government represents a broad range of efforts that use modern information technology to improve the efficiency of transaction and information processing. Government organizations are major beneficiaries of the information technology revolution. However, although technology is increasing internal efficiency for governments, the expansion of the Internet as a medium for economic exchange has raised new public policy issues—taxation, privacy, and regulation are but three. This course examines how governments are using technology both internally to improve administrative efficiency and with external parties such as citizens and suppliers. It also examines public policy issues related to the Internet. Ethics and Public Policy This class introduces students to analytic moral reasoning as a tool of public policy analysis and considers its limits and scope within the world of public policy. The course asks whether politics itself is morally distinctive from other areas of life, and thus, whether it generates a particular set of moral obligations owing to this distinctiveness. The problem of “dirty hands” is addressed—namely, how one should act in situations in which there are no purely good choices—with particular emphasis on the issues of lying and secrecy. Finally, the course considers the concept of responsibility in contexts likely to be faced by policy professionals. Developmental & Policy Perspectives on Children’s
School-Readiness This course examines “early school-readiness” from developmental and policy perspectives. Normative and atypical development in early childhood are covered, as are early educational interventions, such as Head Start and universal pre-kindergarten, universal and targeted forms of child care, and current debates over assessment and evaluation. Students will learn to specify testable questions in the area of early childhood education, identify and interpret relevant research that might provide rigorous and convincing answers to those questions, and translate their conclusions to a policy-oriented audience. The Politics of Culture This course considers how different thinkers and different political systems have defined both culture itself and the state’s interest in culture. Among the questions to be considered will be: What counts as culture and why? What kind of power does art, sculpture, and literature exert and over whom? From the state’s point of view, what is dangerous in culture, and what is valuable about culture? What kinds of controls do different states exercise over culture, and what uses do different states make of culture? Several recent arts controversies are discussed and comparisons between Japanese, American, and European approaches to cultural policy are drawn. Seminar on Comparative Cultural Policy This research seminar focuses on themes in cultural policy that can be best illuminated through a comparative perspective. Drawing heavily on the Council of Europe’s program of Reviews of National Cultural Policies and UNESCO’s work on culture, cultural policies, and development, the course explores recent themes in cultural policy such as devolution and decentralization, privatization and hybridization, and the rise of alternative funding sources.
Poverty, Inequality and Investments in Educations This course focuses on two topics organized around the issue of determinants of income. The first topic is human capital investments, one of the most widely used and effective policies for generating earnings, and the second is the measurement of poverty and inequality and the policy issues related to their measurement.
Public Policy and Infant Development It has often been claimed that economic and human investments in children will be most effective when they target the youngest children. In this course, developmental theory on the critical role of early experience in children’s development is examined from an empirical basis. The research basis for key programs and policies targeting early life are reviewed, including initiatives related to maternal and child nutrition, child exposure to teratogens and toxins, early intervention for infants with handicapping conditions, immunizations, infant safety, father involvement, infant day care, and enrichment programs for infants with low-income parents. |
