Specialty Areas

The Specialization in Social Policy prepares scholars, researchers, practitioners, and policy makers to address crucial social issues facing communities and our nation including social welfare, education, poverty, housing and homelessness and the role of public, nonprofit, and private sectors in alleviating and contributing to such problems. In addition to dealing with these topics in their own right, the social policy specialization focuses on the complex interrelationships among these issues and the manner in which they are influenced by--and in turn influence--prevailing patterns of racial, ethnic, and gender stratification. The social policy specialization provides the theoretical background, methodological training, and substantive knowledge that will allow students to make important contributions to the development, implementation, and evaluation of public policies addressing these most vexing and important social issues of our time.

Required courses for this specialty include:
PPOL8681 Race, Gender, Class and Public Policy
PPOL8682 Stratification and Social Policy
PPOL8683 Population Dynamics and Social Policy
The student needs to select two additional classes from the list below:
PPOL8685 Aging and Social Policy
PPOL8687 Education Policy
PPOL8688 Political Economy & School Reform
PPOL8689 The Social Context of Schooling

Students may also develop a focus in other related fields or design their specialty based on faculty resources available. As with all programs, such a program would need the approval of the student’s advisor and the Director of the Program. Program faculty will continue to develop additional substantive and methods courses.