Global Arc

This course focuses on the causes and consequences of population change and the policy levers used to regulate demographic behavior and outcomes. In addition to basic demographic concepts, measures and data, we will address questions such as: What is the carrying capacity of the planet? Why has fertility declined in some countries but not others? How does population growth influence the environment? What does population aging portend for social security solvency? Can countries regulate international migration? Why does China have so many male births? Is marriage obsolete? Is urban life good or bad for your health?

Analyzes the historical construction of race as a concept in American society, how and why this concept was institutionalized publicly and privately in various arenas of U.S. public life at different historical junctures, and the progress that has been made in dismantling racialized institutions since the civil rights era.

This course will examine how institutions develop, vary in design, and shape public policy. Law will be a primary focus because it is central to the development of institutions in modern societies and provides the formal means for expressing and fixing policy. The course will cover a wide range of institutions- social, economic, and political- not only in an American context but also in comparative perspective.

Introduction to communications policy and law, covering such topics as freedom of the press and the development of journalism; intellectual property; regulation of telecommunications, broadcasting, and cable; and policy challenges raised by the Internet and the globalization of the media.

This course focuses on contextual factors, health actors and processes that are typical of policy development and implementation in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We review health issues/outcomes across the lifespan and implications for health systems strategies, financing, organizational changes, and policy. We analyze political, bureaucratic and other influences on health policymaking, including by government, civil society, private sector, and global health institutions. The course will involve class discussion and lectures, in-class exercises, and review of academic literature and international and governmental reports.

The recent police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Daniel Prude and the subsequent Black Lives Matter Protests have elevated the conversations on racism, police violence, and the rise of mass incarceration n the United States. The United States has the world's highest rate of police violence as well as the world's highest rate of incarceration. This seminar will study the history and role of policing in the United States, and introduce students to current issues surrounding policing practices as they intersect with constitutional rights, racial justice, and the rise of mass incarceration in the United States

This course examines the dynamics of the Black American political experience in the U.S. The focus will be on Black Americans as actors, creators and initiators in the political process. Beginning with an exploration of the historical antecedents of blackness in America, this course will explore how the Black experience in America has shaped the American political system and how black Americans have come to understand their position within the American Political system. The course is intended to be an introduction to the Black political experience.

This course will explore the context, content, and significance of reparations. States deploy reparations to acknowledge and sometimes make restitution for institutionalized violence. Typically, reparations are won by activist-led movements. Conflicts may arise over who can speak for harmed groups and what constitutes justice. For their part, state actors may approach reparations strategically, e.g., to reframe a historical narrative. After studying various precedents, we will turn to recent developments in the long struggle for restorative justice for African Americans and other African diasporic communities worldwide.

An introduction to the logic of decision making and reasoning under uncertainty. Focus on psychological mechanisms that govern choice and judgment and on characteristic errors found in intuitive judgment and choice. Discussion of divergence from the model of rational agent often assumed in social science theory and economics. Rules governing pleasure, pain, and well-being provide background for analysis of the rationality of some individual choices and for the evaluation of general policies that affect human welfare. Prerequisite: introductory statistics for social science or instructor's permission.

This course reviews psychological theories and research on how social groups, interactions, communications, and contexts influence the individual. We examine how, when, why, and by whom people are influenced, as well as the conditions under which they are impervious to influence. Topics include conformity, compliance, obedience, persuasion, social identities, social contagion, group decision-making, power, and leadership.