Curricula

At the Humphrey School, our goal is to infuse concern about diversity through the curriculum. Many if not most classes address issues related to diversity, broadly speaking, while some have gender, racial, immigrant, disability, or other issues as a focus. In addition, the flexibility of the school's degree programs offers you the opportunity to choose coursework from across the University, allowing you to select the classes that meet your particular interests and educational goals.

You can peruse a complete list of courses in the course catalog.

Selected Courses

PA 4414 - Child Labor and Education
International child labor issues. Options for improving child well-being, including policies/programs that have potential to affect the lives of millions of children.
PA 4421 - Racial Inequality and Public Policy
Historical roots of racial inequality in American society. Contemporary economic consequences. Public policy responses to racial inequality. Emphasizes thinking/analysis that is critical of strategies offered for reducing racism and racial economic inequality.
PA 5281 - Immigrants and Cities
Impact of contemporary immigration in the United States on urban planning and public affairs. Social, political, and economic experiences of immigrants once they arrive in the United States. Immigrant assimilation theory by drawing on literature from demography, sociology, economics, political science, and public affairs.
PA 5401 - Poverty, Inequality, and Public Policy
Nature/extent of poverty/inequality in the United States, causes/consequences, impact of government programs/policies. Extent/causes of poverty/inequality in other developed/developing countries.
PA 5301 - Population Methods and Issues for the United States and Third World
Basic demographic measures/methodology. Demographic transition, mortality, fertility. Diverse perspectives on nonmarital fertility, marriage, divorce, and cohabitation. Cultural differences in family structure, aging, migration, refugee movements, population policies. Discussion of readings on population growth and environment. PA 5451 Immigrant Health Issues
PA 5401 - Poverty, Inequality, and Public Policy
Nature/extent of poverty/inequality in the United States, causes/consequences, impact of government programs/policies. Extent/causes of poverty/inequality in other developed/developing countries.
PA 5412 - Aging and Disability Policy
Policy debates concerning populations that are aging or disabled. Students learn/practice analyses in context of important health, social, and economic policy debates. Readings on current theory/evidence.
PA 5414 - Child Labor and Education
International child labor issues. Options for improving child well-being, including policies/programs that have potential to affect the lives of millions of children.
PA 5421 - Racial Inequality and Public Policy
Historical roots of racial inequality in American society. Contemporary economic consequences. Public policy responses to racial inequality. Emphasizes thinking/analysis that is critical of strategies offered for reducing racism and racial economic inequality.
PA 5451 - Immigrant Health Issues
How to access demographic, health, background information on U.S. immigrants. Characteristics and health needs of immigrants. Designing culturally competent health programs. How to advocate for change to promote immigrant health. Community visits required. Online course.
PA 5452 - Immigration and Public Policy
How to employ an analytical framework to analyze a current immigration policy proposal. Topics vary (e.g., president's guest worker proposal, democratic alternative proposals).
PA 5480 - Topics in Race, Ethnicity, and Public Policy
Link between race/ethnicity and public policy. How to identify/measure racial/ethnic disparities and their historical/cultural origins and policy impacts and to craft politically feasible remedies. Topics may include criminal justice, housing, child welfare, and education.
PA 5601 - Survey of Women, Law, and Public Policy in the United States
Gendered nature of public policy. Historical analysis of welfare, single motherhood, and protective legislation. How laws structure public policy. How courts are arenas for policy making. Employment discrimination and reproductive rights. Differences among women. Intersection of oppression based on class/race/sexual orientation.
PA 5611 - Feminist Economics
Feminist philosophy, methodology, and economic practice. Feminist perspectives on development and the global economy, work/family. Heterodox traditions in economics.
PA 5621 - Board Service in Women and Public Policy
Students serve as full members of a board of directors for a women's movement organization. Organizational leadership. How to be an effective board member. Twin Cities feminist nonprofit organizations.
PA 5690 - Topics in Women and Public Policy
Selected topics.
PA 5841 - Women, Violence, and Armed Conflict
Role of women in recent armed conflicts/how women are affected by wartime as combatants, civilians, victims, and perpetrators of war violence. Conflicts in Sierra Leone, Liberia and El Salvador, where women participated in fighting forces in large numbers, as well as women's roles in the Abu Ghraib scandal, female suicide bombers, wartime sexual violence. Policy solutions offered by policymakers and NGOs to deal with problems of gender-based violence.
PA 8312 - Analysis of Discrimination
Introduces students of policy analysis and other applied social sciences to tools for measuring and detecting discrimination in market and nonmarket contexts. Application of modern tools of labor econometrics and race relations research to specific problems of market and nonmarket discrimination.
PA 8686 - Feminist Organizations
Uses social movement literature and histories of U.S. second-wave feminism to study feminist organizations. Recurring issues and conflicts within organizations and movements examined through comparative studies of feminism in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Britain, and Italy. Methods and sources for studying feminism.
PA 8687 - Women and Electoral Politics
Political science and women's studies literature on American women and electoral politics.
PA 8690 - Advanced Topics in Women and Public Policy
Selected topics.