Teaching
Instructor (University of Colorado Boulder)
PSCI 2106: Introduction to Public Policy Analysis (Spring 2025)
This course provides an overview of public policy in the United States. During Unit 1, we will cover the basics of public policy: what is it, why do we need it, who makes it, and how is it created. Then, in Unit 2, we will discuss the politics of public policy. We will cover the full life course of policy creation: competing interests, agenda setting, policy design, legitimization, implementation, and program evaluation. Finally, in Unit 3, we will look at how the public and public policies interact. Throughout the course, we will look a number of case studies that exemplify the concepts we learn in class including Medicaid, the 1996 welfare reform, title IX in higher education, rural economic development policy, and the G.I. bill. Students should come away from the course with an understanding of how to discuss, challenge, and improve U.S. public policy.
PSCI 7306: Program Evaluation and Casual Inference (Spring 2025)
This course introduces you to the logic and techniques of program evaluation, or causal inference. Program evaluation seeks to determine program efficacy within the policy sciences and social sciences more generally, especially economics and political science. Within the broader realm of social science, many of the techniques we cover are more appropriately known as causal inference. At the end of this term, you will gain facility with interpreting and using some of the most cutting-edge analytical techniques in social science. The course has no prerequisites except for a willingness to work hard to learn these techniques and apply them to your own research ideas.
Head Teaching Assistant (Duke University)
PubPol 301/PolSci 310: Political Analysis for Public Policymaking (Spring 2022)
Instructor: Deondra Rose
This course aims to provide you with knowledge and skills necessary to engage in powerful policy analysis that takes politics seriously. Throughout the semester, we will combine solid conceptual and analytical grounding with application in the form of policy case-studies and skill building activities. These elements are intended to provide a point of departure for students whose interests lie in domestic, international, and/or comparative contexts. Additionally, given that this is a writing-in-the-disciplines course, we will devote particular attention to the development of strong public policy research and writing skills, which we will use to make direct contributions to real-world policy making efforts.
PubPol 155: Introduction to Policy Analysis (Fall 2021)
Instructor: Nicholas Carnes
This course introduces future leaders to the study of Public Policy through a general overview of (1) the political and social context in which public policy is made, (2) the most common obstacles to good decision-making in public affairs, and (3) several prominent methodologies used in the field of Public Policy. Students learn to apply these concepts to real-world issues through a series of case-study-driven assignments that introduce them to enduring problems, landmark policies, and contemporary issues in a topical concentration of their choice.