The ways people produce, distribute, and consume the world's resources profoundly influence the problems we experience in this and other regions of the world. Problems occur most particularly in the areas of work, community, and environment. The goal of this interdisciplinary course is to explore such regional problems and possible solutions within national and global contexts, as well as historical. In the area of work, we will discuss what is necessary to create good jobs, characterized by decent pay and benefits, worker involvement in decision making, and healthy workplaces free from discrimination. In the area of community, we will address such things as patterns of immigration and the interactions between community stability and institutions such as education, family, political leadership, and religion. In the area of environment, we will explore issues surrounding the reduction of pollution that infects our communities and living spaces (e.g., the tradeoff between environmental improvement and economic growth). The course will stress experiential learning (via field trips and small group activities) and will include films as well as readings and presentations from various disciplines. (General Education Course (BS))
This course examines workplace and regional factors that shape the prospects for sustainable prosperity and worker and community empowerment. The course begins by reviewing recent trends in the distribution of income and wealth and the industrial structure of the New England economy. The historical dynamics shaping work organization and regional development are examined. Several industry case studies are selected because of their importance to the regional and national economy. The case studies provide focus for studying the strategic choices made by firms in mature industries and newly emerging regions; the basis of competitive advantage for Japanese firms and the response of American rivals; and the influence of the product cycle and regional institutions on capture or retention of emerging and mature industries. The final section of the course focuses on the prospects for sustainability of the organization of production and its environmental impact, incentives for skill development and technological innovation, and shared prosperity. A central course objective is to foster an understanding of the links between the workplace and region in the pursuit of sustainable development and shared prosperity.
Many health problems require broader based interventions than can be offered in a clinical setting alone. Such problems include the many health issues related to environmental causes (both in the workplace and at home). This course explores such regional health issues as well as the social, political and economic factors related to societies intervening to ensure a sustainable environment. A sustainable environment is one that does not threaten the well being of future generations. In this course, student groups will choose a global region, and will research a selected environmental health problem relevant to the modern environmental health movement for countries in their region. Using this research, students will prepare a working paper about the social, economic and political factors that are influencing, or are being influenced by, this environmental health problem. These working papers will be the basis for classroom debate among student groups representing these various regions, as well as for the development of resolutions dealing with solutions to regional environmental health issues.
All purposeful human activity involves design. Every day we are surrounded by the products of design processes--buildings, cars, entertainment, corporations, schools, even laws and regulations. They make our lives easier in many ways, but they may also create significant social and environmental problems. In the past, designers often did not consider the impact of their deigns on society, or ignored the negative consequences. Our culture and legal system usually permitted, or even encouraged, this irresponsibility. Today, a small group of scholars, businessmen and women, and activists are rethinking how we design the things around us, with the goal of addressing the most pressing social and environmental issues. This class will introduce students to some of these issues,
the people who are confronting them, and the ways in which all of us can contribute to designing a better Future World.
With a series of hands on projects, coupled with readings and other resources, students will work to design aspects of the future. In the process you will learn about possible solutions to complex, important problems, but also learn valuable life skills such as problem framing, problem solving, critical thinking, active learning, communication, and simple construction methods. No previous experience is required-only curiosity and eagerness to learn.
The images of Africa most commonly seen in the US flood our minds with inconsistent messages. Africa is portrayed and discussed as a locus of ancient tribal conflicts, disease, famine, and suffering. While struggles do occur - just as they do in all places - understanding the diverse experiences of the peoples of Africa requires engagement with the cultures, politics, religions, and perspectives of people in more than fifty countries across a vast continent. While such engagement can hardly be accomplished in a semester, we will attempt to scratch at the surface in different ways that reveal ideas, experiences, and thoughts that reflect political life and culture in Africa south of the Sahara in a more reflective manner.
Throughout this course, I challenge you to remember that politics as we usually conceive them - the policies, programs, and posturing of government and public organizations - are a backdrop to the way real people live their lives every day. Policies and political systems are less important for the fact that they exist than for the ways in which they affect the lives of those they govern. With this approach, I hope we will be able to pick apart government structures, political organizations, and policy issues in ways that will shed light on the construction and culture of African politics. This requires a focus on power - who has it, how they use it, and to what ends.
Women Work and Public Policy
This course provides an analysis of the ways in which employment opportunities are created, sustained, and destroyed in a modern capitalist economy such as the Unites States. We begin by taking a close look at the current state of employment in the US economy. Then we delve into the US historical experience over the past century, focusing along the way on the Great Depression of the 1930s, the post-World War II expansion, the stagflation of the 1970s, and the profound transformation in the conditions of employment over the last two decades of the 20th century which have made jobs of even the best educated members of the labor force much less secure than previously. With this historical perspective as a foundation, we consider alternative theories of why and how the economic system creates, sustains, and destroys jobs. We then ask in what ways these processes operate in the business sector, where companies need to generate profits to survive, and the government sector, which has as its foundation the taxation of the population.
This understanding of the dynamics of employment in the United States provides an essential basis for explaining two key intertwined features of the Us political economy over the past three decades: and increasingly unequal distribution of income and the polarization of income from employment with the disappearance of "middle class" jobs. Contributing to these outcomes, especially in the 2000s, has been the globalization of the labor force, including the "offshoring" of jobs by US companies to lower wage areas of the world. The course explores differential access to employment opportunities by race, ethnicity, and gender. The remainder of the course examines the ideologies and social movements that underpin business and government employment policy, culminating in an evaluation of the effectiveness of the current government's attempt to stimulate job creation and avert a deepening economic crisis.
In simple terms, an organizations budget is its financial plan of operations based on expected income and anticipated expenses for a given period. The budget involves the priority ranking of desired ends and the selection of means to reach those ends in an environment of competing demands and limited resources. Budgeting is an ongoing process of gathering information, applying that information to the allocation of scarce resources as well as to the evaluation of the achievement of desired ends. The budget is also a policy document used to both communicate organizational goals and to promote their realization. This course will examine the various forms financial plans can take in local government entities and not-for-profit organizations. It will focus on the budget as a policy, planning and information tool for managing practitioners. It will begin with an overview of the legal, procedural and practical framework of budgeting in the public and nongovernmental organization (NGO) sectors, examine closely the applications of the various stages of the budget process, delve into modern strategic program management and conclude with case studies of both a municipal jurisdiction and a regional community action agency..
This seminar course, "Gender, Work and Public Policy" will explore the relationship between human rights, gender and work issues in the 21st century. We will examine how current and future reality can be shaped by related public policies. Today we live in a period of global transition comparable to the period that followed the Industrial Revolution. It presents us with enormous challenges and opportunities regarding factors we will address in class: economic globalization, government restructuring, work-family balancing, environmental safety at work, gender inequalities and the connection between human rights and dignity at work. We will especially look at public policies that can either impede or advance better overall equality of work-life and family life.
Pre-Req: Senior Status
This course gives students an understanding of the main issues and solutions involved in community level conflict resolution; e.g., in neighborhoods, workplaces, and other institutions. It develops students' skills in practicing conflict resolution and/or evaluating programs in the field of dispute resolution.It is important to understand why conflict happens and how to resolve conflict.
Directed Studies: Regional Economic and Social Development
Practicum in Regional Economic and Social Development
Research Seminar: Regional Economic and Social Development
Practicum In Regional Economic and Social Development
