The Public Policy major at Gettysburg College is intentionally flexible, designed for students who want to address the most urgent challenges of our time. You will start with foundational courses in policy analysis, economics, and political institutions, take upper levels courses in theory, evaluation, communication, and ethics, and then shape your own path by choosing electives and internships, and finish with a research project or honors thesis, where you’ll engage deeply with a policy issue of your choice.
Our Public Policy curriculum is comprised ofcore courses, advanced courses, and capstone project. You'll also have opportunities to participate with experiential learning opportunities through the Eisenhower Institute, the Center for Public Service, and the Center for Global Education.
Students are also required to complete a policy-related internship for academic credit. Public Policy internships can be in local, state, federal, or international environments. They can occur in governmental and non-governmental settings.
First Year Advising and Registration recommendations
Public Policy students study how communities and societies define and respond to complex “wicked” social problems. Students generally begin taking courses specific to the Public Policy major in their first or second year, and it is a good idea to take some of the foundational courses as soon as possible. You should take PP 221 (Introduction to Public Policy) as soon as possible. We also encourage you to take one entry-level POL class as soon as possible. For the introductory POL class, students must take either POL 101 (American Government), or POL 103 (Introduction to International Relations), or POL 104 (Introduction to Comparative Politics). However, students who score a 4 or 5 on the AP American Government Exam or Comparative Government exam do not have to take an introductory POL course. Public Policy students also take one or two ECON classes at some point, depending upon their area of concentration. Students who are certain that they want to focus deeply on economic aspects of their policy studies should take ECON 103 (Microeconomics) and ECON 104 (Macroeconomics). Students who are not sure of their level of interest in Economics should consult with the Chair of Public Policy to discuss which Economics class they should take. You can start taking Public Policy classes right away before declaring any major. If you try to register for PP 221 but it is full, you may consider putting yourself on the waiting list because spaces often become available. For advising help, contact Dr. Anne S. Douds.
The Public Policy major consists of 12 courses, thoughtfully structured to provide both depth and breadth in the discipline.
A summary of the Public Policy major requirements and opportunities.
Category
Description
Core Courses
Introduction to Public Policy (PP 221), Research Design and Methodologies (PP 251), one introductory Political Science class, and Microeconomics. These provide a foundation in policy frameworks and research methods.
Advanced Courses
The required upper-level courses include Advanced Policy Analysis and Communication PP 305, the Public and Its Problems PP 306, one Ethics and Values class from a pre-approved list, one class on Societal Forces from a pre-approved list, and the Internship Course. You will also take two electives in a policy arena of your choosing and complete an internship course. There are dozens of electives to choose from, such as National Security Policy, Environmental Policy, Determinants of Health and Policy, Environmental Economics, Non-Profit Management, Criminology and Criminal Justice Policy, Health Economics, and Foreign Policy.
Capstone Project
All students complete a senior policy research seminar. The capstone class allows you to develop a research question and pursue guided research on a project that reflects your intellectual interests and showcases your ability to apply interdisciplinary analysis to real-world issues.
Experiential Opportunities
Students can participate in off-campus study, community-based research with the Center for Public Service, programs in Washington, D.C. through the Eisenhower Institute, international internships via the Center for Global Education, and competitive placements in government, non-profits, or think tanks.
Courses
This list is a sampling of the kinds of courses offered through the Public Policy department curriculum. Not all courses shown here will be offered every semester. For a complete list of currently available courses, students may log into their account on Student Center.
This course explores how public policy can be used to address societal challenges and promote positive change, focusing on the intersection of policy, social issues, and community development. Students will engage in applied, community-based policy development and analysis in Gettysburg and the surrounding areas.
Global overview of media industries in the world today. With a primary focus on cinema and TV, this course interrogates the political economy of the globalized media industries through economic, political, legal, and aesthetic analysis. Topics include the rise of multimedia, multinational conglomerates, followed by the impact of new technologies creating media convergence, and ending with sections on key global players in Europe and outside of the west. Course cross-listed as CIMS/IDS/PP 219.
This foundational course for the Public Policy and Public Health Policy majors covers all major areas of public policy studies and provides in-depth analysis of policy making processes and outcome evaluation. The class begins with problem definition, examining how communities and societies define, prioritize, and respond to complex, “wicked” social problems. The course examines the policy process, historical antecedents to the discipline, foundational policy theory, and several models for analyzing policy. The course then proceeds through a series of policy arenas, allowing for topic-specific consideration of key aspects of policy analysis. This course lays the foundation for all subsequent study of public policy and public health policy, and it is a prerequisite to all upper-level Public Policy classes and the required internship. PHP 221 and PP 221 are cross-listed.
This foundational required course for the Public Health Policy major examines how public health policy operates in complex webs of governmental, non-governmental, non-profit, and private organizations that deal with wicked public health problems. This course introduces students to all major types of public health organizations’ missions and operations at local, state, national, regional, and global levels. Simultaneously, the course requires students to analyze health outcome optimization from an organizational perspective and communicate with the public on public health issues. PHP 222 and PP 222 are cross-listed.
Examines U.S. constitutional law with a focus on institutional powers & constraints. This course addresses the jurisprudence surrounding federalism and separation of powers. Prerequisite: POL 101 POL 225 and PP 225 are cross-listed.
Critical examination of the relationship between ethics, religion, and society. Offers critical approach to the association of religion with the development of values, ethics, and social responsibility. Course relies upon theories offered by key thinkers in the study of religion and ethics to reveal religious phenomena in the contemporary world as having tremendous impact upon social structures. REL 227 and PP 227 are cross-listed.
What is right and wrong? How to become a better person? Is it even possible to be or do good? With so many different and competing ideas in the world, how do we know which ideas to believe? Consider these and other fundamental questions in ethics across a range of theories and systems, including consequentialist, duty-, and virtue-based models, environmental ethics, and human rights, among others. Engage with a global range of philosophical texts and authors, through a diverse range of course material and assignments, including film, poetry, journalism, and speeches, as well as philosophical essays. PHIL 230 and PP 230 are cross-listed.
A study of the foundational issues, questions and philosophical frameworks that shape our relationship with the natural environment. The course will examine some of the most fundamental and influential movements and schools of thought within contemporary environmental philosophy and environmental ethics, including ecofeminism, ecophenomenology and deep ecology. Fatal flaws within the history of the Western philosophical tradition will also be assessed as we address the pressing issues and questions raised by the various ways in which we understand the environment and our relationship to it. Questions addressed in the course will include: How ought we to value nature and the environment? How should we understand the distinction between nature and culture? What ethical obligations do we have to non-human animals? How ought we to understand justice in relation to our environment and the environment we leave for future generations? Other issues including biodiversity loss, global climate change and environmental activism will also be explored throughout the course. PHIL 232 and PP 232 are cross-listed.
What is health, and how have science and medicine, as social institutions, helped us to frame health in terms of places, people & politics? In what ways do our communities—from family to nation-state—help or hinder our life course and affect our access to medicine and medical technologies? How has science reproduced frameworks of discrimination via colonialism, racism, sexism, and ableism? Can we, as global citizens, cultivate a ‘One Health’ approach to these challenges? Taking a richly multi-disciplinary lens by drawing on the lessons of history, sociology, anthropology, and cultural studies, this class attempts to answer such questions through a biopolitical and necropolitical theoretical framework. Our readings and research will focus on the intertwined histories and contemporary realities of colonialism and medicine; pandemics and prophylaxis; politics and public health; gender, ableism and the body; medical technologies and artificial intelligence; and the medicalization of disease and death. This class will be largely discussion-based, with student presentations and an essay-based midterm and final. This course will count as an elective in the Sociology, Public Policy, and Public Health Policy majors and the Sociology and Peace & Justice Studies minors. Prerequisites: SOC 101, 102 or 103; or HS 120; or permission of the instructor. SOC 239 and PP 239 are cross-listed.
What are the major issues facing humanity today? What are the major issues facing the environment? Are these challenges the same? In this course, we will begin to think through the ways in which the problems of humanity—violence, precarity, discrimination, denial, to name just a few—are also at the root of major environmental concerns. Underlying much of our contemporary relationship to the ‘environment’ is a capitalist framework. Thus, we will look at the exploitative nature of colonial resource extraction; the structure of environmental racism and unequal resource access; the increasingly unnatural disasters we face; the emotional and political foundations of climate change denial; and the role of corporations and money in fueling environmental degradation and catastrophe. We will conclude the semester with a discussion of social movements, resiliency, and post-humanism. This course will be largely discussion-based and interactive, and will count as an elective in the Sociology and Environmental Studies majors and minors and the Peace & Justice Studies minor. This course will count as an elective in the Public Health Policy major. SOC 247 and PP 247 are cross-listed.
This course is an introduction to the research process and is designed to make you both a better consumer and a better producer of research and knowledge. We will begin at its earliest stages and consider fundamental concepts, including how to conceive of – and write – good research questions and ask where data comes from. We will consider intermediate stages, including what available evidence
exists that might answer our question or consider why this question has not been asked yet. We will end our journey by learning about specific tools or methods you can use to answer specific questions and understand when which tool is best. Prerequisite: PP 221 PP 251 and PHP 251 are cross-listed.
Energy fundamentals and security issues. Course covers technological, economic and political aspects of energy production originating from oil, coal, conventional gas, shale gas, nuclear power, hydropower and other renewable sources. It examines how energy resources affect the national security and shape the domestic as well as global political economy. Topics include national oil companies, government control and regulation, OPEC dynamics, oil reserves, pipeline politics, LNG international trade, water-energy nexus, climate change, critical energy infrastructure, terrorism, energy diplomacy. Prerequisites: Economics 103 or 105 (or equivalent); or permission of instructor. ECON 258 and PP 258 are cross-listed.
A study of the development of Latin American states and societies. It first examines the various strategies employed by Latin American elites to develop capitalist societies that serve their interests. Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina are used to illustrate the implementation of these strategies. The second part of the course focuses on social movements to analyze the popular reaction to elites’ strategies of social development. It looks at social movements generally in the region, but it pays particular attention to Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina. SOC 262, LAS 262, and PP 262 are cross-listed.
Regulation of financial markets and institutions. The course examines risk-taking by financial market participants and attempts by government to regulate in the interests of financial stability. Special attention to the 2007 world financial crisis, the Dodd-Frank regulatory reform act of 2010, and current regulatory reform proposals. Taught from the perspectives of public policy, economics, and business management. Prerequisite: ECON 103, and 104 or ECON/BUS 267. Cross-listed as PP 265, ECON 265, and BUS 360.
Introduction to economic analysis of health care markets and health policy. In this course, we use economic analysis to understand individuals' demand for medical care and their role in health production, socioeconomic disparities in health outcomes, uncertainty and the role of insurance, adverse selection and moral hazard problems, the roles of physicians and hospitals as suppliers, pharmaceutical innovation and medical technologies, and the role of government programs in the US and internationally. Prerequisite: ECON 103 or ECON 105. ECON 270 and PP 270 are cross-listed.
Study of the development of Mexico’s economic and social development in the Twentieth Century. The course focuses on two tasks: it provides an outline of economic and social development since independence and evaluates the process of industrialization in the twentieth century. The basic conceptual framework is that a socio-historical approach may help us understand the successive periods of growth and stagnation in Mexican society. What does the sociological analysis teach us about the current obstacles to social and economic development? SOC 276, LAS 276, and PP 276 are cross-listed.
This course introduces students to the scientific study of law and courts, with a focus on courts as political institutions and judges as political actors. Topics covered throughout the semester include agenda setting, decision making, judicial selection, modeling the law, judges and their audiences, cognition and judging, the judicial hierarchy, public opinion and court legitimacy, the judicialization of governance, and international adjudication. Prerequisite: POL 101
POL 299 and PP 299 are cross-listed.
This course is designed to serve as a bridge between the introductory Public Policy course (POL 221) and the senior capstone course in Public Policy (PP 401). Topics covered include an analysis of individual and collective behavior relevant to policymaking, an exploration of the role of markets and government in responding to public policy problems, and an in-depth survey of tools and techniques for public policy analysis (such as cost-benefit analysis and program evaluation).
Interactive course combining study of fundamental texts with student-led research projects. Students learn how public policy problems are defined and policy responses are developed, evaluated, and implemented. Students work intensively with the professor to apply these principles to an issue that interests them. The final output is a comprehensive white paper on the issue and recommended policy response. Prerequisite: PP 221 PHP 305 and PP 305 are cross-listed.
Policy design and implementation are obviously of central importance in the policymaking process, but where do ideas for policy solutions come from? This course explores how societies define public policy problems, how and why they choose to respond to those problems, and how they approach policy reform. Special emphasis is placed on the political, historical, and philosophical foundations of policymaking projects and how the pursuit of a better society frames the policymaking process. Prerequisite: PP 221; or permission of the instructor
A survey of how various socio-theoretical perspectives conceive of, and evaluate the political, social, and economic aspects of capitalism. A variety of issues related to capitalism and capitalistic societies are explored, ranging from how capitalism emerged historically to more contemporary debates regarding the contemporary nature of capitalism. These issues are explored through the theoretical lens of Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Emile Durkheim, Joseph Schumpeter, Milton Friedman, Naomi Klein, Jean Baudrillard, and others. Prerequisite: SOC 296 with a grade of C or higher, or consent of the instructor. SOC 318 and PP 318 are cross-listed.
Interdisciplinary public policy seminar offered on a specific topic each year. Seminar encompasses an examination of the decision-making process from the original articulation of needs through official responses and on to measuring the impacts of those decisions in the public domain. A prominent authority in the field of public affairs is invited to direct the seminar each year, with the focus of each course being determined by that person's field of endeavor and expertise.
This course analyzes the social determinants of health – the non-medical and non-health factors that affect health outcomes. Social factors, such as education, race/ethnicity, income, environment, and housing, shape our health in obvious – and not-so-obvious – ways. This course outlines the historical causes of various social factors, illustrates how these social factors harm health, including the particular health outcomes linked with each of them, and examines public policies
designed to mitigate the deleterious effects of these social factors. HS 323, PHP 323, and PP 323 are cross-listed.
Critical examination of the relationship between ethics, religion, and society. Offers critical approach to the association of religion with the development of values, ethics, and social responsibility. Course relies upon theories offered by key thinkers in the study of religion and ethics to reveal religious phenomena in the contemporary world as having tremendous impact upon social structures. REL 327 and PP 327 are cross-listed.
Analysis of the policies that guide the use, control and management of natural resources. Students examine the laws, bureaucracies, economics, politics and ideologies underlying policy making processes in order to understand how and why certain policies emerge as well as their social and ecological effects. The primary focus is on the United States, but the growing international dimension of environmental policies and the ambiguous role of the US in these efforts is also considered. Prerequisite: ES 196 or POL 101. ES 333, POL 333, and PP 333 are cross-listed.
Investigation of the relationship between the economy and the environment, conditions for a mainstream theories and policies, including those based on externalities and social costs, property rights, cost-benefit analysis, and discounting, are studied in the light of conditions required for sustainability. Problems and prospects of both market controls and government regulation are considered. Special topics include renewable resources, valuation techniques, accounting for pollution and resource depletion in GDP statistics, and sustainable development. Prerequisite: Econ 245. ECON 341 and PP 341 are cross-listed.
This course explores the key aspects of energy supply and demand covering issues in electricity, natural gas and oil sectors of the economy. It discusses the role of markets, regulation and deregulation of the industry. The course addresses market design questions related to energy generation, transmission and distribution. It also provides an overview of economic institutions designed to control pollution emissions and examines other public policies affecting energy markets. Prerequisites:Econ 241 and 245. ECON 344 and PP 343 are cross-listed.
This course examines the foundations of national security law that empower (and restrain) the exercise of criminal enforcement, military, and intelligence authorities against threats to the U.S. Through readings, discussion, and visiting experts, we study constitutional and statutory law, covert action, detention, interrogation, targeted killings, military commissions, encryption, surveillance, artificial intelligence, and the Article II authorities of a president, that animate ongoing, difficult, and vital public policy debates. Prerequisites: POL 103 or PP 221. POL 344 and PP 344 are cross-listed.
Applications of economics and policy analysis to the scientific research enterprise, with a focus on determinants and consequences of scientific research and innovation. Topics include economic theories of knowledge, evaluating scientific productivity and social welfare effects, analyzing government interventions and incentives including research subsidies and intellectual property protection, labor markets for scientists and engineers and effects of immigration policy and efforts to broaden participation, and the roles of universities and colleges in producing science, training graduates, technology transfer, and entrepreneurship. Prerequisite: ECON 241 and ECON 245. ECON 346 and PP 346 are cross-listed
What do the world’s religions say about violence and non-violence? This course examines how varying religions define, understand, participate in, promote, or condemn violence. When is violence justified, according to different religions, and when is it not? When and how is religion a force for peace? Do some religions actively promote violence? Do others actively promote non-violence? Do some do both? This seminar explores these and other questions by examining the theologies. histories, scriptures, practices, philosophies, and symbols from world religions regarding violence and peace. Students will also learn theories and explanatory models applied by scholars of religion to answer the questions above. Particular emphasis is given to thinkers and activists in the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and North America. REL 362 and PP 362 are cross-listed.
This course introduces students to police procedure through the study of U.S constitutional law. Relying on U.S. Supreme Court decisions that interpret clauses contained in the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments, this course examines law enforcement reform, liability, responsibility, and authority, as well as the constraints and requirements to surveillance, traffic stops, arrests, and searches and seizures.
Charters. Choice. Testing. Standards. Equity. Over the past three decades public opinion has coalesced around the idea that our public schools are failing and desperately in need of reform. How much truth is there in these assertions? This course explores the implications of public school reform policy choices, focusing especially on the way reformers have framed the debate to their advantage. Special attention is paid to teacher quality, urban education, school choice, testing, and other issues raised by reform advocates. EDUC 377 and PP 377 are cross-listed.
Topics differ each year. Students read a common core of literature in the field of Public Policy as well as specific readings on the seminar topic. Students also produce a major research project. Prerequisite: POL 221 PP 401 and PHP 401 are cross-listed.
Individualized tutorial not counting in the minimum requirements in a major or minor, graded A-F
Internship counting toward the minimum requirements in a major or minor, graded A-F
Internship counting toward the minimum requirements in a major or minor, graded S/U