The School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology

Spring 2008 Course List and Descriptions

You can learn more about these courses by learning about the professors who teach them. Faculty marked with a * are profiled at http://www.spp.gatech.edu/faculty/faculty.php

POL 1101E: Government of the US (BSPP Core)
T/TH 9:35-10:55AM
Chris Weible*
Students in this course will develop and refine their abilities to understand and discuss American policies and politics. Students will examine the structure and operation of the U.S. political system to help explain a range of current issues facing the country including identify theft, education policy, climate change, and illegal immigration. The course will include a mix of lecture, discussion, and small group activities.

POL 1101M: Government of the US (BSPP Core)
M/W/F 2:05-2:55PM
James White
Students in this course will develop and refine their abilities to understand and discuss American policies and politics. Students will examine the structure and operation of the U.S. political system to help explain a range of current issues facing the country including identify theft, education policy, climate change, and illegal immigration. The course will include a mix of lecture, discussion, and small group activities.

PUBP 2012: Foundations of Public Policy (BSPP Core)
M/W/F 10:05-10:55AM
Richard Barke*
How are policies made, and how can we understand them well enough to choose among alternatives? Policymaking involves the aggregation of individual values into collective choices. What makes policy interesting is that it usually involves many individuals forming many groups with many values and with inadequate data and poor causal models � and imperfect mechanisms for aggregating our individual preferences. Think of how often this occurs, and not just in government! In this course, we will use studies of current policy issues, involving active student participation, to introduce concepts and techniques from various disciplines to explore how you, as someone becoming knowledgeable about such decision-making, will be able to understand, analyze, and perhaps even solve a wide range of policy problems. We also will explore careers in public policy using discussions with policy faculty, alumni, and practitioners.

PST 2068: Science and Values in the Policy Process(BSPP Core)
M/W 4:35-5:55PM
Roberta Berry*
This course examines the legal, policy, and ethical issues associated with biotechnologies in selected topic areas, which may include genetically modified foods, nanotechnology, xenotransplantation, artificial organs, patenting of genes/patenting of life, stem cell research, gene therapy, preimplantation genetic diagnosis, sex-selection reproductive technologies, germline genetic engineering of human beings, human reproductive cloning, and end-of-life technologies. The course will include multi-disciplinary readings and an interactive format requiring preparation and presentation of short reaction papers to assigned readings and a position paper on a selected issue in biotechnology law, policy, and ethics.

This course will be taught at the GSU College of Law on Thursday afternoons and will include a mix of GSU law students and Georgia Tech graduate students. To get to the classroom building, Georgia Tech students can take any southbound train from the North Avenue MARTA station to the Five Points MARTA station (3 minutes), then transfer to any eastbound train to the Georgia State MARTA station (1 minute). Exit the Georgia State station on Piedmont Street and walk one block to the GSU College of Law (in the GSU Urban Life Building at the corner of Piedmont and Decatur).

PUBP 2651: Public Policy Internship
See Cheryl Leggon
For first and second year students, can be taken once for 1-3 hours credit, for either a letter grade or pass/fail. (Open only to public policy majors.)

PST 3103: Modern Philosophy
M/W 3:05-4:25PM
Jon Johnston
A study of the development of philosophy from the views of Bacon and Descartes to the Tractatus and to existential thought. Traces the philosophic response to modern science in the rational and empirical traditions.

PST 3105: Ethical Theories
T/TH 1:35-2:55PM
Jason Borenstein*
In this course, we will discuss and examine the merits of several different ethical theories, including Kant�s moral theory and Utilitarianism. We will also determine how ethical theory can be applied to current moral issues. Opposing viewpoints on a variety of subjects, including euthanasia, abortion, and free speech, will be presented and evaluated.

PST 3109RK: Ethics and Technical Professions
T/TH 1:35-2:55PM
Robert Kirkman*
Ethical reasoning in the context of professional work in science and technology. Prepares future technical professionals to approach decisions with a coherent ethical framework.

PST 3113: Logic and Critical Thinking
T/TH 9:35- 10:55
Michael Hoffman*
Emphasizes skills in critical thinking and writing based on the principles of logic. Symbolic logic and applications of logic in critical reading and thinking by exploring modern systems of symbolic logic and their implications for science.

PST 3127AL: Science, Technology, and Human Values
T/TH 12:05-1:25PM
Aaron Levine
Exploration of the boundaries between science, religion, and social values, examining science and technology in a broader social context. Examines claims that science is isolated from social problems and values.

PST 3127HK: Science, Technology, and Human Values
M/W/F 9:05-9:55AM
Hans Klein*
PST 3127 approaches ethics through writings on the critique of consciousness and the realization of freedom. The class differs from most philosophy classes, which conceive of ethics in terms of a rational agent acting on the basis of higher principle, such as utility maximization (Mill) or universality (Kant). We consider human rationality to be incomplete but to be capable of development and improvement. We examine cognitive impediments to ethical action (�false consciousness�), various accounts of the origins of such impediments, methods for critique of consciousness, and visions of freedom. Readings will draw not only on philosophy but also on literature, the social sciences, and clinical psychology.

PST 3127JB: Science, Technology, and Human Values
T/TH 9:35-10:55AM
Jason Borenstein*
Exploration of the boundaries between science, religion, and social values, examining science and technology in a broader social context. Examines claims that science is isolated from social problems and values.

PST 4112: Philosophic Themes in Asian Thought
T 3:05-5:55PM
Jon Johnston
Survey of selected metaphysical and ethical ideas in the religious and philosophic traditions of east Asia, including Hindu conceptions of the self and causality, Buddhism and Zen, and the ethical naturalism of Confucianism and Taoism.

PUBP 2012: Foundations of Public Policy
MWF 10:05-10:55AM
Richard Barke*
An in depth exploration of American public policy, with emphasis on the dynamics of policymaking in policy areas such as health care, research, energy and environment, income maintenance, and economic development.

PUBP 3010: Organizations and Policy Implementation
T/TH 4:35-5:55PM
Mary Frank Fox*
An in depth exploration of American public policy, with emphasis on the dynamics of policymaking in policy areas such as health care, research, energy and environment, income maintenance, and economic development.

PUBP 3110: Research Methods and Problem Solving
T/TH 9:35-10:55AM
Aaron Levine
An exploration of the roles and activities of bureaucracies in the implementation of policies and programs, with emphasis on practical issues of public management.

PUBP 3600: Sustainability, Technology, and Policy (BSPP Core)
T/TH 12:05�1:25PM
Bryan Norton*
Ethical, scientific, technological, economic, and political dimensions of sustainable human practices, applying multidisciplinary perspectives to challenges facing public and private sector approaches to sustainability.

PUBP 3610: Pre-Law Seminar
M 4:05-6:55PM
Robert Pikowsky
Examination of the legal profession and areas of legal specialization (e.g., contract, property, intellectual property, international). Emphasizes skills and values that are essential to success in law school and competent lawyering.

PUBP 4111: Internet and Public Policy
T 3:05-5:55PM
Hans Klein*
Analyzes policy implications of Internet architecture (Internet protocols, domain name system, packet switching, peer to peer) and surveys policy issues about content, privacy, intellectual property, and governance.

PUBP 4212: Women and Public Policy
T/TH 1:35-2:55PM
Cheryl Leggon*
The status of women in American society as a function of rights and opportunities conferred upon women by governmental actions and as influenced by forces of social change.

PUBP 4410: Science, Technology, and Public Policy
MW 12:05-1:25PM
Richard Barke*
Examination of relationships between science, technology, and government, and their mutual influence on public and private decisions.

PUBP 4600: Senior Seminar
MW 1:35-2:55PM
Gordon Kingsley*
A capstone course usually taken in the student's last term before graduation, the senior seminar and thesis involves writing an original paper entailing policy analysis relevant to a public or nonprofit agency. PERMIT REQUIRED

PUBP 4609: Legal Practice
MW 8:35-9:55AM
Robert Pikowsky
This course develops skills in reading and comprehension of legal materials, analysis of legal writing, and document drafting in selected areas of law.

PUBP 4651: Public Policy Internship
Phil Thompson
For students in at least their third year, can be taken more than once for 1-6 hours of credit, either letter grade or pass/fail. (Open only to public policy majors.)

PUBP 4652: OLA Legal Internship
Robert Pikowsky
Supervised professional internship with the Georgia Tech Office of Legal Affairs.

PUBP 4803JR: Special Topic: Information Policy and Management
MW 3:05-4:25PM
Juan Rogers*

PUBP 4803JW: Special Topic: Global Communications
MW 11:05-12:25 PM
James White*
This course will introduce the study of global communications, and examine possible approaches to developing public policy for the global information society, based on a grounding in concepts of civil society. Through an examination of the considerable debate about what globalization means and the extent to which globalization has become a structural constraint on policy making autonomy, students will look at the impact of globalization on different national media, examine global information flows, discuss the roles of international organizations and compare different mass media systems and their regulation, including the Internet. Students will carry out their own research into real examples of how government responds to such issues, with a particular focus on publicly funded international broadcasting. Why do so many governments keep a monopoly on national media institutions and facilities whilst accepting the fait accompli of international satellite TV, the internet and the press importing information from abroad?

The course is participatory, writing intensive, and international in focus. Students are expected to contribute to discussion, in the classroom and on-line. It will by its nature be interdisciplinary, and will be taught seminar style, with the students encouraged to carry out their own investigations into different national communications case histories.

PUBP 4803 MB: Energy Policy and Technology
T/TH 1:35-2:55PM
Marilyn Brown and Valerie Thomas
This course examines the policies and technologies affecting the production and use of energy, focusing in particular on innovative and sustainable energy options. The course provides a fundamental understanding of energy systems, including historical trends of supply and demand, resources and technologies, and related economic, global climate change, and security issues. Policies and technology associated with different energy systems will be examined including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, ethanol, and other alternative transportation fuels; smart buildings and advanced lighting; industrial ecology approaches; solar and wind systems; and the next generation of nuclear energy. Policies will be examined at the national and international scale, and at the state and local level where novel approaches are often first introduced. Given the ubiquitous nature of energy in modern society, this course will offer insights for students pursuing a diversity of careers.

PUBP 4803PT: Special Topic: Foundations of Leadership
M/W/F 1:35-1:55PM
Phil Thompson
(http://www.leadership.gatech.edu/pages/about_us/director.php)
The Foundations of Leadership course includes rigorous instruction in theory, research methods, and key techniques in order to improve each student�s leadership abilities. The class will employ an interdisciplinary methodology that balances theory with application and organizational with individual leadership development. The course also includes:

* Readings, case studies, leadership labs, and guest lectures by prominent leaders;

* An examination of normative ethical theories, an applied moral reasoning method, and a discussion of service and leadership;

* Instruction in key techniques such as critical thinking, self-assessment, effective communication, and teamwork;

* Applied assignments in each student�s leadership notebook such as recording best leadership practices and insights, a self-assessment, and leadership reflections;

* Instruction in organizational leadership;

* A capstone project in which teams assisted by an instructor apply the theoretical frameworks, skills, and research techniques from the class to a leadership crisis in the Hurricane Katrina disaster in order to analyze the leadership problem and offer possible solutions.

PUBP 4803WS: Special Topic: Survey of Telecommunications Law
T 6:05-8:55PM
Robert Pikowsky and Walt Sapronov

PUBP 4952: Legislative Internship Program
T/TH 1:35-2:55
Phil Thompson
Students work fulltime for the Georgia General Assembly for elected officials or committees. Students prepare research papers analyzing their work experiences relative to theory from the social science or policy studies. Spring semester only.

PUBP 4803/8803: Critical Developments in Software and Policy: Open Source Standards
TH: 6:05-8:55pm
Paul Baker and Douglas Noonan*
This applied course provides a survey of the emerging discussions about open source software (e.g. Linux, Wikipedia, Mozilla, OpenDocument, and CrossFit), open standards and practices, open ICT ecosystems, and other related issues (e.g., OSI, FLOSS), including the role of public policy in affecting/shaping the diffusion process. The class will 1) investigate theories of open-source adoption, 2) examine the role of public policy in fostering or limiting the development of open source strategies and practices, 3) consider the business contexts/model and the rationale to participate in open source initiatives, 4) assess regulatory and industrial regimes that make open source adoption more likely, and 5) explore which countries are leading the way as early adopters. Students will conduct research into assessing the use and proliferation of open source principles in society. A key course objective will be for students to develop (measurable) indicators of current use or likely adoption of open source software or practices.