Courses of Study:
Master of Arts
Master of Management
Master of Business Administration
Doctor of Philosophy

School website: http://heller.brandeis.edu/

Objectives

The Heller School offers four degree programs designed explicitly to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Our Doctoral Program in Social Policy (Ph.D.) educates students for careers in research, teaching, social planning, administration, and policy analysis. Our Master of Business Administration (human services) (M.B.A.) and Master of Management (M.M.) Programs prepare managers for leadership positions in a range of health and human services organizations, and our Master of Arts Program in Sustainable International Development (M.A.) imparts the knowledge and skills necessary to design and manage local, regional, national, or international development. All Heller students are committed to bettering human welfare, particularly for those who are vulnerable and who lack the capacity or resources to secure their own wellbeing.

How to Be Admitted to The Heller School for Social Policy and Management

Requests for information about the Ph.D. in Social Policy, M.B.A. (human services), and M.M. programs should be addressed to the Admissions Office, Heller School for Social Policy and Management, MS 035, Brandeis University, P.O. Box 549110, Waltham, MA 02454-9110. Telephone: 800-279-4105. Fax: 781-736-3881.

Email: HellerAdmissions@brandeis.edu.

For information about the M.A. in Sustainable International Development, contact the SID Admissions Office, MS 078, Brandeis University, P.O. Box 549110, Waltham, MA 02454-9110. Telephone: 781-736-2770, Fax: 781-736-2774, Email: sidrecruit@brandeis.edu.

Application deadlines are December 15 for the Ph.D. in Social Policy, February 15 for the part-time and full-time M.B.A. (human services) and M.M. programs beginning in June, November 1 for part-time M.B.A. (human services) and M.M. programs beginning in January, and June 1 for applications to the M.A. program in Sustainable International Development and the part-time M.B.A. and M.M. programs beginning in the fall.

Faculty

Jack Shonkoff, Dean

See the School's catalog for full faculty listing.

Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Sustainable International Development

Program of Study

Students must successfully complete eight courses and a master’s project. First-year students take required courses that concentrate on poverty, community, and the environment and include Master’s Seminar (two semesters) and half-semester modules in Development Economics: Poverty, Development Economics: Environment, Planning and Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation, Principles of Ecology and Applied Ecology, plus electives. During spring semester, students work with a primary advisor to plan a second year master’s project that can be an internship, field research, or advanced study. In the second year, students work off-campus on the master’s project under the supervision of a Brandeis-affiliated professional from a university in the candidate’s home area.

Residence Requirement

One year residence as a full-time student.

Master’s Project

The master’s paper is required for the granting of the degree.

Requirements for the Degree of Master of Business Administration (Human Services)

Program of Study

Students must successfully complete 17 courses as approved by the program director: 12 required courses in management, one management elective, four policy electives, and a monthly policy and management seminar. Students may opt to concentrate in health care; child, youth, and family services; services for elders and people with disabilities; or general human services.

Residence Requirement

Students must be in residence for a minimum of 15 months: one academic year and two summers, beginning in June.

Team Consulting Project

Students must complete a Team Consulting Project, including a written report and oral presentation. Working under the supervision of a faculty advisor, teams of three to five students provide management consulting services to a community-based health or human services agency during a two-and-a-half to three-month period.

Requirements for the Degree of Master of Management

Program of Study

Students must successfully complete 17 courses as approved by the program director: 11 required courses in management, two management electives, four policy electives, and a monthly policy and management seminar. Students may opt to concentrate in health care; child, youth and family services; services for elders and people with disabilities; or general human services.

Residence Requirement

Students must be in residence for a minimum of 15 months: one academic year and two summers, beginning in June.

Team Consulting Project

Students must complete a Team Consulting Project, including a written report and oral presentation. Working under the supervision of a faculty advisor, teams of three to five students provide management consulting services to a community-based health or human services agency during a two-and-a-half to three-month period.

Dual Master's Program: Heller/Hornstein

This program prepares professional leaders who combine the highest level of management skills with broad knowledge of the contemporary Jewish world. The program is a blending of The Heller School's rigorous management curriculum with the Hornstein Program's integrated approach to Jewish communal work. Graduates of the dual degree program receive two master's degrees: a Master of Arts in Jewish communal service from the Hornstein Program and either a Master of Management or a Master of Business Administration (human services) from The Heller School. The Dual Degree Program requires 27 months of study: two academic years and two summers. The course begins in June.

Admission

Students applying to this program are expected to have demonstrated professional and academic capability and the capacity for sustaining an intensive program of study. Applicants must submit a single application in duplicate to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Program of Study

There are 24 required courses as approved by the program director --12 at Heller and 12 at Hornstein, including one in Israel. In addition there are two academic years of supervised fieldwork experiences in Boston-area Jewish organizations and a Team Consulting Project, as required in The Heller School curriculum.

Residence Requirement

27 months (two academic years and two summers) in residence are required.

Language Requirement

Candidates are expected to establish competence in Hebrew.

Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Policy

Program of Study

Students entering the Ph.D. Program in Social Policy must complete a total of 15 courses as approved by the Program Director over a two-year period: three required core courses in social policy analysis, three required and two elective courses in research methods/statistics, three courses related to an area of policy concentration, and four open electives. Successful completion of a dissertation seminar related to one’s area of concentration is also required. Students may specialize in health (including substance abuse and mental health); children, youth and families; aging and disabilities; or social and economic inequalities.

Residence Requirement

The minimum residence for the Doctor of Philosophy in social policy is two years.

Qualifying Paper

Upon completion of coursework, each student must complete an integrative comprehensive paper. This paper is usually administered at the end of the student’s fourth semester.

Dissertation and Final Oral Examination

A dissertation proposal should be submitted soon after the comprehensive paper is completed. The dissertation committee consists of four members--at least two members from The Heller faculty and at least one member from outside of The Heller School or outside the University. To be granted the degree, the student is required to defend the dissertation in a public Final Oral Examination.

Requirements for the Joint Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Policy and Sociology

Program of Study

Students entering the joint Ph.D. Program in Social Policy and sociology are expected to complete a total of 18 courses as approved by the program director. At least nine of these courses must be offered by the Brandeis sociology department--six of these courses must be graduate seminars and the remaining three may be advanced undergraduate/graduate seminars or directed readings; at least one of these must be a sociology theory course. A minimum of nine courses must be taken within The Heller School and at least one of these courses must be on quantitative research methodology (e.g., HS 401b [Research Methods]). In addition, in their first year, students are required to participate in a year-long, noncredit Proseminar that introduces the program's faculty and their research interests.

Students are assigned advisors from the sociology department and from The Heller School. Advisors in both departments work together with students to assure appropriate coherency in their program of courses. An interdepartmental meeting between advisors and students should take place at least once a year.

Residence Requirement

The minimum residence for the joint degree of Doctor of Philosophy in social policy and sociology is three years.

Language Requirement

There is no foreign language requirement for the joint Ph.D. degree.

Qualifying Examinations

Each student must complete a "comprehensive paper" as required in The Heller School curriculum. Students must also show competence in two areas of sociology, as certified through the Guidance-Accreditation Committee (GAC) process (the sociology department equivalent of comprehensive exams). Students elect two areas of interest and develop a contractual set of requirements with a faculty member of each area. When both GACs are completed there is a meeting (typically one to two hours) to discuss the student's interests, directions in the field, and the upcoming dissertation.

Dissertation and the Final Oral Examination

A dissertation proposal should be submitted soon after the comprehensive examination and GACs are completed. The dissertation committee should consist of five members--two faculty members each from the sociology department and The Heller School and one outside member. The joint Ph.D. dissertation may be accepted by the sociology department and The Heller School upon the recommendation of the dissertation committee. To be granted the degree, the student is required to defend the dissertation in a public Final Oral Examination.

Requirements for the Joint Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Politics and Social Policy

Program of Study

The student must complete three years in residence and complete a minimum of at least 18 courses as approved by the program director. At least nine of these courses must be offered in the politics department. Four of the nine politics courses must be the core courses: American Political Development, Liberalism and Its Critics, Comparative Political Institutions and Public Policy, and The U.S. and World Politics. (The core course requirement of International Relations may be fulfilled with an appropriate substitute.) A minimum of nine courses must be taken in The Heller School.

Research Tools Requirement

Students must complete at least one statistics course (generally covered by HS 401b Research Methods).

For certain specializations, proficiency (as determined by examination) in a foreign language may be required. Language courses taken in preparation for the examination will not be counted for course credit toward the Ph.D. degree.

Qualifying Examinations

Students must fulfill comprehensive exam requirements in the politics department and The Heller School. Students must complete a "comprehensive paper" as required by The Heller School curriculum. For the politics department, students must complete a formal oral and written examination for candidacy for the Ph.D. covering the core courses and all elective politics courses. This examination is normally administered at the beginning of the student's fifth semester.

Dissertation and Final Oral Examination

The student's dissertation committee will consist of five people: two faculty members each from the politics department and The Heller School and another faculty member from outside the department or outside the University. The student must successfully defend the dissertation at a Final Oral Examination conducted by his or her dissertation committee.

Special Notes Relating to the Doctoral Program

Students enrolled in the Ph.D. Program in Social Policy may elect to pursue a joint master's degree in women's studies and social policy (in lieu of a master's degree in social policy), with their advisor's permission as well as the agreement of the Women's Studies Program. This degree option replaces a master's degree in social policy in the student's program and must be entered prior to the award of a master's degree in social policy.

Courses of Instruction

(100-199) For Both Undergraduate and Graduate Students

HS 104b American Health Care
[ ss ]
Enrollment limited to 220.
This course will examine and critically analyze the United States health care system, emphasizing the major trends and issues that have led to the current sense of "crisis." In addition to providing a historical perspective, this course will establish a context for analyzing the current, varied approaches to health care reform. Usually offered every year. Last offered in the spring of 2002.
Messrs. Altman and Thier

HS 110a Wealth and Poverty
[ ss ]
Enrollment limited to 140.
Examines why the gap between richer and poorer citizens appears to be widening in the United States and elsewhere, what could be done to reverse this trend, and how the widening disparity affects major issues of public policy. Usually offered every year. Last offered in the spring of 2002.
Mr. Reich

HS 120a Race and the Law
(formerly WMNS 120a)
[ ss ]
Enrollment limited to 100. This course may not be repeated for credit by students who have taken WMNS 120a in previous years.
Explores how race has been defined and used to uphold or undermine the principles espoused in the Constitution and other sources of the law in the United States. Issues discussed range from treatment of Native Americans at the nation's birth to the modern concept of affirmative action. One of our premises is that ideally the law represents the synthesis of the narratives of various elements of a society. Usually offered every year. Will be offered in the fall of 2002.
Ms. Hill

HS 124a Dilemmas of Long-Term Care
[ ss ]
Enrollment limited to 20.
Fifty million Americans have a disability. What kinds of help do they want? What are the responsibilities of families, friends, and communities to help? Current U.S. approaches to service delivery, financing, and organization are reviewed, and alternatives considered. Usually offered every second year. Last offered in the spring of 2002.
Mr. Leutz

(200 and above) Primarily for Graduate Students

HS 215b Corporate Finance
Prerequisites: HS 251a and HS 280a.
Introduces the modern theory of corporate finance and the institutional background of financial instruments and markets. Considers ways to measure value. Explores alternative forms of financing and ways to analyze them. Considers the financing tools appropriate for for-profit and nonprofit organizations.
Mr. Friedman

HS 225a Strategic Fundraising and Development
Examines the critical role of fundraising and development in successful nonprofit organizations. Students learn to analyze, plan and evaluate a comprehensive fundraising program and to create elements of a professional fundraising portfolio. Explores management and leadership issues associated with the rapidly changing field of development and philanthropy.
Mr. Whalen

HS 248b Financial Management
Prerequisite: HS 251a.
Develops students as educated consumers of financial information. Covers financial management problems encountered by today's human services professionals in a real world perspective based on sound financial and accounting theory. Includes topics such as financial statement analysis, budget development and control, managing growth, cash flow management, and management controls.
Mr. McLaughlin

HS 250a Financial Accounting
Introduces financial accounting terminology and concepts. Focuses on preparing and interpreting basic financial reports--such as annual reports--of health and human services organizations from the perspective of managers and outside parties who work with or finance these organizations. Also emphasizes management of revenues, expenses, and cash flow.
Ms. Anderson

HS 251a Managerial Accounting and Control
Prerequisite: HS 250a.
Provides conceptual and technical skills needed to manage special financial and strategic control problems facing health and human services managers. Topics include budgeting, cost accounting, pricing, programming, and evaluation reporting.
Ms. Anderson

HS 252b Strategic Management
Teaches students the theoretical constructs and practical tools necessary to create and manage organizations strategically. Includes strategic process, organizational design, and development of planning tools and cycles. All students perform an applied strategic analysis for an actual organization.
Ms. Babcock

HS 253b Leadership and Organizational Behavior
Signature of the instructor required.
Focuses on leadership and managing organizations. Uses cases on a variety of organizations to expose students to problems and to improve their effectiveness in analyzing, diagnosing, and leading organizations. Students learn organizational concepts, analytic frameworks, models, and practice their leadership skills in class. Uses case discussions, simulations, role-playing, mini-lecturing, and experimental exercises. Provides an opportunity to develop leadership skills through group work and reflection.
Mr. Chilingerian

HS 254a Strategic Human Resource Management
Adopts the perspective of a general manager and addresses human resource topics from a strategic perspective, considering how human resource management might aid in achieving organizational excellence. Focuses on the development of concepts and strategies that can increase your effectiveness in developing policies and practices to enhance the value of people in the organizations you serve.
Ms. Gittell

HS 255a Management Information Systems
Examines the importance of the role of information in organizations. Focus is on basic M.I.S. concepts, the use of computers to improve the performance of organizations, systems development processes, and a range of critical applications and issues.
Mr. Fournier

HS 258a Service Operations Management
Prerequisite: HS 280a or 282a.
Explores how operations management can help organizations to deliver high quality services, while using resources efficiently. Focuses on the development of concepts and strategies that can increase your effectiveness in developing policies and practices to enhance the quality and efficiency of service delivery in the organizations you serve.
Ms. Gittell

HS 262b Conflict Resolution by Negotiation
Develops an understanding of the nature, advantages, and limitations of negotiation as a conflict resolution tool and provides a normative and practical framework for pursuing negotiation strategies as a method of resolving disputes. Students are placed in simulated negotiations followed by instructor and peer feedback.
Messrs. Prottas and Shactman

HS 278b International Human Rights, Coexistence, and Sustainable Development
Examines existing principles that may support integration of the related but sometimes divergent fields of human rights, coexistence, and sustainable development. Explores new foundations for theoretical synthesis and application of integrated best practices. These theoretical inquiries will be framed in the context of an examination of the pressing development and international social justice issues of our time.
Ms. Powell-Willingham

HS 280a Statistics for Managers
Provides students with knowledge of basic statistical concepts and methods used by managers. Enables participants to prepare, review, and critically analyze numerical descriptions of the various activities and responsibilities associated with health and human services management.
Mr. VanLeuvan

HS 282a Measurement and Statistical Analysis for Managers
Provides students with the background needed to use statistics for descriptive and analytical purposes. Provides a solid framework for understanding the myriad uses of data in management. The basic concepts and statistical methods used by managers are studied, especially as they relate to the various activities and responsibilities associated with health and human services management.
Mr. VanLeuvan

HS 285a Marketing for Service Organizations
An overview of marketing with a focus on how to formulate marketing strategies and identify and evaluate strategic-based tactics in order to achieve organizational marketing goals. Topics include strategic market planning, market research and analysis; consumer behavior; market segmentation, targeting, and positioning; social marketing; the marketing mix--product, price, distribution, promotion, and marketing communications.
Mr. VanLeuvan

HS 290a Economic Analysis for Managers
Introduces economic approaches to managerial and policy decision-making. Covers supply and demand, market structures, pricing and market failure, as well as useful tools such as optimization and game theory. Concepts are reinforced with case analyses and examples from the health and human services sectors. Some calculus required.
Mr. Hodgkin

HS 295b M.B.A. Capstone
Prerequisite: Completion of all required management courses in the M.B.A. (human services) program.
Integrates all aspects of the M.B.A. (human services) curriculum. Aspects of management covered in this course span strategy and operations. Topics covered include general management, leadership, organizational design, marketing, communications, corporate responsibility, human resource management, business policy, management of technology and innovations, ethical and legal issues in management, quality and risk management, and management of diversity in the workplace. The course uses a comprehensive case study approach, combined with theoretical readings. Explores relationships between the context, content, and process of managing organizations, and illustrates the complexities created by overlapping interests and by differences in perceptions, values, and goals.
Ms. Bhalotra

HS 299b Team Consulting Project
A capstone educational experience for students nearing the end of the M.M./M.B.A. program. Working under the supervision of a faculty advisor, teams of three or four M.B.A., M.M., and Heller/Hornstein students provide management consulting services to nonprofit, community-based health and human services agencies.
Ms. Bhalotra and Mr. Sciegaj

HS 300a Theory and Analysis of Social Policy
Signature of the instructor required.
Develops theoretical perspectives on social policy, social justice, and social change, and a framework for analyzing and developing social policies. Identifies major institutional systems which function in any society throughout human evolution and which are key variables of social policy and social change practice.
Mr. Gil

HS 301b Applying Ethical Theory to Management Practice
Introduces students to the discipline of ethical analysis and its application to human services management practices using a case study approach. Students will have an opportunity to examine different methods of value clarification, sources of ethical conflict, and the structure of ethical arguments.
Mr. Sciegaj

HS 303a Historical and Contemporary Developments in Social Welfare
A library intensive course.
Examines the development of social welfare over time by reviewing policy arguments within a historical context, and uses an analytic framework centered on eligibility, benefits, administration, financing, and behavioral incentives to assess perennial issues in social welfare and analyze contemporary challenges.
Mr. Callahan

HS 312a Managing Organizations Serving Elders and People with Disabilities
Prepares students for management positions in organizations serving older people and/or people with physical disabilities, mental illness, and developmental disabilities-mental retardation. Emphasizes issues that cut across these different populations. Provides opportunities for students to focus on one population of interest through assignments, special projects, and guest speakers.
Mr. Sciegaj

HS 316a Violence in Everyday Life: Sources, Dynamics, and Prevention
Explores the meaning, sources, and dynamics of social-structural and interpersonal violence, and relations among these destructive phenomena. Traces the social, psychological, economic, political, and cultural dimensions of violence and counter-violence in everyday life, with special emphasis on links between the organization and quality of work in society and levels of violence. It also explores approaches to reducing and eventually eliminating violence in human relations from local to global levels.
Mr. Gil

HS 319a Work and Individual and Social Development
Explores changes in the organization and design of work and the exchange of work products throughout the evolution of human societies, and consequences of these changes for individual and social development. Facilitates insights into work as a universal, existential process, whose structure and dynamics were shaped and reshaped by individuals and societies throughout history as they interacted with one another and with natural environments in pursuit of survival and development, and as they gained knowledge of nature and enhanced their technological capacities and skills. Explores essential attributes of modes of work conducive to optimal human development and liberation.
Mr. Gil

HS 350a Economics for Management and Social Policy
Introduces techniques of economic analysis, mainly from microeconomics. These tools are applied to problems of management social policy. Uses case studies and frequent exercises to develop application and quantitative skills.
Mr. Friedman

HS 360b Critical Factors for Successful Leadership in Health and Human Services
Provides students with an understanding of what leadership is and how it can be exercised in today's complex health and/or human service organizations. Allows for analyses and conclusions to be based on observations, feedback, and reflections made either from personal experience or gained through readings, case studies, and exposure to similar themes in the core curriculum. Each session provides one or more case examples of specific challenges that will enable students to debate competing views and theories. Allows future health and human services leaders to begin to formulate their own concept of leadership.
Messrs. May and Weiner

HS 371a Social Science Concepts, Theories, and Values
Examines key concepts, theories, and values in the social sciences from the perspectives of various disciplines (primarily sociology, political science, and economics). Examines underlying values of democracy and equality as these inform theory and policy. Uses case studies to illustrate various concepts, which include exchange and markets, power, authority, social capital, networks, frame analysis, bureaucracy, interest groups, social movements, race, gender, welfare state, community and civic engagement.
Mr. Sirianni

HS 372b Economic Theory and Social Policy
Prerequisite: HS 371a and a recent course in microeconomics.
Applies economic analysis to problems of importance to social policy. The particular applications may vary from year to year, but may include such topics as unemployment and inflation, social security, and the economics of race and gender.
Mr. Friedman

HS 373a Mental Health: Children and Families of Color
Using frameworks from cultural and ecological perspectives and psychological and sociological disciplines, examines the family functioning and individual adaptations of four selected groups: African, Hispanic, Asian, and Native Americans. Provides a broad overview of the adjustment of minority children and families, and examines processes that affect their adjustment, especially those that relate to racial and cultural issues and social and demographic factors. Explores current events, social policies, and their implications for ethnic minority groups. Class activities examine conceptual and methodological issues in research on minorities and study their implications for theory, practice, and policy.
Ms. Nguyen

HS 401b Research Methods
Signature of the instructor required.
Provides a basic orientation to social science research methods and helps students develop and understand the theoretical and practical issues that guide the development, conduct, and interpretation of applied and policy-orientated research. The perspective is multidisciplinary and emphasizes investigations of substantive health and social welfare problems. Designed to prepare Ph.D. students to be able to interpret empirical research and to design their own studies.
Mr. Saxe

HS 402b Applied Multivariate Analysis
Prerequisite: HS 404b.
Designed as advanced instruction in data analysis methods. Provides students with an understanding of the utility of multivariate data analysis both for testing their own research/policy questions and for evaluating the methods in the research offered by proponents or opponents of particular policy issues. Focuses on the practical use and interpretation of multivariate methods. Covers topics such as MANOVA, MANCOVA, multiple regression, exploratory factor analysis, discriminant analysis, and scale analysis. Introduces advanced topics such as structural equation models, generalized linear models, and hierarchical linear modeling.
Ms. Tighe

HS 403b Qualitative Research
Open to Ph.D. students only.
Acquaints students with the theory and practice of qualitative research. Provides basic experience in pure observation, participant observation, keeping memos and field notes, in-depth interviewing, interpretation, and presentation of findings. Readings and discussion focus on philosophical, historical, theoretical, and foundations of qualitative methods and their practical relevance for social policy. Students will also become familiar with key aspects of qualitative research and will grapple with issues related to reliability and validity, as well as political and ethical dimensions of qualitative research.
Ms. Williams

HS 404b Applied Regression Analysis
This is an applied course in multiple regression analysis. Emphasis is placed on the assumptions underlying the regression model, how to test for violations, and corrections that can be made when violations are found.
Mr. Fournier

HS 405a Applied Econometrics
Prerequisite: HS 404b. Limited to second year students in The Heller Ph.D. program.
Focuses on applications of regression analysis and extensions to areas where the standard assumptions do not hold. Introduces applications of logit and its extensions, probit, corrections for censoring and sample selection bias, and simultaneous equations. Each student will design and carry out a research project.
Mr. Friedman

HS 407b Survey Research Methods
Prerequisite: HS 404b or equivalent.
Focuses on processes and techniques of survey research methods. Special attention is devoted to different modes of questionnaire design, development, and administration. Implementation issues considered include interviewing strategies and other data collection procedures, field supervision, code book development, and documentation data management. Data analysis issues include scale and index construction, reliability and validity assessments, and general analysis strategies.
Ms. Krauss

HS 408a Evaluation Research
Prerequisite: Completion of a graduate-level research methods course.
Provides participants with an understanding of the basic concepts of evaluation research and their application to a diverse set of social policy problems. Emphasizes methodological issues and their application to social interventions and the delivery of human service programs. Examplars of the application of evaluation research strategies are drawn from specific social intervention problems in social services, mental health, education, criminal justice, and healthcare. Students also have a chance to design their own evaluation study in an area of their own interest.
Mr. Saxe

HS 409a Advanced Econometrics
Prerequisites: HS 404b and HS 405a.
Builds on the Econometrics course to further develop students' skills in using multivariate statistical techniques, particularly for time-series and longitudinal data. Based on examples from human-service and health care research. Students read/critique papers using each technique studies, and learn to apply it in computer lab.
Mr. Hodgkin.

HS 410b Applied Research Seminar: Quantitative
Designed to provide students with a series of formal exercises simulating the major steps in the dissertation process. Students gain competency in manipulating data from a large, complex data set; summarizing the methodology of and findings from previous studies; and synthesizing and communicating the results of data analysis--placing study objectives and results in the context of prior research.
Mr. Ritter

HS 411b Applied Research Seminar: Qualitative
Prerequisite: HS 403b or permission of instructor.
Provides students with hands-on experience in qualitative research, with an emphasis on data analysis and presentation. A series of exercises reviews the process of research from design through presentation of findings. Using a large qualitative data set, class members explore data collection, preparation and analysis strategies. Readings and discussion link qualitative analysis to crucial research design and validity issues. Each student completes a data analysis project and presents work in progress.
Ms. Francis

HS 412b Substance Use and Societal Consequences
Provides an overview of the use and abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Examines the consequences of abuse from a societal perspective and reviews types of policy approaches to dealing with the problems associated with substance abuse. Specific topics include an overview of biological and clinical aspects, theories of addictive behavior, epidemiology, medical and economic consequences, prevention and education, and policy approaches including taxation and regulation.
Ms. Horgan and Mr. Sciegaj

HS 414f Ethical Issues in Social Science Research
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Provides students an opportunity to explore the ethical dimensions of social science research. Ethical considerations are an integral part of social sciences research because such research often involves the use of human participants from vulnerable populations. While social science researchers are expected to have an understanding of the ethical issues associated with their discipline, few have the opportunity to develop this knowledge. In this course students examine different topics associated with research design, data collection, data interpretation, and publication of study findings.
Mr. Sciegaj

HS 422f Cost-Effectiveness
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Addresses the application of the technique of cost-effectiveness analysis to evaluate health and other types of programs, in the United States and in developing countries. Presents the theoretical foundations of cost-effectiveness analysis, with frequent references to the findings of the 1993 Panel of Cost-Effectiveness Analysis convened by the U.S. Public Health Service. Uses interactive discussions and computer exercises where students learn to perform cost-effectiveness analyses and apply the technique to a problem of their choice. The course is appropriate for Ph.D. and master's students in the M.M./M.B.A. and SID programs.
Mr. Shepard

HS 423f Policy Analysis
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Provides an overview of approaches and tools to policy analysis and an assessment of their strengths and limitations. Begins with a brief overview of the stages of policy process including policy formulation, rulemaking, and implementation. Includes a survey of policy analysis quantitative techniques. Considerable attention is spent probing imbedded assumptions in each model. Focuses on the impact of values on policy analysis and the goals of efficiency, equity, security, and liberty. The ethics and role of the policy analyst is discussed, and students have the opportunity to write and present a policy analysis critique.
Mr. Doonan

HS 424f Meta-Analysis
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Increases participants' understanding of the principles, purposes, and applications of meta-analysis/systematic research synthesis in social policy research. The methods of systematic research synthesis have been most fruitfully employed in educational and health services research so most course examples come from these fields. Students read examples of systematic literature synthesis and begin development of a review on a self-selected topic. Offers an opportunity to learn basic techniques in meta-analysis, understand the potential and limits of the most commonly used quantitative meta-analytic techniques, read examples of published health services research applications, and begin applying meta-analytic techniques.
Mr. Capitman

HS 425f Case Study Metholologies
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Provides students with the preliminary tools to conduct and critique case studies. Begins with an examination of the appropriateness, strengths, and weaknesses of this method. Threats to internal and external validity are examined along with techniques to properly collect and document data from multiple sources. Techniques are reviewed for case selection, data analysis, and study presentation. The final class is spent critiquing actual case studies.
Mr. Doonan

HS 443a Social Forecasting Methodology
Prerequisite: HS 404b and knowledge of computer procedures.
Introduces students to methods of analysis for time series data. Topics include univariate and multivariate ARMA models and spectral analysis. Students will complete a project using time series data.
Mr. Jones

HS 472b Policy and Program Implementation
Provides doctoral students with frameworks of use for the study of the implementation of public policies. Considers the implementation process in the United States from a board perspective, ranging from the context of legislation and the role of courts to how the role of street-level bureaucrats can be studied. Political science, organizational theory, and sociological perspectives are used to develop frameworks for understanding the process through which public policy is realized and how it impacts institutions and individuals.
Mr. Prottas

HS 503a Social Issues and Problems: Inequality and Work
Provides students with a deeper understanding of the structure of the economy and of why the distribution of earnings, wealth, and opportunity have been diverging in the United States and other advanced nations. Intended to provide insights into the consequences of this divergence, and possible means of reversing it. Classes begin with a particular case-study, but expand to include background readings.
Mr. Reich

HS 507f State Health Polity
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Examines the role of the states in the U.S. health care system. Provides an overview of state activities in health, including state responsibilities for managing health programs and institutions. Models to understand the nature of policy-making and politics in states is presented and discussed. Examines major state health programs such as Medicaid. Outlines and explores the policy and legislative process. State efforts to reform their healthcare systems are discussed with special attention to implementation issues, barriers, limits of state action, and prospects for the future of state health reform. Students are required to undertake team research projects.
Mr. McDonough

HS 508f Managed Care
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Provides an overview of the evolution and taxonomies of managed care, and describes some of its most significant organizational and operational characteristics. Specific areas of focus include its role in Medicaid and Medicare, as well as special strategies such as those adopted for behavioral health care. Draws upon health policy and management literature to inform a discussion about future directions for managed care.
Ms. Bhalotra

HS 509a Achieving Goals: Implementation and Evaluation of Social Policies and Programs
Prerequisite: Completion of all required management courses in the M.M. program.
For students who have learned how to manage in a health or human services policy environment, and wish to know whether the public policies they are helping to implement are working. Reviews methods, tools, and strategies to help managers assess measurable impacts of implementation of policies and programs. Teaches students how to assess policies and to evaluate programs--what evaluation is, how to do it, and most importantly, how to critically review studies done by others.
Mr. Hahn

HS 510a Methods in Behavioral Health Services Research
Aims at (1) becoming familiar with the quantitative methods used for health services research in the fields of mental health and substance abuse by reading key papers and discussing them; (2) becoming knowledgeable about the important research studies in mental health and substance abuse; (3) becoming an informed, critical consumer of research and, therefore, a better producer; and (4) becoming able to design a study and write a proposal for external funding.
Mr. Hodgkin

HS 511b Contemporary Issues in the Management of Child, Youth, and Family Services
Managing human service systems and programs to benefit children, youth, and families in America today means managing people in a time of fiscal constraint; dramatic social, economic, and political change; and on the other hand, in a time of great organizational and civic innovation. Builds on the analytic tools students have begun to hone in the master's program and helps them learn how to apply these tools to effectively implement policies and programs in the not-for-profit sector.
Ms. Curnan

HS 513a Issues in National Health Policy
An overview of the U.S. health care system is followed by a critical analysis of the major issues and trends in the health care field. Examines the role of private and public financing programs with particular attention paid to developing a rationale for understanding the relationship among the federal government, state governments, and private health care providers. Also explores the reasons behind rising health care costs and efforts to alter payments to providers; the changing delivery system with particular emphasis on the evolution of managed care; governmental regulatory efforts; and the efficiency and effectiveness of introducing more competition in the health field versus strengthening a regulatory system.
Messrs. Altman and Wallack

HS 515a Race/Ethnicity, Gender in Human Services Research
Explores theoretical and empirical approaches to race/ethnicity and gender as factors in health and human services practices, programs, and policies in the United States. Begins by examining current data on racial/ethnic and gender differences in health, mental health, function status, and life-style. Attention then turns to alternative accounts of the causes of these differences. Although primary focus is on patterns of race/ethnicity and gender differences in outcomes and services that have received the most comprehensive attention, the course offers perspectives on research methods and analytic frameworks that can be applied to other issues.
Mr. Capitman

HS 518a Health Care Management
Introduces students to the concepts, theories, and practical problems of managing people in health care organizations. Case material is drawn from hospital, HMO, group practice, public health agency, and for-profit company settings. Students gain a better understanding of the range of strategic and operational problems faced by managers, some of the analytic tools to diagnose problems, and the role of leadership (and management) in improving performance.
Mr. Chilingerian

HS 519a Health Economics
Prerequisite: An introductory microeconomics course.
Economic models of demand, production, and markets for goods and services can be used to analyze the key resource allocation questions in health care. Applies economic models to questions of demand concerning the utilization and distribution of health care and to questions of supply, encompassing issues of cost, efficiency, and accessibility of care. The incentives and behavior of consumers and producers of health care are considered using these models.
Ms. Bishop

HS 520a Payment and Financing of Health Care
Examines current payment practices to health care providers, the problems with current methods and possible modifications. Focuses only upon hospital care, physician services, and prepaid plans. Payment and performance of managed care organizations are covered in more depth, including the relative contributions of organizational structures, rules, and incentives.
Mr. Wallack

HS 521a Political and Organizational Analysis in Health Policy
Focuses on refining the analytical skills useful to students for understanding the political organizational factors influencing health care and health care policy. The readings and issues discussed are not a survey of current issues in health politics. Most readings were selected because they represent an innovative, interesting, or challenging piece of analysis. The goal of each class shall be to identify and critique the core arguments of the work, the conceptual categories and assumptions on which it is based, and the data presented in its support.
Mr. Prottas

HS 523a Economics of Aging
Provides students with experience in applying social policy analysis to issues related to the economic status of the elderly. Discusses the economic impact of demographic aging, measures of economic status, work and retirement policies, social security, employer-sponsored pensions, means tested programs for the elderly, and potential "intergenerational conflict."
Staff

HS 524a Long-Term Care: A Policy Perspective
One of the most important health policy issues facing the nation is how to finance and provide long-term care for persons with chronic illness and disabilities. Uses historical and political economy frameworks to analyze the origins of current long-term care policies and programs. Topics covered include homecare, institutional care, concepts of need, informal care, choice and autonomy, acute care connections, integration, private approaches, international comparisons, and reform options. Primary focus will be on the aged, but other populations with disabilities will be considered.
Mr. Leutz

HS 525a Aging Issues and Policies
Provides students with a base of knowledge about the policy arena and the politics of aging, and an opportunity to explore selected policy issues in some depth. Focuses on a few areas that provide fertile ground for policy development and/or analysis, and has three components: (1) lectures covering background information; (2) discussions critically evaluating readings; and (3) student presentations. Projects and papers provide students opportunities to examine issues surrounding the design and implementation of particular policies, develop curriculum for particular topics, or undertake critiques of policies already in place.
Ms. Mutschler

HS 527b Law and Society: Gender Equality
Explores issues of gender equality that arise in different contexts, including the state's treatment of its citizens, in the workplace, and within the family. Central to the course is the study of women's lives including civil rights, sexual coercion, and exploitation of women. Examines three areas of study; history of women's rights and the development of constitutional protections, laws aimed at securing women's economic equality with an emphasis on workplace anti-discrimination provisions, and problems of violence against women and the law's response.
Ms. Hill

HS 528a Law and Society: Race and Class
Explores how race has been defined by law and used to uphold or undermine the principles espoused in the constitution and other sources of law in the United States. Issues discussed range from treatment of Native American at the nation's birth to the modern concept of affirmative action. Examines the significance of race in our society and explores the potential for connection between the findings of the President's Council and existing or potential law and policy. Explores racial inequality as an integrated social problem.
Ms. Hill

HS 529a Social Policy and Population Groups
Gives a broad introduction to some of the fundamental challenges for human services policies and programs that advance justice by examining alternative accounts of inequality and exclusion with respect to population characteristics such as: race/ethnicity, gender, disability, and age. Uses a range of demographic and social science concepts and methods to explore the changing definition, life chances, social and health program experiences, and political participation of groups defined by demographic and social location characteristics. Concludes with examination of social movements, policy approaches, and institutional restructuring as means to promote equality and inclusion.
Mr. Capitman

HS 541b Knowledge, Politics, and Children
Engages students in a critical examination of the relationship between knowledge and advocacy, and the influence of both on the development of early childhood policy in the United States. Readings are drawn from academic and popular sources, including theoretical work, empirical studies, journalistic writings, and novels. Classroom discussion focuses on the analysis of "different ways of knowing" and different rules of evidence with respect to the resources, needs, and life circumstances of young children and their families. Selected child policy issues are examined from state-level and federal perspectives.
Mr. Shonkoff

HS 544a Vulnerable Children and Youth: Policy and Programmatic Responses
Signature of the instructor required.
Examines the status of and our response to the problems of children and youth who are at-risk of not becoming self-sufficient as young adults. Examines topical issues from a variety of perspectives, borrowing from recent literature on pre-school programs, education programs, second chance job training programs, teen parenting programs, comprehensive community change initiatives/community development, and anti-poverty initiatives.
Mr. Hahn

HS 549a Family Policy
Signature of the instructor required. A library intensive course.
Provides a general conceptual framework for understanding development of family policy in the United States since 1950. Changes in the family economy and family structure have transformed women's and men's roles with profound implications for children and care giving. Students examine key variations by class, race, ethnicity, and generation to discern the most promising directions for policies and programs in the future, given the risks faced by the post-nuclear family and the range of views held by advocates and critics.
Ms. Giele

HS 552a Policy Issues in Disability Studies
Focuses on the major policy changes during the past two decades involving educational, social, residential and therapeutic services for children and adults with cognitive and physical disabilities. In addition to investigating these changes based on reviews of court decisions, legislation and historical accounts, selected topics will be analyzed in detail utilizing research reports. Students will become familiar with the current research literature on these topics and will be able to critically evaluate research findings and methods in the fields.
Ms. Krauss

HS 570a Mental Health Policy and Management
Enables students to analyze major policy initiatives and trends, to apply their understanding to systemic problems and dilemmas facing the field, and to strengthen their ability to raise cogent questions for research in mental health. Explores the formulation of federal and state mental health policy and deals with such critical areas as managed care, children's mental health, legal issues, minorities, consumer impact, and other matters affecting the quality and distribution of services.
Mr. Callahan

HS 572a Economics of Mental Health
Applies economic analysis to policy and research issues in the mental health sector, including cost-effectiveness, managed care, benefit design, and adverse selection. Studies the impact of different approaches to financing treatment and paying providers in both the public and private sectors.
Mr. Hodgkin

HS 586a Issues in Substance Abuse Treatment
Provides an overview of issues related to clinical prevention and treatment services for alcohol, tobacco, and other drug abuse. Examines the organization, delivery, and financing of abuse services. Specific topics include the structure of the treatment system, access to service, the process of treatment, and the effectiveness, cost, cost-effectiveness, and quality of treatment. Examines the impact of managed care on the way services are organized and delivered and on clinical outcome.
Ms. Horgan

Sustainable International Development

HS 264f Principles of Ecology for Development Planners
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Introduces ecological principles that influence the sustainability of national and local development program throughout the world.
Mr. Kotagama or Staff

HS 265f Applied Ecology for Development Planners
Prerequisite: HS 264f. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. Signature of the instructor required.
Deepens the understanding of ecology through the exploration of case studies of development programs.
Mr. Klein or Staff

HS 266f Introduction to Development Economics: Poverty
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Introduces economic principles that influence the sustainability of national and local poverty-alleviation programs throughout the world.
Staff

HS 267f Introduction to Development Economics: Environment
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. Signature of the instructor required.
Introduces economic principles that shape environmental planning and sustainability.
Mr. Godoy

HS 268f Principles of Law and Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Through a primer on law and legal institutions we examine the use of the legal order to solve problems of poverty, vulnerability, and environmental degradation in developing nations.
Ms. Powell-Willingham or Staff

HS 269f Food Security and Nutrition
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Explores how international and national agencies define and measure food security and nutritional status and set goals for strategic interventions.
Staff

HS 270a Case Studies in Sustainable Development
A critical examination of specific cases illustrating the policies and practices that affect sustainability. In specific areas, students analyze data (e.g., food production, natural resources, energy, demography, and health) and grapple with the decisions that confront planners. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Simon and Staff

HS 271a Master's Seminar in Sustainable Development I
Serves as a forum for new students, assesses skill levels, provides needed tutorials, orientation to methods of library research, and initiates planning and proposal writing for second year fieldwork. Usually offered every year.
Staff

HS 272b Master's Seminar in Sustainable Development II
Continuation of HS 271a. Considers policies, issues, and skills needed to manage and implement the development process. Topics may include project conceptualization; methods of planning, monitoring and evaluation; gender analysis; GIS; reaching the poor through micro-finance and other strategies; NGO and CBO management. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Godoy

HS 273b Applied Ecology in Sustainable Development
Applies basic concepts governing terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem functions to the special problems of development. Achieving sustainable management of ecological processes by preserving and restoring biotic integrity is presented in case histories. Compatability of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries with habitat preservation will be discussed.
Mr. Klein

HS 274a and HS 274b Directed Readings in Sustainable Development
Usually offered every year.
Staff

HS 274f Directed Readings in Sustainable Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Usually offered every semester.
Staff

HS 275a and HS 275b Directed Research
Usually offered every year.
Staff

HS 275f Directed Research in Sustainable Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Usually offered every semester.
Staff

HS 276a and HS 276b Directed Readings in Monitoring and Evaluation
Usually offered every year.
Staff

HS 276f World Health
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
A primer on major diseases and problems of health care in developing nations. Topics include descriptions of disease incidence and prevalence, including infectious, chronic, and mental disease; determinants of health, including culture and behavior; the role of nutrition, education, and reproductive trends and poverty; demographic transitions, including aging and urbanization; the structure and financing of health systems; and the globalization of health.
Ms. Bhalotra

HS 277a and HS 277b Directed Readings in Gender and Development
Usually offered every year.
Staff

HS 277f The Project Cycle: Planning and Implementation
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Studies analytical methods utilized in developing planning. The issues and methods of project implementation are taught and drawing on case studies, the class examines the complex interactions between beneficiary communities, social mobilization, training, marketing strategies, and other factors that affect achievements.
Mr. Raheem or Staff

HS 278b Law and Society: Human Rights, Coexistence, and Sustainable Development
Scholars and practitioners of contemporary human rights law, conflict transformation initiatives, and sustainable development have acknowledged the need for greater integration and cross pollination across the fields. Based on a review of current developments in each of these areas, we highlight opportunities for potential integration of these approaches. Law and Society is a joint course between The Ethics Center and the SID Program. It is open to juniors and seniors as well as all graduate students.
Ms. Powell-Willingham

HS 278f The Project Cycle: Monitoring and Evaluation
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Explores issues and methods of development project monitoring and evaluation, including economic, social, and environmental issues, and how these functions are critical to project management.
Mr. Raheem or Staff

HS 279f Methods of Community Mobilization and Planning
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Examines concepts and methods of participatory planning that involve intended beneficiaries in project planning.
Staff

HS 280f Micro-Enterprise Development and Finance
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Covers a broad range of operational issues in building viable micro-finance institutions to nurture small community economic development initiatives.
Mr. Ashe or Staff

HS 281f The Learning Organization: Research and Advocacy
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Introduces concepts and methods for using organizational program experience to strengthen internal management, program planning, and public policy. Examines the experience of noted NGOs.
Staff

HS 282f Environmental Impact Assessment
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
A primer on the basic concepts and methods of formal Environmental Impact Assessments.
Staff

HS 283f Gender and Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Gender, as a social construct, is explored in diverse cultures and societies. Examines its major influence on the development process.
Ms. Williams or Staff

HS 284f Gender Analysis in Development Planning
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Examines recent concepts and methods for gender analysis as an integral factor in program planning across cultures.
Ms. Williams or Staff

HS 285f Right-based Approach to Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Explores the history and theories of human rights as they apply to development and proposes a rights-based approach to development that could advance the interests of the poor.
Mr. Raheem or Staff

HS 286f Civil Society and Non-Governmental Organizations
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
The phenomenal growth in Non-Governmental Organizations throughout the world in the past two decades has transformed the delivery of development assistance and relationships between the north and south. We examine the nature of NGOs and the emerging civil society.
Mr. Simon or Staff

HS 287f Land Reform: Models and Experience
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Examines the evolution of land reform theory and practice around the world, including the current model encouraged by the World Bank.
Mr. Simon or Staff

HS 288f Sustainable Energy: Technology and Economics
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
On global and community levels energy remains a constraint to development and often has negative environmental impacts. Technologies for cheap and renewable energies are opening up new possibilities for poor communities. Explores several of those technologies and their economies.
Messrs. Kamal, Abt, Lange, or Staff

HS 289f The Demographics of Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
A primer on population growth and the socio-economic dynamics of reducing fertility rates.
Ms. Holcombe

HS 294f Regional/Country Development Studies
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Section 1 Puerto Rico/United States
Section 2 Tibet/China
Section 3 Cuba
Staff

HS 295f Natural Resource Development Planning
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Investigates major issues of natural resource management affecting the sustainability of development.
Mr. Godoy

HS 296f Managing Information for Development, Project Planning, and Reporting
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Introduces standards and methods for Management Information Systems required by major international agencies and helps planners think through what information is necessary for management and planning of development projects.
Staff

HS 297f Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
A primer for non-specialists on GIS and its capabilities as a tool for planning and monitoring for sustainable development. Usually offered every year.
Staff

HS 298f Development Management
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Examines contextual factors that influence the implementation of development, as well as the management skills necessary to implementing sustainable development programs.
Ms. Holcombe

HS 299f NGOs and the Development Process
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Northern and southern NGOs have emerged as major actors in the field of development. Students build a typology of NGOs, examining issues of mission, structure, governance, funding, and NGO methods of participatory planning and evaluation.
Mr. Simon

HS 300f Integrated Conservation and Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Conservation biologists and economic development planners have often had conflicting priorities and means. The class reviews methods of achieving biodiversity, conservation, and community development through an integrated approach.
Staff

HS 301f Understanding Energy for Sustainable Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Led by a physicist, this seminar introduces development planners to the scientific basis for energy choices, environmental consequences and appropriate applications.

HS 302f Theories of Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Focuses on the alternative available theories proposed in the first and third worlds as potential guides for explaining and finding solutions to development problems.
Ms. Seidman

HS 303f Legislative Drafting
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Provides students with a sufficient background in legislative theory, methodology, and techniques to enable them to conceptualize how to translate policy into effectively implemented law.
Ms. Seidman

HS 304f Regional Development Studies
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Examines the experience of one group of countries at developing joint efforts at development trade, cross-boundary environmental management, and conflict resolution.
Staff

HS 305f Environmental Treaties
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Studies major goals and implementation mechanisms for selected international environmental conventions and protocols. Also provides students with a basic understanding of the scientific underpinnings for each treaty (for instance the nature of ozone depleting substances and their effect on the atmosphere).
Mr. Kotagama

Noncredit Dissertation Seminars

HS 600c-01 Aging Policy Dissertation Seminar
HS 600c-02 Family and Child Policy Dissertation Seminar
HS 600c-03 Health Policy Dissertation Seminar
HS 600c-04 Work, Inequality, and Social Change Dissertation Seminar