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The Heller School for Social Policy and Management
Last updated: November 4, 2010 at 3:21 p.m.
The Heller School continues to keep the concepts of social justice and human health and well-being in the forefront of the public conscience. The school and its nationally renowned research institutes and centers have pioneered in a variety of policy areas, including:
Behavioral Health
Children, Youth, and Families
Health
Hunger and Poverty
International and Community Development
International Health
Social Policy
Substance Abuse
Work and Inequalities
The Heller School was ranked among the top three U.S. graduate schools of social policy in 2007 by the U.S. News & World Report. The Heller School offers the PhD in social policy, the MBA in social policy and management, the MA in sustainable international development, the MS in international health policy and management, and the MPP in social policy.The Heller School offers dual- and joint- degree options with coexistence and conflict, sociology, women's and gender studies, and the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program. A dual JD/MA (Juris Doctor/Master of Arts in Sustainable International Development) is offered jointly between Northeastern University School of Law and the Heller School. The Tufts/Brandeis MD/MBA Dual Degree Program is offered in partnership with Tufts University School of Medicine. Students are admitted separately into each degree program.
The Heller School provides its doctoral and master's students with solid training in research or management and a broad grounding in social policy. All students benefit from the resources and expertise of the Heller School's social policy research institutes, which include:
The Schneider Institutes (Institute on Healthcare Systems, Institute for Behavioral Health, and Institute for Global Health and Development)
Institute on Assets and Social Policy
Institute for Child, Youth, and Family Policy
Center for International Development
Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy
Heller's five degree programs are designed explicitly to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Students are engaged actively in examining policies and programs that respond to the changing needs of vulnerable individuals and social groups in contemporary societies, be they vulnerable as a result of economic hardship, illness, disability, age (young or old), or discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. These core values are reflected in Heller's deep commitment to beneficial social change, a respect for public service, and an investment in the development of public- and private-sector policies and practices that enhance health and human development.
Heller's doctoral program in social policy (PhD) educates students for careers in research, teaching, administration, and policy analysis. The Heller MBA in Social Policy and Management prepares leaders for management positions within nonprofit, for-profit, and public organizations or business units pursuing social missions. Heller's master of arts program in sustainable international development (MA) imparts the knowledge and skills necessary to design and manage local, regional, national, or international development; and the master of science in international health policy and management (MS) trains professionals to play increasingly responsible roles in the health and well-being of the world’s poorest children and families. The master of public policy in social policy (MPP) trains young and mid-career professionals for roles as policy analysts, researchers, advocates, and evaluators in public and private organizations. 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 well-being.
The Doctor of Philosophy Program in Social Policy
Heller's doctoral program educates students for careers in research, teaching, administration, and policy analysis. Students are immersed in an integrated curriculum that focuses on intensive scholarly preparation in general and on specialized social policy areas in order to apply knowledge to real-world problems. Students graduate with honed research skills and a strong working knowledge of various social science disciplines. The Heller School offers a joint PhD program with the Department of Sociology, and a joint MA in social policy & women's and gender studies.
The Heller MBA in Social Policy and Management
The Heller MBA program prepares leaders for management positions within nonprofit, for-profit, and public institutions pursuing social missions. It offers a rigorous core curriculum addressing all the basic management disciplines found in a traditional MBA program, providing the technical foundation but integrating the distinctive issues that arise in managing for a social mission. Students are trained as the next generation of leaders and decision makers who will know how to find resources, use them efficiently and effectively, and deliver on a social good. Heller management education rigorously blends financial, technical, and social considerations. It places management in the context of social policy, drawing on the Heller School's powerful social policy resources. This combination makes the Heller MBA unique when compared to traditional programs in management, public administration, health administration, social work, and public health. The Heller School offers a dual MBA/MA with the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program, a dual MBA/MA in sustainable international development, a dual MBA/MS in international health policy and management, a dual MBA/MPP in social policy, and a dual MBA/MD in healthcare management in conjunction with Tufts University.
The Master of Arts in Sustainable International Development
Heller's MA program in sustainable international development (SID) imparts the knowledge and skills necessary for graduates to design and manage local, regional, national, or international development. Students in the SID program examine models of development, considering whether they are effective, whether they reduce poverty and inequality, and whether they raise the quality of life. Students consider the state of world development, probe issues that affect future generations, and broaden the skills necessary to plan, negotiate, implement, monitor, and evaluate development programs. Students enjoy a year in residence studying with senior researchers and field-level development practitioners, as well as a second-year field project, internship, or advanced study applying and evaluating methods and models of development. A one-year accelerated track is available for those who have at least five years of mid-level management experience in the development field. The Heller School offers a dual MA with the coexistence and conflict program, a joint MA in sustainable international development & women's and gender studies, and a dual MA/MBA in sustainable international development.
The Master of Science in International Health Policy and Management
The one-year MS degree combines the planning, management, and health policy expertise found at Heller in an international context, training young professionals to play increasingly responsible roles in the health and well-being of the world's poorest children and families. Graduates accomplish this by pursuing careers in health policy, planning and policy implementation in government health ministries and planning agencies, multilateral and bilateral development agencies, and in NGOs. Heller also offers a dual MS/MBA.
The Master of Public Policy in Social Policy
The Heller MPP in social policy prepares students for policy roles within community agencies, state and federal government, and think tanks. Heller’s high standards for rigorous and unbiased analysis are important assets to students headed for careers that will use their skills in advocacy, policy research, policy implementation and community work. The MPP program provides students with the skills necessary to design, implement, reform, analyze, and promote innovative solutions to society’s most critical problems. The MPP is a two-year degree program that follows the traditional academic year from late August to May. The Heller School offers a dual MPP/MA with the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program, a dual MBA/MPP, and a joint-degree with women's and gender studies.
How to Apply to the Heller School for Social Policy and Management
Application materials and detailed procedures for each degree program may be obtained by contacting the Heller School Office of Admissions, Brandeis University, MS 035, PO Box 549110, Waltham, Massachusetts 02454-9110 and may also be found on the Web site or by contacting the Office of Admissions at 781-736-3820 or HellerAdmissions@brandeis.edu. All applications should demonstrate a commitment to addressing some of the world's most pressing social issues as well as a readiness to take on graduate-level studies.
Application deadline for the PhD program in social policy is the first business day following January 1. Applications for the master's degree programs are considered on a rolling basis until April 15. Applications received after April 15 will be reviewed on a space available basis.
Test Scores and Deadlines
The PhD Program
Applicants to the PhD program in social policy must submit application materials by the first business day following January 1 for a fall start (late August). The application process and requirements for full-time and part-time applicants are the same. All applicants must submit a completed and signed application form with fee, statement of purpose, writing sample, transcripts, test scores, letters of recommendation, and resume.
Applicants to the PhD program in social policy must submit test results of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). The test must be taken within five years of the application and must be submitted directly to the Heller School from ETS using the ETS institutional code: 3097. Although the application process is very competitive, the Heller School does not cite minimum score requirements, as test results are evaluated in conjunction with an applicant's educational background and professional experience. Further information on the GRE can be obtained at www.gre.org.
International applicants whose native language is not English must submit proof of English language proficiency. Official scores from the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) test are preferred. Further information about these tests can be found at www.toefl.org and www.ielts.org.
The Heller MBA in Social Policy and Management
The Heller MBA program accepts applications to its sixteen-month, full-time option on a rolling basis until April 15 and reviews an applicant's file as it becomes complete. The full-time program begins each year in late August. Applicants to the Heller MBA part-time option are required to complete their files at least one month prior to the official start date of the desired entry semester. Application requirements and procedures for the full- and part-time options are the same. All applicants must submit the completed and signed application form and fee, statement of purpose, management problem analysis, transcripts, test scores, letters of recommendation, and professional resume/CV.
Applicants to the MBA program must submit official test scores from the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT) or the test results of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), though the GMAT is preferred. The test must be taken within five years of the application and must be submitted directly to the Heller School from ETS using our ETS institutional code: 3097. Although the application process is very competitive, the Heller School does not cite minimum score requirements, as test results are evaluated in conjunction with an applicant's educational background and professional experience. Further information on the GMAT can be obtained at www.mba.com/mba/takethegmat and www.gre.org.
International applicants whose native language is not English must submit proof of English language proficiency. Official scores from the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) test are preferred. Further information about these tests can be found at www.toefl.org and www.ielts.org.
The MA/Sustainable International Development Program
The MA program accepts applications on a rolling basis until April 15 and reviews an applicant's file as it becomes complete. The program begins each year in the fall, so applicants are advised to complete their applications in the beginning of the year (January/February). All applicants must submit the completed and signed application form and fee (the application fee is waived for applicants from developing countries and alumni of volunteer service organizations such as the Peace Corps), statement of purpose, transcripts, test scores (if applicable), letters of recommendation, and professional résumé/CV. A problem statement is required for applicants to the MA one-year, accelerated-track option.
Standardized test scores are not required of applicants to the MA program, although applicants to the join MA/MBA program must submit official test scores from the GMAT or GRE. international applicants whose native language is not English must submit proof of English language proficiency. Official scores from the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) test are preferred, but the test requirement may be waived if an approved alternative confirmation of language proficiency is presented to the Office of Admissions. Further information about these tests can be found at www.toefl.org and www.ielts.org.
The MS/International Health Policy and Management Program
The MS program accepts applications on a rolling basis until April 15 and reviews an applicant's file as it becomes complete. The program begins each year in the fall,* so applicants are advised to complete their applications in the beginning of the year (January/February). All applicants must submit the completed and signed application form and fee (the application fee is waived for applicants from developing countries and alumni of volunteer service organizations such as the Peace Corps), statement of purpose, transcripts, test scores (if applicable), letters of recommendation, and professional résumé/CV.
Standardized test scores are not required of applicants to the MS program, although applicants to the joint MS/MBA program must submit official test scores from the GMAT or the GRE. International applicants whose native language is not English must submit proof of English language proficiency. Official scores from the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) test are preferred, but the test requirement may be waived if an approved alternative confirmation of language proficiency is presented to the Office of Admissions. Further information about these tests can be found at www.toefl.org or www.ielts.org.
*Please note that students without a strong background in economics and statistics may be required as part of their admission to complete a summer enrichment course that begins in mid-July of each year.
The MPP Program
The MPP program accepts applications to its two-year degree program on a rolling basis until April 15 and reviews an applicant’s file as it becomes complete. The program begins each year in late August, so applicants are advised to complete their applications in the beginning of the year (January/February). All applicants must submit the completed application form and fee, statement of purpose, transcripts, test scores, letters of recommendation, and professional résumé/CV.
Applicants to the MPP program must submit test results of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). The test must be taken within five years of the application and must be submitted directly to the Heller School from ETS using the ETS institutional code: 3097. Although the application process is very competitive, the Heller School does not cite minimum score requirements, as test results are evaluated in conjunction with an applicant's educational background and professional experience. Further information on the GRE can be obtained at www.gre.org. Applicants to the joint MMP/MBA program may also submit official test scores from the GMAT. Additional information on the GMAT can be found at www.mba.come/mba/takethegmat.
International applicants whose native language is not English must submit proof of English language proficiency. Official scores from the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) test are preferred. Further information about these tests can be found at www.toefl.org and www.ielts.org.
For complete information about academic regulations governing the Heller School's PhD, MBA, MA, MS, and MPP programs, refer to the Academic Policies and Procedures documents for each degree, available from the Heller School Office of Student Records.
Academic Standing
The Heller School reviews students' academic progress annually. Satisfactory academic progress in a program is essential to maintain one's eligibility for funding. Superior performance at Brandeis University is essential. Academic insufficiency or failure to make suitable progress toward the degree may result in withdrawal.
Registration
Every resident, post-resident, and continuation student must register at the beginning of each term, whether attending regular courses of study, carrying on research or independent reading, writing a thesis or dissertation, or utilizing any academic service or facility of the university. Registration requires enrollment in a course—whether a regular course, independent research, or a status course for post-resident and continuation students.
Students work closely with their advisers in planning their program of study. All students file an Individualized Learning Plan (ILP) with the Heller School Office of Student Records. At the end of the registration period for each term (see Academic Calendar for specific date), no additional courses may be added to a student's schedule and enrollment is considered to be final, unless a student formally drops a course prior to the drop deadline.
Auditing Courses
The privilege of auditing courses without paying a fee is extended to all regularly enrolled full-time graduate students. Auditors may not take examinations or expect evaluation from the instructor. No credit is given for an audited course. To audit a course, the written permission of the instructor must be obtained on an add/drop form and returned to the Heller School Office of Student Records by the deadline established in the Academic Calendar.
Change of Program
Students are allowed to drop courses after the end of the online registration period. To do so, an add/drop form must be obtained from and returned to the Heller School Office of Student Records. Courses must be dropped by the deadline established in the Academic Calendar.
Grades and Course Standards
Graduate students are expected to maintain records of distinction in all courses. Letter grades will be used in all courses for master's degree-level students. Doctoral students receive "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory."
Any letter grade below B- is considered unsatisfactory. A course in which the student receives an unsatisfactory grade will not be counted toward graduate credit. Students will need to work out with their program director how an unsatisfactory mark in a required course will be handled.
Incompletes
A student who has not completed the research or written work including examinations for any course may receive an EI (incomplete) or a failing grade at the discretion of the course instructor. A student who receives an EI must satisfactorily complete the work of the course in order to receive credit for the course and a letter grade. An incomplete must be made up no later than the date published in the academic calendar for the term.
An EI that is not resolved by the published deadline will become a permanent incomplete (I).
Full-Time Resident Students
A full-time graduate student is one who devotes his/her entire time, during the course of the academic year, to a program of graduate work at Brandeis.
A full-time program may include a combination of teaching and research assistance and other work leading to the fulfillment of degree requirements, such as preparation for qualifying, comprehensive, and final examinations; supervised reading and research; PhD dissertations; and regular course work.
A full-time resident student must take a minimum of twelve credits per term unless otherwise approved by his or her program director. An accelerated program of study or payment of more than the full-time tuition rate in any single academic year may not satisfy the minimum residence requirement for any degree.
Part-Time Resident Students
A part-time graduate student is one who devotes less than the entire time to a program of graduate work at Brandeis. Part-time students are expected to enroll in two courses per term unless otherwise approved by their program director. Part-time students must register as continuation status in any semester in which they are not enrolled in courses.
Students receiving financial aid from the university who wish to change their status from full-time to part-time residency must request permission to do so from their program director and file their change of status with the office of admissions and financial aid with an explanation of why full-time study is no longer possible.
Post-Resident Students
A graduate student who has completed residence requirements and who needs to utilize the full range of academic services and university facilities while completing degree requirements is a post-resident student. This includes doctoral students who do not have approved dissertation proposals. Post-resident students must enroll in a status course (CONT 500a), as they are considered to be full-time students.
Continuation Students
A doctoral student who has completed all degree requirements (including the dissertation proposal hearing) except the dissertation is eligible for continuation status. Students in this category must enroll in a status course (CONT 500), as they are considered to be full-time students. Full-time continuation students are eligible for university health insurance, borrowing privileges in the Library, a computer account, use of gym facilities, and purchase of a parking sticker.
A student must be registered and enrolled in the term(s) in which the dissertation is defended and submitted to the Heller School Office of Student Records.
MA students are considered full-time continuation students during their second year when engaged in their field projects.
Special Students
No more than two courses taken for credit may be transferable to degree candidacy if the student is admitted to the doctoral program, the MPP, or the MBA. No more than four credits (two module courses or one full-semester course) may be transferable to degree candidacy if the student is admitted to the MS or MA program in Sustainable International Development. Successful completion of a course(s) as a Special Student does not guarantee admission into any degree program. Special Students are considered with all other applicants to the School.
Leave of Absence
Students may petition for a leave of absence. The petition must have the approval of the student's program director. Leaves of absence up to one year will normally be granted to students. Leaves of absence beyond one year are extended only for medical reasons. Any student wishing to extend the leave of absence must submit a written request with medical documentation before the leave expires. If there are outstanding incompletes when a student begins a leave, the student will not be allowed to reregister until the missing work has been completed.
Withdrawal
A student who wishes to withdraw voluntarily from the Heller School during a semester must do so in writing to the program director and must file his or her request with the Office of Student Records before the last day of instruction of the semester. Failure to notify in writing of a withdrawal may subject the student to loss of eligibility for refunds in accordance with the refund schedule outlined in the "Fees and Expenses" section. Permission to withdraw voluntarily will not be granted if the student has not discharged all financial obligations to the university or has not made financial arrangements satisfactory to the Office of Student Financial Services. When a student withdraws during or at the end of a semester, course enrollments are not expunged from his/her record, rather a grade of W ("dropped") is entered for each course.
Students who are obliged to register and fail to do so by the appropriate deadline or who fail to pay their bill will be administratively withdrawn. They may be readmitted (see below) for study in a subsequent term, but not for the term in which they were withdrawn for failure to register. Belatedly fulfilling financial obligations will not negate the effects of administrative withdrawal.
Readmission
A student who has not been enrolled in the Heller School for more than one year and who did not obtain a leave of absence should file an application for readmission and will be charged the readmission fee. The student's program will determine in each case whether a student should be readmitted. If the program's requirements have changed during the student's absence or the student is not deemed current in his or her field of study, the program may require the student to repeat or supplement previous academic requirements, including qualifying exams. When a student is reinstated, he or she will be informed of current status regarding credits and time to degree.
Graduate Cross-Registration
The Heller School has cross-registration agreements with Bentley University School of Business Administration, Boston College, Boston University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, and the University of Massachusetts Boston. A full-time graduate student at the Heller School may enroll in one graduate-level course per term (excluding the summer term) at any one of these institutions. Information on courses for cross-registration at each of the host institutions is available at the graduate school office of each institution.
A student who wishes to enroll in a course at one of these institutions should consult with the instructor in the particular course and should expect to satisfy the prerequisites and requirements normally required for admission to the course, including adherence to the academic calendar of that course. To enroll in a graduate course at one of the host institutions, a student should obtain a cross-registration petition from the Heller School Office of Student Records, and should present this petition to the registrar's office of the host institution for approval. The completed petition should be returned to the Heller School Office of Student Records prior to the deadline established in the Academic Calendar.
Due to differences in academic calendars among the colleges in the consortium, it is not advisable for degree candidates to enroll in a cross-registered course in their final semester.
Tuition and Fees
The following tuition and fees are in effect for the 2010-2011 academic year. These figures are subject to annual revision by the Brandeis Board of Trustees.
Payment of tuition and other fees is due on August 13, 2010, for the fall semester and January 7, 2011, for the spring semester. A student who has not paid such fees by the day of registration will be refused the privilege of registration. A late fee will be assessed to all student accounts with outstanding balances after the stated due date. The amount of the late fee will be $100, or 2 percent of the outstanding balance, whichever is greater.
Application fee: $55
Payable by all applicants for admission at the time the application for admission is submitted.
Tuition
PhD Program
Full-time: $38,994 per year
Post-resident: $2,438 per year
Continuation: $1,220 per year
Part-time: $3,750 per course or $937.50 per credit
MBA Program
Full-time: $19,497 per semester (four consecutive semesters program)
Part-time: $3,750 per course or $937.50 per credit
Heller Program Fee: $350 per year
MA/SID Program
$38,994 for first year
$1,220 continuation fee for second year
Heller Program Fee: $350 per year
MS Program
$38,994 per year
Heller Program Fee: $350 per year
MPP Program
$38,994 per year
Heller Program Fee: $350 per year
A bank service fee will be charged to a student's account if a payment or a check negotiated through Brandeis is returned by the bank for any reason.
Transcript Fee: $5
Students, former students, and graduates should request official transcripts of their records from the Office of the University Registrar. Students are entitled to twenty official transcripts of their academic work without charge. A charge of $5 may be made for each subsequent transcript. Requests by mail for transcripts must be accompanied by a check in the correct amount payable to Brandeis University. Official transcripts will be issued only to those students whose university financial records are in order.
Graduate Activity Fee: $66 per year
Student Health Services Fee: $636 per year (optional)
Entitles the full-time graduate student to use of Health Services.
Student Health Insurance Plan (single coverage): $1,607 per year (estimated)
All three-quarter or full-time students are required by state law to show certification of health insurance. Students without insurance of their own must purchase the Student Health Insurance Plan through the university. The fee is payable prior to registration and no portion is refundable. Student insurance is optional for special students. Additional insurance options, including family coverage, are described in A Guide to University Health Services, which is available from Health Services.
Parking Fee: $60-250 per year
Payable annually at fall registration for privilege of parking an automobile on campus. Fee varies with assigned parking area.
Late Fee: $100, or 2 percent of the outstanding balance, whichever is greater
A student who defaults in the payment of indebtedness to the university shall be subject to suspension, dismissal, and refusal of a transfer of credits or issuance of an official transcript. In addition, the university may refer the debt to an outside collection agency. The student is responsible for costs associated with the collection of the debt.
Such indebtedness includes, but is not limited to, delinquency of a borrower in repaying a loan administered by the student loan office and the inability of that office to collect such a loan because the borrower has discharged the indebtedness through bankruptcy proceedings. If the student is a degree, certificate, or diploma candidate, his or her name will be stricken from the rolls.
A student who has been suspended or dismissed for nonpayment of indebtedness to the university may not be reinstated until such indebtedness is paid in full.
Final Doctoral Fee: $235
This fee covers all costs for the year in which the PhD degree will be conferred, including the costs for the full publishing services for the dissertation and three xerographic softbound copies (for the chair, department, and Library). The final doctoral fee also covers the cost of the diploma.
Refunds
The only fee that may be refundable, in part, is the tuition fee. No refund of the tuition fee will be made because of illness, absence, or dismissal during the academic year. A student who is withdrawing must notify the Heller School's senior administrative officer in writing; refunds will be based on the date of notification and calculated in accordance with the following:
1. Tuition
Withdrawal
Before the opening day of instruction: 100 percent of the term's tuition.
On or before the second Friday following the opening day of instruction: 75 percent of the term's tuition.
On or before the fifth Friday following the opening day of instruction: 50 percent of the term's tuition.
After the fifth Friday following the opening day of instruction: no refund.
Requests for refunds should be addressed to the Office of Student Financial Services.
2. Scholarship
In the case of a scholarship student who withdraws, the student's account will be credited with the same proportion of the term scholarship as charged for tuition: 75 percent if the student leaves on or before the second Friday; 50 percent on or before the fifth Friday and no refund thereafter.
3. Stafford Loans
In compliance with federal law, special refund arrangements apply to students receiving aid under Title IV. Contact the Heller School assistant dean for admissions and financial aid for additional information.
Refund Policy for Dropped Courses
A student who drops courses on the per-course tuition-charge basis is allowed a refund following this schedule:
1. Full semester-long courses
Before the opening day of instruction through the last day of the registration period (see the Academic Calendar): 100 percent of the dropped course’s tuition fee.
On or before the fifth Friday following the opening day of instruction: 50 percent of the dropped course’s tuition fee.
After the fifth Friday following the opening day of instruction: no refund.
2. Module courses
On or before the second Friday of module instruction (see the Academic Calendar): 100 percent of the dropped course’s tuition fee.
After the second Friday of module instruction: no refund.
Housing
Ten-month living expenses in the Waltham area for a single individual on an economical budget are estimated to range from $9,000 to $18,261. Limited housing is available in the university's graduate residence halls. Costs for on-campus housing range approximately from $3,273 to $4,208 per semester for a single person. Graduate housing may include kitchen facilities, but students may also purchase university meal plans.
Financial Aid
The Heller School attempts to assist as many students as possible in securing financial aid, although it is expected that candidates for admission will explore a variety of outside funding sources, such as private scholarships, state scholarships, and G.I. Bill benefits. The Heller School offers scholarships and fellowships that are awarded on the basis of financial need and academic merit. These grants rarely cover the full cost of study plus living expenses, but, in combination with Stafford Loans, make up the typical aid package. Part-time students are not eligible to receive scholarships or fellowships from the Heller School.
For more information about fellowships, scholarships, and loans for all of our degree programs, visit the Heller School's Web site at www.heller.brandeis.edu, or contact the Office of Admissions.
Loans
Direct Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans are available to U.S. citizens and permanent residents who are enrolled at least half-time in a degree or certificate program and who demonstrate need by filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Graduate students may borrow up to $8,500 per year in subsidized money. The maximum aggregate limit for the program (including undergraduate borrowing) is $65,500.
Direct Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans are available to students who are not eligible for subsidized Stafford Loans based on need. Applicants must still file the FAFSA. Graduate students may borrow up to a maximum of $12,000, with an aggregate maximum of $73,000 in unsubsidized money. Eligible students may borrow from the subsidized and the unsubsidized Stafford programs, as long as the annual total does not exceed $20,500.
The interest rate on both versions of the Stafford Loan is a fixed rate of 6.8%
Repayment of a Stafford Loan begins six months after the borrower ceases to be enrolled at least half-time. The repayment period is ten years, during which time interest is charged. (Please go to www.studentloans.gov for information about alternate repayment plans.) There is no interest charged during the in-school period for subsidized loans. However, students are required to pay the interest during the inschool period or have it capitalized and added to the loan balance for the unsubsidized loan.
The terms for the above loan programs are subject to federal legislation, regulations, and other guidance, and may change. Additional current information is available from the Heller School.
Students wishing to apply for this loan must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid online at www.fafsa.ed.gov and should contact the Graduate School for any additional required application materials.
The Graduate PLUS Loan is a federal loan that allows graduate students to borrow up to their total cost of education less any financial aid received. The student must pass an independent credit review. The PLUS Loan has an origination fee of 2.5% and the interest rate for the 2010-2011 academic year will be a fixed rate of 7.9%. Please go to www.studentloans.gov to apply for this loan.
Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Sustainable International Development
Program of Study
Students must successfully complete eight full-semester or equivalent module courses during the year in residence and a master’s project in the second year. During their spring semester in residence, students work with a primary adviser to plan a second-year master’s project that can be a practicum at a development organization, a field-based project, or advanced study at Brandeis. In the second year, students must complete a master’s paper under the supervision of a Brandeis adviser. All students return to campus at the end of the second year to share the results of their master’s projects at a capstone week.
The one-year accelerated-track MA in sustainable international development exempts a select group of advanced development practitioners from the second-year internship while raising the academic requirements for them during their year-in-residence. Accelerated track students enter with all other incoming students in late August and fulfill all course requirements for the existing program over the fall and spring semesters. Students pursuing the accelerated track are required to write a master’s paper during the year in residence that applies development theory and skills to solving a real development problem recently encountered in their own work. Students will propose the topic as part of their application to the program.
Residence Requirement
One year in residence as a full-time student and all degree requirements must be met within five years.
Master's Project
The master's paper and participation in Capstone Week are required for the granting of the degree.
Requirements for the Joint Degree of Master of Arts in Sustainable International Development & Women's and Gender Studies
Program of Study
Students must fulfill all first-year requirements for the MA in Sustainable International Development as described above, as well as the following:
A. WMGS 205a or another course designated as a graduate foundational course in women’s and gender studies.
B. A course in feminist research methodologies (WMGS 198a, the Feminist Inquiry course offered through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies, or an alternative).
C. Two elective graduate courses in women's and gender studies (one inside the Heller School and one outside the Heller School).
D. Participation in a semester noncredit women's and gender studies graduate proseminar.
E. Completion of a master's research paper of professional quality and length (normally twenty-five to forty pages) on a topic related to the joint degree. The paper will be read by two faculty members, one of whom is a member of the Heller core or adjunct faculty and one of whom is a member of the women's and gender studies core or affiliate faculty.
F. Participation in the SID/MA Capstone Week.
G. Courses in both programs will be reviewed to determine which would satisfy the requirements for both programs.
Residence Requirement
Two years in residence as a full-time student and all degree requirements must be met within five years.
Requirements for the Dual Degree of Master of Arts in Sustainable International Development & Coexistence and Conflict
Program of Study
This dual-degree program prepares students for careers in emergency response and rehabilitation programs, as well as for development work in areas of conflict. Students will build their understanding of the structural and psychosocial causes of conflict and violence and will be able to analyze strategies for interventions. They will also gain a poverty and development context for understanding and responding to conflict situations. A total of seventy semester course credits are required to complete the program.
Students must complete thirty-two credits in the first year which include twenty-two credits in required courses from the Heller MA/SID program. The balance of credits are filled by electives as specified by the Heller MA/SID program with an additional four credits from the approved list of coexistence and conflict program electives. Students must also participate in the MA/SID Capstone in May of their first year and are required to make a presentation related to their anticipated topic of their master’s paper.
In the second year, students must complete the remaining thirty-eight credits from COEX which includes eighteen credits of required courses. The other twenty credits are comprised of four credits from approved COEX courses, four credits from approved courses in the MA/SID program, and the remaining twelve credits are to be earned through successful completion of a field project undertaken in the summer between the first and second year and a master’s paper. Preparation for the summer field project is undertaken in the prior spring semester as part of the research course. Students will be enrolled on a continuing basis the following summer and fall after the second academic year. The submission deadline for the written report from the field project and the master’s paper is December 1.
Admission
This dual-degree program has a single (combined) application that reflects the admissions criteria set by each program; applicants must apply for the dual degree at the outset. To gain acceptance applicants must be admitted by both programs, meet the MA/SID requirements for accelerated track students, and demonstrate the maturity as well as the writing skills to complete both degrees in an integrated fashion.
Residence Requirement
Two years in residence as a full-time student and all degree requirements must be met within five years.
Requirements for the Joint Degree of Master of Arts in Social Policy & Women's and Gender Studies
Students enrolled in the PhD program in social policy may elect to pursue a joint master's degree in social policy & women's and gender studies, with the program director's permission as well as the agreement of the women's and gender studies program. This degree option replaces a master's degree in social policy in the student's program and is entered prior to the award of a doctoral degree in social policy. The joint degree provides students an opportunity to mesh the Heller School’s social policy research and analytical training with issues that affect women and gender. The joint MA is for a select group of students interested in pursuing an additional interdisciplinary perspective. Students in the program must be willing to do additional course work, take part in a proseminar, and write a master's paper.
Please refer to the requirements for the PhD as this MA is open only to PhD students in social policy.
Program of Study
A. WMGS 205a or another course designated as a graduate foundational course in women’s and gender studies.
B. A course in feminist research methodologies (WMGS 198a, the feminist inquiry course offered through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies, or an alternative).
C. Two courses cross-listed with women's and gender studies (one inside the Heller School and one in any department other than the Heller School).
D. Participation in a semester noncredit women's and gender studies graduate proseminar.
E. Completion of a master's research paper of professional quality and length (normally twenty-five to forty pages) on a topic related to the joint degree. The paper will be read by two faculty members, one of whom is a member of the Heller School faculty and one of whom is a member of the women's and gender studies core or affiliate faculty.
Requirements for the Degree of Master of Business Administration
Program of Study
The Heller MBA requires sixty-eight credits over sixteen months in residence, including fifty two credits in the core curriculum, twelve credits in a chosen policy concentration, and four additional elective credits. Policy concentrations include: social policy and management; health care management; child, youth and family services management; aging policy and management; social impact management; and sustainable development.
Residence Requirement
Students must be in residence for a minimum of sixteen months and complete all degree requirments within five years. Full-time students begin in the fall semester, continue through the spring, take a full course load in the summer, and finish at the end of the following fall.
Team Consulting Project
The Heller MBA culminates in the team consulting project: a real-world, practical experience where students have the opportunity to apply the analytical and problem-solving skills they have developed at Heller to an organization or business unit pursuing a social mission. Working under the supervision of a faculty adviser, students work in teams of three to five, providing management consulting services to a variety of organizations and agencies over a four-month period. By working with real organizations that are facing human resource, operational, financial, strategic, and other management challenges, students are better prepared to function as successful professionals after graduation.
Requirements for the Dual Degree of Master of Business Administration/MD with Tufts University School of Medicine
Admission
MD/MBA applicants may apply via the online Tufts University School of Medicine secondary application at any time during the application cycle. (Space is limited in the program so applying early is recommended.) Students are reviewed by the Heller MBA committee after they are offered admission to the medical school. Please note that the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is not required for admission to the MD/MBA program. During the first summer, students are required take the GMAT (if not already taken) as a condition of their full matriculation at Brandeis University. Test scores will be sent directly to the Heller School by GMAC, Graduate Admissions Council. The GMAT code for The Heller School at Brandeis University is 3FD-ZX-31. For further information, see the GMAT website at www.mba.com/mba/TaketheGMAT.
For more information on MD Program Admissions, visit the Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) Admissions site: http://www.tufts.edu/med/admissions/md/index.html
Degree Requirements
The dual degree requires 71 MBA credits, including 44 credits in the core curriculum and 27 health specific classes. The program is usually completed in four years including two summers of intense course work. The MBA portion of this program culminates in a Team Consulting Project (TCP).
Team Consulting Project
The Heller MBA culminates in the team consulting project: a real-world, practical experience where students have the opportunity to apply the analytical and problem-solving skills they have developed at Heller to an organization or business unit pursuing a social mission. Working under the supervision of a faculty adviser, students work in teams of three to five, providing management consulting services to a variety of organizations over a four-month period. By working with real organizations that are facing human resource, operational, financial, strategic, and other management challenges, students are better prepared to function as successful professionals after graduation.
Requirements for the Dual Degree of Master of Business Administration/Master of Arts in Sustainable International Development
Admission
All applications for dual degrees will be reviewed by the admissions committee of each program, using the same standards for admission that are used for all other degree applicants. If a student does not meet the criteria for admission to one of the degree programs, the student will retain the option of attending the program to which he or she is accepted. This dual-degree option is restricted to MA students who spend the second year in residence and students admitted to the accelerated MA program. Students in the dual degree must take the GMAT or GRE.
Degree Requirements
The dual degree requires eighty-two course credits comprised of specific MA/SID courses totaling twenty-two credits, and specific MBA courses totaling fifty-two credits. The remaining credits are taken as electives. The program is usually completed in five semesters, including one summer of course work. This program culminates in both a Team Consulting Project (TCP) and Master’s paper and Capstone presentation.
Team Consulting Project
The Heller MBA culminates in the team consulting project: a real-world, practical experience where students have the opportunity to apply the analytical and problem-solving skills they have developed at Heller to an organization or business unit pursuing a social mission. Working under the supervision of a faculty adviser, students work in teams of three to five, providing management consulting services to a variety of organizations and agencies over a four-month period. By working with real organizations that are facing human resource, operational, financial, strategic, and other management challenges, students are better prepared to function as successful professionals after graduation.
Master's Paper
Students pursuing the joint degree are required to write a master’s paper that applies development theory and skills to solving a real development problem recently encountered in their own work.
Residence Requirement
Full-time students must be in residence for a minimum of twenty months and complete all degree requirements within five years. Full-time students begin in the fall semester, continue through the spring, take a full course load in the summer, and finish at the end of the following spring.
Requirements for the Dual Degree of Master of Business Administration/Master of Science in International Health Policy and Management
Admission
All applications for dual degrees will be reviewed by the admissions committee of each program, using the same standards for admission that are used for all other degree applicants. If a student does not meet the criteria for admission to one of the degree programs, the student will retain the option of attending the program to which he or she is accepted. This dual-degree option is restricted to MS students on the management track.
Degree Requirements
The dual degree requires eighty-four course credits comprised of specific MS courses totaling twelve credits, and specific MBA courses totaling fifty-six credits. The remaining credits are taken as electives. The program is usually completed in five semesters including the summer between years one and two.
Team Consulting Project
The Heller MBA culminates in the team consulting project: a real-world, practical experience where students have the opportunity to apply the analytical and problem-solving skills they have developed at Heller to an organization or business unit pursuing a social mission. Working under the supervision of a faculty adviser, students work in teams of three to five, providing management consulting services to a variety of organizations and agencies over a four-month period. By working with real organizations that are facing human resource, operational, financial, strategic, and other management challenges, students are better prepared to function as successful professionals after graduation.
Residence Requirement
Students must be in residence for a minimum of twenty months and complete all degree requirements within five years. Full-time students begin in the fall semester, continue through the spring, take a full course load in the summer, and finish at the end of the following spring.
Requirements for the Dual Degree of Master of Arts/Master of Business Administration (Hornstein-Heller School for Social Policy and Management MA/MBA Program)
Admission
Students applying to this program must demonstrate professional and academic capability and the capacity for sustaining an intensive program of study. Applicants must submit a single application to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
Program of Study
This program prepares professional leaders with the full complement of business and nonprofit skills, as well as specialized knowledge of Judaic studies and contemporary Jewish life. The program blends the Heller School's management curriculum with the Hornstein program's integrated approach to Jewish leadership training. Graduates of the dual-degree program receive two master's degrees: a Master of Arts in Jewish professional leadership from the Hornstein program and an MBA from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management.
Degree Requirements
The dual degree requires eighty course credits comprised of specific Hornstein courses totaling approximately thirty-four credits, specific Heller courses totaling thirty-eight credits and one four-credit Near Eastern and Judaic Studies course. The remaining credits are taken as electives. The program is usually completed in four and a half semesters, including part of the summer between years one and two.
Supervised Professional Field Experience
Supervised professional field experience forms part of the Hornstein program. It is designed to immerse students in the best professional practices within the Jewish community, and to help students refine their practical skills, learn to turn theory into action, and become self-reflective and effective practitioners.
Field experience usually takes place in the summer and/or second year of the program and usually consists of approximately 125-250 hours of work managing a project jointly created by the student, the Hornstein faculty, and the supervisor in the field organization.
Foster Seminar in Israel on Contemporary Jewish Life
Students travel to Israel as a required part of the curriculum to examine contemporary issues in Israeli society and its relationship with diaspora communities.
Language Requirement
All students are expected to know the Hebrew alphabet prior to beginning their studies. Fluency in Hebrew at a level comparable to one year of Brandeis University training is required for graduation. Students not meeting this requirement upon entrance are required to enroll in courses in Hebrew language during their academic residency. Students may fulfill the Hebrew language requirement by passing (B- or above) a 20-level or higher Hebrew course.
Cocurricular Requirements
Hornstein Leadership Forum
Meeting regularly throughout the year, this required forum brings innovative Jewish leaders into an intimate setting with Hornstein students for conversations about what makes a Jewish leader. Leaders share their vision for the coming generation of Jewish leadership, and pose "real-life" case studies from their experiences, challenging students to think through with the leader and one another possible responses. Students are involved in the planning and coordination of the seminar.
Starr Colloquium
Students spend three days during their first academic year in New York City visiting the national offices of major Jewish organizations to explore aspects of the communal agenda with agency executives.
Milender Seminar in Jewish Communal Leadership
Students participate in a three-day seminar about Jewish leadership with an outstanding leader of the Jewish communal world.
Residence Requirement
The residence requirement is four and a half semesters of full-time study or the equivalent thereof in part-time study. Students must complete all degree requirements within five years.
Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in International Health Policy and Management
Program of Study
Students must successfully complete ten full-semester or equivalent module courses (40 credts). Students may decide to focus on either a policy track or a management track. Participatory skill-building workshops complement classroom learning about health management and human resource management.
Residence Requirement
One year in residence as a full-time student.
Requirements for the Dual Degree of Master of Arts/Master of Public Policy (Hornstein-Heller School for Social Policy and Management MA/MPP Program)
Admission
Students applying to this program must demonstrate professional and academic capability and the capacity for sustaining an intensive program of study. Applicants must submit a single application to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.
Program of Study
This program prepares professional leaders with the full complement of policy analysis and development skills, as well as specialized knowledge of Judaic studies and contemporary Jewish life. The program blends the Heller School's public policy curriculum with the Hornstein program's integrated approach to Jewish leadership training. Graduates of the dual-degree program receive two master’s degrees: a Master of Arts in Jewish professional leadership from the Hornstein program and a Master of Public Policy from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management.
Degree Requirements
The dual Master of Arts in Jewish Professional Leadership/Master of Public Policy in Social Policy is a rigorous, interdisciplinary degree program that provides students with the skills necessary for advanced careers in the government, non-profit, and private sectors.
The dual degree requires eighty course credits comprised of specific Hornstein courses totaling approximately thirty-four credits, specific Heller courses totaling thirty-two credits, and four Near Eastern and Judaic Studies credits. The remaining credits are taken as electives. The program is usually completed in five semesters, including the summer between years one and two.
Dual-degree students must meet the MPP second-year capstone requirement and will generally focus their papers on Jewish community-related policy. Capstone advisers will include the instructor of the capstone seminar and a designee from the Hornstein program.
Supervised Professional Field Experience
Supervised professional field experience forms part of the Hornstein program. It is designed to immerse students in the best professional practices within the Jewish community, and to help students refine their practical skills, learn to turn theory into action, and become self-reflective and effective practitioners.
Field experience usually takes place in the summer and/or second year of the program and usually consists of approximately 125-250 hours of work managing a project jointly created by the student, the Hornstein faculty, and the supervisor in the field organization.
Foster Seminar in Israel on Contemporary Jewish Life
Students travel to Israel as a required part of the curriculum to examine contemporary issues in Israeli society and its relationship with diaspora communities.
Language Requirement
All students are expected to know the Hebrew alphabet prior to beginning their studies. Fluency in Hebrew at a level comparable to one year of Brandeis University training is required for graduation. Students not meeting this requirement upon entrance are required to enroll in courses in Hebrew language during their academic residency. Students may fulfill the Hebrew language requirement by passing (B- or above) a 20-level or higher Hebrew course.
Cocurricular Requirements
Hornstein Leadership Forum
Meeting regularly throughout the year, this required forum brings innovative Jewish leaders into an intimate setting with Hornstein students for conversations about what makes a Jewish leader. Leaders share their vision for the coming generation of Jewish leadership, and pose "real-life" case studies from their experiences, challenging students to think through with the leader and one another possible responses. Students are involved in the planning and coordination of the seminar.
Starr Colloquium
Students spend three days during their first academic year in New York City visiting the national offices of major Jewish organizations to explore aspects of the communal agenda with agency executives.
Milender Seminar in Jewish Communal Leadership
Students participate in a three-day seminar about Jewish leadership with an outstanding leader of the Jewish communal world.
Residence Requirement
The residence requirement is five semesters of full-time study or the equivalent thereof in part-time study. Students must complete all degree requirements within five years.
Requirements for the Degree of Master of Public Policy in Social Policy
Program of Study
Students must successfully complete sixteen courses (64 credits). The core curriculum fits into three categories: concepts, methods, and tools. Ten courses are required, including an introductory policy foundations course. A minimum of three courses is required in a student’s chosen concentration, allowing for three electives. Concentrations include: health; behavioral health; children, youth, and families; poverty alleviation; aging; and general social policy. A final capstone paper with optional field research is also required.
Residence Requirement
Two years in residence as a full-time student and complete all degree requirements within five years.
Capstone Paper
In addition to course work, students will complete a capstone paper with the guidance of faculty and senior research advisers in the various concentrations, working closely with the Heller School’s research institutes and centers.
Requirements for the Dual Degree of Master of Business Administration and Master of Public Policy in Social Policy
Program of Study
This intensive program requires six semesters (102 credits), including one summer. Students in the dual degree program are required to complete both the Team Consulting Project (TCP) and the MPP Capstone paper.
Students in the dual degree program may choose either track--beginning with the MPP curriculum or beginning with the MBA curriculum. In each case, dual-degree students must fulfill requirements for admission to both programs, including taking both the GRE and the GMAT. Dual degree students are still required to choose a concentration and complete 12 credits in their concentration.
Residence Requirement
Students must be in residence for six semesters of full-time study and complete all degree requirements within five years.
Requirements for the Joint Degree of Master of Public Policy in Social Policy & Women's and Gender Studies
Program of Study
Students choosing the joint degree must complete all MPP Core requirements as described above, as well as the following:
A. WMGS 205a.
B. A course in feminist research methodologies (WMGS 198a, the Feminist Inquiry course offered through the Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies, or an alternative).
C. Two elective graduate courses in women's and gender studies (one inside the Heller School and one outside the Heller School).
D. Participation in a semester noncredit women's and gender studies graduate proseminar.
E. Joint MA Paper Requirement: The MPP Capstone paper can fulfill this requirement as long as it is on a topic related to the joint degree. The paper will be read by two faculty members, at least one of whom is a member of the Heller School faculty, and at least one of whom is a member of the women’s and gender studies core or affiliate faculty.
F. Courses in both programs will be reviewed to determine which would satisfy the requirements for both programs.
Residence Requirement
Students must be in residence for two full academic years and complete all degree requirements within five years.
Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Policy
Program of Study
Students entering the PhD program in social policy must complete a total of fifteen courses (60 credits) as approved by the program director. Successful completion of a doctoral seminar related to one’s area of concentration is also required. Students may specialize in health or behavioral health; children, youth, and families; assets and inequalities; or global health and development.
Residence Requirement
The minimum residence for the PhD is two years.
Qualifying Paper
Upon completion of course work, each student must complete an integrative comprehensive paper. This paper is usually administered at the end of the student's fourth semester.
Language Requirement
There is no foreign language requirement for the PhD degree.
Dissertation and Final Oral Examination
A dissertation proposal should be submitted within two years 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. Students may elect to write the dissertation in either a three-paper academic-journal format or the monograph format. 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
The PhD in Social Policy and Sociology is a joint degree of the Department of Sociology and the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. This option is available to students only after completion of at least one year of graduate study at the Heller School or in the sociology department’s PhD program. If the student is accepted by the complementary department (admission is not guaranteed), the following procedures apply.
Program of Study
Students entering the joint PhD program in social policy and sociology are expected to complete a total of eighteen courses (72 credits). 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 (36 credits) must be taken within the Heller School and at least one of these courses must be on research methodology (HS 401b, Research Methods). In addition, in their first year, students are required to participate in a year-long, noncredit proseminar in the sociology department that introduces the program's faculty and their research interests. Students are also required to take a noncredit dissertation seminar at the Heller School for two semesters.
Students are assigned advisers from the sociology department and from the Heller School. Advisers in both departments work together with students to assure appropriate coherency in their program of courses. An interdepartmental meeting between advisers and students should take place at least once a year.
Residence Requirement
The minimum residence for the joint PhD degree is three years.
Language Requirement
There is no foreign language requirement for the joint PhD 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 Graduate 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 PhD 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.
Special Notes Relating to the Doctoral Program
PhD students may receive an MA in social policy once they have successfully completed all required course work and passed the comprehensive exam.
Alternately, students enrolled in the PhD program in social policy may elect to pursue a joint master's degree in social policy & women's and gender studies, with the program director's permission as well as the agreement of the women's and gender studies program. This degree option replaces a master's degree in social policy in the student's program and is entered prior to the award of a doctoral degree in social policy. The joint degree provides students an opportunity to mesh the Heller School’s social policy research and analytical training with issues that affect women and gender. The joint MA is for a select group of students interested in pursuing an additional interdisciplinary perspective. Students in the program must be willing to do additional course work, take part in a proseminar, and write a master's paper.
Listed on the following pages are graduate courses of instruction for the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. Courses meet for three hours a week unless otherwise specified.
Most courses are available to all students qualified to take them. Access to some courses is governed by the signature of the instructor. Other courses impose a numerical limit to preserve environmental conditions suitable to the pedagogy the instructor employs; students increase their chances of gaining enrollment in such courses by participating in pre-enrollment.
Generally, a course is offered with the frequency indicated at the end of its description. The frequency may be designated as every semester, every year, every second year, every third year, or every fourth year.
Courses numbered 100-199 are for undergraduate and graduate students; and courses numbered 200 and above are primarily for graduate students. Undergraduates may not enroll in courses numbered 200 or higher without the written permission of the instructor.
Suffixes after course numbers have the following meanings:
A or B | Semester course |
C | Semester course meeting throughout the year |
D | Full-year course |
E | Intensive course, two semester course credits in one semester |
F | Half-semester course, half-course credit |
G | Quarter-course credit |
A semester course carries one semester course credit (four semester-hour credits) and a full-year course carries two semester course credits (eight semester-hour credits). Exceptions are noted under the individual course descriptions. Certain courses factor toward rate of work and do not carry course credit toward degree requirements. Occasionally, courses are awarded additional semester-hour credits, yet count as only one semester course toward degree requirements. All such courses are specifically identified in the course listing. Certain courses require a laboratory course taken concurrently.
A student may take either half of a full-year course with a D suffix for credit with the approval and consent of the course instructor on the appropriate form designated by the Office of the University Registrar. Students who enrolled in full-year courses in the fall term are continued in the spring term automatically.
The university reserves the right to make any changes in the offerings without prior notice.
Courses of Instruction
(100-199) For Both Undergraduate and Graduate Students
HS
104b
American Health Care
[
ss
]
Examines and critically analyzes 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.
Mr. Altman
HS
110a
Wealth and Poverty
[
ss
]
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.
Mr. Shapiro
HS
120a
Race and the Law
[
ss
]
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.
Ms. Hill
HS
124a
Dilemmas of Long-Term Care
[
ss
]
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.
Mr. Leutz
(200 and above) Primarily for Graduate Students
HRNS/HS
232a
Team Consulting Project Workshop
Corequisite: Concurrent registration with HS 299b. Yields half-course credit.
A series of sessions designed to provide students with the team building and consulting skills necessary to meet the team consulting projects client needs and provide them with tools that will be useful throughout their careers. Several sessions will enable teams to share their experiences with other teams and problem solve as a group. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Balis and Ms. Carlson
HS
210a
Coexistence and Conflict: Theory and Analysis
Open only to students enrolled in the MA program in coexistence and conflict. Other students considered with permission of the instructor. May not be taken for credit by students who took COEX 210a in prior years.
Addresses the current and emerging context of intercommunal conflict around the world and the varying and developing theoretical approaches to the emergence and resolution of such conflicts. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Fitzduff
HS
215b
Corporate Finance
Prerequisites: HS 250a and HS 246f.
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
218a
Social Justice and the Obama Administration
Examines from a social justice perspective, current writing and debates on the policy initiatives offered by and available to the administration of President Barack Obama. Topic areas under scrutiny include the economy/housing, education, health and international affairs/human rights, as presented by a series of speakers and through writings. Special one-time offering, fall 2009.
Ms. Hill
HS
220a
Strategies for Coexistence Interventions
Prerequisite: HS 210a. Open only to students enrolled in the MA program in coexistence and conflict. Other students considered with permission of the instructor. May not be taken for credit by students who took COEX 220a in prior years.
Studies the utilization of a variety of multifacted approaches to policy and practice in coexistence and conflict interventions, as well as the strategic design and evaluation of such interventions. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Fitzduff
HS
221f
Household Economics
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. May not be repeated by students who have taken HS 259f with this topic in previous years.
The course will center on (a) discussing the intuition behind concepts in household economics and (b) the applied aspects of the concepts for practitioners of development. The course is purposefully not technical and is designed for students who have taken the introductory course to economics. The course will provide a theoretical and empirical introduction to the field of household economics as well as provide practical tools to do basic analysis of intra-household gender inequalities. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Godoy
HS
222f
Tourism and Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
The rapid growth of ecotourism is a welcome change in the global tourism industry. At its best, ecotourism aims to increase the sustainability of the travel and tour industry, and makes direct support of wildlife and habitat conservation an element of doing business. This course explores the sustainability of tourism and of ecotourism in particular. What distinguishes an ecotour from its better-known mass-tourism rivals? Are there clear examples of ecotourism benefiting conservation? Who are the ecotourists, and what are their motivations and aspirations? Are the impacts of an ecotour truly less harmful than those of mass tourism? How do certifiers evaluate tourism operations in terms of established “green” criteria, and which companies are winning awards for sustainability? Usually offered every year.
Mr. Olson
HS
223f
Gender and Development in the Context of Neoliberalism and Globalization
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. May not be repeated by students who have taken HS 259f with this topic in previous years.
This course will review the connections between gender and macroeconomics before exploring main changes brought by globalization and neoliberal policies as they affect social policies, livelihoods, families and gender. Relying on recent critical scholarship, this course aims to provide a framework to understand the role of gender within development in times of neoliberal globalization, when deep transformation have altered the relations between the state, markets and civil society and the material and subjective contexts for gender identities and practices. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Espinosa
HS
224f
Gender and the Environment
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. May not be repeated by students who have taken HS 259f with this topic in previous years.
This module introduces students to the field of gender and the environment, examining the relevance of gender for environmental conservation that includes social sustainability, and the different ways gender has been conceptualized and integrated within environmental conservation and within sustainable development interventions. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Espinosa
HS
225a
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. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Whalen
HS
225f
The Political Economy and Measure of Inequality
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. May not be repeated by students who have taken HS 259f with this topic in previous years.
This course will expose students to current debates about the causes and consequences of three dominant topics in development: income inequality, social capital, and empowerment. Through a combination of country case studies, this course will enhance appreciation of empirical analysis of the topics. In addition, students will be familiarized with technical aspects of how one measures income inequality, social capital, and empowerment in applied work. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Godoy
HS
226f
Environment and Conflict
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Examines the relationship(s) and interaction(s) between conflict and the environment. Both social and ecological theoretical frameworks regarding this interaction will be explored. The course will focus on establishing a set of analytical tools that can form the basis for intervention in emerging conflicts. Usually offered every year.
Mr. van Maasakkers
HS
227f
Introduction to Design, Monitoring and Evaluation of Coexistence Interventions
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Provides an introductory review of the core concepts and practical steps of design, monitoring and evaluation in the field of coexistence and peacebuilding. The course will stress participatory methods in monitoring and evaluation, in which multiple stakeholders are involved in the process of planning, collecting, interpreting, synthesizing, and using information. The course will feature case studies and actual DM&E plans and evaluation reports. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Jean
HS
228a
Social Entrepreneurship
Explores how entrepreneurship has become a driving force in the social enterprise sector, provides tools for developing and evaluating new ventures, and explores the blurring line between for-profit and nonprofit social initiatives. The course also teaches hands-on social venture business plan development tools, form assessing markets to developing financial and operating plans. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Carlson
HS
228f
Social Theory Seminar
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. May not be repeated by students who have taken HS 259f with this topic in previous years.
This seminar will introduce Freire’s core beliefs as presented in selections from his oeuvre including a full reading of Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Each seminar session will proceed in two segments: as an exegesis of chapters of Pedagogy relating Freire’s written ideas to the social and historical context from which they emerged; and as a wide-ranging discussion of comparative poverty and social process. Students will consider the relevance of Freire’s ideas and methods to today's poor as well as to their own experiences of societal change. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Simon
HS
229f
Health Financing in Developing Countries
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Examines the mobilization of resources for the health system as a whole and the funding of individual providers for health services in developing countries. Provides the tools for examining broad reforms as well as refinements of individual components of the health care system. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Shepard
HS
230f
Coexistence Research Methods
Open only to students enrolled in the MA program in coexistence and conflict. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. May not be taken for credit by students who took COEX 230f in prior years.
Preparation for the research necessary for the required field project in the MA program in coexistence and conflict. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Johnson
HS
231b
MBA Internship
Provides an opportunity for MBA students to carry out a formal internship with a client organization under the supervision of a faculty
advisor. The internship allows students to apply principles from the MBA curriculum for a client organization. Usually offered every semester.
Staff
HS
231f
MBA Internship
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. May be repeated once for credit.
Provides an opportunity for MBA students to carry out a formal internship with a client organization under the supervision of a faculty advisor. The internship allows students to apply principles from the MBA curriculum for a client organization. Usually offered every semester.
Staff
HS
233a
Managing Policy and Practice Change in Health Services
Begins with definitions of policy and how policy is made from both theoretical and practical perspectives. Examines several frameworks for analyzing policy implementation and for planning implementation strategies. Several sessions will focus on the management skills and tools useful to planning and managing the implementation of policy change. Students will have the opportunity to bring conceptual knowledge and skills together in analysis of several case studies. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Holcombe
HS
234f
National Health Accounts: Applications to Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
National Health Accounts (NHA) is a globally accepted framework and approach for measuring total national health expenditure. Provides an overview of the concepts and methodology of NHA. Students will understand the international classification systems used to categorize health expenditures, be able to construct NHA tables, and understand the uses to which NHA data can be put. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Gaumer or Mr. Nandakumar
HS
235f
Socio-psychological Foundations of Intractable Conflicts
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Studies the socio-psychological foundations for the understanding of the development and the dynamics of inter-societal conflicts, why they erupt, why they escalate, and how they are best managed, as well ass the peace building process which can help address them. Special one-time offering, fall 2010.
Mr. Bar-Tal
HS
236a
International Health Systems
Studies how global movements in dealing with health have shaped health systems, the emerging challenges developing countries are facing, and how these might affect health systems. Students will study the link between health and development, how health systems are organized, how health care is financed, and the role of public and private sectors in providing health care, regulation, and consumer behavior. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Gaumer or Mr. Nandakumar
HS
237f
Policy, Advocacy and Community Organization
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Provides students with an overview of the processes by which individuals and groups operating at the national, state, and local levels in the United States can effectively shape social policy, focusing: a) on how knowledge is used to promote social justice, the barriers that face those who seek to use knowledge to change policy, and the kinds of strategies that have been and are likely to be effective in overcoming these barriers in the future b) the role and strategies of advocacy organization in promoting policy change that benefit those segments of society with relatively little economic or political power. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Bailis
HS
239b
International Health Economics
Provides a rigorous economic framework that addresses positive and normative issues in the economics of health in developing countries. Topics include: relationship between health outcomes and macro economic performance; micro economics of health care and insurance markets including demand for health care services, insurance, supply of physician services, and other medical services; normative analysis for health policy and projects including market failure and public intervention; and emerging issues in international health in low- and middle-income countries. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Gaumer or Mr. Nandakumar
HS
240a
Dialogue and Mediation Skills
Open only to students enrolled in the MA program in coexistence and conflict. Other students considered with permission of the instructor. May not be taken for credit by students who took COEX 240a in prior years.
Addresses the theoretical and practical approaches to mediation and facilitation skills for people and organizations working in areas of intercommunal conflict. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Johnson
HS
240b
Professional Skills: Critical Reading and Writing
Yields half-course credit.
Provides students with training and experience in critical reading for development purposes and in professional writing. Combining lectures, discussions, and classroom exercises in weekly class sessions, the course is based around regular written submissions on which students receive extensive feedback. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Green
HS
240f
Master's Project Preparation
Prerequisite: Open only to MA SID students. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
This course is organized around three linked, logical, sequential topics that together make up the second-year project proposal: the development problem and its importance; what the evidence says about the topic; and the strategy or approach to answer the development question. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Espinosa
HS
241f
Information System Strategies
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Introduces students to fundamental issues related to management information systems (MIS). Managers need an understanding of all of their organizational functions, along with ways to measure all aspects of business operations. For effective management, this ongoing flood of information needs to be ordered, monitored, evaluated, processed, and utilized in a number of ways. An effective MIS can provide both a framework and a set of tools to enable managers to accomplish each of these tasks in order to make proper strategic choices and informed decisions. A major part of our work will be to uncover what types of information we need and how best to measure and use this information effectively. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Fournier
HS
245b
Economics
Meets for 1.5 hours a week for a full semester; yields half-course credit.
Begins with the analysis of markets and introduces the concept of market failure. Considers the theory of the firm, modifications necessary for mission-driven organizations, and special economic issues that arise for mission-driven organizations. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Friedman
HS
246b
Statistics
Meets for 1.5 hours a week for a full semester; yields half-course credit.
Presents students with an introduction to the fundamentals of parametric statistics. Covers the essentials required for students to understand issues related to measurement and how to generate descriptive information and statistical analyses from these measurements. Focuses primarily on understanding the importance of summary measures along with a study of fundamental statistical distributions. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Fournier
HS
247f
Evaluation for Managers
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Focuses on program evaluation techniques of interest to managers, including balanced scorecard methods, needs assessment, participatory evaluation methods, process/implementation analysis, impact analysis, cost-benefit analysis, and utilization-focused evaluation. These techniques are discussed in the context of building "learning organizations" that enable the organization and its managers to know whether they are succeeding. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Hahn
HS
248b
Financial Management
Prerequisite: HS 250a
Develops students as educated consumers of financial information. Covers financial management problems encountered by today's human service 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. Usually offered every year.
Mr. McLaughlin
HS
249f
Social Justice, Management, and Policy
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Allows students the opportunity to explore the management implications of "Knowledge Advancing Social Justice." Examines historical and contemporary thinkers, justice issues, and management activities. Students grapple with the daily management dilemmas faced by managers and change agents both inside and outside organizations. Usually offered every summer.
Ms. Bhalotra
HS
250a
Financial Accounting
Develops a fundamental understanding of financial accounting and reporting issues as they apply to nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Students will learn about the importance of fiscal responsibility and integrity in the efficient utilization of an organization's resources relative to organizational goals. Accounting practices that are unique to nonprofit organizations will be introduced, discussed, and differentiated from those practices employed by for-profit entities. Emphasis will be placed on interpreting financial statements to understand how accounting information, in a variety of settings, can be utilized by decision makers. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Anderson
HS
250b
The Arts of Building Peace
May not be taken for credit by students who took COEX 250a in prior years.
This is an experiential learning course. How can music, theater, poetry, literature, and visual arts contribute to community development, coexistence, and nonviolent social change? In the aftermath of violence, how can artists help communities reconcile? Students explore these questions through interviews, case studies, and projects. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Cohen
HS
251b
Managerial Accounting
Prerequisite: HS 250a or equivalent.
Provides general introduction to the concepts, problems, and issues related to managerial accounting. Managerial accounting predominantly addresses the internal use of economic information regarding the resources used in the process of producing goods and providing services. Fundamental aspects of cost behavior and cost accounting will be discussed, but always from the perspective of the manager who must make decisions rather than the accountant who prepares the information. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Anderson
HS
252b
Strategic Management
Provides students with 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. Usually offered every year.
Mr. McLaughlin
HS
252f
Social Marketing
Prerequisite: HS 285a or permission of the instructor. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Provides a framework for understanding target audience behavior and where best to intervene to help create positive behavior change. At the heart of our learning experience is the social marketing planning process, which is a structured approach for developing and implementing a program for behavior change. We will examine the key social marketing concepts that include competition, determinants of behavior, barriers and benefits, marketing strategy and the 4Ps or “intervention mix”. Students will have the opportunity to evaluate past programs as well as develop social marketing strategies of their own. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Lu
HS
253b
Leadership and Organizational Behavior
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 people in organizations. Students learn organizational concepts, analytic frameworks, and 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. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Chilingerian
HS
253f
HIV/AIDS and Public Policy
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
This half-semester course is geared toward students with limited experience in HIV/AIDS as a public policy issue. In the first sessions, students learn the key perspectives to frame the HIV/AIDS epidemic as a policy issue, including an economic perspective, a social impact perspective, and a rights perspective. The second half of the course reviews lessons from the international experience in responding to the epidemic. Attention is given to sector-based interventions and necessary coordination between sectors for specific interventions to be effective. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Kaufman
HS
254a
Human Resource Management
Considers how human resource management might aid in achieving organizational excellence. Focuses on the development of concepts and strategies that can increase effectiveness in developing policies and practices to enhance the value of people in the organizations served. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Gittell
HS
254f
Macroeconomic Policy for Development Professionals
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Aims to provide the basic conceptual tool kit and develops basic macroeconomic concepts necessary to understand trends and their impact. Examines and critiques what is commonly called the "Washington consensus," the view advocating liberalization and the opening up of the economies of the developing world as the path to development. To do this, we look at the empirical record of the actual experience of some developing countries in the recent past. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Finnoff
HS
256f
Community Building for Managers
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Focuses on the elasticity of the term "community building," some historical themes, and how a term originally focused mostly on neighborhood revival is now also used in the context of building stronger ties among people who share specific interests and used by managers who would like to reinvent the workplace around community principles. With community building jargon increasingly entering into management and public policy literature, managers must understand the parameters of this "movement" and acquaint themselves with some of the skills and developments that people doing this work have found useful. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Hahn
HS
257b
Conflict Resolution by Negotiation
Develops in students an understanding of the nature, advantages, and limitations of negotiations as a conflict resolution tool. Provides a normative and practical framework for pursuing a negotiation strategy as a method of resolving disputes. Provides students with opportunities to apply this knowledge in a variety of simulated negotiation contexts. Finally, exposes students to feedback regarding their negotiation approaches via explicit instructor evaluation and via the impact of their actions on their teammates and opponents.
Mr. Prottas
HS
258a
Operations Management in Service Organizations
Prerequisite: HS 246b
Explores how operations management skills can help organizations to deliver high-quality services while using resources efficiently. Students develop skills including quality assessment, process mapping, productivity analysis, wait-time analysis, and scheduling. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Gittell
HS
259a
Topics in Sustainable Development
Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following: household economics; culture, power, and development; masculinity and gender; HIV/AIDS as a public policy issue; gender and globalization; and theories of social change.
Staff
HS
259f
Topics in Sustainable Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following: household economics; culture, power, and development; masculinity and gender; HIV/AIDS as a public policy issue; gender and globalization; and theories of social change. Usually offered every year.
Staff
HS
260b
Practicing Philanthropy
Yields full course credit.
The focus of this course is about the practice of giving away money. It is not a comprehensive course on philanthropy, but rather allows students to practice social justice philanthropy and craft their own structure for identifying projects where their philanthropy can make an impact on social policy or social welfare. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Hahn
HS
260f
Development, Aid, and Coexistence
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. May not be taken for credit by students who took COEX 260f in prior years.
Increases the knowledge and skills of students undertaking development and aid work in conflict situations. Explores how such work can address development needs, as well as the need to increase intercommunal equity, understanding, and cooperation. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Johnson
HS
261a
Threats to Development: Climate Change
There is now a firm consensus that climate change could undermine even the best of efforts to a solve a variety of development challenges including hunger and malnutrition, disease, poverty, degradation of soils and water supplies, and others. This course aims to provide development specialists with a solid grounding in this long-term but overarching threat. Usually offered every semester.
Mr. Funke and Mr. Olson
HS
261f
Advanced Development, Aid, and Coexistence
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. May not be taken for credit by students who took COEX 261f in prior years.
This seminar builds on the concepts and theories offered in the basic course. Students will master the skills of conflict mapping, strategic intervention, and analysis using case studies of current and past conflicts where development assistance was also required. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Johnson
HS
262f
Culture, Power, and Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Students engage with constructs of cultural superiority, debate about modernization, and learn about what motivates individual and cultural change. Students are introduced to alternative theoretical approaches to culture and development and learn how to apply those theories to different historical contexts as well as contemporary situations. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Ready
HS
263f
Applied Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. Prerequisite: HS 297f or permission of the instructor.
Builds on the introductory GIS course, further enabling students to develop technical skills in the use of ARCView GIS software; qualitative skills in data gathering, analysis, and presentation; and understanding of the potential of GIS as a tool for planning and evaluating development projects. Includes a computer lab. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Lakshmikanthan
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 programs throughout the world. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Olson
HS
266f
Economic Concepts for Development Practitioners
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Covers basic principles of microeconomics, focusing on the supply and demand framework with applications and examples to developing countries. Usually offered every year.
Staff
HS
268f
Law, Society, and the Shaping of Public Policy in Developing Countries
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Through a primer on law and legal institutions, examines the use of the legal order to solve problems of poverty, vulnerability, and environmental degradation in developing nations. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Russell-Einhorn
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. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Lockwood
HS
270a
The Future of Diversity Work
This course may not be taken for credit by students who have taken COEX 270a in prior years.
This seminar uncovers the myths and challenges of race and multiculturalism and explores various approaches that have addressed them. It examines future scenarios to help form a more constructive approach to coexistence that goes beyond those challenges. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Johnson
HS
270f
Seminar in Health and Human Rights
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
A seminar with a focus on reading, discussion, and student research rather than on lectures. What are the implications of a "rights-based approach" to health for policymakers, medical professionals, health-related industries, and patients? What roles do civil and political rights like participation, freedom of speech, and non-discrimination as well as the notion of a right to health itself play in health policy making and policy implementation? Each student is expected to draft and present a substantial seminar paper. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Green
HS
271a
Poverty, Inequalities, and Development
Provides a conceptual umbrella for all the coursework in the SID program. Introduces students to the major currents of thinking about sustainable development. Topics include poverty, inequality, globalization, human rights, the environment, and the role of institutions. Students examine what is known about the drivers of development as well as the links between global and national policies, and actions for sustainable development. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Holcombe
HS
272f
Creating Microfinance Institutions and Partnerships
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Covers building and staffing large-scale, cost-effective microfinance institutions and explores strategies for partnerships with local NGOs and village-level organizations to expand outreach. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Ashe
HS
274a
Directed Readings in Sustainable Development
Usually offered every year.
Staff
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
Directed Research in Sustainable Development
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
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 roles 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. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Bhalotra
HS
278f
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. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Roper or Ms. Snell
HS
279a
Planning and Implementation: Concepts and Methods
For students who wish to study in more depth analytical methods utilized in development planning. Issues and methods of project implementation are discussed, and, drawing on case studies, the course examines the complex interactions between beneficiary communities, social mobilization and leadership, participation and training, and other factors that affect accountability and achievement. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Howard or Mr. Simon
HS
279f
The Politics of Fiscal Crisis and Social Policy
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Analyzes the role of government in the economy and the impact of public policy on the allocation and distribution of resources and development of social welfare in the United States. In this course, you will learn how to understand and predict the effects of public expenditures, taxes, and regulations. We will examine these issues at the federal, state, and local levels. The course will explore the political concerns around public finance decision-making and related issues of equality and social justice. This is a required course for MPP students and is open to Ph.D. students and others upon permission of instructor. Usually offered every year.
Staff
HS
280f
Microenterprise Development and Finance
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Covers a broad range of operational issues related to the design, implementation, and evaluation of microfinance initiatives reflecting a range of methodologies and approaches. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Ashe
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. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Arena-DeRosa
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 and adaptations for community-led small projects. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Boyer or Mr. Olson
HS
283a
Legitimizing (In)equality: Attitudes, Beliefs, and Social Policy
Examines attitudes and beliefs about poverty, wealth, mobility, and inequality and their relationship to institutional practices and social policy. We will explore the forces that shape U.S. beliefs, attitudes, and opinions, how these views are expressed in the public sphere and policy discourse, and the processes by which attitudes are measured and inform policy decisions. Reading broadly from the social science literature, we will explore the legitimizing functions of beliefs about inequality and work together to develop strategies for challenging hierarchy enhancing perceptions and relationships. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Bullock
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 gender's major influence on the development process. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Espinosa or Ms. McSweeney
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. Usually offered every year.
Staff
HS
285a
Marketing
An overview of marketing with a focus on how to formulate marketing strategies and identify and evaluate strategy-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; and the marketing mix-product, price, distribution, promotion, and marketing communications. Usually offered every summer.
Ms. Zimmerman
HS
285f
Rights-Based Approach to Development I
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Provides a broad introduction to international human rights laws, mechanisms, and practices, including special protections for vulnerable groups and the key debates underpinning the rights-based approach to development and poverty. Also covers the international and regional institutions that exist to protect human rights. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Green
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. Examines the nature of civil society, types of and relationships among NGOs, and NGO relationships with the state, multilateral and bilateral organizations, and community organizations.
Mr. Simon
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
HS
289f
The Demographics of Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
A primer on population growth and the socioeconomic dynamics of reducing fertility rates. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Holcombe
HS
290a
Economic Analysis for Managers
Open to Tufts MD/MBA students only.
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. Friedman
HS
290f
Rights-Based Approach to Development II
Prerequisite: HS 285f or permission of the instructor. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Builds upon HS 285f with a deeper exploration of human rights in practice. Topics covered include human rights and transnational corporations; the International Criminal Court and other forms of individual accountability for human rights violations; the rights to participation, transparency, and access to information in the context of development; the nature and role of political human rights in a development context; human rights advocacy and the integration of human rights indicators with development indicators; human rights in conflict situations; the role of human rights in UN development agencies; and finally critical responses to rights-based approaches. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Green
HS
291f
Development in Conflict Situations
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Enhances skills in humanitarian work in conflict situations by looking at concrete practices and reflecting on fundamental issues involved. Gives a broad look at different aspects of work in conflict situations. The theory of the course is rooted in the analysis that there is not a relief-development continuum, but rather different processes that go back and forth between each other. Aims to give students an overall framework for looking at humanitarian work in conflict situations by giving an overview of the issues and debates in development theory. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Quintiliani
HS
293f
Religion and Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Explores the connections between religion and development from theoretical, activist (engaged religious), and practitioner (faith-based NGO) perspectives. Considers (1) basic social science perspectives on the connections of religious cosmology, beliefs, and practices to social and cultural identity, solidarity, and ideas about human dignity, social inequalities, and the desirability or inevitability of social change and (2) notions of religious obligations and the role of religion as a motivating force or barrier to social transformation and sustainable development. This module seeks to build a positive understanding of the potential contributions of religious forces, with attention to peace-building and economic-development activities. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Messer
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. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Godoy
HS
297a
Field Project
Prerequisite: Two semesters as master's student in coexistence and conflict or permission of program director.
Offers students an opportunity to apply the theories and key themes covered in the core courses in a real-life setting. Requires completion of at least three months of a paid or unpaid internship or field project approved and monitored by a faculty adviser. The project could involve a research or consulting assignment or a structured internship in the fields of coexistence and conflict. Offered every year.
Staff
HS
297f
Introduction to Geographic Information Systems
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
A primer for nonspecialists on GIS and its capabilities as a tool for planning and monitoring. Includes a computer lab. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Lakshmikanthan
HS
298a
Independent Study
Ms. Fitzduff
HS
299b
Team Consulting Project
A capstone educational experience for students nearing the end of the MBA program. Working under the supervision of a faculty adviser, teams of three to five MBA and Heller/Hornstein students provide management consulting services to nonprofit, community-based health and human services agencies. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Bailis and Ms. Carlson
HS
299f
NGOs: Strategic Planning
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Run as an NGO management workshop responding to issues and problems identified by students. Issues typically include mission statements, structure, governance, participation, and funding. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Simon
HS
300a
Theories of Social Policy, Social Justice, and Social Change
Develops theoretical perspectives on social policy, social justice, and social change, and a framework for analyzing and developing social policies. Identifies major institutional systems that function in any society throughout human evolution and that are key variables of social policy and social change practice. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Gil
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. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Howard
HS
301a
Oppression and Social Movements
Explores the nature of oppression in contemporary and past human societies and the dynamics and role of social movements in confronting oppression and pursuing social change toward human liberation. The seminar is based on the assumption that all types of oppression throughout social evolution have common origins and functions. Examines these common aspects, as well as specific manifestations, such as racism, sexism, social class discrimination, colonialism, and so on. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Gil
HS
303a
Historical and Contemporary Developments in Social Welfare
Examines the development of social welfare over time by reviewing policy arguments within a historical context and using an analytic framework centered on eligibility, benefits, administration, financing, and behavioral incentives to assess perennial issues in social welfare and analyze contemporary challenges. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Doonan
HS
303b
Policy, Implementation, and the Lawmaking Process
This course may not be repeated for credit by students who have taken HS 303f in previous years.
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 and to assess bills purporting to resolve particular social problems. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Seidman
HS
306f
Survey Design and Data Analysis for Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. This course may not be repeated for credit by students who took HS 259f section 7 in spring 2006.
An introduction to survey design and applied principles of data analysis in development. Topics covered include: research design (hypothesis formulation, model building, experimental research design), data collection (principles of survey design, definition and measurement of variables, cross-sectional and panel surveys, focus groups and pilot tests of surveys), and data analysis (statistical and social significance, univariate and bivariate analysis, multivariate analysis). Usually offered every year.
Mr. Godoy
HS
308f
Masculinities and Gender Relations in Sustainable Development
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. This course may not be repeated for credit by students who have taken HS 259f with this same topic in previous years.
This course seeks to expand the understanding of the relational nature of gender by focusing on the implications of incorporating men and masculinities in gender mainstreaming practices. Usually offered every year.
Staff
HS
309f
International Law for Development Practitioners
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
An introduction to the basic principles of international law for non-lawyer professionals working in international development. Covers core terminology of international law that development practitioners are likely to encounter, explains how international agreements such as treaties are created and implemented, and examines how international disputes, on issues ranging from environmental laws to the use of force, are resolved. Also provides an overview, in an international law context, of the roles of international institutions such as the United Nations and the World Court and of private actors like corporations and NGOs. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Green
HS
311a
Management of Aging Services and Delivery
An overview of current practice and future issues in management of aging services and delivery systems taught by professionals currently active in the field. Covers the range of service organizations and programs for people who are aging, the challenges and issues faced by managers in the day-to-day operations of these services, and how they meet these challenges and develop successful solutions. Discusses the policy challenges and range of program options available for providing services to elders. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Bhalotra
HS
312f
National and International Perspectives on Youth Policy and Programs
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Young people (10-24 years of age) account for 29 percent of the population in low- and middle-income countries. Over 100 countries have a significant bulge in their youth populations and vulnerability in terms of literacy, employability, skill training, life skills, and more. Of special interest in this course are the subset of policies and programs that aim to connect young people to the economic and education mainstream. It is these programs that will be the special but not exclusive focus of this course. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Hahn
HS
316a
Violence in Everyday Life: Sources, Dynamics, and Prevention
Explores the meaning, sources, and dynamics of social-structural and interpersonal violence and the 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. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Gil
HS
316b
International Health Policy
May not be taken by students who took HS 316f.
Examines major current issues in health policy and global governance shaping our world in the 21st century. There is increasing recognition of the development threats from health problems – from emerging infectious diseases to the recognition that global climate change is contributing to new or re emerging health threats. The recent WHO Commission on Social Determinants for Health outlined an ambitious agenda for research on health determinants, systems, and financing and new global institutions are promoting greater evidence-based research for health policy making that incorporate a wider array of inputs and stakeholders. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Kaufman
HS
317b
Children, Youth and Families: Problems, Policies and Programs
Provides an overview of populations, social policies, and programs in the United States that affect the well-being of children, youth, and families. Human development theory, as well as prominent policy and management themes, are embedded throughout the course. These include defining and measuring meaningful outcomes for children, youth, and families and using knowledge to advance social justice on behalf of America's diverse populations. The objective of this course is to engage students in critical thinking, dialogue, and debate about the populations, policies, and programs in their chosen field. Provides essential information for understanding the problems, supports, and opportunities related to children, youth, and families in the United States and for considering the policies and programs that have been, or may be, developed to improve the well-being of these populations.
Ms. Curnan and Ms. Klerman
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 the 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. Usually offered every third year.
Mr. Gil
HS
320f
The American Gay Rights Movement: Social Justice and Social Policy
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
This course is about the last forty years (1969-2009) of social justice and social policy in the American Gay Rights Movement. It is about the development of social justice and social policy in America that is inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity. And, it is about policy development, and human behavior, in America that reflects the full civil, political, legal and moral equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people. usually offered every year.
Ms. Curnan
HS
322b
Sociological Inquiry
Introduces students to the basic research literature on social stratification, social mobility, and inequality. The theme of this seminar is an analysis of rising inequality worldwide, placing the United States in this context. An examination of the sources for this phenomenon includes globalization, economic restructuring, public policy, and social mobility. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Shapiro
HS
323f
Participatory Action Research
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Participatory Action Research (PAR) with its inherent emphasis on equalizing power relationships between the researcher and the researched emphasizes the importance of respecting the situated knowledge of research participants. It is large based in Paulo Freire's pedagogical framework for liberatory education which seeks to help marginalized peoples to empower themselves through research and knowledge production for the purposes of political action. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Brown
HS
325f
The Right to Water
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
This course, co-taught by a professor of biology and a professor of human rights, focuses on the issue of access to clean water and sanitation from a human rights perspective. It looks at issues of water -- both science and policy -- with a focus on the societal arrangements and governmental choices that impact on access to water at the household level. At the core of the class are the decision points and modes of decision making with regard to water policy, which we examine both from a technical perspective, to understand the factual issues, and from a rights perspective, to understand the relevant international standards and how they apply, in a practical sense, at national levels. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Green and Mr. Olson
HS
330b
Child-Related Policies in the United States
Provides students with information about the health problems that children face from birth to early adulthood and the policies that have been developed to prevent or ameliorate those problems in the United States. Particular attention is paid to the development of federal policies, the agencies that implement them, and the legislation under which they operate. Explores the role of local health initiatives and of the private sector, including providers, advocacy groups, and other not-for-profit organizations. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Klerman
HS
332a
Research Methods and Evaluation
Prepares students to (1) thoroughly understand the rigorous conduct of research methods of public policy, with a particular emphasis on program evaluation and to (2) be sophisticated consumers of empirical of public policy research. A variety of class formats will be used throughout the semester including lectures, discussions, and seminars, depending upon the topic and readings. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Parish
HS
333f
Global Health Sector Reform
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Improved health status at a population level is recognized as an economic, political, and social good for countries at all income levels. This seminar will provide an opportunity to learn about the history and evolving rationale behind health sector reform. It will identify methods and tools that are used to assess and evaluate health systems, including determining the causes of problems. It will provide students with the conceptual and technical tools to develop innovative solutions that can be implemented with an aim to improving health system performance and equity. Since global health sector reform entails consultation from experts, this module will also provide information about this process. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Bhalotra
HS
335f
Perspectives on Youth Policy, Program Management, and System Design
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
This seminar is offered to both deepen student understanding of one of the great challenges facing our nation and many developing countries and to explore emerging and best practices related to policy, management and systems/program design to address those challenges and create sustainable conditions for preparing youth for college, work, and life. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Curnan
HS
336a
Heller MPP Capstone Seminar
Students will demonstrate the ability to define and diagnose public policy situations, collect relevant information, perform logical analysis, develop alternative, and make compelling recommendations; and to organize and communicate information clearly to a variety of audiences through formats including verbal presentations, policy briefs, and statistical charts, graphs, and tables. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Brolin
HS
339a
Disability Policy
Students who successfully complete this course will demonstrate an understanding of the following issues in regard to disability policy: 1) identify the principles, foundation and provisions of disability service programs in the United States; 2) understand specific current disability policies regarding financing, ethical, and legal issues related to civil rights, income transfers, education, employment and health care; 3) explain the interrelationships among disability policies at the federal, state, and local levels; 4) explain the intended and actual consequences of the major US disability policies; 5) discuss ethical issues in current disability policy, including individual and family rights, issues of distributive justice, and issues of power, discrimination, oppression, culture & race. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Parish
HS
340a
Aging Policies and Programs: U.S. and Global Perspectives
Covers a wide range of social policy issues related to aging individuals and societies. Views social policy broadly to include public policies at the federal, state, and local levels; policies of private organizations; and informal policies of families, religions, and racial and ethnic groups. Lays a base of the historical and ideological antecedents of current policies in aging and presents and critiques alternatives for the future. Also covers the process of policy formation, including how aging plays out in the political sphere. The orientation is primarily toward aging policy in the United States, but policy alternatives from other industrial countries will be introduced for comparative purposes. This course is appropriate for both masters and PhD students. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Leutz
HS
344a
Health Law and Ethics
Introduces MBA students in health administration and management, to the legal issues that health care professionals confront in managing a health care organization. Begins with patient care (liability) issues and thereafter provides an overview of other health care delivery issues such as the legal structure of corporations, healthcare finance and managed care, intellectual property and healthcare entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. Students become familiar with the basic legal principles governing how health care institutions are operated and how legal doctrine are formulated. The course also familiarize students with the emerging ethical issues in healthcare management. Usually offered every summer.
Mr. Harlow
HS
347a
Healthcare Technology and Information Systems
Discusses the role of science and technology in health care settings. Through case studies of technology companies (pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, and information technology), the class examines how firms manage the creation, development, adoption, and spread of medical innovations in the context of a cost-constrained marketplace. The class uses current academic literature and newspaper articles to discuss how hospitals, insurers, and federal agencies can affect technological progress. Usually offered every summer.
Mr. Zinner
HS
350a
Economics for Management and Social Policy
Introduces techniques of economic analysis, mainly from microeconomics. These tools are applied to problems of management and social policy. Uses case studies and frequent exercises to develop application and quantitative skills. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Godoy
HS
355f
Social Policy Frameworks
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Provides frameworks for thinking about social policy and its implications for managers. Examines policy in terms of the organizations that initiate and deliver policy. Looks at the tools of social policy, especially those associated with the welfare state, such as social insurance, social assistance, and a wide variety of social services. Explores the underlying economic, social, and demographic trends that can drive changes in social policy. Considers issues of process in designing policy, democratic accountability, rights, opportunities for minority interests, and advocacy. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Friedman
HS
356f
Issues in Social Policy
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
This course considers some of the challenges that will face social policy now and in the future. In many countries with developed welfare states, there are pressures for retrenchment, and some countries have already cut back on programs. But there remain many unmet needs. Plus, there is ongoing interest in policies to increase equality and social inclusion. This course is meant to challenge students to think about how to design policies to weave through these competing pressures. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Friedman
HS
359f
Research Design for Social Policy Researchers
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
The goal of this course is to provide an introduction to research design and social scientific logic as applied to policy problems. The course is intended to provide social policy students with conceptual understandings of how contemporary social scientific research is developed and, as well, practical tools to enable students to evaluate data and analyses of policy issues. Course readings and assignments will include theoretical material about approaches to causal hypothesis testing and research design, as well as case-based discussions and projects that focus on particular social policy issues. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Saxe
HS
365a
Physicians Executive Field Experience
Open only to Tufts/Heller MD/MBA students.
An introduction to the real and complex problems of management and systems changes. Teams of three or four students work under the supervision of a faculty coordinator, physician executives, and other administrative personnel on a mutually agreed upon project designed to further the mission of the specific sponsoring health care industry organization within the time and resource constraints of the course. Usually offered every summer.
Mr. Nelson
HS
367a
Working with National Data Sets to Inform Policy Analysis and Recommendations
Building on the courses in Applied Regression Analysis, Econometrics, Research Methods, and concentration course work, this full semester course provides students in-depth and hands on experience using large national data sets to conduct policy analyses. The course will guide students through the each step of the process of developing and carrying out a research project. usually offered every year.
Ms. Meschede
HS
372b
Economic Theory and Social Policy
Prerequisite: A recent course in microeconomics.
Applies economic analysis to problems of importance to social policy. The particular applications may vary from year to year and may include such topics as unemployment and inflation, Social Security, and the economics of race and gender. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Friedman
HS
401b
Research Methods
Prerequisite: Open only to PhD students who have completion of, or current enrollment in, a graduate-level statistics course.
Provides a basic foundation in social science research methods. Focuses on skills needed to understand and initiate policy-oriented social research. Theoretical as well as practical issues involved in the interpretation and conduct of social research are considered. The perspective is multidisciplinary and emphasizes investigations of substantive health, education, and social welfare problems. Students have the opportunity to review and redesign research in their own area of interest. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Perloff and Mr. Tompkins
HS
403b
Qualitative Research
Open to PhD students only.
Acquaints students with the theory and practice of qualitative research. Readings and discussions focus on epistemological and theoretical foundations of qualitative research, how to conduct qualitative research, and its relevance for social policy. Provides students with experience in direct observation, participant observation, and interviewing, as well as in writing field notes, memoing, and transcribing. Qualitative research from study design to analysis and presentation is approached as an iterative and interconnected process. Ethical issues are addressed, with emphasis on requirements for institutional review board applications for projects involving qualitative research methods. Students planning to go on to HS 411b typically prepare an IRB application for a project of their own design Usually offered every year.
Ms. Kammerer
HS
404b
Applied Regression Analysis
An applied course in multiple regression analysis. Emphasis placed on the assumptions underlying the regression model, how to test for violations, and corrections that can be made when violations are found. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Fournier
HS
405a
Applied Econometrics
Prerequisite: HS 404b.
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 designs and carries out a research project. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Fournier and 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. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Saxe
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. Exemplars of the application of evaluation research strategies are drawn from specific social intervention problems in social services, mental health, education, criminal justice, and health care. Students also have a chance to design their own evaluation study. Usually offered every second year.
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 studied and learn to apply it in the computer lab. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Hodgkin
HS
410a
Applied Research Seminar: Quantitative
Prerequisites: HS 404b and HS 405a. Open only to PhD students.
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 findings from previous studies; and synthesizing and communicating the results of data analysis-placing study objectives and results in the context of prior research. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Ritter
HS
411b
Applied Research Seminar: Qualitative
Prerequisite: HS 403b or permission of instructor. Open only to PhD students.
Provides students with experience conducting qualitative research, with an emphasis on data analysis and presentation. Readings and discussions address study design, sampling, credibility, triangulation, note-taking, data storage, computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software, ethical issues, and the analysis and writing process. A series of exercises focuses on data analysis, including identifying themes, coding, and memoing. Each student completes a qualitative project, using data s/he collects or has permission to use, and presents work in progress. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Kammerer
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. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Horgan
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 science research because such research often involves the use of human participants from vulnerable populations. Although 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. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Reif
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 and applications of cost-effectiveness analysis. Uses interactive discussions and computer exercises where students learn to perform cost-effectiveness analyses and apply the technique to a problem of their choice. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Shepard
HS
425f
Case Study Methodologies
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. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Prottas
HS
426f
Advanced Techniques of Cost-Effectiveness and Cost-Benefit Analysis
Prerequisite: HS 422f or permission of the instructor. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Provides students with advanced techniques to conduct or critically review cost-effective studies, both in the United States and internationally. Students learn how to present a research question, design a study, obtain and analyze relevant date, and analyze results. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Shepard
HS
431f
Transnational Labor Economics
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Rapid technological change and increasing economic globalization have created both
opportunities and challenges to countries as they try to balance the benefits of economic growth with the costs of dislocation associated with these changes. This seminar will examine the impact of these changes using tools from labor economics and the experiences of developing and developed economies. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Lynch
HS
432f
Survey Research Methods
Prerequisites: Open only to PhD students who have completed HS 401b and one semester of graduate-level statistics. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
The goal of this course is to provide doctoral students in social policy with an understanding of the basic principles of survey research design, their application, and analysis. Survey research is increasingly important as a tool in social policy analysis and the course prepares students to design/manage survey research and to use the results of others’ surveys. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Saxe
HS
435b
Development Theory and Social Policy
Open to all Ph.D. students and to a small number of master’s students by permission of the instructor.
The course begins with basic theories, models, and evolving concepts for sustainable human development and examines the contexts in which development takes place. It also looks at some of the issues constraining sustainable human development. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Simon
HS
472b
Policy and Program Implementation
Provides students with frameworks of use for the study of the implementation of public policies. Considers the implementation process in the United States from a broad 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 has an impact on institutions and individuals. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Prottas
HS
505f
Quality and Performance Measurement in Health Care
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
A conceptual and analytic framework of the field of quality of health care, which includes quality improvement and performance measurement; understanding of the contemporary research and policy initiatives that relate to quality of health care; and insights into the ways that quality relates to issues of provider payment, organization of health care facilities, and costs and access to health care. By the end of the module, students should have an understanding of the centrality of quality of care issues in contemporary health services research, health care policy, and management of health care organizations. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Garnick
HS
506f
Advanced Topics in Quality and Performance Measurement in Health Care
Prerequisite: HS 505f. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.
Builds on HS 505f which is focused on the centrality of quality of care issues in contemporary health services research, health care policy, and management of healthcare organizations. The first module, offered as an elective every year, introduces basic concepts and offers an overview of the field. This module is offered as an elective every other year.
Ms. Garnick
HS
507f
State Health Policy
Prerequisite: HS 513a or permission of instructor. 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 are presented and discussed. Examines major state health programs such as Medicaid. Outlines and explores the policy and legislative processes. States' efforts to reform their health care systems are discussed with special attention to implementation issues, barriers, limits of state action, and prospects for the future of state health reform. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Doonan
HS
508f
Managed Care
Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. Prerequisite: HS 513a or permission of instructor.
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. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Bhalotra
HS
509a
Policy and Program Evaluation
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 important, how to critically review studies done by others. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Hahn
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 and 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. Usually offered every year.
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. Concentrates on the activities of federal and state governments and the private sector. Also explores likely future issues affecting our health system. Of special concern is the issue of the large number of Americans with no or inadequate health insurance. A related problem is the rising cost of medical care, which results in increases in the number of uninsured. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Altman and Mr. Wallack
HS
515a
Race/Ethnicity and Gender in Health and 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, functional status, and lifestyle. 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 health 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. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Nsiah-Jefferson
HS
518a
Management of Health Care Organizations
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. Usually offered every year.
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. Usually offered every second year.
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 managed care. Covers the different ways that managed care organizations are structured. The payment and performance of managed care organizations and how performance is related to organizational strategies are included. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Wallack
HS
521a
Approaches to Political and Organizational Analysis
Focuses on refining the analytical skills useful to students for understanding the political and 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 is to identify and critique the core arguments of the work, the conceptual categories and assumptions on which the argument is based, and the data presented in its support. Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Prottas
HS
523a
Economics of Aging and Disability
Provides students with background and tools to carry out economic analysis of individual and public decision making with respect to life-cycle risks of disability and retirement, including long-term care services that compensate for functional disability. Students will compare and contrast issues and analysis for two groups: elders and working-aged persons with disabilities. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Bishop
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 home care, 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. Usually offered every second year.
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. Usually offered every year.
Staff
HS
526a
Organizational Theory and Behavior
An introduction to organizational theory and behavior from a policy and management perspective. Examines a number of major perspectives on the nature and process of organization. The course objectives are: to develop an awareness of what organizational theory is and why it is important in providing analytical lenses to see (or ignore) phenomena which might be overlooked; to review how some theorists have analyzed organizations; to develop a critical attitude toward the literature; and to encourage the development of an integrative (and creative) point of view. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Gittell and Mr. Chilingerian
HS
527a
Race, Ethnicity and Gender in Public Policy
Students will examine framing in public policy in general, and its relationship to challenges faced by communities of color. Further, we will address the topics of race and gender in health and health care; education, welfare policy, immigration, housing, and other issues. Students will hone their skills in policy analysis, political advocacy, communication, coalition building and networking as they relate to the policy process. Class discussion, essays/case studies, and in-class assignments are used. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Nsiah-Jefferson
HS
529a
Inequalities, 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. Usually offered every year.
Staff
HS
532b
Social Policy Analysis: Technique and Application
Examines approaches to policy analysis and assesses strength and limitations of various methods. Exposes students to a range of methods and theoretical frameworks for exploring and understanding contemporary social problems and policy challenges. Begins with an overview of the stages of policy process, including policy formulation, rule making, and implementation. Policy analysis will be defined and a distinction made with policy research. The course also focuses on the criteria for evaluating policy options, including efficiency, equity, security, and liberty. Ethics and the role of values in shaping analysis will be explored. Actual policy analysis is evaluated in the areas of children and family policy, health, and welfare policy. Students have the opportunity to write and present a policy analysis critique. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Doonan
HS
534b
Assets and Social Policy
The class conducts a thorough and rigorous examination of the central features, assumptions, and implications of asset-based policy, focusing on four central aspects of asset-based policy. Explores the analytic features of an asset perspective, and determines whether such policies could make a significant difference. Reviews evidence regarding the impact of asset-based policies from demonstration projects just now becoming available. Also examines in detail the implications for social policy. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Boguslaw
HS
572a
Economics of Behavioral 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 the public and private sectors. Usually offered every second year.
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. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Horgan
HS
602c
Children, Youth, and Families Doctoral Seminar
Staff
HS
603c
Health Policy Doctoral Seminar
Staff
HS
604c
Assets and Inequalities Doctoral Seminar
Staff
HS
605c
Behavioral Health Doctoral Seminar
Staff
HS
606c
Global Health and Development Doctoral Seminar
Staff
HS
777a
Social Welfare Tutorial
Staff
HS
777f
Social Welfare Tutorial
Staff
HS
800g
Proseminar
Priority given to Heller students; other students may enroll with permission of the instructor. Yields one-quarter course credit (one credit). May be repeated for credit, as the seminar topic varies.
Usually offered every fall.
Staff
HS
801g
Proseminar
Open only to Heller students. Yields one-quarter course credit (one credit). May be repeated for credit, as the seminar topic varies.
Usually offered every spring.
Staff