IDCE 358 - Advanced Topics in International Development

May be repeatable for credit.

FALL 2019 TOPIC- Section 1: Policy Analysis

Nonprofit and public affairs professionals are faced with finding viable solutions to increasingly complex public problems-from raising revenue to fix congested roadways to reducing poverty. To do so they rely on policy analysts to investigate problems, formulate solutions, forecast outcomes, and choose between competing policy proposals. This course introduces students to the major institutions and processes involved in the development and implementation of public policy in the United States. We will examine why some problems reach the public agenda, why some solutions are adopted and others rejected, and why some policies appear to succeed while others appear to fail. The course will also explore a selection of current issues in American public policy that can impact the work of nonprofit and public affairs professionals such as criminal justice, social welfare, immigration, education, health, and the environment. This course is designed to strengthen students’ problem-solving, analytic, and research skills in defining and crafting solutions to public problems.

FALL 2019 TOPIC- Section 2: Advanced Topics: The Policy and Practice of International Climate Negotiations

Since 1994, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has been framework under which countries and the international community has aimed to formulate climate policy that would “stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”. This course is designed to introduce graduate students to the UNFCCC and facilitate their participation in the annual Convention of the Parties (COP). Teaching takes place both in the classroom and in an online learning community consisting of several academic institutions. Student participants from different universities and programs with Observer Status to the COP will be exposed to the policy and practice of international climate negotiations and will follow current issues to be discussed at the COP, including cross cutting issues such as gender that also influence country positions on environmental issues. Students will then support the efforts of the young Research and Independent Non-Governmental Organizations (RINGO) constituency to the UNFCCC by tracking these issues and preparing report-backs for the course participants, the broader RINGO group, and the public. Some of the students will have the opportunity to attend the COP as part of the Clark University delegation.

This course has three main objectives:

• Provide students with the knowledge and networks to actively participate in the Convention of the Parties and support the RINGO constituency group by learning about the issues for this COP and tracking these issues through the negotiations

• Promote engagement and interaction with climate science and policy by producing content for social media, delivering daily report-backs on negotiations, and other forms of communication (e.g. side events, media releases, op-eds, contributing to RINGO position statements, etc.)

• Foster collaborations among young and early career students from different institutions interested in international policy issues

Concentration: Education and Development- Youth Development- Refugee, Forced Migration and Belonging- Gender and Identity - Conservation and Development

Anticipated Terms Offered: varied