12 courses found
Social entrepreneurship is an approach to creating system-level change through the application of entrepreneurial thinking to social ventures, non-profit organizations, government institutions, and NGOs to create economic, environmental, and social value for multiple stakeholders. In this course you will be introduced to a range of entrepreneurial approaches aimed at solving social problems - from the non-profit to the for-profit.
The 9-11 attacks ushered in a new era of international terrorism. Over the course of the Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations, experts have grappled to employ an effective strategy for countering Al Qaeda, ISIS, and their affiliates. This course explores the lessons of this long, troubled chapter, especially through our engagement in Afghanistan, and seeks to apply those lessons to countering future terrorist threats at home and abroad.
The current state of US police-community relations is in a precarious condition. Recent incidents of negative police-citizen encounters resulting in deaths of unarmed citizens & police officers has affected public trust & confidence in local law enforcement. Class focuses on problems of police-community relations & deliberates prospects for policy solutions. Students develop & present policy proposals to address a particular problem.
Experiential course where students work directly w/U.S. Dept. of Defense to address real-world nat'l security challenges, gaining problem-solving & prof. skills for any field. Through research, stakeholder interviews, & engagements w/outside experts, student teams develop policy recs for project sponsors' orgs. Recent project sponsors: US Strategic Command, Space Security & Defense Program, & Nat'l Ground Intelligence Center.
Discussion-based course w/a developmental examination of child poverty (multi-layer effects of history, culture,&geographic location). Examine: school reform efforts ("turnaround" schools,charter schools); implications of No Child Left Behind &2015 Every Student Succeeds Act; barriers (social isolation,violence,oppression,etc.) that contribute to failure of previous reform initiatives; education policies&proposals aiming to address these issues.
'Impact Investing' is the proactive deployment of financial resources to organizations for a positive return on investment and an additional, intentional social impact beyond financial returns. Impact Investing explores how funders (grant funders, investors, and policymakers) deploy capital to support social entrepreneurs. This course provides an introductory understanding of utilizing finance as a tool for solving social problems worldwide.
This experiential learning course applies basic principles of social entrepreneurship to real-world problems that social entrepreneurs are facing. Students will work in teams on challenges proposed by a set of local and international social entrepreneurs. This is a design-thinking-centric course for students interested in investigating how our world is adapting to solve the greatest social and environmental challenges of this century.
This course examines environmental policy using economic analysis. The first half introduces core environmental economics concepts, including microeconomic review, market failures, and cost-benefit tools for evaluating policy and pollution levels, along with common policy solutions. The second half explores real-world challenges in policy implementation, such as unintended incentives, economy-wide effects, and strategic interactions between regulators and polluters.
Research origins of gun violence in American society, in conjunction with engaging with various stakeholders to propose sensible solutions to this problem. Assigned to Baltimore, Richmond, or Washington, DC & will participate in a visit to their locale to gain insights from politicians, policymakers, public safety professionals, & members of the public on the policies & programs that have been implemented to mitigate the prob. of gun violence.
What does it mean to prioritize equity in policy? Equity must be operationalized & incorporated into all policy stages: agenda setting, design, implementation, & evaluation. Consider frameworks & tools for centering equity in policy design: engage disadvantaged communities; evaluate degree current policies promote equity, examine policy histories & differential impacts; surface apparent tradeoffs in elevating equity over other analytic concerns.
This course will provide a solid foundation of insights into how Congress works, essential for aspiring public policy advocates. Topics investigated include historical precedents for policymaking, the process of Congressional decision-making, and power dynamics in Congress. We will also identify and develop the leadership skills and tactics of successful advocates, placing recent controversies and public policy issues in an historical context.
What are the most pressing policy problems facing Virginia and how can they be addressed? Students will learn how the broad historical forces of Virginia's past, her current political institutions, and changing social divisions shape public policy in Virginia today. Student projects will focus on current and future challenges facing the Commonwealth and develop strategies to address them.