Program Curriculum

Mission

The Master of Arts in Policy Studies provides a transformative graduate experience enabling students to translate interdisciplinary understandings into the professional competence essential to making practical, substantive contributions to their policy communities. The curriculum blends a strong theoretical base with practical field and applied experiences, allowing students to develop rigorous policy research, analysis, and management skills that can shape policy in for-profit, non-profit, and governmental contexts.

Objectives

• To enhance intellectual growth through a cohort learning community model
• To foster a public service identity through applied research
• To develop analytical and synthetic thinking skills through training in quantitative and qualitative methodologies and a generalist module-based curriculum in policy studies
• To engage in research in a wide range of policy arenas
• To make connections within and among disciplines through critical thinking, problem solving, modeling of policy work
• To help students gain a mastery of policy studies that is competent, critical, and curious
• To prepare students for further graduate education and to improve their career opportunities in policy fields

Core and Affiliate Faculty:

Jane Decker, Nives Dolšak, Diane Gillespie, Martha Groom, Cinnamon Hillyard, Dan Jacoby, David Stokes, Andrea Stone, and Steve Collins.

Faculty Convener

Bruce Kochis

Core and Affiliate Staff:

Hannah Baweja, Andrew Brusletten, Alyssa Deutschler, Nicole Hoover, Lisa Olason, and Leslie Schiffman.

Overview

The curriculum of the MAPS reflects an innovative, integrated approach to the study of contemporary policy issues in local and global contexts, and prepares students for policy related analyst and leadership careers in public, private and non-profit organizations. It is founded on the belief that students attain their highest levels of understanding and proficiency when combining practice with theory and connecting classroom and real life environments.

Through class seminars, small group and on-line study, service learning, field research, internship options and a capstone project, students acquire the depth of knowledge, practical experiences, and sophisticated professional skills critical to their success as future leaders.

MAPS students enter the program in autumn of each year. They have a choice of pursuing the two-year full time program or the three-year part time program. Core courses are offered as seminars that meet once a week. These seminars are combined with on-line and/or individual and small group discussions, workshops, case studies and analytical projects as well as field experiences, service learning and applied research opportunities. The MAPS course of study culminates with a Capstone Project.

See the MAPS Course Sequence.

Core courses: 30 credits
Electives: 20 credits
Capstone work: 10 credits
Total: 60 credits