ClassInfo

• What are the implications of providing paid sick days to poor, working women in the US - for themselves, their kids and the broader US
economy?

• Does providing "daddy leave" to German fathers lead to more engaged fathers that also help out with the housework?

• Is providing a cash subsidy to poor moms in Bolivia if their daughters attend school empowering or patronizing?

• Why might the turn toward antiretroviral therapies for HIV-AIDS in Africa have negative implications for the economies of care in African families?

• What are the proven tactics for achieving policies that address gender inequalities?

• How can public policies address gender inequalities that vary as they intersect with race, class, disability and other factors?

These are just some of the questions that we will tackle in this course. Students will learn the tools of gender public policy analysis through examination of a range of policies from around the world. In the first section of the course, students will become familiar with the key concepts necessary for gender policy analysis including how gender operates as a social structure and its intersectional relationship to other social structures such as race, class and disability. The second section of the course focuses on specific policy areas where gender policy analysis has been applied. Exploration of specific policy areas allows students to become familiar with the some of the major findings in the field of gender and public policy as well as offers an opportunity to examine, learn from and critique how gender policy analyses have been carried out in a variety of contexts and topic areas. Given the global scope of the course and the fact that students come to the course with both local and global policy interests, we will consider policy issues and case studies from the US alongside and in comparison to issues and case studies from other countries. Specific policy areas covered this semester include equality policies, poverty policies, work/family reconciliation, health policy, climate change and international security. In section three, students will learn how gender is embedded in the politics of the policy making process, including in the specific behavior of political actors, the organization of institutions, and in the political discourses employed. This section of the course will allow students to assess what strategies have been more or less effective in promoting more gender-equitable public policies and the challenges of achieving policies attentive to intersectional inequalities.

This is the core, required course for the Gender and Public Policy concentration for Master of Public Policy students. For information more on this concentration see: https://www.hhh.umn.edu/masters-degrees/master-public-policy. You are also invited to talk to Professor Ewig about pursuing this concentration.

Draft 2016 Course Syllabus is attached. Please feel free to contact Professor Ewig cewig@umn.edu with questions about the course.