Key Points from The Syllabus

Hi all,

I just wanted to emphasize a few things about the course before we get started. This is not my first time teaching this course, but it is the first time teaching the course online. My goal is to use the technology to our advantage. I know you have all read the syllabus, so I am sure you noticed that we will be using Twitter, podcasts, and streaming videos on a regular basis. This may be a little messy so please let me know when issues come up. I'm hoping we can engage on policy issues in ways that feel less like work and more like discussion.

Since we will not be meeting in person, it is important that you read and understand the syllabus on your own. This means asking me questions NOW not an hour before assignments are due. For every week except the final week, you have three assignments due: The twitter or discussion board comments, the documentary reflection paper, and the reading quiz. The final week, you will have a paper due instead of a reading quiz.

Because we are using twitter in this class, it is important that you share your account name and tag your posts with #paf340sum11. I recommend creating an account for this class and using it to follow policymakers, newspapers, think-tanks etc. It is likely that new accounts will not appear in search right away so if you are creating a new account, you will probably want to post your comments on the discussion board during week 1. You can search for yourself to verify if your account is visible.

We have two books for this class Stone's Policy Paradox and Peters' American Public Policy. Both are on reserve in Hayden library and available from multiple sources.

I tried my best to find at least one free documentary per week, but that was not possible for week 4 so you will have to use iTunes or Netflix to access the documentary you choose. Of course, documentaries are designed to tell a story so you cannot take them as the absolute truth. I hope that you will view everything that you read and watch in this class and online with a skeptical eye. We will explore this more with Stone's book.

The quiz for this week is a "Welcome Quiz" on both the readings and the syllabus so please be sure you read the actual document posted on blackboard and not just this post!