Curriculum and Course Schedule

This course aims to introduce graduate students to core theoretical and empirical work in human development and social policy. It is designed to offer first-year students in the doctoral program in Human Development and Social Policy (HDSP) an in-depth overview of the intellectual foundations of the program and introduce students to the programs of research of HDSP faculty. HDSP focuses on lifespan development and the life course from multiple perspectives, emphasizing the influence of historical periods, the timing of events, changing roles, and how individuals shape their own pathways in addition to being influenced by individuals around them, by social institutions and by public policy. HDSP is a multidisciplinary program bringing to bear anthropology, biology, education, economics, political science, psychobiology, psychology, social epidemiology, sociology and other disciplines to understand human development and policy. HDSP focuses on those contexts that are essential in shaping life trajectories and opportunities-families, neighborhoods, schools, the workplace, and the realm of local, state, federal, and international policies. Students will examine the entailments of using human development and social policy frameworks to examine social phenomena. They will also consider what makes a human development and social policy framework unique in the study of key social policy issues. Students will also consider the core disciplinary perspectives that inform research in HDSP. Each week students will consider the entailments of a particular disciplinary perspective (e.g., economics, sociology) in framing research in human development and social policy. A central part of this work will involve discussing with core HDSP faculty their research as framed from a particular disciplinary perspective. Our goal in this class is to develop students' ability to think about pressing social issues (e.g., inequality) from a multidisciplinary perspective that attends both to human development and social policy.

The purpose of this class is to pull together key core concepts related to research design in HDSP. Many of these concepts are touched upon in other methods courses. This class seeks to bring some of these key concepts together and explicitly discuss the implications for research design. We will begin by reviewing Crotty’s framework for distinguishing between and linking epistemology, theoretical perspective, methodology, and method. The course will then focus on epistemology, theoretical perspective, and methodology. (We will not address methods, as they are addressed more centrally in the quant and qual methods sequences.) We will identify key methodologies of interest to course participants (ie. experimental design, quasi-experimental, developmental designs, case study, ethnography, participatory, etc.) and provide an overview of each. Finally, we will also spend some time on the craft of writing research proposals.

Research and policy aimed at the goal of improving children's lives require an in-depth understanding of how and why children develop the way they do. This course is designed to provide an intensive overview of the science of child development, with an emphasis on young children. A broad range of theoretical perspectives from a variety of fields will be emphasized. Students will come away with an understanding of the key factors in healthy child development, defined to include socioemotional, cognitive and physical well-being. In addition, we will apply the scientific knowledge of child development to several major policy and programmatic issues, such as early childhood education, antipoverty programs, marriage promotion and health disparities. This course also highlights the role of context: family, peers, childcare, school, employment, neighborhood and policy environments. Ethical considerations as well as measurement (i.e., the tools of science) will be stressed. In addition, a multidisciplinary perspective is a central theme.

Biological, cognitive and social development during adolescence. Social institutions and policies that affect the well-being of adolescents.

This graduate seminar aims to introduce students to the core substantive issues and key social science authors in the interdisciplinary study of adult development and aging, drawing mainly from the disciplines of human development, psychology, sociology, education and the cognitive sciences. The course will focus on the substantive issues of (1) personality and self, (2) cognition and learning, (3) generativity and social commitment, (4) love and family, and (5) work and retirement. Across these five domains, we will pay careful attention to the dynamics of continuity and change across the life course and the socio-historical context within which developing lives are situated.

A grad-level seminar course designed to frame and engage the concept of “diversity science” in psychological research. Topics include:

• The WEIRD history of psychology
• Psychometric and other validity issues in studying diversity
• Qualitative and diverse methodologies
• Levels of analysis in studying diversity (e.g., individual-level versus group-level phenomena)
• Oppression and privilege, and strategies for understanding and redressing social inequities.

This course will provide a comprehensive understanding on the role of culture in human development at behavioral, psychological, and neurobiological levels. Importantly, this course will not only review well-documented similarities and differences across cultures (e.g., how cultures are different from each other), but also examine potential mechanisms underlying such cultural differences (e.g., why there are cultural differences) based on empirical studies.

Classrooms, work settings, and family relations are hotbeds of emotion. But what is an emotion? What happens in our bodies when an emotion is triggered? How can emotions help us live productive, healthy, and connected lives? And can we ever truly understand what somebody else is feeling? These are some of the mysteries that we will seek to unravel in this course. We will read literature from Darwin to the latest scientific studies, combine lectures and small-group discussions, conduct research experiments, and engage in peer review and online collaboration.

Biological bases and interactions with the social and physical environments as sources of human development. Social, emotional, and cognitive aspects of development. Theorists include Bowlby, Erikson, Piaget, Vygotsky, Mead, and Gardner.

Note: A previous version of this class was taught under the name "Nature Vs. Nurture Revisited: The Effects of Experience on Biology."

Recent research has demonstrated that, rather than human biology determining human behavior and experience, human biological development is exquisitely sensitive to environmental input, particularly the social environment. In this course, we will discuss theoretical models and data regarding the interplay between biology and social experience in development. Topics include gene-environment correlations, gene-environment interactions, epigenetics, and theoretical models for the interplay between biological systems and ecological conditions. We will learn some basic facts about brain development, stress physiology, and immune functioning, and will examine social-environmental influences on these systems. Special emphasis is placed on the social influences on stress-system biology, a major pathway by which socio-emotional experience affects the body, brain and developmental outcomes.

During the quarter, we will examine issues regarding research design, with a particular focus on social psychological traditions. Topics will span the entire research process, including the development of hypotheses and a program of research, details of study design, statistical considerations, and guidance in the reporting of findings. The course will be grounded in perspectives that utilize laboratory contexts and employ a variety of field settings.

The seminar focuses on the connection between conceptions of the self and goal-oriented motivation, with particular attention devoted to the influence of social, structural, and cultural forces. The first segment of the term will cover classic theoretical work concerning the self and identity. Next, we will consider the relevance of various social influences on identity and motivation. Finally, the course will close with a survey of contemporary identity-based intervention research and practical applications relating to trends in social inequalities, including education and health.

This course serves as an introduction to the quantitative methods sequence and will cover applied statistical methods. The course will provide useful tools for students who intend to conduct their own statistical analyses, as well as those who want to become critical consumers of others' analyses. Topics to be covered include descriptive measures; basic probability; sampling and sample size estimation; hypothesis testing; techniques for analyzing categorical data; ANOVA; presenting and describing statistical results.

This course is intended to be a continuation of the quantitative methods sequence that begins with Quantitative Methods I. The course will cover applied statistical methods and will provide useful tools for students who intend to conduct their own statistical analyses, as well as those who want to become critical consumers of others' analyses. Topics to be covered include the use of data for descriptive and causal analyses, linear regression, experimental design, panel data methods, hierarchical linear models and instrumental variables.

This course provides an introduction to many of the important tools of estimating causal models, including experimental analysis, difference-in-difference, regression discontinuity designs, propensity score matching, event study, interrupted time series and other regression-based models. Emphasis is placed on understanding the rationales behind the empirical techniques chosen and the interpretation of the analysis. Students develop hands-on technical skills as well as critical research-reading skills in this course.

This course is designed to introduce students to qualitative research, including fieldwork, document analysis and interviewing. Students will explore qualitative research approaches by undertaking their own research study as well as reading and discussing relevant writing on the subject. The readings, topics for discussion and assignments in this course center on three areas: (1) the epistemological underpinnings of approaches to qualitative research, (2) the practice of qualitative inquiry; students will explore sampling strategies, research design, observation and interview techniques, and approaches to data analysis and data presentation, and (3) other key issues that researchers encounter in doing qualitative research, including ethics and social relationships in the context of fieldwork.

This course in advanced qualitative research is designed for students who have taken an introductory graduate course in qualitative research methods and are in the process of analyzing qualitative data for their trial research, dissertation, or some other research project. The course will focus chiefly on: a) Analyzing qualitative data to develop and justify assertions, b) Epistemological underpinnings of various qualitative approaches and c) Issues of reliability, validity, and making generalizations. The course will be conducted as a seminar with class work organized around prescribed readings on a particular issue as well as data and other materials from researchers' and students' qualitative studies.

As understanding of identity and bias increased, Kimberlé Crenshaw developed the theory of intersectionality which challenges us to consider various components of identities as having the potential to create overlapping and intersecting experiences. When an individual holds multiple identities that have traditionally been marginalized, any discrimination experienced will be different than someone without that unique blend of identities. To use Crenshaw's initial example in 1989, Black women experience a different type of racism than Black men, and a different form of sexism than White women. Thirty years later, researchers still are coming to terms with what this means in the public sphere, but also in research which underlines the importance of thinking about identity more comprehensively and completely. In this class, we will begin by addressing the question of what intersectionality is. We will also consider how considering identity as intersectional alters our understanding of policy, and what policy should address. Importantly, we will consider how to incorporate intersectionality into a basic framework of research and analysis through a term-long project.

Understanding causal relationships is a central goal in social science and science in general. Correlations help to predict outcomes, but if we want to influence outcomes we need to understand causal pathways. It is not sufficient to observe what is happening, we need to know why it is happening.

This graduate seminar will introduce theories of institutional persistence and change in the context of public, private and nonprofit settings. The course is organized as a seminar and will blend foundational studies in institutional theory with contemporary work from sociology, organization sciences, education and nonprofit studies. An overarching theme of the course addresses how new practices and organizational forms spread (diffusion), how they stick (institutionalization) and how they take the form that they do (emergence). Topics covered will include accountability and performance, organizational learning, contemporary debates about social mechanisms, and micro-foundations of institutional theory. Ideally, this course will provide a platform for students to develop and advance their own research projects, in the form of a research proposal for beginning doctoral students or an empirical analysis for more advanced students.

How does educational research affect social policy? This course examines theories of the relationship between schools and society, research on educational outcomes and the mechanisms by which schooling accomplishes these outcomes, and policy responses to research findings. How does social research clarify the operation of schooling and policy options? What kinds of research are most useful to policy? How can qualitative and quantitative studies be designed to address theoretical and policy concerns? How can studies of institutions be integrated with studies using national surveys?

School reform has become a regular fixture in public, professional and academic deliberations about our nation's schools. In the past couple of decades, educational reform proposals have grown significantly as both state and federal governments have become increasingly interested in developing education policies. This course will provide students with an introduction to key issues in K-12 educational policy. The course is designed to develop students' abilities to examine, analyze and critique education policies, education policy-making, and education policy implementation. Further, students will develop an appreciation for issues relating to policy effects. Given the vastness of the terrain, the course will be grounded in three education policy/reform initiatives that have gained considerable currency over the past decade: (1) standards and accountability, (2) teacher quality and (3) school choice related to vouchers and charter schools.

This course introduces students to the fundamentals of economic analysis in the evaluation of education and social policy. Each week the class concentrates on a different important public policy question and then uses economic reasoning to explain the economic rationales for policies as well as the potential consequences, expected and unexpected, of the policy. The policy questions considered depend on what issues are currently being publicly debated. Economic concepts covered include constrained choice, market forces and price theory, market failures (such as externalities/spillovers and public goods), and welfare analysis.

The first part of the course explores the processes by which important social policies are made. The course will interrogate why some social problems receive more policy attention than others, how and by whom policy agendas are set, whose voices are listened to, under what conditions meaningful policy change and transformation occurs, and with what social, political, and
economic consequences for the communities that policies target.

The second part of the course will focus on the implementation of policy, exploring how policy moves through the multi-level regulatory system and is eventually carried out by front-line workers (e.g. teachers,
social workers, police officers) who interface with the public. We will investigate how these interactions impact individuals and communities, ultimately shaping what the consequences of policy look like on the
ground. And lastly, we will explore the role of power, privilege, resistance, and citizen action in shaping what happens during the implementation process.

This course introduces students to the fundamentals of economic analysis in the evaluation of education and social policy. Each week the class concentrates on a different important public policy question and then uses economic reasoning to explain the economic rationales for policies as well as the potential consequences, expected and unexpected, of the policy. The policy questions considered depend on what issues are currently being publicly debated. Economic concepts covered include constrained choice, market forces and price theory, market failures (such as externalities/spillovers and public goods), and welfare analysis.

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