Learning Objectives
This section of PA 388K will introduce the student to communication in a policy context. Such communication is primarily writing, but also oral presentation. The student will become familiar with the basic types of written policy projects and consider the impact that these projects have had (or have failed to have) in the past. That student will also gain an understanding of effective communication concepts, practice deploying the tools of good policy writing, and develop an individual sense of style as a writer.
Course Overview
The class turns on the notion of a tight relationship between writing and argument: it presumes that clear thinking begets clear writing and vice versa. Though a skills-based course, the class will also introduce content in the form of a series of policy papers that have been influential in the recent past (broadly understood) of the United States. Students will be encouraged to read these important works for ideas about what makes them effective vehicles for the ideas they convey, and to consider the relationship between presentation and the merit of a policy proposal.
Assignments will be written deliverables of various lengths: a summary assignment, an op-ed, a policy memo and a policy brief. Students will have to peer-review and be peer-reviewed for each assignment. They will have the opportunity to rewrite every assignment in order to improve their grade. At the end of the semester, students will present an oral presentation summarizing their policy briefs.