Restricted to students in the DC concentration.
This course seeks to help future policy professionals to improve their written and oral presentation skills. Whether your goal is to become a public servant, elected official, nonprofit professional, public policy journalist, advocate or active citizen, you must know how to organize facts and reasoning in the service of an argument that is clear and persuasive to your intended audience.
In addition to reviewing the fundamentals of good writing and public speaking, students will learn to write in particular genres used by policy professionals, such as government briefings and advocacy directed at the public.
Evaluations will be based on twelve graded written assignments (80 percent) and class participation including peer reviews (20 percent). Three of the written assignments may be rewritten for a higher grade. There will be no exams. Because of the focus on frequent writing, required reading will be limited and available through Canvas.