PSYC 280 - Science and Policy

Credits: 4
Planned Offering: Spring 2014 and alternate years.

Students in this course adopt the role of consultants for a hypothetical legislator who must make a decision on a matter of public policy. A clear understanding of the scientific background and consequences of the policy must inform the legislator’s decision. Each student works as a part of the consulting team and creates a document on a narrow aspect of the science related to the public policy. The policy being evaluated changes each term. Examples include: funding for mental health care, enactment or suspension of motorcycle helmet laws, establishing or abolishing court awards for mental suffering, and similar topics.