Political Science, Government and Law

Twenty-first century engineers tackle complex problems influenced by not only technology but also social systems. In order to develop sustainable solutions, there is a need to understand the interface between engineering and societal processes such as public policy. This course examines the interactions between engineering and public policy, and introduces students to the concepts, tools and methods involved in public policy making and policy analysis to understand policy impact on engineering domains. This course is a bridge between engineering and public policy.

How does the courtroom work and where does psychology come into play? Is it really “innocent until proven guilty”? Do people confess to crimes they never committed? How accurate are eyewitnesses? In this course, we will discuss and examine questions like these and many more. This course examines empirical research at the interface of psychology and law. We will learn about standard practices in the criminal justice system and empirical psychological research devoted to understanding these practices. As a discussion-based course, we will tackle topics such as: courtroom procedures, confessions, death penalty, deception, decision making, deliberations, eyewitnesses, expert testimony, jury selection, memory, police, and pretrial publicity. We will also explore how and when psychologists can impact legal guidelines and policies. This course is intended for psychology majors, psychology minors, and students studying government, law, and/or policy studies.

This course will be offered in 2025-26, and in alternating years thereafter.

Environmental issues present some of the major international problems and opportunities facing the world today. Worst-case scenarios envision irrevocable degradation of the earth’s natural systems, but virtually every analysis sees the need for major change worldwide to cope with problems such as global warming, deforestation, ozone layer depletion, loss of biodiversity, and population growth, not to mention exponential increases in “conventional” pollutants in newly industrialized countries. The global environment issues represent a “second-generation” of environmental policy in which the focus of concern has moved from national regulations to international law and institutions. In addition, the environment has emerged as a major aspect of international trade, conditioning corporate investment and accounting for some $200 billion in sales of pollution control equipment in 1991. Exploration of the genesis and implications of these phenomena is the essence of the course. Topically, the material begins with the nature of global environmental problems, drawing on literature from large-scale global modeling as well as particular analyses of the problems mentioned above. Approximately half the course focuses on international laws and institutions, including multilateral treaties (e.g., the Montreal Protocol limiting CFC use, ocean dumping, biodiversity), international institutions (UNEP, the Rio Convention, the OECD) and private initiatives (international standards organizations, ICOLP (Industry Committee for Ozone Layer Protection), etc.) In addition, US policy toward global environmental issues will be compared with that in Japan, Europe and developing countries, from which it differs significantly. Students will design and undertake term projects that address particular issues in detail in an interdisciplinary manner. This course will be offered in 2021-22, and in alternating years thereafter.