Welcome to the Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs at the University of Massachusetts Boston! This blog is an effort to allow our faculty to share their thoughts on policy research, public affairs, or anything else that they would like to talk about. We want to start a conversation with the public policy community, in our department and college (the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies), the university, and the world outside of UMass Boston.
Our department is pretty new—just six years old, though the programs it houses—the Public Policy PhD program, the Masters of Science in Public Affairs and the Certificate Program for Women in Politics and Public Policy—are much older. In fact, the McCormack Graduate School is fairly new, too. In a competitive academic marketplace for public policy, why are we here?
Our department exists to perform world-class applied public policy research that contributes to improved policy scholarship and practice, harnesses the positive power of government according to specific processes and social impacts, addresses human security, stability and opportunity and reflects the university’s increased emphasis on transnational and comparative interdisciplinary research. We train outstanding scholars and practitioners who address domestic and international public policy that increases the rigor of our degree and certificate programs, and is informed by international models, perspectives and experiences. In our teaching, research and service to the university and the outside the community, we seek to increase stakeholder engagement with programming in public policy and public affairs that is topical, scholarly and accessible through multiple media.
Our department exists to provide a home for students and researchers who want to do scholarship in public policy that is as much about asking the right questions as it is about ensuring that the questions are answered correctly. The department does research that is rigorous and unbiased, yet motivated by a desire for our research to make a difference in the lives of individuals and communities. We take a critical approach to public policy and take a special interest in issues of inequality, race, ethnicity and gender. Our passion lies in learning and communicating policy findings that help researchers and policy-makers design strategies that reduce inequalities and improve the well-being of all of society’s members.
As scholars, we understand that our work may yield unexpected results, or may not provide support we expect for policies we support, yet can still improve communities we care about.
The department welcomes your contributions and feedback. You may add your comments to blog posts, write me directly (michael.johnson@umb.edu), visit our department’s website (http://www.mccormack.umb.edu/academic/pppa/index.php), or ask a question of any of our faculty (publicpolicy-faculty@umb.edu).