Russell Weaver, Ph.D., is a geographer, quantitative social scientist, and Director of Research at the Cornell ILR School Buffalo Co-Lab. He was previously an associate professor in the Texas State University Department of Geography, where he taught courses in community geography, community development, urban planning, geographic thought, and quantitative data analysis. Dr. Weaver’s research programs are aimed at understanding and contributing to pathways for context-sensitive, sustainable, and equitable community change. He is the lead author of the book “Shrinking Cities: Understanding Urban Decline in the United States.” Find him on Twitter @RustBeltGeo.
Designing Policies and Policy ChangeCornell Course
Policy Change
Cornell CourseDesigning Policies and Policy Change ()
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Course Overview
Policy is an instrument for coordinating people's behavior in various social situations. Public policy, often created and enacted by governments, can be either a source of inequity or a means for advancing equity, depending on its design and effects. In this course, you will use a number of methods to define a problem your community is facing, determine a policy goal you aim to achieve, and identify someone whom you can influence to create change. You will discover how to ensure the policy goals you pursue also help to promote change to the social structures and systems that persistently create inequity. You will examine the limits that laws and social norms put on the types of activism you can use to achieve your policy goals. You will then reflect on examples of groups who have effectively created change and identify the strategies and tactics they used which could also be useful for you.
At the end of the course, you will have developed a policy goal consistent with equitable development as well as a plan for how you could go about achieving that goal, which you can share with others to build collective action for community change.
Key Course Takeaways
- Describe a problem or inequity facing your community, develop a policy goal to address it, and identify an individual with the power to help you
- Assess your policy goal to ensure it promotes long-term systems change and equitable development
- Determine effective tactics that could advance your policy goal
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Course Length
2 weeks
Effort
3-5 hours per week
Format
100% online, instructor-led
Course Author
Russell Weaver
Director of Research
Cornell ILR Buffalo Co-Lab
Director of Research, Cornell ILR Buffalo Co-Lab
Who Should Enroll
- Activists and community development organizers and practitioners
- Policy makers and political staff
- Public interest lawyers and advocates
- Leaders and members of organized labor organizations
- Urban planners and strategic planning agencies
- Social workers
- Grant writers
- Educators
- People interested in engaging in community change
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