Courses
Courses in the Washington Program provide a rigorous academic experience, but also apply concepts to the real-world setting in Washington D.C. Classes are taught by experts in their field who often tap their own professional networks as guest speakers.
Foundations of Public Policy
This seminar addresses the fundamental ideas that organize, describe, and define public policy in the United States. Using a variety of classical and modern texts, we will consider how these fundamental ideas serve to shape both the debate regarding particular policies, as well as the institutions responsible for their implementation. Of special importance to the seminar is the development of critical and analytical skills to understand and evaluate public policy.
Public Policy Visits
This course is the companion to Foundations of Public Policy. Each week students will engage with a ND alum who is working D.C.. Through the course students will better understand the policy landscape and different career paths, as well as build a professional network.
Legislative Politics
An understanding of the US Congress is critical for any student seeking to comprehend American government and politics. This course will examine the origins, history and development of Congress as an institution. It will investigate what drives legislative decision-making, and the evolving roles played by committees, party leadership and outside forces in the process. The course will look at procedural issues and the material impact they have on policy-making. It is impossible to understand US legislative politics without discussing the issue of polarization in the United States and the way it has changed politics and the institutions of governance. We will include a discussion of the role played by the President in the legislative process. Finally, we will look at some of the internal matters members deal with, from staff, budgets, constituent communications and ethics rules, to external issues such as campaigns, fundraising and interest group pressure.
US Foreign Policy: Challenges & Debates
This course will combine the theoretical study of foreign policy decision-making and implementation with the discussion of real-world international issues facing the United States. Students will be introduced to the foreign policymaking process, examining the actors, institutions, and culture of American foreign policy. In addition, students will analyze and debate pressing foreign policy issues including environmental policy, global democracy, US-China Relations, and more. Class assignments and discussions will be supplemented with guest speakers from the U.S. government, think tanks, NGOs, and other organizations to facilitate learning from and engaging with foreign policy experts and practitioners.
The Art of Democracy: Museums & Monuments in Washington D.C.
Washington, D.C., is not only the seat of U.S. politics but also an extraordinary city for art, and this course will explore the relationship between the two. Through site visits to selected artworks, exhibitions, and monuments, we will examine the interplay of art and democracy, considering how artists have represented and challenged concepts such as citizenship, the nation, and social equality. Our objects of focus will range from presidential portraits and official memorials to contemporary video and installation art, and will touch on topics from westward expansion in the 19th century to recent social and political movements such as Black Lives Matter. The course will consider key questions: What makes a work of art, a monument, or an exhibition effective? How do artworks and monuments shape our understanding of history, and how do they influence our perspective on the present? Which stories and whose stories have been included in narratives of the nation? How do artists and works of art represent and put pressure on concepts of race, class, gender, religion, sexuality, and ethnicity? What is the role of a national museum or a national monument? And what role should a government play in relation to the arts? We will make regular class and independent visits to a range of museums, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Gallery of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum, the National Museum of the American Indian, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.