Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies Public Policy & Social Change

Union’s Public Policy & Social Change concentration prepares students to critically re-examine the principles and values that support the public policy process. The concentration challenges students to critically interrogate governmental policies through the lens of ethical leadership, creative problem-solving, social justice, diversity, and global interdependence. Students develop multifaceted expertise through courses such as policy processes, policy analysis, conflict resolution, community development, democratic theory, human rights, and global studies. As scholar-practitioners, students move beyond the traditional confines of public policy as a technocratic science and develop critical and creative ways to solve crucial contemporary social problems.

66 Total credits

$1095 Cost Per Credit Hour

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Applied & Academic Skills

Articulate the impact of power on conflict resolution across the world.
Reexamine the ways we generate knowledge and apply technique in a flexible, distance learning format.
Gain a unique perspective on the role of leaders and leadership in a changing and complex world.

66 credit hour program
Full & part-time options
*Hybrid program
January & July start dates
Complete your degree in as little as 3 years

*100% online classes with a one-week residency in Cincinnati at the start of each term.

Cost of Program

Advanced Courses

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PPS 812

Gender, Sexuality & Public Policy

3 credits

Examines both the theoretical and historical understandings of gender and sexuality focusing on how specific public policies (or lack thereof) have historically and presently regulated sexuality by validating and legitimizing some behaviors, relationships and identities, while delegitimizing or even criminalizing others. The course will focus on both theory and public policy and how they
mutually engage, reinforce, and contradict one another.
PPS 813

Critical Perspectives in Health Policy

3 credits

This course employs an interdisciplinary approach to health policy as it examines the social environment and economic and political factors that shape disease and health across societies. Principles that will be considered are social justice, human rights, and equity as they relate to global and local health. Special attention will be paid to health disparities related to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and social class. The course will explore the role of state and civil society in promoting health and providing care and consider the ways in which structural factors create and maintain health inequities.
PPS 817

Special Topics: Social Policy Subtitle

1-3 credits

Examination of various topics of interest in public policy and social change.
PPS 829

Education Law, Policy, and Social Justice

3 credits

This course examines how education-related laws and policies have influenced the lives of marginalized populations in the United States and explores alternatives that may lead to socially just outcomes. The course engages in the study of the social, economic, cultural, and political forces in which Pre-K-12 and higher education programs and institutions have developed, with a focus on contemporary issues of education law and policy, such as affirmative action, desegregation, undocumented immigrant rights, and the school-to-prison pipeline.
PPS 830

Public Policy Practicum

3 credits

The practicum is designed to offer students the opportunity to engage in developing, designing, evaluating, implementing and/or analyzing policy as practice in one or more public policy arenas. This course is an individualized learning opportunity.
The practice setting chosen should afford a wide range of opportunities for students to both step forward as practitioners and step back as scholar-practitioners. In this course, the student may be understood to be acting in a role similar to that of a consultant to the agency/site at which the experience takes place.
PPS 850

Individualized Study I

3 credits

Individualized and advanced study of specific questions and issues of importance within the context of students’ individual experiences and professional lives supervised by the chair of the primary area of concentration. Focuses on students' individual intellectual pursuits and interests.
PPS 858

Art, Community and Development: Cultural Resources and Social Justice

3 credits

This course will examine as a social justice issue the relationship between art and its intrinsic cultural importance to the community and as an economic, educational and social developer. It will examine art and its impact on community development and resource allocation and what roles identity, geography and politics and wealth play. How are political and economic decisions made to include art/artists in the planning of public budgets, the distribution of private donations,
and advocacy for art as a critical factor in community growth and development. The course will also explore decisions on how art/artists are selected to receive support and inclusion in community development. And finally, how do we look at art as a cultural, social and economic industry that includes both nonprofit and for-profit businesses.
PPS 860

Individualized Study II

3 credits

Individualized and advanced study dedicated to students' individual research objectives supervised by the dissertation chair. Focus on the generation of a draft dissertation proposal.
PPS 870

Individualized Study III

3 credits

Individualized and advanced study dedicated to students' individual research objectives supervised by the dissertation chair. Focus on dissertation research and writing. (elective)
PPS 850

Individualized Study IV

3 credits

Individualized and advanced study dedicated to students' individual research objectives supervised by the dissertation chair. Focus on dissertation research and writing. (elective)
PPS 891

Capstone Course

3 credits

The Capstone Course provides students the opportunity to expand upon work toward the dissertation research begun in PPS 850 with emphasis on developing each student's scholarly skills. This course includes the proficiency review in both Foundational Themes and Content in the Concentration.

Electives

You have the option of exploring courses outside the ECL concentration or using electives for a certificate (e.g. Executive Leadership) or for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Legacy Studies specialization.

Careers of our Public Policy and Social Change Graduates

College Instructor

Non-Profit Sector

Government Sector

Environmental Advocacy

EMBEDDED CERTIFICATES - No extra time or cost to complete

Graduate certificates provide you with a distinguished addition to your Ph.D. focus. All students in the Ph.D. Program in Interdisciplinary Studies have the option to pursue one of these graduate certificates embedded in the program:

Creative Writing
Design Thinking
Educational Leadership
Ethics and Philosophy

Executive Leadership
Museum Studies
Women’s & Gender Studies

Meet Our Faculty

Dissertation Information and Examples

The program supports a variety of formats for doctoral dissertations, including theoretical, historical, and interpretive research, social action research projects, empirical research using qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods, and creative dissertations. Here are some examples from our Public Policy & Social Change graduates:

Lewis, Jacinda (2020). Exploring sex offenders’ experiences through the lens of social justice.
Nauta, Carmen (2019). Understanding the challenges to lactation initiation and duration among low-income WIC participants in the South Bronx: A phenomenological study
Rojas, Gina Augon (2018). Navigating Contested Terrain: A Critical Case Study of Guam’s Chamorro Land Trust Residential Land Lease Program.
Scott, Cheri (2017). Chronicling the Flint, Michigan Water Crisis: A Rigid Dichotomy Between Environmental Policy and Environmental Justice.

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