Hesburgh Program in Public Service
The Hesburgh Program offers an interdisciplinary curriculum designed to inform students about the dimensions of policy making, public administration, and policy evaluation, and develop skills in research, sensitivity to ethical issues, and appreciation for the character and limits of constitutional democracy.
First year students and sophomores of all colleges are invited to apply to the interdisciplinary minor, as well as first semester junior transfers. To be admitted, students will need to be in good standing and demonstrate strong interest in public policy and public service. An Introduction to American Government course (POLS 20100 or equivalent) and an Introduction to Economics (ECON 20011 or equivalent) are prerequisites to the Hesburgh Program course of study. Students will be admitted conditional upon completion of these two requirements.
The minor in the Hesburgh Program requires 15 hours of coursework. The "gateway course" to the program is HESB 20010, Introduction to Public Policy, normally taken in the second semester of the sophomore year. At the middle level of the program, students will take one course drawn from each of three categories of courses approved by the program. These are Research Tools, Values, and Institutions and Processes.
RESEARCH TOOLS ELECTIVE - Research tools courses acquaint the student with approaches and techniques that are valuable for assessing policy problems and evaluating policy performance.
VALUES ELECTIVE - Values courses introduce students to ethical,
philosophic, and theological perspectives that affect our identification of
problems and specification of policies.
INSTITUTIONS & PROCESS ELECTIVE - Institutions and processes
courses focus attention on the substantive problems, the structures, and the
procedures through which public policy is formulated and implemented.
During the senior year, students who have been on a summer internship will register for the Research Seminar in Public Policy (HESB 43020), that builds on their field experience. Other students will take one of several senior level policy seminars identified by the program each semester.
Current course offerings can be viewed under Courses.