COURSE

Semester/Year:         Summer 2026 – Session I

Title:                            Policy Fixes for Global Problems

Class Numbers:          J 470/7711, V 550/7713, J 550/7712, V 450/7710

Time, and Location:  Course will be synchronous via Zoom on Tuesdays from 7:00-8:30 PM EST, with all sessions recorded and posted to Canvas for later viewing.

 Join from computer or mobile:  

https://iu.zoom.us/j/85070893432?pwd=Q1OdaNx8eykCH0ZPTekhA5YEaU6bie.1

Meeting ID: 850 7089 3432

Password: gojags2026

 

INSTRUCTOR

Instructor:              Varies; Lead Coordinator—Dr. Caroline M. Bailey

Office Hours:         By appointment (via Zoom)

E-mail Address:     bailecar@iu.edu

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Official Course Description

Policy has a broad impact on modern society. Distinguished O'Neill faculty will lead discussions on current polices and their implications across various topics.  The course will be both synchronous and asynchronous with sessions recorded for later viewing. This is a 100% online delivered class. Synchronous class meetings, while strongly encouraged, are not required.

REQUIRED COURSE MATERIALS

• Readings will be assigned by that module’s instructor and posted on the course Canvas site.

 

COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon successful completion of this course, a student should be able to:

• Recognize and explain different frames for thinking about criminal justice and public affairs issues
• Evaluate ethical frames from a variety of different public service lenses
• Illustrate awareness of diverse perspectives
• Construct plans for dealing with change that incorporate diverse perspectives
• Develop the ability to listen and empathize
• See how the burdens of inequality, understand why systemic racism and discrimination exist and persist, and learn how to help build an equitable future

 

PROFILES OF LEARNING FOR UNDERGRADUATE SUCCESS: IU INDIANAPOLIS+

IU Indianapolis prepares all students to communicate, innovate, and engage local and global communities to solve the problems of the 21st century. The skills needed to do this work are grouped into the four learning profiles set out below. IU Indianapolis students have multiple opportunities to learn and enhance their abilities in each profile.

Communicator

An IU Indianapolis communicator can:  evaluate information, listen actively, build relationships and convey ideas effectively.  IU Indianapolis students learn to convey ideas effectively and ethically in oral, written, and visual forms across public, private, interpersonal, and team settings, using face-to-face and mediated channels. Communicators are mindful of themselves and others, listen, observe, and read thoughtfully, ask questions, evaluate information critically, create messages that demonstrate awareness of diverse audiences, and collaborate with others and across cultures to build relationships. 

Problem Solver 

An IU Indianapolis problem solver:  thinks critically, collaborates, analyzes, synthesizes and evaluates information and perseveres in the face of challenge.  IU Indianapolis students work individually and with others to collect, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information to implement innovative solutions to challenging local and global problems.

 Students will be asked to think critically, analyze, and address patterns of inequality. Weekly assignments will require students to identify trends of inequality and identify ways to implement change that creates a more equitable society.

Innovator 

An IU Indianapolis innovator:  investigates, creates and designs, confronts challenges and makes decisions.  IU Indianapolis students learn to build on experiences and disciplinary expertise to approach new situations and circumstances in original ways, are willing to take risks with ideas, and pose solutions.  They learn to create a plan to achieve their goals, and carry out that plan to its completion. Innovators use their knowledge and skills to address complex problems. 

Community Contributor
(Emphasis for SPEA-V 450 and SPEA-J 470)

An IU Indianapolis Community Contributor:  builds community, respectfully engages cultures, behaves ethically and anticipates consequences.  IU Indianapolis students learn to be responsible, self-aware, civically engaged and to look outward to understand the needs of the society and environment.

Students will be asked to engage with issues of public health, community, and collective responsibility as pertaining to issues that impact their communities. Weekly assignments will assess how students are developing communal and civic understanding of these problems and associated political and policy elements.

 

IU INDIANAPOLIS POLICIES AND CODES

Students are expected to adhere to all campus-wide policies governing the conduct of courses at IU Indianapolis, including maintaining academic and professional honesty and integrity, being responsible for their behavior, respecting the rights and dignity of others both within and outside of the university community, and others. These policies can be found at http://studentcode.iu.edu/about/index.html.

 

INSTRUCTOR’S CLASSROOM POLICIES*

Behavior in the Zoom Classroom

Be prepared each week. You are expected to have read the material assigned for that day and come ready to listen and take notes. All lectures will be recorded and posted online with 24 hours following class.

A positive learning environment relies upon creating an atmosphere where diverse perspectives can be expressed, especially in a course that focuses on pressing and controversial social and political issues. Each student is encouraged to take an active part in class discussions and activities. Honest and respectful dialogue is expected. Disagreement and challenging of ideas in a supportive and sensitive manner is encouraged. Hostility and disrespectful behavior are not acceptable.

Class Attendance & Participation

Students will be expected to read all assigned readings before each lecture. They are expected to either attend each synchronous lecture or to watch the recorded lecture, submit assignments for each session as described below and participate in discussion with the instructor(s) and other students during the synchronous lectures and on Canvas via weekly discussion forums.

Due Dates and Late Work

Assignments are due one week after each lecture. With the exception of University approved absences (e.g. doctor’s appointment, illness, funeral, or other university-approved absence), students are not allowed to make up missed assignments. In the case of approved absences, students must inform the appropriate faculty of their absence in advance and provide appropriate documentation upon return.

Communication

As this is a team-taught course, communication will be variable for each individual instructor. Prof. Bailey will coordinate with faculty to manage the flow of information consistently, primarily through announcements via Canvas. Students are expected to check email/Canvas announcements regularly for course updates.

*Please be mindful of any additional policies requested by faculty for each module.

 

ASSESSMENT AND GRADING

Grading Scale

For SPEA-V 550 and J 550: Per university graduate school policy, any grade below C is considered a failing grade.

Summary of Course Grading

 

Course Components

Students will be evaluated on two components—weekly discussion participation and weekly assignments. See below for more information:

Weekly Discussion Participation  

All students are expected to watch each lecture via live stream (Tuesdays 7:00- 8:30 PM EST) or subsequently via recording posted on Canvas. After viewing the lecture, students will be expected to engage in a robust discussion guided by the prompt. Students are expected to post at least twice in the weekly discussion forum. Weekly lectures and discussion forums can be found via “Interactive Lecture” in the module for each week. 

Weekly Assignments

For each module, students will prepare a weekly assignment that engages in the topics the instructor addressed via the readings, the lecture, and the discussion. While each individual instructor can provide more explicit instruction for their module, at minimum the papers are expected to be researched and critical applications of the material from each module. Each reflection is due one week following the lecture they respond to. If there are no other explicit instructions for the assignment, it should be completed as follows:

 Undergraduate students will be expected to provide 1–2 page responses that engage, at minimum, the week’s readings and lecture materials. Graduate students will be expected to provide 3-4 page responses that go beyond the assigned materials to include: relevant readings from other courses; other academic or professional research; mass media reports; and potential conversations with other topical experts.

 Always be sure to cite relevant work (in-text citations and references).

 

COURSE SCHEDULE

 

 Note: All readings to be posted on Canvas in weekly modules; to be read prior to that week’s lecture.

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Copyright

Materials in this course, including lectures, notes, handouts, exams, and similar materials created by the instructor, are protected by U.S. copyright law.  Materials are used in an educational context for personal use and should not be reproduced, distributed, or sold in print or digitally outside the course without permission.  Students who are involved in unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material may be in violation of the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, & Conduct.

Accessible Educational Services (AES)

AES is the IUPUI office dedicated to working with students with documented disabilities to ensure that these students receive the appropriate accommodations so they have an equal opportunity to be successful at higher education.  The AES Office is located in Joseph T. Taylor Hall, Room 100, and can be contacted by phone at (317) 274-3241 or email at aes@iupui.edu.  For more information, visit the Adaptive Educational Services website.

Administrative Withdrawal (Applicable to SPEA-V 450 and SPEA-J 470 students)

A basic requirement of this course is you will participate in class and conscientiously complete writing and reading assignments. If you miss more than half the class activities and assignments within the first 25% of the semester without contacting me, you may be administratively withdrawn from this course. Administrative withdrawal may have academic, financial, and financial aid implications. Administrative withdrawal will take place after the full refund period, and if you are administratively withdrawn from the course you will not be eligible for a tuition refund. If you have questions about the administrative withdrawal policy at any point during the semester, please contact me.

Specified Use of Generative AI

You may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs like ChatGPT or Grammarly only when use is expressly allowed by the instructor.  Class assignments are designed to help you develop your research, analytics, and writing skills.  Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs are powerful and useful tools for performing work and generating text.  Products created using such tools, however, do not represent your original work.  Further, using AI may undermine the learning objectives associated with the assignment and the course.   Generative AI products may be used to complete any assignment or assessment for this class only if the use of such software is specifically and expressly permitted by the instructor in the associated assignment description.   Unless expressly permitted, use of AI to complete any portion of an assignment or assessment will be considered a violation of academic integrity policies. 

Intellectual Diversity

This course includes assigned readings and other materials that address broadly accepted concepts, theories, principles, and methods central to the topics examined in this course.  These materials provide a foundation of knowledge that is necessary to both understanding and further study of the course topics.  With this foundational knowledge, students will be better prepared to evaluate new, complex, and emerging questions in the field.  As knowledge evolves, new ideas come forward for consideration.   A student who identifies materials that they believe are relevant and will enhance understanding of course topics is invited to email the work to the instructor for consideration of inclusion in the course discussion.