As more and more states are legalizing gay marriage and the Supreme Court prepares to weigh in on the Defense of Marriage Act, the Center for Public Policy and Administration (CPPA) will offer this summer an innovative and timely online course about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender social science, public policy and law.
The course, “LGBT Social Science and Public Policy Issues,” is designed for those who want to learn about cutting-edge research and how it’s used in the policy world. It will be taught by CPPA Director M.V. Lee Badgett, an internationally recognized expert on the economics of same-sex marriage and other LGBT policy issues.
Badgett’s course will explore research from economics, psychology, political science, public health and sociology that relates to employment discrimination against LGBT people, LGBT parenting, the legal recognition of same-sex couples, and the process of social and policy change. She will also compare countries’ approaches to public policy and to collecting data on sexual orientation and gender identity. Research and policies studied will come from a variety of countries, including Canada, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom and the U.S.
This distance learning course through the University of Massachusetts Amherst is an exciting and creative option for graduate and undergraduate students, as well as career professionals who are interested in studying laws and regulations having to do with LGBT issues. In particular, the three-credit course could be a great fit for:
- Public policy students who want a specialized course in LGBT policy.
- Advocates and activists who want access to the latest research and knowledge about how to use it.
- Social science scholars and graduate students who want to see how research can affect public policy.
- Lawyers and law students who want to understand the basics of social science research in this field.
- Advanced undergraduates with backgrounds in the social sciences who are thinking about graduate studies related to law or public policy.
In addition to directing CPPA, Badgett is a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is the research director of the Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at UCLA. Her most recent book, When Gay People Get Married: What Happens When Societies Legalize Same-Sex Marriage, focuses on the U.S. and European experiences with marriage equality for same-sex couples. Badgett has testified on her work before Congress and many state legislatures, and she was an expert witness in California’s Prop 8 trial.
The course runs from May 20 to June 28. Enrollment opens March 18.