Just as in real estate markets, “location, location and location” are often the three most important things for understanding the need for public policies of various sorts and for developing strategies to enact and implement those policies.  Where one sits, physically, will matter a great deal to where one sits, metaphorically, on issues ranging from border security and immigration, to local zoning and land use planning, to health care, fresh food and recreational access, to preservation of scenic amenities, and exposure to toxic pollution, among others. The ability to understand these issues in their spatial context, especially in relation to other spatial features of the human and natural landscape (market areas, congressional districts, agency jurisdictions, or natural resource deposits, wetlands, rare habitats, etc.) is increasingly important for policy makers and those who support and influence them. 

In this course, students will gain that ability through review of underlying spatial models from various fields (economics, epidemiology, conservation biology) and, primarily, through the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools and techniques to examine, analyze and articulate critical information about policy proposals.  Prior GIS experience or coursework will be helpful, but is not a prerequisite.  The course is not intended, however, as a technical GIS class. Rather, our focus will be on the application of spatial reasoning to policy issues. 

Students should install or otherwise ensure they have access to ArcGIS software from ESRI before the start of the course.  ArcGIS is  available through the scholar's lab or on the Hive. For students new to GIS, it is highly recommended that you also complete the free, on-line introduction to GIS offerred by ESRI.