OSUN-EDI Certificate Program

OSUN Certificate in Public Policy and Economic Analysis

Aim
The OSUN Economic Democracy Initiative has launched a new undergraduate Certificate in Public Policy and Economic Analysis. The certificate is designed for the next generation of policymakers who are interested in addressing the structural determinants of inequality, unemployment, and poverty. It offers training in cutting-edge economic thinking by combining the tools and techniques from several methodological traditions in economics with an intersectional approach to data science and a focus on historical and institutional factors. The certificate is open to all undergraduate students, irrespective of disciplinary focus in their primary program of study.  

Core Competencies 
In completing the requirements for the certificate, students will:

• Expand the scope and methods of their inquiry through instruction in multiple economic paradigms, including those not typically emphasized in traditional curricula. 
• Interrogate questions of employment, inequality, discrimination, and economic (in)security, to name a few, using interdisciplinary and intersectional research methods.
• Develop data skills to examine these challenges from macro and micro perspectives.
• Learn to write public policy briefs for policy-making audiences.

Upon completion of the certificate, students will gain a deeper understanding of today’s economic challenges and contemporary policy discussions and be equipped with tools to conduct their own policy analysis and research in a multidisciplinary manner."

Who is eligible?
All undergraduate students at OSUN member institutions. Applicants from all programs are welcome.

How?
At each institution, a student can earn the certificate by completing:

• The two regularly offered core OSUN Network Collaborative Courses. If an institution does not yet offer both courses, students can substitute one of them by enrolling in one of these OSUN summer courses: Democratizing Work after the Pandemic or The Right to Employment.
• One methods course offered at the home institution
• 2 elective courses offered at the home institution
• A writing component: completion of a public policy brief

Application process

1. A completed application form
2. A short essay (1,000 word max) outlining:
   • Reasons for pursuing the certificate;
   • Area of social concern that the student wishes examine in their policy brief
   • An overview of completed and intended courses to fulfill certificate requirements
3. An email acknowledging an advisor or professor's approval (attach the email or document from your professor)

Certificate coordinators at each institution will keep record of applicants, support participating students, and track progress toward certificate completion.

The certificate is designed for the next generation policymakers who are interested in addressing the structural determinants of inequality, unemployment, and poverty. It provides formal recognition of a rigorous and interdisciplinary course of study.  

The certificate offers training in cutting-edge economic thinking to tackle twenty-first century problems, combining the tools and techniques from several methodological traditions in economics, an intersectional approach to data science, and a careful study of historical and institutional factors. The certificate is open to all undergraduate students, irrespective of disciplinary focus in their primary program of study. 

None of today’s complex challenges, from climate change and inequality to economic insecurity and poverty, fit neatly within the confines of a single academic discipline. Addressing these problems therefore requires policymakers to take a multifaceted approach, incorporating diverse perspectives and methods into their actions.

CORE COMPETENCIES 
In completing the requirements for the certificate, students will:

• Expand the scope and methods of their inquiry through instruction in multiple economic paradigms, including those not typically emphasized in traditional curricula. 
• Interrogate questions of employment, inequality, discrimination, and economic (in)security, to name a few, using interdisciplinary and intersectional research methods.
• Develop data skills to examine these challenges from macro and micro perspectives.
• Learn to write public policy briefs for policy-making audiences.

Upon completion of the certificate, students will gain a deeper understanding of today’s economic challenges and contemporary policy discussions and be equipped with tools to conduct their own policy analysis and research in a multidisciplinary manner. Each of the courses fulfilling the requirements for the Certificate contribute to this outcome.
 
REQUIREMENTS
To earn the certificate, students must complete a total of five (5) courses (two required and three electives) for a total of 15 US or 30 ECTS credits. Two of these courses must be OSUN Network Collaborative Courses (NCCs). Students at OSUN institutions that do not yet offer these two NCCs, can fulfill the requirements by enrolling in OSUN Online Courses, such as Democratizing Work after the Pandemic or the Right to Employment, or by participating in an comparable curricular program, subject to approval of their advisor and Certificate coordinator. The remaining three courses may be part of the regular curriculum of the student’s home institution and/or OSUN courses and will fulfill the certificate’s methods and additional elective course requirements.

COURSE OF STUDY
Two required core courses

• OSUN Network Collaborative Course: Economic Perspectives for Policy Making (or a corresponding OSUN policy-focused History of Economic Thought course)
• OSUN Network Collaborative Course: Right to Employment (or a corresponding OSUN Online Economic History course, such as Democratizing Work or Full Employment: History, Theory, Policy)

Three elective courses
One elective methods/data analysis course offered by the home institution.
Two elective courses focused on public policy to address questions of economic insecurity, offered at the home institution. Students are strongly encouraged to take at least one of these courses in a discipline outside of their primary program of study. 

A public policy brief
Students will be required to submit a public policy brief before completion of the program. This requirement can be fulfilled by producing a brief for one of the courses taken for the certificate or as an additional paper approved by the advisor.

ELIGIBILITY 
All undergraduate students across the Open Society University Network are eligible for the Certificate.

ADMISSION
To ensure timely progression through the program, students are asked to submit approval from their program advisor along with their application, which can be emailed to the Institution’s Certificate coordinator. Prior to submitting an application, students should have completed one of the Certificate’s core course requirements. 


SUGGESTED PROGRAM OF STUDY FOR STUDENTS AT OSUN PARTNER INSTITUTIONS 

BARD COLLEGE
Core courses

• OSUN Network Collaborative Course, History of Economic Thought course Economic Perspectives for Policy Making (offered fall semester by Pavlina R. Tcherneva)
• OSUN Network Collaborative Course, The Right to Employment (offered spring semester by Pavlina R. Tcherneva), The Right to Employment OSUN Summer Course

Electives

• One data/methods course at Bard
  • ECON 329 Advanced Econometrics (FA, Guatam Sethi)
  • EUS/ES 340 Statistics & Econometrics (FA, Gautam Sethi)
  • EUS/ES 321 GIS for Environmental Justice (FA, Jordan Ayala)
  • SOC 205 Introduction to Research Methods (FA, Yuval Elmelech)
• Two additional electives from Bard
  • Economic Security (Unemployment, Inequality, Poverty, Development)
    • ECON 221 Economic Development (FA, Sanjay DeSilva)
    • ECON 319  Developing Cities (SP, Sanjay DeSilva) 
    • HR 376  Housing Justice (SP, Kwame Holmes)
    • SOC 120  Wealth, Poverty, and Inequality (Yuval Elmelech)
  • Climate and Ecological Sustainability 
    • SOC 231 The Environment and Society (FA, Peter Klien)
    • EUS/ES 324 Environmental Law for Policy (FA, Danielle Spiegel-Feld) 
    • EUS 224  Climate Change Science and its Human Dimensions (SP, Beate Liepert)
  • Health and Disability
    • ECON 212 Health Economics (SP, Michael Martell)
    • HR 354  Reproductive Health and Human Rights (SP, Helen Epstein)
    • HR 372  Chronic: Disability, Sickness, and Care (SP, Evan Calder Williams)
    • BGIA 313 Data and Public Health in a Global Context (FA, Gabriel Perron) | Data: Quantifying Human Health
  • Intersectionality
    • ECON 338 Seminar in Discrimination (Mike Martell)
    • HR 274 Immigrants Among Us: Political Rights of Non-Citizens (FA, Peter Rosenblum)
    • PSY SOC Gender and Sexuality Studies 220 Social Psychology (SP, Kristin Lane)

UNIVERSIDAD DE LOS ANDES
Core courses

• OSUN Network Collaborative Course, History of Economic Thought (offered fall and spring semesters at Los Andes, Prof. Jimena Hurtado Prieto)
• The Right to Employment OSUN Summer Course

Electives

• One data/methods course at Uni Andes:
  • CPOL-2503 Métodos cuantitativos and CPOL-2504
  • Econometrics 1 (ECON3321 or ECON3311) 
  • EGOB-2601Introducción a la práctica de la estadística (that has as pre-requisite MATE-1252 Cálculo integral con probabilidad)
  • Open to undergraduates in the 3rd and 4th yeear: EGOB-4104 Técnicas de análisis de datos, and EGOB-4105 Análisis económico de las políticas públicas
• Two additional electives from Uni Andes: 
  • HIST-2800 AMÉRICA LATINA: MERCADOS Y REVOLUCIONES GLOBALES, 1700-1850
  • HIST-2771 CAPITALISMO Y ESPACIO: HISTORIA URBANA GLOBAL
  • CBCA-1006 TENER Y PODER (Economic anthropology course)
  • CPOL-2424 TEORÍA POLÍTICA MARXISTA Y POSTMARXISTA.

AL-QUDS BARD COLLEGE (AQB)
Core courses

• OSUN Network Collaborative Course, History of Economic Thought (offered spring semester at AQB, Prof. Sobhi Samour)
• OSUN Network Collaborative Course, The Right to Employment (offered spring semester, AQB, Prof. Sameh Alhallaq) 

Electives

• One data/methods course at AQB: Quantitative Research Methods (9117301)
• Two additional electives from AQB: AQB elective course list

BARD COLLEGE BERLIN (BCB)
Core courses

• Core Course Origins of Political Economy (offered each Fall semester)
• Right to Employment (TBD), The Right to Employment OSUN Summer Course.

One data/methods course at BCB: Statistics (MA151 Introduction to Statistics), Econometrics, Methods in Social and Historical Studies (SO104 Field Research: Dilemmas and Possibilities, SO105 Researching Social Life)

Two additional electives from BCB, from the modules Behavioral Economics (e.g. EC221 Sustainability Economics), History of Political Thought (e.g. SO181 Race, Racism and Resistance: From the Enlightenment to Black Lives Matter), Political Systems and Structures (e.g. PS119 Intro to Comparative Politics, PS208 The Political Economy of Globalization), Methods in Social and Historical Studies (e.g. SO182 Research and Activism in the Urban Context), Ethics and Moral Philosophy (e.g. the OSUN Network collaborative course: PT160 Transnational Feminism Is for Everybody)

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL ASIA (AUCA)
AUCA Certificate (link)

Core courses

• OSUN Network Collaborative Course History of Economic Thought (offered fall semester at AUCA, Prof. Asel Kyrgyzbaeva)
  OSUN Network Collaborative Course, The Right to Employment (offered spring semester, AUCA, Prof. Akylai Muktarbekkyzy and Prof. Meerim Djakypova)

Electives

• One data/methods course at AUCA: ECO 401 Research Methods in Economics and Social Sciences
• Two additional electives from AUCA: SOC 201: Stratification, Inequality, & Power, ECO 305: Labor Economics, ECO 313: Environmental and Resource Economics