Mail Code: 94305-6125
Phone: (650) 723-4296
Email: jvizas@stanford.edu
Web Site: http://siw.stanford.edu
The Bing Stanford in Washington program is normally offered during Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters. Due to COVID-19, these offerings are subject to change; see the SIW website for updated information.
The Autumn Quarter Program for 2020-21 has been cancelled due to COVID-19. Some coursework will be offered remotely during Autumn. The program is currently planning for in-person Winter and Spring quarters in 2021. The Winter Quarter application is closed and the application for Spring Quarter will be posted here in late September.
Director: Adrienne Jamieson
On Campus Program Manager: Jill Vizas
The Bing Stanford in Washington program provides highly-qualified undergraduates with an opportunity to work and study in the nation's capital. In addition to providing students with an understanding of public policy making, the program offers an opportunity to take advantage of the city's unique cultural resources.
Central in the student's educational experience is a full-time internship. Students serve as interns at such institutions and agencies as the Senate, the House of Representatives, the Office of Management and Budget, the White House, the National Institutes of Health, the Smithsonian Institution, World Bank, the departments of State, Justice, Treasury, Education, and Health and Human Services.
In addition to the internship, students also complete an academic course of study consisting of seminars taught by policy experts and Stanford faculty members. Seminars are generally 3-5 units. Past topics have included congressional oversight and the press; economic growth and development patterns, policies, and prospects; critical health issues in the U.S. and abroad; policy making in the Washington community; and criminal justice policy. Speakers from the Washington policy community frequently join students and faculty for discussions. Course and seminar topics vary according to student and faculty interest.
The program is designed for students in their junior year or during the first or second quarter of their senior year. Applications must be completed two quarters in advance.
Students interested in the program should contact the campus office of the Bing Stanford in Washington program; see contact information above.
Courses
SIW 103. Economic Growth and Development Patterns, Policies, and Prospects. 5 Units.
This class is designed to provide an overview of the history of economic and social development, the evolution of thinking on the subject, and current debates regarding the best policy approaches to foster development objectives. To emphasize the constantly evolving nature of the policy debate on development, the text is supplemented by articles from a wide variety of sources, and some additional readings will likely by assigned from contemporary newspaper, blog and magazine articles. Grades will depend on weekly pre-class reading comments and questions, four short assignments, and class participation.
SIW 104. Congressional Oversight and the Press. 5 Units.
Who keeps watch of the federal government and its activities as they grow more complex at home and abroad? This seminar will look at oversight, or the lack of it, by the Executive Branch itself, by Congress, the Courts, outside groups, and the media, with some emphasis on the latter. We will establish the Constitutional basis for oversight through various readings, and we will look at some major scandals and issues from the past.
SIW 105. Education Policy. 5 Units.
This seminar has three primary goals: 1) introduce today¿s major education policy issues; 2) investigate the ways education policy questions are addressed at the federal level, and by implication, the state and local levels; and 3) develop skills to develop and recommend appropriate policy options and solutions. You will become familiar with major education policy questions and over the course of the quarter, analyze these issues, consider policy options, and provide written and oral support for possible solutions.
SIW 106. Criminal Justice Policy. 5 Units.
This class is designed to offer students a chance to explore how criminal justice policies and laws come into being, are executed, and end up changing. Through a different topic focus each week, students will grasp the actors that affect criminal justice policy (across all branches of government) and will learn the true recourse of the law in the United States (it¿s more surprising than you might think). Through an end-of-term paper, students will argue for and against a specific policy of their choosing.
SIW 107. Civil Rights Law. 5 Units.
This course analyzes the major civil rights laws that Congress has enacted since the 1960s, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Fair Housing Act, the Public Accommodations ACt, the AGe Discrimination in Employment Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. The course provides an in-depth study of the statutory language of each of these laws, examines how courts have interpreted the statutes, and explores the policy arguments in favor and against such laws. The course also reviews the history context surrounding the enactment of these statutes, including an examination of the civil rights movement as a political and social force.
SIW 119. U. S. and Europe: Cooperation or Competition?. 5 Units.
How are Brexit, Trump, Merkel and Macron reshaping the key relationship between the US and Europe? At a time of rising international threats from Russia, China, the Middle East, and Africa, as well as the challenges of populism, Euro-Skepticism, and Islamist terrorism, this course explores the Trans-Atlantic alliance that has been the central axis of US and European relations. By the end of the course, students will have engaged in substantive readings and class discussion in order to investigate these topics.
SIW 129. Women's, Maternal, and Children's Health. 5 Units.
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SIW 131. Presidential Transitions in an Era of Polarization and the Covid-19 Pandemic. 3-5 Units.
Presidential Transitions in an Era of Polarization and the Covid-19 Pandemic: Challenges to Governing, Policy-Making and Ethical Decision-Making. This seminar will explore the intertwining of several key challenges inherit in all transitions, while analyzing the effects of our current polarized politics and the Covid-19 pandemic on policy making. Drawing upon an array of disciplines and approaches, our weekly meetings will include a series of discussions of readings from the social science literature; studies of health policy from medical ethicists and policy experts; articles from think tanks and government, and conversations with individuals from the worlds of policy, politics, and public health. Collectively, we will seek to understand connections, systemic constraints and to formulate potential policy and political responses. Students will engage in small group exercises on building a team in the Biden administration, along with developing health policy strategies that meet COVID-19 goals and ethical standards. In addition, students will have the option to pursue a capstone project, based upon research conducted with the guidance of one of the instructors, another faculty member or policy maker.
SIW 139. Purposeful Advocacy - Changing Public Policy for Good: A Policy Maker/Advocate¿s Perspective. 5 Units.
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SIW 156. Washington Policymaking: A USER'S GUIDE. 5 Units.
Government Gridlock. Executive Orders. Court Challenges. Congressional Oversight. Presidential Tweets. Regulatory Rollback. Money in Politics. Foreign Agent Influence. Are the rules of the policymaking game changing? In this class, students will learn the advocacy and strategy tools necessary to participate effectively in the legislative and regulatory policymaking process. We will examine the practical aspects and complex intricacies of policy development at the federal level, using current and rapidly evolving topics as examples, while also drawing on historical precedents.
SIW 157. International Law. 5 Units.
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SIW 158. Entrepreneurial Ventures in Washington: Valley Meets Mission. 5 Units.
Students in this seminar will investigate the intersection between government, entrepreneurship, technology, and mission with weekly discussions with local business, government, technology and social impact lenses. We will examine drivers behind government mission-oriented innovation and the role of entrepreneurship and venture capital.nStudents will meet with and engage directly with entrepreneurial, government, tech, and business leaders in and out of the classroom to understand the opportunities/challenges in building successful mission-oriented companies and social impact enterprises.
SIW 159. Purposeful Advocacy: The Making of Monuments. 5 Units.
Purposeful Advocacy provides a practitioner's insights regarding ongoing climate, conservation and resource debates, as well as other contemporary political events (e.g., The American Jobs Plan, the January 6 Commission, etc). nThis course does not teach how things are supposed to work - instead we provide a window into how things do (and don't) work in Washington. The lessons are drawn from personal experiences from the instructors two decades working in Washington as a Congressional Science Fellow, Congressional staffer, and lobbyist. nWe will review and analyze some historic advocacy campaigns and dissect others as they make the front page of the The Washington Post during the quarter. We evolve the syllabus to accommodate your interests and dynamic happenings in DC. nOur sessions typically include a review of ongoing activities in the House and Senate and executive branch agencies (including topics well beyond the title of the course). We also invest time discussing how your internship and other coursework fits in the bigger DC ecosystem.
SIW 160. Policy in an Era of Polarization and Covid-19: Challenges to Governing and Ethical Decision-Making. 5 Units.
This seminar will explore the intertwining of several key challenges inherit in policy making while analyzing the effects of polarized politics and the Covid-19 pandemic. Drawing upon an array of disciplines and approaches, our weekly meetings will be a series of conversations with individuals from the worlds of policy and politics. Collectively, we will seek to understand connections, systemic constraints and to formulate potential policy and political responses. Students will have the option to pursue a capstone project for additional units, based upon research conducted with the guidance of one of the instructors.
SIW 185. Modern America in Historical Perspective. 5 Units.
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Same as: HISTORY 264D
SIW 190. Directed Readings. 1-5 Unit.
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SIW 245. Art, Business & the Law. 4 Units.
This course examines art at the intersection of business and the law from a number of different angles, focusing on how the issues raised by particular case studies, whether legal, ethical and/or financial, impact our understanding of how works of art circulate, are received, evaluated and acquire different meanings in given social contexts. Topics include the design, construction and contested signification of selected war memorials; the rights involved in the display and desecration of the American flag; censorship of sexually charged images; how the value of art is appraised; institutional critique and the art museum, among others.
Same as: ARTHIST 245
