IU-SPEA in Central London

This program will offer six graduate credits of coursework on a topic that is as fundamental as it is timely: “Managing Hazards in Europe and the United States.” The program will run for four weeks, June 29 to July 24, 2009. It is intended that the program will be offered in odd years thereafter. Although the coursework may be interesting to all students in the SPEA family of graduate degrees, it may be particularly relevant to MHA, MSES, and MPA/MSES students and to MPA students in the comparative and international affairs, environmental policy and natural resource management, nonprofit management, policy analysis, and public management concentrations. This is a course for management and policy students. It is not a technical hazards management course. The program is open to students in other graduate programs at Indiana University as well.

Topic for SPEA Program

The management of hazards to human health, safety, and the environment is an important subject in its own right but also is a contentious topic at the heart of cross-Atlantic relations between the United States and the European Union. Both sides of the Atlantic are struggling with how to manage the AIDs epidemic, how to foster safer and more fuel-efficient automobiles, and how to ensure that prescription drugs are safe and effective. Cross-Atlantic agreement on the best management strategies is not always feasible. For example, the EU argues that the USA has been negligent in the prevention of global climate change while the USA argues that the EU has blocked arbitrarily the diffusion of genetically modified seeds throughout European agriculture. Controversies about the management of hazards typically arise in settings where leaders with different perspectives and interests (e.g., public administrators, leaders of non-governmental organizations and business leaders) seek to influence how risks are managed.

Through lectures, case studies, and class discussions, the program is aimed at highlighting four themes for students. First, an appreciation of advances in science and technology is crucial but not sufficient to ensure competent management of risk. The social science aspects of managing hazards are challenging and equally crucial. Second, perceptions of hazard are culturally dependent, and can play a powerful role in causing international disagreements about risk management. Third, commercial interests involving trade play a key complicating role in understanding and resolving controversies about technological hazards. Finally, the continuing strength of nation states around the globe (relative to weak global governance mechanisms) ensures that the skills of persuasion, coalition building, negotiation and log rolling will continue to play major roles in the management of hazards. For SPEA and other students interested in careers that span the public, non-profit, and for-profit sectors, these themes should be quite relevant and useful.

Instructors

The course will be co-taught by SPEA Dean John Graham and Professor Ragnar Lofstedt of King's College (University of London). Both faculty members bring significant expertise to the program. Dean Graham is a leading risk analyst who, during his tenure (2001-2006) in the White House, was responsible for both managing risks and repairing some damaged relationships between regulatory officials in the USA and the EU. His 17 years of risk scholarship at the Harvard School of Public Health also allows him to bring a wealth of academic knowledge relevant to the course material.

Professor Lofstedt was born and raised in Sweden, trained in the United States, and has settled in London. He is a specialist in risk management and communication who consults with European governments and companies on risk issues ranging from the safety of pharmaceuticals and foods to the siting of energy production facilities. As one indication of his credentials, Professor Lofstedt was recognized by the Society for Risk Analysis (a professional society of 2,000 scientists and engineers) as the outstanding risk scholar in the world under the age of 40. Prior to receiving this award, Professor Lofstedt co-founded with Professor Graham a professional course on risk communication that continues to be offered periodically in Boston and Brussels.

The collaboration will bring, as lecturers and discussion leaders, participation by other faculty and fellows affiliated with the King’s Centre on Risk Management that Professor Lofstedt founded and leads. A significant number of European-based case studies in the course will be available because of the collaboration with King’s, and the King’s faculty and fellows will offer a European perspective that would otherwise not be available to IU students.

Academic Program

The program will include 180 minutes of in-class experience each day over the four-week period. The first week will be comprised primarily of lecture, while the second through fourth weeks will be evenly divided between lecture and seminar-style discussion. Case studies will be used extensively. On days when case studies are covered, a 90-minute session prior to lunch will be primarily lecture, laying out the scientific, technological, economic and political background of a risk case (e.g., aspartame or genetically modified seeds), coupled with some key principles drawn from the literature of risk analysis, management and communication. A second 90-minute session will occur after lunch, and will be a moderated discussion with short prepared presentations by at least three students. Typically, the three students will role play, assuming the perspective of a public administrator, an NGO leader, or a business leader. The class will discuss the student presentations and, in some cases, be accompanied by a planned experiment in bargaining or negotiation.

The academic program will be rigorous. Each evening, students will be expected to prepare for both the morning and afternoon sessions. Classes will occur only on weekdays; students will have weekends free (except when a course-related excursion is planned). The teaching in each session will be divided roughly equally between Professor Graham and the King’s team, and Professor Lostedt will lead about three-fourths of the King’s sessions.

Grades for undergraduates will be determined 60% by three in-class exams, 20% by a role-playing assignment, and 20% by class participation. In order to obtain graduate course credit, SPEA graduate students will also be required to pick a hazard where the responses of public managers in the USA and the UK can be compared. This required paper can be prepared solo or in pairs and will comprise 50% of the grade (with the remaining elements allocated proportionately over the remaining 50%).

Students will earn six IU or IUPUI credit hours. Although the program is organized as one unified block, students will enroll in two separate courses: SPEA V550, Topics in Public Affairs: Managing Hazards in Europe and the United States I (3 cr. hrs.) and SPEA V550, Topics in Public Affairs: Managing Hazards in Europe and the United States II (3 cr. hrs.). The credit hours count toward the MPA, MSES and MHA degrees as general elective credits or, upon agreement with an appropriate concentration advisor, as portions of the concentration program.

Classrooms and housing will be at King's College (University of London).

Eligibility

The program will be open to IU-Bloomington and IUPUI MPA, MHA, and MSES students and students in other graduate programs at Indiana University who are in good academic standing or who have been admitted for graduate matriculation in fall 2009. Undergraduate students will also participate in the program, although the course requirements and expectations will be somewhat different for them.

Location

Location in central London is within walking distance of the principal sites of one of the world’s greatest international cities. The London location will also allow several walking excursions, including some meetings with UK officials that will complement and enrich the academic course material. And since London could not be a more friendly city for international visitors (especially US citizens), it is likely to be appealing to IU students and their parents. More information about King’s and the area go here.

Supplementary Excursions

The program will provide up to three excursions, which will typically be by foot or by train in the London area and will be scheduled for Saturday morning or Sunday afternoon or evening.

In addition, there will be at least one formal dinner excursion where students will be expected to dress appropriately and listen to the perspectives of one or more officials of the UK government and ask questions or offer comments. Professor Lofstedt believes that this formal experience is essential to appreciating the culture of the UK and the manner in which public servants in the UK are treated.

Room and Board

The living accommodations and classroom will be on the King’s Waterloo Campus. Students will be issued ID cards, accommodation room keys, and ability to access the computer and library rooms. Their sleeping arrangements will be a small room with a single bed, toilet, sink and shower. Their rooms are cleaned daily and both bed linen and towels are provided. Students can join an affiliated gym at a low accommodation rate. Although there are pay phones in the accommodation block, King’s advises all students to obtain international SIM cards for their cell phones or purchase international phone cards. Security at the accommodations is 24/7 and students are granted access only for their stairwell. The cost of sleeping accommodations is 34 pounds per night per student (including tax).

Each floor has a kitchen and eating area for students who wish to cook their own meals. An optional cafeteria package covering breakfast and lunch can be purchased for less than 10 pounds per day. A commercial food court with low-priced options is a few short blocks from the dormitory for students who do not wish to cook their dinners.

A King’s classroom will be provided for exclusive use by IU during the four-week period.

Student Budget

The cost, including tuition, airfare, lodging, food, and health care, will be approximately $5,400 for Indiana residents and $6,900 for non-residents. Students make their own arrangements for travel, lodging, and food. The tuition will be for six graduate credit hours. A limited number of $2,000 scholarships will be available for the program.

Program Administration

This program will be administered by the Indiana University Office of Overseas Study.

Information Contact

Interested students may direct questions to Jennifer Forney, Director of Graduate Student Services, 260 SPEA, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, 812-855-9485.

A COMPLETE COURSE SYLLABUS WILL BE PROVIDED ON REQUEST.