Policy Area Focus
In addition to gaining strength in a particular disciplinary tradition, Public Policy PhD students acquire depth in the policy area in which they will write a dissertation, as exemplified in our sample PhD tracks. Students take a minimum of two courses in a policy area to fulfill this requirement. Every student develops a plan of study to be approved by both the Public Policy Director of Graduate Studies and the student’s faculty advisor that satisfies the policy area requirement and prepares the student for the policy-area qualifying exam.
Students primarily focus on policy areas in which Duke has particular strength: social policy, globalization and development, health policy and environmental policy. Although these are the primary areas in which Duke’s Public Policy PhD students concentrate, students have the option, subject to approval of the Director of Graduate Studies, to adopt another policy area focus.
Social Policy, including education policy and child and
family policy
Duke’s resources in this area include:
- The Center for Child and Family Policy
- The Population, Policy and Aging Research Center
- A large number of unaffiliated faculty working on issues of education, race and ethnicity, crime and vice, and other issues
Globalization and Development
Duke’s resources in this area include:
- The Duke Center for International Development
- The Center on Globalization, Governance, and Competitiveness
- The University Seminar on Global Governance and Democracy
- Numerous faculty working on topics such as sustainable development, trade and development, intellectual property and global governance systems
Health Policy
Duke’s resources in this area include:
- The Duke Center for Health Policy and its Health Inequalities Program
- The Duke Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy
- The Health Sector Management Program based at the Fuqua School of Business
- The Global Health Initiative
- Numerous faculty in the social sciences, the sciences, engineering, the Medical School and elsewhere
Environmental Policy
Duke’s resources in this area include the Nicholas
School of the Environment and Earth Sciences and the numerous policy-related
initiatives based there.
PLEASE NOTE that students interested in Environmental Policy should apply to
the PhD Program in
Environment at the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences.
These students will have access to courses in the Public Policy PhD Program.
