PUBPOL-816
ETHICS AND POLICY-MAKING
Offered Fall 2026
Term
Instructor
Overview
Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that discussion is a clear strength. Best for students who will actually talk in class instead of sitting silent.
DepartmentPPS
Terms offeredFall, Spring
Typical enrollment17–47
Semesters of data3
4.8
Hrs / week
77
Responses
105
Enrollment
73%
Response Rate
Evaluation Scores
Overall quality
Teaching, content, and experience combined.
4.2
Intellectually stimulating
Challenges students to think deeply.
4.2
Instructor effectiveness
Explains concepts and facilitates learning.
4.5
Difficulty
Higher means harder.
3.0
Feedback Analysis
Feedback Analysishigh
Analysis based on student evaluations
Based on 229 comments across 3 sections
Feedback is mostly positive. The strongest signal is that discussion is a clear strength. Best for students who will actually talk in class instead of sitting silent.
Student Reports
How hard is the A?
A is doable but not automatic
The signal here is more do-the-work-and-you-should-be-fine than easy-A chatter. Students do not describe the A as automatic, but the evidence also does not paint grading as punishing.
Homework Load
Moderate homework load
Homework load looks moderate. The recurring signal is steady weekly work, but not a course that turns every assignment into a grind.
Lecture Load
Lighter lecture burden
Student comments describe this as more discussion-, seminar-, or workshop-driven than lecture-dependent. The lecture burden itself does not sound like the main source of friction.
Strengths
• Discussion is a clear strength; students repeatedly describe the class conversation as engaging and useful.
• Readings, films, or outside materials come up repeatedly as a real strength rather than filler.
Tradeoffs
• There is no single dominant complaint theme, but the feedback is not uniformly glowing either.
Best fit for
Best for students who will actually talk in class instead of sitting silent.
Student Responses
This course taught me a whole new way to consider structural inequality and systems in our country. I learned how to criticize philosophy, consider how systems benefit and hurt different identity groups, and how to understand my own place in our systems. This course was incredibly valuable to my ethical understanding in policy making.
Spring 2024 · Pearson, Jay
1. Empathy 2. Understanding of structural racism 3. Exposure to ideas about significant change in policy
Spring 2024 · Pearson, Jay
Emotional competence, identity setting and the mechanisms in which structural racism flourishes
Spring 2024 · Pearson, Jay
I have learned more about ability, race, privilege, class and systems.
Spring 2024 · Pearson, Jay
Understandings of intersectionality and how to engage on tough conversation topics
Spring 2024 · Pearson, Jay
Rating History
Rating history
Error bars show \u00B11 std dev
| Term | Instructor | Overall | Difficulty | Hrs/wk | Enrolled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall 2025 | Admay, Catherine 4.3Rate My ProfessorsQuality4.3Difficulty4.2Would retake100%Based on 14 ratingsClick to view on RMP → | — | — | 6.2 | 17 |
| Spring 2025 | Pearson, Jay 3.8Rate My ProfessorsQuality3.8Difficulty2.3Would retake63%Based on 8 ratingsClick to view on RMP → | 4.0 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 41 |
| Spring 2024 | Pearson, Jay 3.8Rate My ProfessorsQuality3.8Difficulty2.3Would retake63%Based on 8 ratingsClick to view on RMP → | 4.4 | 3.0 | — | 47 |
Instructor
Also teaches
PUBPOL-646S STRATEGIC STORYTELLING4.7PUBPOL-761 HUMAN RIGHTS AND CONFLICTPUBPOL-789 MINI-SEMINARS IN IDP4.1