Mind the Gap: Gender, Race, Religion and Public Service

Description

"Mind the gap!" Should be the alert announced while working in public service. Too often we develop policies, programs, or management styles that actually increase the social divides in service delivery because we ignore cultural attributes of gender, race, and religion. Alternatively, we may possess the knowledge but lack the action to bridge the gap. Our course will investigate the nature and paradox of how public administration as a field of study may have contributed to this schism along with how the popular practices of public servants may perpetuate the divide. Readings, seminar, lectures, workshops, videos, and assignments will focus on actual cases in public service. The key learning objective for this course is to see how and why the discipline and practice of public administration is both a site of struggle and emancipation for academics, workers, and service recipients.

• Stivers, C. (2002). Gender Images in Public Administration: Legitimacy and the Administrative State. 2nd Edition. Sage Publications. ISBN: 978-0761921745  
  
• Wuthnow, R. (2006). Saving America?: Faith-Based Services and the Future of Civil Society. Princeton University Press. ISBN: 978-0691126289    
  
• Yanow, D. (2002). Constructing "Race" and "Ethnicity" in America: Category-Making in Public Policy and Administration. Sharpe. ISBN: 978-0765608017