Overview
The topic of your policy analysis is up to you, as long as it relates to urban sociology. In your analysis, discuss one an area of law or policy that is important for urban spaces, economies politics, and communities. For instance, you could write about the Fair Housing Act, or a bill currently before the U.S. Congress, a Supreme Court case, or you could write generally about an area of policy such as welfare policy, or landlord/tenant laws. How does this example of law or policy affect city life, or specific communities in urban spaces? What critiques or observations do you have about this law or policy? (For instance, how does this law or area of law reflect social inequality?) If you were meeting with policymakers and recommending reforms to this area of law (or if you ran for office ourself), what changes would you want to make, in the interests of improving urban society, and why? Respond to each of these questions in your analysis. You are not required to integrate and cite specific materials from the class, but will likely find it helpful in supporting your discussion. You must, however, incorporate at least one academic source, whether from our course materials, or from your own learning. Academic sources include articles, books, or reports produced by one or more scholars. They do not include news or magazine articles, blogs, social media, or other popular websites.
Your policy analysis should be a minimum of 800 words (no maximum). See the assignment guidelines for formatting instructions.
For written assignments, please use double-spacing, 12-point font, and insert page numbers. When citing materials, you may use any academic citation style (e.g. APA, MLA, ASA), as long as you use it consistently and cite all materials used. When formatting citations, you may use footnotes, endnotes, or a bibliography, as you prefer. Uploads may be in PDF or Word only. Canvas will not open documents uploaded in Pages, or other alternate word processing software.
Important: No assignments have “hidden” or unstated requirements not indicated explicitly in the syllabus, or in the assignment in Canvas. There are no requirements regarding writing style or tone, and no formatting requirements besides those listed in this syllabus. Grammar and writing skill are not part of the grading criterion, although proofreading is recommended, and your ISA may provide you with feedback about ways to improve your writing skills.