Call Number | 15675 |
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Day & Time Location |
T 1:00pm-3:50pm 1102 ROSENFIELD B |
Points | 3 |
Grading Mode | Standard |
Approvals Required | None |
Instructor | Darby W Jack |
Type | LECTURE |
Method of Instruction | In-Person |
Course Description | How should society regulate environmental health risks? Some argue that the health of the citizenry is paramount, and that the role of government should be to protect against any possibility of harm. Others back an approach based on a full accounting of the benefits and costs of environmental protection. And in the current political environment, ideological positions sometimes eclipse analysis. These debates occur against a backdrop of uncertainty about the health risks posed by specific environmental insults. In spite of all this ambiguity and complexity, policy happens: congress makes laws, regulatory agencies enforce the law, and most polluters comply. In this class we will study several frameworks for thinking about these questions. Environmental economics, in the form of benefit-cost analyses, is the primary framing used by the US Federal Government. We will explore its conceptual foundations and its applications in the US regulatory context. In our discussions of the sociology of science perspective, we will examine how environmental health scientists interact with the policy process, and think through how such interactions might be improved. The third perspective is decision theory, and in particular, choice under uncertainty. We will consider the basic analytics of expected value, and some permutations and applications that are germane to the environmental health policy domain. In addition to these conceptual frameworks, we will analyze and interpret cases drawn from recent experiences with environmental health regulation in the United States. This course is designed to introduce Mailman students to core frameworks for thinking about environmental health policy. The course is open to all students. |
Web Site | Vergil |
Department | Environmental Health Sciences |
Enrollment | 10 students (35 max) as of 9:06AM Saturday, December 14, 2024 |
Subject | Environmental Health Sciences |
Number | P8317 |
Section | 001 |
Division | School of Public Health |
Open To | GSAS, Public Health |
Section key | 20243EHSC8317P001 |