Paul Gary Wyckoff (Ph.D., University of Michigan) is a professor of government and the director of the Public Policy Program at Hamilton. An economist by training, Wyckoff's current research focuses on the empirical foundations of public sector decision-making. He is the author of Policy and Evidence in a Partisan Age: The Great Disconnect, published by the Urban Institute Press. [view introduction] He is working on a book manuscript titled Radical Empiricism, which highlights personal, business, and public policies that conflict with the beset available evidence. Wyckoff's teaching duties include Data Analysis (Government 230), Introduction to Public Policy (Public Policy 251), Topics in Public Policy (Public Policy 382), and Senior Project (Public Policy 500 and 501). Wyckoff also serves as executive editor of Insights, Hamilton's undergraduate social science journal.
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The public policy concentration provides students the opportunity to connect abstract and theoretical knowledge with concrete, real-world problems, bridging the gap between the classroom and the "real" world. Each year, students take on a crucial policy issue and together design a reform plan. For example, students responded to a court order that found New York State's system for financing public education unconstitutional. Hamilton students redesigned the system to provide greater educational resources for poor students across the state.
Many public policy students take part in the College's Term in Washington Program or Program in New York City. The Term in Washington is an integrated semester of coursework, debate and discussion during which students serve internships in a variety of congressional, executive and nongovernmental offices. The Program in New York City allows students to take a semester-long integrated course of study while living in Manhattan. Study includes a seminar, a topics and issues course, an independent research project and an internship in a firm or organization with a global reach.
From namesake Alexander Hamilton forward, the College has established a rich legacy of distinguished public service. Graduates include statesman and Nobel laureate Elihu Root, ambassador and presidential advisor Sol Linowitz, ambassador Edward S. "Ned" Walker Jr., governors, legislators, and many others. The public policy program and the Government Department sustain and nurture this tradition through courses, special programs and student-faculty interaction focused on political actions, values and institutions.
The public policy concentration provides students the opportunity to connect abstract and theoretical knowledge with concrete, real-world problems, bridging the gap between the classroom and the "real" world. Each year, students take on a crucial policy issue and together design a reform plan. For example, students responded to a court order that found New York State's system for financing public education unconstitutional. Hamilton students redesigned the system to provide greater educational resources for poor students across the state.
Many public policy students take part in the College's Term in Washington Program or Program in New York City. The Term in Washington is an integrated semester of coursework, debate and discussion during which students serve internships in a variety of congressional, executive and nongovernmental offices. The Program in New York City allows students to take a semester-long integrated course of study while living in Manhattan. Study includes a seminar, a topics and issues course, an independent research project and an internship in a firm or organization with a global reach.
From namesake Alexander Hamilton forward, the College has established a rich legacy of distinguished public service. Graduates include statesman and Nobel laureate Elihu Root, ambassador and presidential advisor Sol Linowitz, ambassador Edward S. "Ned" Walker Jr., governors, legislators, and many others. The public policy program and the Government Department sustain and nurture this tradition through courses, special programs and student-faculty interaction focused on political actions, values and institutions.
The public policy concentration provides students the opportunity to connect abstract and theoretical knowledge with concrete, real-world problems, bridging the gap between the classroom and the "real" world. Each year, students take on a crucial policy issue and together design a reform plan. For example, students responded to a court order that found New York State's system for financing public education unconstitutional. Hamilton students redesigned the system to provide greater educational resources for poor students across the state.
Many public policy students take part in the College's Term in Washington Program or Program in New York City. The Term in Washington is an integrated semester of coursework, debate and discussion during which students serve internships in a variety of congressional, executive and nongovernmental offices. The Program in New York City allows students to take a semester-long integrated course of study while living in Manhattan. Study includes a seminar, a topics and issues course, an independent research project and an internship in a firm or organization with a global reach.
From namesake Alexander Hamilton forward, the College has established a rich legacy of distinguished public service. Graduates include statesman and Nobel laureate Elihu Root, ambassador and presidential advisor Sol Linowitz, ambassador Edward S. "Ned" Walker Jr., governors, legislators, and many others. The public policy program and the Government Department sustain and nurture this tradition through courses, special programs and student-faculty interaction focused on political actions, values and institutions.
