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Public Affairs

Course | PUBPOL 566

Community Economic Development

Explores the relationship between local community economic development, environmental sustainability, cultural vitality, and trend in regional and national economics, with specific focus on how to make community and economic investments that yield development outcomes that contribute to economic, equitable, environmental, and cultural vitality.

Course | PUBPOL 567

Community Engagement and Urban Governance

Investigates interactions between citizen participation and efforts to measure and improve policy and program performance in large cities. Develops analytic frameworks and practical strategies for sustaining and enhancing participation and performance.

Course | PUBPOL 570

Foundations of Social Policy

Examines major institutions and programs in social policy including: income maintenance, social services, education, and healthcare. Focuses on American social policy with some attention to comparative welfare state development. Includes extensive discussion of different policy strategies to address social policy problems.

News | February 1, 2024

History uncovered: UW research finds thousands of past racial restrictions in Kitsap

Reported in The Kitsap Sun By Peiyu Lin It’s not a secret that Kitsap County possesses a history of segregation, where some areas of the peninsula were only allowed to sell or rent to white people in the early and mid-20th century. But a specific geographic distribution of the over 2,300 properties that carry racial…


Course | PUBPOL 564

Housing and Social Policy

Provides an overview of the field of housing policy and its interrelationships with social problems in the United States. Explores various dimensions of housing problems with an emphasis on housing affordability and examines the primary policy tools used to respond to housing problems.

Scholar

Jacob L. Vigdor

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News | July 26, 2016

Jeff Shulman and the Seattle Growth Podcast: An Office Hours Visit

Jeff Shulman moved to Seattle a decade ago to begin his career at the University of Washington. In that short time, he’s watched Seattle’s dramatic and ongoing growth transform the city. This former South Lake Union resident has put together a thirteen-episode, in-depth look at how Seattle’s changes have affected real people. With nearly 100…


Scholar

Joaquín Herranz Jr.

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Scholar

Laura Evans

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News | July 3, 2016

Looking ahead to July, Recapping June

Looking forward into July – Unlikely Allies is coming to Seattle right after July 4th weekend. Impact Hub Seattle is hosting the Unlikely Allies: Future of Cities Festival in partnership with the Impact Hub Company – the organization that coordinates the network’s 89 locations worldwide. More than 200 delegates from 70 cities will be joining…


Scholar

Marcia Meyers

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News | February 1, 2024

New nonpartisan AI nonprofit TrueMedia, led by Oren Etzioni, is making a political deepfake detector

Published in GeekWire By Todd Bishop A new nonprofit, nonpartisan technology organization called TrueMedia is developing an AI-powered tool to detect deepfake videos, photos, and audio, aiming to combat political disinformation in the leadup to the 2024 elections. Founded and led by Oren Etzioni, University of Washington professor and former CEO of the Allen Institute…


News | April 7, 2016

One Year On, Seattle Explores Impact Of $15 Minimum Wage Law

NPR’s Ari Shapiro talks with University of Washington Professor Jacob Vigdor about the state of the minimum wage in Seattle, as California and New York move to lift their minimum wages to $15. ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: Now, let’s dig deeper into what has happened in Seattle, one of the first big cities to pass that…


Course | PUBPOL 576

Poverty and Anti-Poverty in the United States

Examines the nature and extent of poverty in the United States, its causes and consequences, and the antipoverty effects of public policies.

Course | PUBPOL 572

Race and Equity in Policy and Governance

An introduction for understanding race and equity in policy and governance. Power, privilege, and disadvantage are distributed based on race, skin color, and ethnicity. Develop the ability to identify and critique racist or racialized policies and management practices; examine your own experience of race, privilege, and oppression; and learn to use tools for increasing racial equity and inclusion in public, nonprofit, and private sectors.

Scholar

Rachel Fyall

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News | December 20, 2016

Reflections on Urban Environmental Justice in a Time of Climate Change

On November 7th and 8th Urban@UW, in collaboration with the University of Washington’s Climate Impacts Group (CIG), hosted a symposium to begin transdisciplinary conversation on the multifaceted dynamics and consequences of Urban Environmental Justice in a Time of Climate Change (UEJ). Below are some reflections from this event, and a sample of the resources we’ll…


Scholar

Robert Plotnick

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Scholar

Sara Curran

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Scholar

Scott W. Allard

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News | May 21, 2016

Seismic Neglect: Buildings and Earthquakes

Seismic Neglect | In the first part of a continuing series, The Seattle Times examined officials’ neglect of the most vulnerable kind of building: old, brick structures called unreinforced masonry. Here are answers to some common questions about those buildings. The Northwest is threatened by earthquakes far more destructive than anything Washington state has experienced…


News | February 1, 2024

Should social media pay for addicting kids? Seattle schools lawsuit gains steam

Reported by KUOW Written by Sami West A year into Seattle Public Schools’ lawsuit against social media companies, the case is gaining traction. More than 50 school districts in Washington state — and dozens more across the country — have joined Seattle’s lawsuit. Seattle became the first district to sue social media platforms last January,…


Scholar

Stephen Page

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Course | PUBPOL 565

Topics in Urban Affairs

Examines various topics of public importance in urban policy. Integrates the political, managerial, economic, and technical dimensions of these issues.

News | February 16, 2024

Transit workers fight drugs on buses and trains

Written by Joseph Gallivan for Axios Oregon Transit companies are pushing to make it a Class A misdemeanor to use drugs on buses and trains in Oregon. TriMet, the Oregon Transit Association, and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757 testified yesterday to support amending Senate Bill 1553. The amendment would add the use of illicit drugs…


News | January 31, 2018

Urban Scholar Highlight: Rachel Fyall

Rachel Fyall is an Assistant Professor in the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, and the Faculty Chair of Urban@UW’s Homelessness Research Initiative. We sat down with her last quarter to discuss her work. What you do at the UW and what led you to your current research interests? The main thing I study…


News | August 28, 2017

Urban Scholar Highlight: Scott Allard

Scott W. Allard is a Professor of Public Affairs at the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. Allard is also on the executive committee of the West Coast Poverty Center and Urban@UW, and an affiliate of the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology. We sat down with him to discuss his work at…