Policy School

School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs

The Dukakis Center served as a key inspiration and model for the new School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs. The idea of the School originated in a conversation between Barry Bluestone and Richard Freeland, then-President of Northeastern University. They discussed how to expand to a larger scale, the model of engaged, public problem-solving demonstrated by the Dukakis Center and other key centers in the university.

The answer was to develop a School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs whose mission would be to support, facilitate, and galvanize faculty, staff, and students within the social sciences to engage in collaborative research and generation of solutions to public problems, particularly those facing urban communities.

Under the leadership of Barry Bluestone, as Dean, and Chris Bosso, Associate Dean, a team of faculty members and department chairs developed the plan for the School. After reviewing models of other schools focused on social sciences, urban affairs, and public policy, the team developed a model in which the School would include all of the existing social science departments and research centers. These include:

Departments

African American Studies

Economics

History

International Affairs

Law, Policy, & Society

Political Science

Sociology/Anthropology

Centers in the Policy School

Center for Labor Market Studies

Brudnick Center on Violence and Conflict

Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy

0ther Urban and/or Policy-oriented Centers
at Northeastern

Domestic Violence Institute

First Amendment Center

Institute on Race and Justice

Institute on Urban Health Research