Purposeful Advocacy: The Making of Monuments

Purposeful Advocacy provides a practitioner's insights regarding ongoing climate, conservation and resource debates, as well as other contemporary political events (e.g., Build Back Better, the Bipartisan Infrastructure deal implementation, the January 6 Commission, etc). This course does not teach how things are supposed to work - instead we provide a window into how things do (and don't) work in Washington. The lessons are drawn from personal experiences from the instructors two decades working in Washington as a Congressional Science Fellow, Congressional staffer, and lobbyist. We will review and analyze some historic advocacy campaigns and dissect others as they make the front page of the The Washington Post during the quarter. We evolve the syllabus to accommodate your interests and dynamic happenings in DC. Our sessions typically include a review of ongoing activities in the House and Senate and executive branch agencies (including topics well beyond the title of the course). We also invest time discussing how your internship and other coursework fits in the bigger DC ecosystem.