Wioletta Dziuda Named Faculty Director of Public Policy Studies Undergraduate Program

CHICAGO – The University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy has appointed Wioletta Dziuda, Associate Professor at Harris Public Policy, as Faculty Director for the Public Policy Studies undergraduate program at the University of Chicago. Professor Dziuda is taking over leadership of the program from Professor Anthony Fowler, who directed the program for the past three years.

Public Policy Studies, one of UChicago’s most popular majors in recent years, is a multidisciplinary major grounded in the social sciences, with substantial inputs from economics, sociology, political science, and law, among other disciplines. The major recognizes that public issues are not neatly contained within traditional disciplinary boundaries and that analysts possessing a broad range of social scientific understanding, quantitative expertise, and communication skills are well placed to contribute to improved public policies.

“The Public Policy Studies program for undergraduate students at the University of Chicago is not only popular, but vitally important for training the next generation of policy leaders,” said Dziuda. “I am excited to work with Jim Leitzel, the program’s executive director, and the rest of the Public Policy Studies team, to guide the program and continue to deliver a superior educational experience for our students.”

“The Harris School of Public Policy and the College are committed to ensuring that public policy education here at UChicago is integrated, analytical, and focused on providing an impact – and Professor Dziuda is superbly qualified to serve as the Faculty Director,” said Ryan Kellogg, Harris professor who serves as Deputy Dean for Academic Programs. “I also want to thank Professor Anthony Fowler for his exemplary work building this partnership between the College and Harris for the past three years.”

Dziuda’s academic interests lie mainly in applied game theory, political economy, and the economics of information, and her current research focuses on analyzing how legislative bargaining affects the nature and the efficiency of policies. In addition to her academic work, she is also the cohost of Not Another Politics Podcast, a podcast begun earlier this year which provides a fresh perspective on the biggest political stories by focusing on research and data, rather than pundits and politicians.

Core courses within the Public Policy Studies major provide an introduction to the policy world through the lens of political economy, economics, data analysis, and implementation, while the practicum provides a hands-on approach as students learn various research methods to solve real-world problems for clients in community-based organizations and government agencies. Specialization courses allow students to build on the policy core and practicum with an area of concentration that typically forms the foundation of study for the Public Policy BA thesis.

Interested in the Public Policy Studies major? Learn more.