Do you have a desire to help people? Are you curious about societal structures and how they impact everyday life? If this sounds like you, pursuing a program of study in public affairs may be a good fit for you! As a multidisciplinary field, public affairs is broad-reaching and uses strategies and principles from multiple academic areas. It encompasses a range of career options, from City Manager to Chief of Staff for a State Legislator to a Human Rights Officer and many more.
Read on to learn more about the different public affairs programs offered at UW-Green Bay and what you can do with them. Hint: many of our students double or even triple major since the programs mentioned below are so connected, it’s usually only a few more credits to add another major!
Political Science
Political science is the study of government institutions and political processes – from trying to understand why individuals make certain political choices to why countries go to war. Students dive into issue areas like foreign policy, immigration and environmental policy, just to name a few.
Here in Northeast Wisconsin, we are in a unique situation – being located in a battle ground area within a battleground state – which means our area gets a lot of political attention. Our students have been able to directly observe politics, get involved with important political campaigns and meet political figures. In recent years, the UW-Green Bay campus has hosted several political events including a campaign event at the Kress Events Center for Bernie Sanders and a town hall event at the Weidner Center for Donald Trump. Students receive several opportunities to learn directly from experts, whether it’s from a current state assembly member giving a guest lecture in class to an internship with a local law firm or political campaign. We value hands-on learning experiences and students may be able to participate in in-class simulations, like the model UN simulation, and conduct public opinion research.
Graduates from this program have gone onto law school or to work for government agencies at the state and federal level. Examples include the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Agency and Wisconsin State Public Defenders Office.
Public Administration
If you’ve ever helped in your community, wanted to make a difference or thought about working to make a city better, a degree in Public Administration might be a great fit for you. As a public administration major, you’ll develop skills to create and implement public policy as a leader or manager in government and nonprofit organizations. UW-Green Bay offers two emphases within the bachelor’s degree program: Public and Nonprofit Management or Emergency Management. We also offer a Master of Public Administration graduate degree, and an accelerated option to complete both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in five and a half years. If you’re looking for flexibility, the bachelor’s degree in public administration can be competed fully online.
Given that a large part of the public administration major is about community, students at UW-Green Bay are provided with hands-on experiences outside of the classroom to broaden their knowledge, explore career options and gain valuable real-world experience. Students participate in community projects, simulations, research opportunities and many complete an internship to round out their educational experience. You will learn practical skills that can be applied to any career in the public or nonprofit sectors. The career options are vast and include Volunteer Coordinator, City Manager, Nonprofit Director, City Planner, State Legislator, Emergency Management Director or Law Enforcement.
Sociology & Anthropology
As the only program/dual major of its kind available in the state of Wisconsin, UW-Green Bay is proud to offer this new, forward-looking program to students. If you love observing people and have a natural curiosity about others, Sociology & Anthropology might be a good fit for you. In this program, you’ll learn about people on a micro and macro level, how change impacts society and social and cultural issues like race, class, culture, crime, etc. Everything you see around you is a topic of study in class. As a sociology & anthropology student you’ll be on the forefront of studying recent topics of change such as the war in Ukraine and COVID-19.
By studying people, culture and society you gain insight into social behavior and you can analyze intersections of power, making your job options almost endless. Career options include Museum Curator, Human Rights Officer, Counselor, Victim Advocate, Social Worker, Urban Planner and so many more – the possibilities are limited mostly by your imagination.
Criminal Justice Minor
If you’re dedicated to seeking equity and justice, the Criminal Justice minor is a great option to add to your major (no matter what that is!). From law enforcement to corrections, students explore and critically analyze issues from multiple perspectives. You will learn about criminal justice systems, processes and policies and how the law often falls short of equal justice for all. This contemporary minor will empower you to make effective change.
We mentioned it at the very beginning, but wanted to emphasize the fact that many of our students who are pursuing one of the programs mentioned above also pursue a second major or minor. Additional majors or minors often complement one another and makes students stronger candidates for job opportunities or graduate programs. Many of the courses for Public Administration, Political Science, Environmental Policy & Planning, Criminal Justice and Sociology & Anthropology overlap. That’s why you’ll see a lot of our current students declared in several areas of study, such as a Public Administration and Political Science double major with minors in Criminal Justice and Environmental Policy & Planning.
Are you interested in pursuing one of the degrees mentioned above? Reach out to us at uwgb@uwgb.edu or 920-465-2111 and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you have or set up a meeting with a professor in your area of interest. You can also watch an informational session about these programs on our YouTube channel.