As you return to campus, I wish to share with you the many opportunities Rice University’s Baker Institute offers to become involved in the world of public policy, which directly affects your life in important ways, both now and when you leave Rice to pursue your career.
What does the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy have to offer Rice students? More than you would think. True, we don't grant degrees. Our focus is on high-quality public policy research aimed at informing our national debate on major domestic and international issues. The institute is a think-tank, yes. But we're a lot more. That's because education is also a core part of our mission. Our fellows and scholars teach classes in a variety of disciplines. Just last spring, for instance, I taught a class on the contemporary Middle East (POST 455). It was an experience, let me add, that reminded me how smart Rice students are and how hard their professors must work to stay one step ahead of them. This semester, institute fellows will be teaching or co-teaching courses in economics (ECON 437, 481, and 516), sociology (SOCI 314) and history (HIST 291, 352 and 425).
