Originally published on June 11, 2020
The Schar School of Policy and Government is offering a rare opportunity to sample a master’s level course in one of the most topical issues of the day: immigration.
The virtual event, Immigration Policy: The Big Questions, takes place Wednesday, June 24, at 4 p.m., and will be taught by Schar School professor and George Mason University 2020 Teaching Excellence Award winner, Justin Gest, who will share new research on the subject.
“The sample class offers a taste of a master’s education at the Schar School,” Gest said. “It will not only offer an example of how rich and interesting public policy can be, but also how rich and interesting it can be in an online class context.”
The “big questions” addressed in the class will include such hot button topics as how demographic and public policy changes in the U.S. and Europe will affect the world? Who should be permitted to legally immigrate and for what reasons? What qualifies immigrants for citizenship? The answers have lasting global implications.
The hour-long sample class, Gest said, is open to all prospective students and will be “particularly useful for people who are considering a master’s degree or graduate certificate program to accelerate their career development, to specialize their knowledge, to develop an expertise, or to explore a new subject matter.”
The class will review new findings from the world of public policy research—in this case, immigration policy, one of the world's most debated subject matters. “The material will be about something to which we can all relate and understand,” he said.
Gest is a noted and heavily cited expert on immigration policy. Since 2016 he has published three well-received books on immigration, including The New Minority: White Working Class Politics in an Age of Immigration and Inequality (Oxford University Press, 2016); The White Working Class: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press 2018); and Crossroads: Comparative Immigration Regimes in a World of Demographic Change (Cambridge University Press, 2018), co-authored with Anna Boucher.
“The research I will share in this class will place American immigration policy into global context,” said Gest. “When we do, it's clear that the United States is quite an exception—even before the Trump Administration ever took power. It will also reveal new techniques for analyzing policy.”
The sample class is free but registration is required.
For more virtual sample course and graduate program information session opportunities for prospective students, visit our admissions event page.
The Schar School of Policy and Government is offering a rare opportunity to sample a master’s level course in one of the most topical issues of the day: immigration. The virtual event, Immigration Policy: The Big Questions, takes place Wednesday, June 24, at 4 p.m., and will be taught by Schar School professor and George Mason University 2020 Teaching Excellence Award winner, Justin Gest, who will share new research on the subject.
Enjoy this preview of the class with Gest and Associate Professor Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera.