LPPS 4230

Honestly, this class was a huge waste of time and very unorganized. She is very specific about what she wants in the papers in terms of her grading but doesn't make that clear in the instructions. This class could be really powerful and informational and instead, it was just redundant and painted a narrow scope of the problem. As a policy class, we should be focusing on solutions to problems not just continuously stating that there is one, and as a policy teacher she should help in crafting ideas instead of shooting them down. I often found that in a class where she emphasized discussion she overpowered students' voices and dominated discussions 80% of the time. She is very nice and knowledgeable but she doesn't translate that in the classroom very well. It's a relatively low time commitment class but if you are hoping to gain something meaningful I would look elsewhere.

I would definitely recommend this class! It is helpful if you have taken a Batten class before (because the paper structure is the same), but I don't think it is necessary. There are 4 papers and they all follow the same topic that you choose about a mental health issue in a certain population in the U.S. (ex: eating disorders in young women, depression in incarcerated youth, etc.). The first paper identifies/describes the issue, the second one discusses past/current legislation addressing the issue, the third paper is a policy recommendation, and the fourth is an advocacy strategy to get your policy implemented. Professor Lehmann can sometimes be a harsh grader if you are not specific or detailed enough, but she holds office hours very frequently and gives very constructive advice. She is also super fun to talk to, and has tons of experience in mental health policy (both past and present), so I would definitely recommend talking to her about her work!! The lectures are super interesting, and she adjusts her lectures so she can teach topics that people are interested in. There are some readings, but you aren't tested on them or anything and so they're more of a helpful guide for the discussions. #tCFspring2021