Jennifer Dodge
BA, sociology, Skidmore College
M.Phil., public administration, The Wagner School at New York University
PhD, public administration, The Wagner School at New York University
Specialization: Nonprofit Organizations and Policy Advocacy, Democratic Governance, Environmental Policy and Policy Conflict
Jennifer Dodge is an Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy and Affiliated Faculty in the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Department, University at Albany—SUNY. Dr. Dodge's research focuses on the interpretation of policy conflict, primarily in the environmental field. The main research question that animate her work is: How does policy conflict affect decision making and policy formulation? At the heart of her research is a commitment to understanding what it takes for contending parties – whether individuals, organizations or coalitions – to engage in productive conversations to create more just and sustainable policy. Dr. Dodge’s research shows that conflict can be productive by supporting public reflection on policy problems and solutions, particularly related to social inequities.
Dr. Dodge has researched the role of nonprofit organizations in public deliberation, policy advocacy, citizen participation and democratic governance; environmental policy and politics, especially the politics of hydraulic fracturing and environmental justice; and the application of qualitative research methods to the study of public administration and policy. Dr. Dodge has published articles in Environmental Communication, Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, Policy Studies, Policy Sciences, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Voluntas, Policy & Society, Public Administration Review, Journal of Public Administration Research & Theory, Critical Policy Studies, and in two edited volumes: The Oxford Handbook of Sociology, Social Theory and Organization Studies: Contemporary Currents, and the Handbook of Action Research. She presents her work at the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA), International Public Policy Association conference (IPPA), Public Management Research Conference (PMRC), the American Political Science Association (ASPA), and the international Interpretive Policy Analysis Conference (IPA).
Dr. Dodge is currently Co-Editor of Critical Policy Studies. Previously, she served as a member of the Leadership Collective of the Community and Grassroots Associations section of ARNOVA, conducted policy research at MDRC, and partnered with various organizations to support nonprofit and public leadership including the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, the US State Department, and the NYC Research and Organizing Initiative. Dr. Dodge has won, the Sam Overman Best Paper Award from the Complexity and Network Studies Section of the American Society for Public Administration, and from the American Political Science Association both the Paul A. Volcker Junior Scholar Research Grant Award and the Hayward Alker Paper Award.
Dr. Dodge earned a BA in sociology from Skidmore College, and an M.Phil. and PhD in public administration from The Wagner School at New York University.
Professor Dodge teaches the following courses:
PAD/POS 140: Introduction to Public Policy
PAD/POS 397: Experiential and Service Learning
PAD 500 – Institutional Foundations of Public Administration
PAD/POS 604 – Inequality and Public Policy
PAD 616 – Public Policy, Advocacy and Social Change (formerly: Nonprofits and Social Transformation)
PAD 726: Advanced Qualitative Analysis