The Studio Approach in Public Administration Teaching: Bringing Coherence and Practice Into the Curriculum

Designers of public administration and public affairs curricula face the challenge of incorporating various disciplinary perspectives into a coherent curriculum that is academically challenging as well as oriented towards real-world administrative and political challenges. This article describes and analyzes the redesign of a Bachelor of Public Administration (BPA) program at Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The curriculum, which was first implemented in the academic year 2007–2008, features a sequential program of modules that are integrated through overarching studio modules. The theoretical and pedagogical backgrounds of the curriculum are explained and the authors reflect on the design requirements, implementation issues, and impact of the curriculum.