Civic Engagement through Differential Equations?

In a technological society such as ours, optimal allocations of limited resources frequently require a clear understanding of the sciences. However, policy makers often lack background in this area, and physics majors almost never get exposed to ideas that lie at the intersection of science and society, certainly not in a quantitative way. As a result, the latter show little interest in such issues. To address this problem, we have developed a short course titled \textit{Civic Engagement for Physicists}. A substantial part of the course is quantitative. For example, when covering issues connected to energy, a topic of major current interest, we use a differential equation from population dynamics to study predictions about when the peak in world oil production might occur, and what the true amount of world oil reserve might be. On the other hand, topics such as \textit{Characteristics of Science} and \textit{National Science Policy} are covered in a qualitative way. In this talk, I'll present details of both the quantitative and the qualitative areas covered by the course, as well as reaction of students.