“Don’t Talk to Anyone,Don’t Touch Anyone”: Teaching Public Trust in the MPA Classroom Using a Simulation Based on the Film Contagion

Abstract

Public trust is essential to effective governance, particularly during crises when uncertainty and fear create public doubt about government interventions. Teaching amorphous concepts such as public trust in the classroom necessitates dynamic strategies to mirror such uncertainty. Active learning strategies, such as simulations bolstered by pop culture, can bring complex concepts to light in a more accessible way. This pedagogical practice article offers a simulation-based exercise using the film Contagion to teach public trust in MPA classrooms. In an era when confidence in government is waning and public service is being further hollowed out, educators need creative, accessible ways to impart challenging concepts, making students think through connecting theory, practice, and implications for management education.