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This article discusses the reasons and teaching objectives of an array of new undergraduate courses on public administration and public policy management which have emerged recently in Brazil. While in 2001 there were only two undergraduate courses teaching formal public administration in the country, by 2015, they had risen to 40, and also included more diverse but related courses, such as public policy management, public management, public policy, and other similar ones. If one adds to this figure, distance education, and technological undergraduate courses, the total courses in these areas in Brazil amount to approximately 130 and an estimate of 25,600 students' enrolments. All these courses are understood as belonging to the same field of knowledge, a statement made public by a national movement of professors, course coordinators, and students that stated the specificities and identity of this field of knowledge. This group became known as "The Public Field" movement, declaring the need for training students and future practitioners or academics within courses that are concerned with the public interest and democratic, and ethical governments. The discussion in the article focuses on two main aspects. First, the institutional and political reasons that opened a "window of opportunity" for these courses to emerge in Brazil. Second, the pedagogical objectives of these courses are discussed, and two experiences of innovative teaching in two Brazilian universities are presented as an example of the training objectives these courses are trying to achieve.

Contemporary public management in Brazil is undergoing a great deal of transformation. From the year 2008 the Brazilian Federal government has been investing in policies and planned actions that aim to expand access to Higher Education. This paradigm shift was possible through the understanding that the agenda of public problems required trained professionals with appropriate skills, able to propose plans, programs and elaborate projects, fostering the evolution and consolidation of Brazilian democracy. The changes in contemporary Brazilian public management have permitted the debate amongst researchers in the Higher Education sphere, evolving to what is conventionally known as the Public Field. This field integrates views that deal with contemporary processes that aim to change public management either at the state or non-state level, in its various dimensions, seeking to innovate teaching and research in the area of public policy. This article aims to reflect on the specific academic issues related to Public Field Education in Brazil. It also aims to promote an epistemological understanding related to the intellectual diversity present in this area. It considers the assumption that a multidisciplinary approach, characteristic of field courses, generates new experiences and knowledge, making a difference in the formation toward a critical view of reality in which the students are part. In order to conduct the research, a comparative analysis of experiences developed in recent years was proposed. It is seen that the curricula must converge, aiming to educate the manager who understands this phenomenon and the needs of contemporary society, who is able to recognize and work with the rights of citizens, as well as be present in the relations between state and society, with responsibilities of integrating public policy programs, optimizing the use of public resources, being able to redesign programs and projects in order to monitor and evaluate public policies.