Becoming a professional (doctor, accountant, lawyer, engineer, nurse, etc.) remains a coveted goal for many young adults and their parents. But what is a profession, and what do these disparate groups have in common? This course lays the groundwork for understanding how the “professional projects” define professions, limit entry, create internal inequalities and try to maintain their prestige. The role of policy is key to our understanding of the professions, and we will focus on the role of policies in the creation of professions, in the substance of professional work such as ethics, autonomy and commercialism, and on the role of policies in addressing social concerns of inequality and diversity in the professions.