News & Stories

All Feature Stories Research News & Awards Newsmakers Q&A Community Profiles

Zika Virus Alerts May Have Prompted Uptick in Abortion Requests in Latin America June 23, 2016

Zika Virus Alerts May Have Prompted Uptick in Abortion Requests in Latin America

Pregnant women in Latin American countries were more likely to seek an abortion after receiving health alerts about Zika virus, according to a study co-authored by Princeton University researchers and published in the New England Journal of Medicine.The researchers analyzed data from Women on Web — an online portal that pairs patients with doctors able to prescribe abortion pills — and found that many Latin American women using the site reported Zika as their reason for seeking an abortion. The mosquito-borne virus is associated with microcephaly, a congenital condition that causes babies to be born with abnormally small heads. The researchers found a…

SINSI Spotlight: Wagner Carries Lessons From the Middle East to the United Nations June 20, 2016

SINSI Spotlight: Wagner Carries Lessons From the Middle East to the United Nations

During his studies at Princeton University, Will Wagner '12 MPA '14 traded his backpack for a briefcase, stepping outside his Master in Public Affairs (MPA) classroom studies at Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, to dive deeper into the intense world of international studies. He spent the first year of this immersion with the State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, followed by a second year as a fellow in the Political Section of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations (USUN) in New York.Wagner was able to pursue this two-year experience thanks to the Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative (SINSI) at…

Wilson School Hosts Summer Policy Academy for Students from Pueblo and Navajo Nations June 15, 2016

Wilson School Hosts Summer Policy Academy for Students from Pueblo and Navajo Nations

Eighteen high school students from 16 Pueblo Nations in New Mexico and two students from the Navajo Nation in Arizona are visiting the Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs this week as part of the Santa Fe Indian School Leadership Institute’s Summer Policy Academy (SPA). The academy brings together American Indian rising juniors, seniors and recent high school graduates to the Wilson School for a weeklong program to explore issues facing American Indian communities. Hosted every year since 2008, SPA was co-founded and is co-directed by Regis Pecos ’77, former chief of staff to the speaker of the New Mexico House of…

Youth With Parents and Household Members in Prison More Likely to Have First Baby Before Marriage June 13, 2016

Youth With Parents and Household Members in Prison More Likely to Have First Baby Before Marriage

As incarceration rates have increased in the United States, so has the likelihood that children will endure the imprisonment of a parent — especially among the most disadvantaged populations. But how does the imprisonment of parents and other household members influence a child or adolescent’s future?A Princeton University study finds youth who are between ages 10 and 14 when a household member goes to prison are at a 41 percent greater risk for giving birth to their first child before marriage. This risk is especially pronounced when the father or an extended household member who is not a parent — such as a cousin, aunt, uncle or friend — is…

Achen Challenges Popular Conceptions of American Democracy June 06, 2016

Achen Challenges Popular Conceptions of American Democracy

While on a fellowship at Princeton in the early 2000s, Christopher Achen wandered into a bookstore across from campus. On the front table he spotted two books about shark attacks along the New Jersey coast that killed four people over 12 days and sparked a panic in 1916. Those books gave Achen an idea, a way to test a theory he and colleague Larry Bartels had been batting around as part of a broader conversation about the way American democracy does — and doesn't — work. The theory in question: American voters often blame incumbents for things the officeholders can't control. So, did the shark attacks cost incumbent President Woodrow Wilson votes in…

The Rise of Intimate Partner Violence During the Great Recession June 06, 2016

The Rise of Intimate Partner Violence During the Great Recession

Financial strain has long been one of the leading causes of family discord, but a recent study suggests that simply living through major economic recessions increases a mother’s chance of suffering from domestic violence.Researchers from Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Berkeley, investigated the impact of economic distress on romantic relationships, demonstrating unexpected side effects of economic downturns.The study, published in Demography, carefully examined whether personal economic distress and high unemployment rates would increase a mother’s chances of being in a violent or controlling…

The Wilson School Congratulates the GREAT Class of 2016 June 01, 2016

The Wilson School Congratulates the GREAT Class of 2016

The Woodrow Wilson School awarded 83 graduate students and 144 undergraduate students with degrees at its May 31 Commencement and through the 2015-16 academic year.The Wilson School congratulates the five Ph.D. students, 60 Master in Public Affairs (MPA) students and 18 Master in Public Policy (MPP) students who graduated. Both graduate and undergraduate students were recognized through prestigious awards. They are as follows.GRADUATE AWARDS & DISTINCTIONHigh DistinctionWylie Timmerman (Field III) received high distinction on the second-year qualifying exam.DistinctionThe following students achieved distinction in their second-year qualifying…

WWS Reacts: How Will Funding Help in the Fight Against Zika? May 26, 2016

WWS Reacts: How Will Funding Help in the Fight Against Zika?

The Senate voted last week to advance $1.1 billion in emergency funding to help fight the spread of Zika, a mosquito-borne virus that is particularly harmful to pregnant women. The sum, which will likely be used for vaccine development and mosquito control, comes short of the $1.9 billion originally requested by the White House. Critics say the $1.1 billion may not be enough to control the virus from spreading. At this point in time, several hundred cases of Zika have been identified in the United States, many of whom are pregnant women. The virus has been linked to microcephaly, a congenital condition causing babies to be born with abnormally small…

Addressing Economic Hardships in Rural America Could Help Control Drug Epidemic, Wailoo Tells Congress May 23, 2016

Addressing Economic Hardships in Rural America Could Help Control Drug Epidemic, Wailoo Tells Congress

America’s drug epidemic could be better controlled by addressing the economic hardships facing rural America, Princeton University’s Keith Wailoo said at a recent Congressional briefing. The country must also consider how best to treat those suffering from chronic pain.The briefing—held May 9 by the National History Center of the American Historical Association (AHA)—coincided with voting on 18 bills aimed at the rampant opioid addiction problem sweeping the country. The briefing focused on American drug policy and drug addiction epidemics in a historical perspective.Wailoo, the Townsend Martin Professor of History and Public Affairs at Princeton’s…

WWS Reacts: Brazil’s President Was Impeached. Now What? May 18, 2016

WWS Reacts: Brazil’s President Was Impeached. Now What?

Brazil’s Senate voted last week to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, a move that suspends the president for 180 days. Rousseff, who is accused of using public bank money to cover budget gaps, now faces an impeachment trial. The suspended president is calling the situation a “coup d’etat” and maintains she didn’t act criminally regarding budgetary affairs. The impeachment raises significant questions for Brazil’s economic and political future. We discussed these issues and how they will affect Brazil going forward with John Londregan, professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and…

SINSI Spotlight: A Passion for the Health and Well-Being of Others May 18, 2016

SINSI Spotlight: A Passion for the Health and Well-Being of Others

Concern for the health and well-being of others has long been a driving force for Marlise Pierre-Wright ’12, MPA ’16. As a Princeton University undergraduate student, this passion led her to assume several leadership roles on campus, including serving as a Healthy Minds peer advisor and a member of the Student Health Advisory Board.Pierre-Wright’s desire to serve others also led her to apply to the Scholars in the Nations’ Service Initiative (SINSI), a program sponsored by Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.Established in 2006, SINSI is designed to encourage, support and prepare exceptional students for careers in…

In the Nation’s Defense: SINSI Scholar Kevin McGinnis Shapes National Security Policy May 11, 2016

In the Nation’s Defense: SINSI Scholar Kevin McGinnis Shapes National Security Policy

Growing up, Kevin McGinnis ’11, MPA ’15, never imagined he’d someday be advising the U.S. Secretary of Defense on national security policy and overseas military basing. Hailing from the eastern shore of Maryland, an area facing many ecological and economic challenges, McGinnis originally thought he’d end up in environmental policy and sustainable water resources management, a major focus of his high school years. As an undergraduate at Princeton University, McGinnis majored in the Woodrow Wilson School and earned certificates in environmental studies, Latin American studies and Spanish language. He also joined Engineers Without Borders as part of a…

Students in Policy Task Force Study Migrant Crisis in Europe May 04, 2016

Students in Policy Task Force Study Migrant Crisis in Europe

Every year citizens flee their homelands to escape political instability, violent conflicts, environmental degradation and grinding poverty. In 2015 alone, roughly 1 million migrants sought a more secure future within the European Union (EU). Over the past few months, students in a Princeton University undergraduate policy task force have been studying the challenges EU leaders face in dealing with the migrant influx — and developing potential solutions.The task force represents the most distinctive feature of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs’ undergraduate program and is different from a course, seminar or independent…

As Global Temperatures Rise, Children Must Be Central to Climate Change Debates May 04, 2016

As Global Temperatures Rise, Children Must Be Central to Climate Change Debates

Forecasts suggest that by 2050, the world could see 200 million environmental migrants, many of whom would be children. For this reason and others, children should be central to such climate change debates, according to a journal released by Princeton University and the Brookings Institution.Rising temperatures, rising sea levels and the increasing likelihood of extreme weather will all alter children’s lives and the lives of their own children. And yet, children are largely left out of discussions about appropriate responses to climate change. They—as well as future generations—must be included, as they have a much larger stake in the outcome than…

SINSI Spotlight: Wildlife Conservation on the Ground April 29, 2016

SINSI Spotlight: Wildlife Conservation on the Ground

For Alexandra Kasdin ’14, MPA ’18, a passion for wildlife conservation began when she was eight years old. Inspired by her first grade teacher—who had a classroom full of animals and lesson plans devoted to endangered species and the environment—Kasdin knew she would spend her life working toward wildlife protection.In elementary, middle and high school, Kasdin served as a Girl Scout, devoting her service projects to endangered species conservation. For two and a half years in high school, she worked at the Philadelphia Zoo, assisting with educational programming and talking to visitors about wildlife. One summer in high school, she traveled to assist…