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SPIAction Newsletter
News April 07, 2025
SPIAction Newsletter
Dear Princeton SPIA community,Last month, more than 100 of our undergraduate and graduate students traveled to Washington, D.C., for a full day of engaging conversations and networking opportunities. During this time of transition and uncertainty, the Princeton SPIA team has been working to showcase the variety of career paths for service-minded individuals and connect students and alumni in meaningful ways.The visit to Washington did both, with graduate students visiting the World Bank and participating in coffee chats with alumni, and undergrads meeting with congressional staffers on the Hill and hearing from fellows and researchers at the Brookings…
student
Community Profile April 04, 2025
#PolicyProfile: Vincent Jiang ’25
“Since I was young, I've always believed in the idea of service, being part of something greater, and helping other people in whatever way I can. That drive for service first pushed me in the direction of the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), and it also pushed me towards majoring in SPIA. I strongly feel connected to the SPIA community and the community of scholars here, so I decided to run for the student advisory committee (SAC). I wanted to be an advocate for other people in a similar position to make improvements where I saw room for improvements. One program that I've been really heavily involved with on SAC is the Policy Pathways…
Robertson Hall
News April 02, 2025
Princeton SPIA’s Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative Names 5 Fellows, 7 Interns
Princeton University’s prestigious Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative (SINSI) has selected five students to serve as fellows and seven as interns for 2025.SINSI fellows complete a two-year Master in Public Affairs with a full scholarship for tuition and living expenses at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and a fellowship with two years of paid work in a government organization. SINSI interns receive support to complete 10-week summer internships. While traditionally focused on the federal government, SINSI also places students in multinational, state, and local governments.“I am thrilled with the 2025 SINSI fellow and…
Collage of Julius Coles MPA ’66, Stephen Jackson MPA ’94, PhD ’03, Masayuki Kameda MPA ’12, and Martina Bergues MPA ’23
News April 01, 2025
Seventy-Five Years in the Making: Princeton SPIA Alumni Reflect on how the MPA Program Shaped their Careers
Princeton University’s 278th Commencement will mark a special anniversary for the graduates of Princeton SPIA’s Master in Public Affairs (MPA) program. The 2023-2024 cohort of the two-year program will cross the stage as members of the 75th anniversary graduating class, harkening back to the program’s origins in 1948.For three-quarters of a century, MPA alumni have gone on to meaningful careers in federal, state, and local governments — here in the United States and around the world — NGOs and nonprofits, the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and countless organizations large and small that change the world for the…
Pauline Carry
News March 31, 2025
Fill in the Blanks with Pauline Carry
Pauline Carry, an assistant professor of economics and international affairs, is a labor economist and a macroeconomist. Her research focuses on how employment contracts are formed and terminated, and the effects of labor-market institutions aimed at regulating those contracts.Carry has studied the impact of introducing a legal minimum working time of 24 hours per week in France, where she grew up. Before joining Princeton University, she was a Saieh Postdoctoral Fellow at the Becker Friedman Institute at the University of Chicago.Here’s more about her, in her own words:My research explores… the intersection of labor economics and macroeconomics. I am…
APL
News March 27, 2025
SPIA Undergraduate Students Attend UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) and Speak at APL Side Event
Four Princeton University undergrads helped to organize and also participated in a high-level event at the United Nations Headquarters on March 14, with one of them delivering remarks as well. Princeton University Undergrads at the CSW69 Event at the United Nations The event, “Upholding the Rights of Afghan Women,” was part of the 69th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women. It was organized by the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs’ Afghanistan Policy Lab in collaboration with the Permanent Missions of Afghanistan, the…
SPIA students meeting with Congress Member Kelly Armstrong
News March 26, 2025
For Princeton SPIA Undergrads, ‘Direct Links Between Theory and Practice’
A collection of new and existing courses is giving undergraduate students in the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs the chance to apply what they are learning in real time.“Our experiential learning courses push students to come up with innovative approaches to real-world challenges and to recognize the impact public policy can have,” says Paul Lipton, senior associate dean for academic administration. “By working directly with individuals in our local and global community, students see direct links between theory and practice, highlighting the value of a broad multidisciplinary liberal arts education.”
Andrew Moravcsik and Wolfgang F. Danspeckgruber
News March 25, 2025
Moravcsik and Danspeckgruber Reflect on the 61st Munich Security Conference
The 2025 Munich Security Conference (MSC), held last month, included representatives from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs among its observers and participants.Andrew Moravcsik, a professor of politics and international affairs and director of Princeton SPIA’s Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination, was on hand for this year’s gathering. He was among more than 450 high-profile and senior decision-makers as well as thought-leaders from around the world, including heads of state, ministers, leading personalities of international and non-governmental organizations, high-ranking representatives of industry, media, academia,…
Rush Doshi speaking with students in SPIA DC class day
News March 24, 2025
Princeton Graduate Students Engage Strategists and Policymakers on U.S. China-Relations
A recent visit by Princeton School of Public and International Affairs graduate students to Washington illustrates one of the SPIA DC Center’s primary assets – its capacity to bring classroom instruction to life by linking students with senior policymakers to discuss the day’s most pressing issues.As part of Center Director Zach Vertin’s class “Managing Competition: U.S.-China Relations” twenty-five students participated in a full day of conversations with former government officials, top think tank experts, and Chinese diplomats in Washington.“The change of U.S. administrations means strategists in both Beijing and Washington are right now re…
russia ukraine
News March 21, 2025
Princeton SPIA Faculty Weigh In on Russia-Ukraine Partial Ceasefire
PRINCETON, NJ - Following the announcement of a partial ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, experts from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (Princeton SPIA) offer their insights on what this means and what comes next. With backgrounds in international affairs, political conflict, and economic history, these scholars help make sense of the ceasefire’s impact, challenges, and what it could mean for global stability.Harold James, Claude and Lore Kelly Professor in European Studies. Professor of History and International Affairs. Director, Program in Contemporary European Politics and Society“Discussion of the ceasefire is driven…
SPIA students posing in front of Capitol building in DC
News March 20, 2025
From Think Tanks to Local Government, Students Explore Policy Careers in a Turbulent Time
Every semester, Princeton students interested in public-policy careers go to Washington, D.C., to explore career opportunities. When planning for the spring trip began last year, a visit to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was high on the list.Everything changed in January, when the agency’s operations halted. At the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, staff went back to the drawing board to consider how best to help students navigate a challenging time for internship and job searches. In addition to the changes at USAID, many federal agencies have instituted hiring freezes amid uncertainty about the future of…
Christopher F. Chyba
News March 19, 2025
Research Record: Experimental Demonstration of Electric Power Generation From Earth’s Rotation Through Its Own Magnetic Field
Princeton SPIA’s Research Record series highlights the vast scholarly achievements of our faculty members, whose expertise extends beyond the classroom and into everyday life.If you’d like your work considered for future editions of Research Record, click here and select “research project.”
Hand with scissors cutting factory smoke stack. Illustration by Bumper DeJesus.
News March 18, 2025
EPA Regulations Cut Power Sector Emissions but Miss Opportunities for Deeper Reductions
Regulations finalized by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2024 could cut emissions from fossil fuel power generators but leave additional cost-effective emissions reductions on the table, according to new Princeton research.The analysis, published March 12 in One Earth, evaluates the impacts of the EPA power plant regulations on the U.S. electricity system at a time of uncertainty for the rules, which the researchers expect to be rolled back under the current Trump administration. The power plant regulations set carbon dioxide limits for new gas-fired combustion turbines and provide guidelines for existing coal, oil, and gas-fired steam…
Brandon Stewart and Andy Guess
News March 18, 2025
Research Record: YouTube’s Algorithm and its Effect on Political Polarization
Princeton SPIA’s Research Record series highlights the vast scholarly achievements of our faculty members, whose expertise extends beyond the classroom and into everyday life.If you’d like your work considered for future editions of Research Record, click here and select “research project.”
SPIA students on winter break in Cuba and El Salvador
News March 17, 2025
Off the Beaten Path, Princeton SPIA Undergrads Spend Winter Break in Cuba, El Salvador
Traveling to Havana for a Wintersession workshop was more than an academic exercise for Princeton SPIA undergraduate Olivia Sanchez – much more.“The SPIA policy workshop in Cuba was a profound personal and academic experience,” Sanchez said. “As a Cuban American, I never thought I would have the chance to see the country from which my grandfather fled.”The workshop was one of two winter break trips to take undergrads to countries not often visited by students. The other was a policy task force visit to El Salvador.The Havana workshop, “Cuban Engagement/Engaging Cuba: Assessing Cuba’s Role in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” was led by…