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Nowruz Event
News April 22, 2026
Celebrating Nowruz and Building Stronger Community
On April 15, the Afghanistan Policy Lab (APL) at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs hosted its annual Nowruz celebration for the School’s faculty, staff, and students. Dean Jamal and Amb. Raz with APL student Volunteers The event began with opening remarks by Princeton SPIA Dean Amaney Jamal, who emphasized the importance of community, diversity, and togetherness.“I welcome all of you to the Nowruz celebration as part of our annual tradition,” Jamal said. “It reflects our diverse cultural symbolism, besides being a spring holiday. As…
people at an event
News April 21, 2026
More than 300 Current and Future Public Servants Gathered at SPIA to Connect and Learn Together in Changing Times
From people who graduated from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs more than four decades ago to those who will begin their studies here in the fall, the breadth of the Princeton SPIA community was on full display this month as the School hosted three coinciding events.Admitted Student Weekend, the annual Students and Alumni of Color (SAOC) Symposium, and a new conference, SPIA in Service, brought more than 300 people to the Princeton campus between April 9 and 12. They had a chance to mingle, learn from one another, and discuss how to navigate changing times in public service.“Having all these events over the same period allowed…
Zia Mian
News April 16, 2026
Renewed Interest in People’s Responses to Nuclear Weapons
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.”
Cassandra Azumah, MPA ’27
News April 15, 2026
#PolicyProfile: Cassandra Azumah, MPA ’27
“Being from Ghana, my path to public policy has been shaped by working across countries, sectors, and institutions — and seeing firsthand what it takes to turn good ideas into lasting change. After graduating from the London School of Economics, I spent a year and a half at the South Centre in Geneva, exploring how countries in the Global South can learn from one another’s development experiences. From there, I moved to Senegal, where I worked with IDinsight on monitoring, evaluation, and learning strategies for education and health programs. I later returned to Ghana to support the Ministry of Education through Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA),…
Eric Tate
Awards & Recognition April 14, 2026
Eric Tate Awarded €2.5 Million ERC Synergy Grant for Research on Flooding and Social Vulnerability
As climate change increases rainfall intensity and urbanization patterns divert more water into rivers, damage to local communities has intensified. The result has left a group of researchers to question whether and when people will reach a point at which their repeated efforts to invest in flood adaptation are no longer worth it. Eric Tate, a professor of public affairs at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, will be studying such household and community decisions thanks to a Synergy Grant awarded by the European Research Council (ERC).The funding will support research into whether households facing repeated flood risk decide to…
people standing in queue with face masks
News April 09, 2026
New Documentary Calls for ‘Creative Resolve’ to Solve Public Health Problems
Some of public health’s most daunting problems were solved only through sustained, collaborative global efforts. From collaborative efforts between the United States and the Soviet Union to eradicate smallpox at the height of the Cold War to international pressure to produce less expensive, generic antiretroviral medicines to treat HIV, the 20th and 21st centuries have seen remarkable cooperation in the service of humankind.More recently, the COVID-19 pandemic spurred the development of successful vaccines at a pace never before seen. At the same time, the crisis brought into stark relief the critical differences between the global haves and have-nots…
Jake Shapiro
News April 07, 2026
Determining Why Benefits for Women Go Unused
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.”
SPIAction Newsletter
News April 03, 2026
SPIAction Newsletter — April 2026
What It Means to Graduate Debt-FreeFully funded graduate degrees at Princeton SPIA mean you can focus on impactful public service careers, not debt.
Illustration of the United States map overlaid with the American flag, showing jagged cracks running across the country. Illustration by Shutterstock.
News April 02, 2026
New Data from Princeton SPIA Initiative Shows Political Violence in U.S. is on the Rise
Since 2019, the Bridging Divides Initiative at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs has tracked political violence in the United States and identified key risk factors for escalation. According to the latest edition of BDI’s yearly trend analysis report, 2025 saw a serious escalation in the risk environment, from high-profile assassinations to aggressive federal immigration operations. Threats against officials spiked, and leading community safety practitioners reported that the demand for de-escalation support surged to new heights.“The data is clear: The risk of political violence intensified last year, and it’s continued to…
APL
News April 01, 2026
Recognizing the Courage of Afghan Women During Women’s History Month
To commemorate Women’s History Month, the Afghanistan Policy Lab (APL) at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA), for the fourth consecutive year, acknowledges the struggles and honors the resistance of Afghan women who live in extreme conditions under the Taliban rule. However, they still do not give up hope, and every day through their work and resilience, they inspire us.This year, through an open call, we asked Afghan women in Afghanistan to write to us about their stories and what a day-to-day life means for them under the Taliban regime, about their struggle and their hope. We were overwhelmed with the submissions we…
SPIA accolades header
News March 31, 2026
SPIAccolades — March 2026
Amaney Jamal, dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, participated in the fifth webinar of the Empowering Muslim Women in Scientific Research series, presenting on gender attitudes over the last decade.Drawing on 20 years of data from the Arab Barometer, which she co-founded and of which she is a co-principal investigator, Jamal examined societal attitudes toward female employment across the Middle East and North Africa. The presentation highlighted the progress that has been made over time and the structural and cultural barriers…
Nudhara Yusuf
#PolicyProfile: Nudhara Yusuf, MPA ’27 March 27, 2026
#PolicyProfile: Nudhara Yusuf, MPA ’27
"I grew up between places and histories. My parents raised me in the United Kingdom and India. Growing up hearing stories about my grandfather, a political activist who lost his life advocating for the right to speak against injustice, inspires who I am as a person. When I got to university, I had this self-realization that the spaces where I felt most energized were those focused on politics and civic engagement. That path eventually led me to consult with the United Nations Development Program, which launched my career path. Being inside the U.N. showed me its importance and limitations. I became interested in how global institutions can evolve to…
APL
News March 27, 2026
Career Building at the United Nations: An Interactive Session with Students on Exploring Career Opportunities
The event “Career Building at the United Nations,” co-organized by the Afghanistan Policy Lab at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and Princeton University’s Center for Career Development, featured a practical and candid conversation with students interested in pursuing careers at the United Nations and related international institutions. The session offered encouragement and realistic guidance about the pathways, challenges, and strategic decisions involved in entering the U.N. system.The speakers at the event were Ambassador Adela Raz, director of the Afghanistan Policy Lab, and Nanaho Yamanaka of U.N. Women Afghanistan, Head…
Layna Mosley
News March 26, 2026
Behind the Headline: Tariff Policies Disrupt Global Order
The global economy is reeling from a series of shocks, including the wars in the Middle East and ongoing tariff negotiations between the U.S. and its trading partners. Layna Mosley, a professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, explains the impact of tariff policies – including whom they impact the most and what’s likely to happen next. How have the Trump administration's tariff policies impacted global economies over the last year? Layna Mosley: The tariffs are remaking the nature of global production. China accounted for 22% of U.S. goods imported in 2018, but for only 9% at…
From left to right: Stefanie Mavronis MPA ’18; Andi Lipstein Fristedt MPA ’09; Sergio Rodriguez Camarena MPA ’24
News March 24, 2026
What It Means to Graduate Debt-Free
When Stefanie Mavronis MPA ’18 graduated with her master’s in public affairs, she knew exactly where she was headed: The Baltimore native had sought out a public policy degree so that she could return to her hometown and contribute to her community. Yet Mavronis also knew that pursuing that path meant potentially taking a lower-paying job to get her foot in the door and do work with citywide impact.Because she chose to attend the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, that was a path Mavronis could afford. Princeton SPIA’s graduate degrees are fully funded, including a stipend for living expenses and health insurance."One reason we…