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SPIAction Newsletter
News July 03, 2024
SPIAction Newsletter
With the next presidential election only months away, the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs is deeply engaged in understanding and analyzing the issues that are at the forefront of voters’ minds. As always, the School is not a passive bystander but an active observer, providing much-needed context to a complex and constantly shifting landscape.Below you’ll find a link to our faculty’s real-time analysis of the first debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. In the weeks and months ahead, we’ll continue to keep a close eye on this watershed moment in American history. We invite you to follow along at our…
ResearchRecord
News July 02, 2024
Research Record: Examining the Origins of Life Predictability
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.”
elections ballot
News July 01, 2024
First-of-its-kind Dataset Tracks Threats and Harassment Against Local Officials
Born out of the political violence before, during, and after the 2020 presidential election, the Bridging Divides Initiative, hosted by Princeton SPIA’s Empirical Studies of Conflict program, set out to share knowledge, methods, and tools to better track and mitigate political violence across the country. Now, in the leadup to the 2024 election, Bridging Divides has released the Threats and Harassment Dataset — a first of its kind — that captures more than 1,000 events ranging from death threats to digital provocation against local officials.The longitudinal event-based data tracks the rate, frequency, types, and targets of threats and harassment…
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News June 28, 2024
Princeton SPIA Faculty Provide Insights on First Presidential Debate
PRINCETON, NJ – The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) today provided faculty reactions to the first presidential debate, held on June 27. The real-time insights from Princeton SPIA’s distinguished faculty members analyze key moments, evaluate policy discussions, and assess the broader implications for the 2024 election. As part of Princeton SPIA’s ongoing 2024 election analysis, this effort reflects the School’s commitment to contributing to informed public discourse and expert analysis during the election cycle.Insights from SPIA Faculty:Heather Howard, Professor of the Practice; Co-director, Global Health Program; Faculty…
Amaney Jamal - Dean
News June 24, 2024
Princeton SPIA Dean Wins American Political Science Association Award
Amaney Jamal, dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, the Edwards S. Sanford Professor of Politics, and professor of politics and international affairs, has been awarded the Susanne Hoeber Rudolph Outstanding Scholar Award by the Religion and Politics section of the American Political Science Association.The Susanne Hoeber Rudolph Outstanding Scholar Award recognizes a scholar who has made outstanding contributions to the field of religion and politics. These contributions are through a combination of excellent and widely influential scholarship, policy input/impact, public engagement, service, teaching, and mentorship.
Capitol building, Washington, D.C.
News June 21, 2024
SINSI Program Preps Princeton Students for Federal Government Careers
For those committed to public service careers in the U.S. federal government, Princeton SPIA’s Scholars in the Nation’s Service Initiative (SINSI) provides unparalleled opportunities.Now in its 18th year, the prestigious program places students in nearly every department and agency of the federal government — from the White House to the Departments of Justice, Defense, Education, Housing and Urban Development, State, and Health and Human Services; the Federal Trade Commission; USAID; the Environmental Protection Agency; and more.However, the hallmark of the program is the students who complete rotations en route to meaningful careers. According to…
Breakout group during the 3rd Glasgow Dialogue on climate loss and damage. Here, small island developing states (SIDS) highlighted their unique challenges and called for international support through innovative financing and technical assistance. Photo Credit: Michael Chapman
News June 18, 2024
C-PREE Students Report Back on 2024 Bonn Climate Change Conference
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat hosts two primary meetings each year: the Bonn Climate Change Conference typically held in June, and the Conference of Parties (COP) typically held in November. The Bonn Climate Conference centers around sessions of two permanent subsidiary bodies – the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI). These bodies assist the governing bodies of The Convention, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement in tracking progress, reviewing procedural and logistical elements of climate commitments, developing work…
Natalia Lalin and Martin Flaherty ’81
News June 18, 2024
Senior Thesis Spotlight: Her Affinity for Service Took an Unexpected Turn Toward Public Policy
The daughter and granddaughter of physicians, Natalia Lalin entered Princeton with a strong affinity for service and an intention to major in neuroscience.But after taking a wide swath of courses during her first year — including mathematics, computer science, and, especially, the Freshman Seminar “Sentencing and Punishment” — she began to reimagine her academic path with an eye toward public policy coursework at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA).The summer following her sophomore year, she interned in U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s office on Capitol Hill, where she networked with Princeton alumni in Washington, including…
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News June 17, 2024
Research Record: Globalizing Green Industrial Policy Through Technology Transfers
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.”
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News June 12, 2024
Ukrainian Reconstruction: SPIA's Innovations for Successful Societies Introduces Unique Legal Database for Rebuilding Efforts
The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs’ Innovations for Successful Societies has released summaries and analyses of hundreds of Ukrainian laws pertaining to reconstruction, the second component of a larger project aimed at helping the country rebuild infrastructure the Russian invasion has destroyed or damaged.On a pro bono basis, the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP worked with ISS and Ukrainian colleagues to conduct the analysis, which embraces over 450 separate sources of law. The goal, said attorney Jane Shvets, who led this part of the project, is to make all who seek to work on Ukraine’s construction projects aware of the…
Princeton SPIA Students Attend 2024 World Bank Spring Meetings
News June 11, 2024
Princeton SPIA Students Attend 2024 World Bank Spring Meetings
One year into his tenure, Ajay Banga of the World Bank Group (WBG) affirmed the world is facing a set of intertwined challenges: conflict, pandemics, food insecurity and foremost, the climate crisis. Evidence of the World Bank’s evolution since is clear, as climate has taken center stage on its agenda and in its commitment to reform the global institution and the development practice that it supports.The Annual Spring Meetings of the WBG convene international and regional organizations, heads of state, nongovernmental organizations, civil society representatives, private sector actors, and academics, among others, to discuss global development…
Spoon-billed sandpiper. Source: Tong Mu
News June 05, 2024
Assistance for Threatened Species Worldwide Remains Insufficient or Absent, SPIA Researchers Find
Hundreds of thousands of species are under the threat of extinction and will disappear if substantial conservation efforts are not made. In the face of this biodiversity crisis, policymakers and government officials across the globe have expanded protected areas that harbor threatened species and taken other measures to reduce threats to their survival, but evidence from a new study shows that current conservation efforts may not be going far enough.Using information from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and other global databases, Durham and Princeton University studied 5,963 terrestrial species suffering from…
SPIAction Newsletter
News June 04, 2024
SPIAction Newsletter
Welcome to the exciting launch of SPIAction, the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs' new monthly newsletter! We're thrilled to have you join us on this journey, where we will keep you updated on the impactful ways our School is making a difference across the U.S. and around the world. The events of the past year provide numerous examples of such impact. Immediately after October 7, we launched a robust series of public events exploring the Israel-Hamas war, and several SPIA faculty members have shared analysis with media outlets around the world. Many of our students protested in support of a ceasefire, support for peace, and…
family research header in shades of orange and brown
News June 03, 2024
An Ideal Family? The Words and Actions Don’t Match Up
When prompted on what an ideal family looks like, people consider a range of desirable characteristics, including whether it includes children, and if so, how many. This is an increasingly important question as the number of births in the United States and major Western (and increasingly non-Western) countries declines.When asked directly about their ideal number of children, most people in these countries respond they would like to have two children. Yet the number of children women in most of these countries end up having by the end of their childbearing years is well under two, and decreasing. This is below the number that would sustain the…
2024 SPIA Hooding Ceremony
News May 30, 2024
‘Engage With Empathy and Compassion’
Speaking at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs’ graduate hooding and awards ceremony and undergraduate Class Day on Monday, May 27, Dean Amaney Jamal urged graduating students to engage in constructive dialogue and condemn dehumanization at all turns. Dean Amaney Jamal (Photo credit: Guillermo A. Viera) “You have been taught to analyze critically and to find common ground – skills that will serve you well going forward as policymakers,” she said. “During this time of international conflict, and with our own country so deeply divided as we approach a presidential election, it is profoundly important for us…