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SPIA in NJ

About

Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs is committed to the state we call home.

With SPIA in NJ, the School embraces its role as an anchor institution by leveraging its most important resource, its people, to produce and promote innovative policy statewide.

Students and faculty work with partners around New Jersey to generate research-based data and provide analysis that support policy aligned with racial, social, and economic justice.

A decidedly global institution, SPIA is not only in New Jersey, but also of it."

The tools we bring to this urgent work include research, scholarship, internships, teaching, convenings, partnerships, public events, as well as media leverage across platforms.

Our deep scholarly bench includes practitioners from the social and natural sciences, law, and history whose research agendas center on questions fundamental to health, housing, education, safety, democratic practice, and equity.

Projects & Programs

Research & Reports

arial view pf princeton

Princeton Affordable Housing Map

A conversation on the past, present, and future of affordable housing in Princeton with: Fern Spruill Chair, Princeton Civil Rights Commission and Community Partner-in-Residence, Princeton University Edward Truscelli Executive Director, Princeton Community Housing Matt Mleczko Ph.D. Candidate, Population Studies and Social Policy Moderated by: Anastasia R. Mann Lecturer and Founding Director, SPIA in NJ
New Jersey’s Place in Black America poster

New Jersey's Place in Black America

A conversation with Dr. Taja-Nia Henderson, Dean, Graduate School of Rutgers University-Newark, Christina Swarns, Executive Director, The Innocence Project, Brandon McCoy, President, The Fund for New Jersey, Ryan P. Haygood, CEO & President, New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, and Keith A. Wailoo, Henry Putnam University Professor of History and Public Affairs, Princeton University.
Garden State Fellowship Info Session flyer

Garden State Fellowship

Join us for a virtual info session on the Garden State Fellowship, which is a fully funded 12-month fellowship with NJ government/non-profit.
Tom Malinowski and Tom Kean Jr.; Photo Insider NJ

Clearing Up the Confusion Around Fusion

For about a century, New Jersey has legally barred political parties from nominating candidates of other parties as their own nominee. Known as “fusion voting,” the prohibited practice has been drawing renewed attention during these times of intense, hyper-polarization, as a means by which democracy can be strengthened. A conference held at Princeton University brought together a number of figures to speak about the legal challenge to return fusion voting to New Jerseyans.
Citizens protesting in Trenton, NJ; Photo: Dana DiFilippo | New Jersey Monitor

N.J. Lawmakers Move Bill Forward to Give Some Civilian Review Boards Subpoena Power

‘People do not trust the police nor the government who controls them,’ one witness said.
Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

Op-Ed: Lifting the Lamp for AAPI New Jerseyans, 80 Years After the Chinese Exclusion Act

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are often stereotyped as a single monolith, an indistinguishable mass of “perpetual foreigners,” regardless of their tenure or journey to the United States. Although New Jersey has made tremendous strides in offering resources and protections for communities reporting bias, discrimination, and race-based violence, these incidents will persist for as long as society views immigrant groups as silent monoliths.

SPIA in NJ takes a justice-centered approach to the public policy questions that matter in the lives of Garden State residents.

Whether it’s climate, healthcare, housing, immigration, education, finance or any number of other issue areas — SPIA faculty, students and researchers are teaming up with partners statewide to ask hard questions and work together to find policy solutions.

Cross-fertilization among researchers, advocates, organizers, policymakers and elected officials will be the centerpiece of this approach.

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