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News
 
- May 6: Peter Driftmier of Red-Eye Radio spoke with Krista Harper about the recent Hungarian elections. In a podcast Krista dicusses how anti-Roma racism has changed throughout history, the main far right political group in Hungary, and what the recent Hungarian elections mean for the Roma. [more]
- May 3: David Mednicoff, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Associate Director of the Program in Social Thought and Political Economy, will talk about his research on the rule of law in Arab societies as part of an inaugural conference being held at Stanford University on May 10-11, 2010. [more]
- April 31: Please join us for CPPA's end of the year activities in celebration of the class of 2010. May 12 is the CPPA Capstone Conference. May 13th is the CPPA Graduate Reception at The Blue Heron in Sunderland, and May 14th is Commencement. [more info]
- April 30: CPPA is pleased to announce that, beginning summer 2010, we will have a new home in Gordon Hall. The Gordon Hall space includes office space for students and faculty, lecture and seminar rooms, meeting space, and lots of room to grow! Please stay tuned for more information about an open house early in the fall 2010 semester.
- April 13: Rosalind Wright, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of medicine and public health at Harvard University, will discuss “The Role of Psychological Stress in Asthma and Other Atopic Disorders” on Thursday, April 22 at 12:30 p.m. in Thompson 620. This is the final talk in this year’s Mellon-funded CPPA Grants Workshop Speaker Series. [more]
- April 7: Researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, including Michael Ash, have released the Toxic 100 Air Polluters (http://toxic100.org), an updated list of the top corporate air polluters in the United States. [more]
- March 26: Jane Fountain, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, will discuss “Deinstitutionalization and Reinstitutionalization in the Virtual State” on Monday, April 5, at 12 p.m. in Thompson 620. Fountain is also the founder and director of the National Center for Digital Government and the director of the UMass Science, Technology and Society Initiative.
- March 25: Associate Professor of Political Science Dean Robinson received a 2010 Marion and Jasper Whiting Fellowship in support of his research on policies to address health disparities [more]
- March 24: James Kwak, a former management consultant at McKinsey and Company and a current law student at Yale University, will speak on “13 Bankers: The Political Background to the Financial Crisis” on Wednesday, April 21 at 12:00 p.m. in Thompson 620. The talk is co-sponsored by the Political Economy Research Institute and the Center for Public Policy and Administration. [more]
- March 23: Gad Barzilai, an international expert on comparative politics and law, will speak on “Beyond Relativism: Where is Political Power in Legal Pluralism?” on Friday, April 16 at 12:00 p.m. in Thompson 620. The talk is part of the CPPA's Mellon-funded Grants Workshop Speaker Series in collaboration with the Departments of Political Science and Legal Studies. [more]
- March 14: Anna Tomaskovic-Devey '10 has published an article in The Cosmopolitan Review. "A Step Closer to a World Without Nuclear Weapons" explores the current climate surrounding tactical nuclear weapons [more]
- March 12: Douglas Massey of Princeton University will speak on “The New Reality of Mexico-U.S. Migration: The Effects of America’s War on Immigrants” on Tuesday, April 6 at 12:30 p.m. in Thompson 620. The talk is part of the Center for Public Policy and Administration’s Mellon-funded Grants Workshop Speaker Series [more]
- March 10: Krista Harper is directing a three-year international research experience project for fifteen undergraduate and graduate students from UMass Amherst and the Five Colleges consortium. This project is funded by the National Science Foundation. [more]
- March 10: Jane Fountain was part of a panel presentation on “Governance and Information Technology: From Electronic Government to Information Government” at the Dubai School of Government. The panel coincides with an Arabic release of a book with the same name. [more]
- March 8: Christa Drew '11 has been selected for the 2010 Sylvia Rowe Fellowship at the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation in Washington DC. [more]
- March 4: David Mednicoff, CPPA and legal studies, participated in a "Migrant Labor in the Gulf" working group at Georgetown University's Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS). This research is part of Mednicoff's research project, "Migrant Labor and Legal Regulations in Doha and Duba," funded by CIRS [more]
- March 2: CPPA Professor Jane Fountain was part of a panel discussion on ethics education in science and engineering in light of the National Science Foundation’s Responsible Conduct of Research requirement at the 2010 AAAS Annual Meeting in San Diego this February. [more]
- February 25: Read the February eBulletin to catch up on the latest student, faculty and alumni news.
- February 23: Charles Schweik, associate professor of Natural Resources Conservation and Public Policy, will discuss “Collaborative Principles in Open Source Commons” on Monday, March 1, at 12 p.m. in Thompson 620. Schweik is also the founder and co-director of the UMass Amherst Open Source Laboratory. [more]
- February 5: Daniel Hallin, Professor and Chair of Communication at the University of Calfornia, San Diego, is speaking at two upcoming talks on February 23 and 24 as part of the CPPA Grants Workshop Series. Hallin teaches and conducts research on political communication and the role of the news media in democratic politics and the public sphere. [more]
- February 4: CPPA held its first annual Professional Development Seminar in Washington D.C. this January. Read the poliblog entry here.
- January 25: Read the January eBulletin for updates from students, faculty, and alumni.
- January 19: Extensive coverage of California's Proposition 8 trial has featured research and testimony by CPPA Director Lee Badgett. Badgett, who is also a Professor of Economics, testified that same-sex couples prefer marriage over domestic partnerships. [more]
- January 15: Prudence Carter, Associate Professor of Education at Stanford University will speak on school desegregation in South Africa and the US on February 2 as part of the CPPA Grants Workshop Speakers Series . Her talk "The Paradox of Opportunity: Race, Class, Culture, and Boundaries in South African and U.S. Schools" will be in Thompson 620 at 12:30 [press release PDF]
- January 15: Join CPPA on February 1 at 12pm in Thompson 620 as we kick off the Spring2010 Faculty Colloquia. Maria Bulzacchelli will discuss "Why Don’t Workers Protect Themselves from Injury? Challenges to Implementing Effective Workplace Safety Policies" See a full press release. [pdf]
- December 28: In the New York Times blog "Economix," Nancy Folbre discusses "What you got for Christmas." She examines the worth of holiday gifts to the receiver versions the amount paid by the giver. Add your two cents about gifting in the blog's comments.
- December 28: David Mednicoff, CPPA and legal studies, was interviewed by Al-Jazeera International about how migrant workers are treated in Persian Gulf countries. Mednicoff is currently in Qatar conducting research on the role and treatment of migrant workers in the region.
- December 18: CPPA Director, Lee Badgett was interviewed for the BusinessWeek article " A Booster Shot for Gay-Owned Businesses." Badgett says certification by the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce can help overcome various forms of discrimination that have an impact on gays and lesbians seeking to start new businesses.
- December 17: Read the December 2009 eBulletin for updates from students, faculty, and alumni. [more]
- December 6: David M. Mednicoff, CPPA and legal studies, comments in a Hampshire Gazette story about President Obama’s plan to send 30,000 American troops to Afghanistan. Mednicoff says the plan correctly connects troop surge strategy with efforts to stabilize the Afghani government, improving local social and economic development, and coordinating the policy with what the U.S. is trying to do in neighboring Pakistan.
- December 1: CPPA has recieved $78,000 from the Olympia-based Albatross Fund to conduct a feasibility assessment for a sustainable center that engages students and faculty in conducting research on how community organizations can help to improve the lives of citizens in Springfield. Fred Rose, former director of the Pioneer Valley Project and visiting scholar at CPPA, will direct the project.
- November 13: Jane Fountain has been appointed for a second year to the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Future of Government. The information and recommendations developed in the Councils provide the central ideas and proposals presented at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting of world leaders in Davos, Switzerland.
- November 12: Amy Schalet, UMass assistant professor of sociology and faculty leader in the Public Engagement Project, has published a piece in the ACT for Youth Center of Excellence November newsletter, Research fACTs and Findings. Titled "A New Vision for Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health," the piece is co-authored with John Santelli (Columbia).
- November 11: Lee Badgett is interviewed about "Dutch Views on Same-Sex Marriage" in the New York Times Magazine. In the article, Badgett, author of the newly published, When Gay People Get Married, discusses "the effects of same-sex couples on marriage, and ... the effects of marriage on same-sex couples."
- November 10: Nancy Folbre discusses discusses why Wall Street firms continue to give large bonuses to managers and traders even when the companies aren’t making a profit in the New York Times blog "Economix." Folbre is a regular contributor to the blog.
- October 26: CPPA's Spring 2010 courses have been announced. Please check the schedule here [PDF]
- October 25: CPPA is cosponsoring "Open Government: Transparency, Participation and Collaboration," a lecture by Beth Noveck, United States Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Open Government, on Friday, October 30 at 12 noon in Isenberg School of Management room 108. Dr. Noveck's lecture will also be streamed live through www.ncdg.org.
- October 24: CPPA is currently seeking project proposals for its Spring 2010 graduate course, Policy Analysis. Through this course, small teams of students work on real-life problems affecting public and nonprofit organizations within the confines of actual constraints and opportunities that such organizations face. more
- October 22: Lee Badgett will read from her new book, When Gay People Get Married, this Thursday, October 29 at 7:00 PM at the Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, MA. Please join us!
- October 22: CPPA's Public Engagement Project sponsored “How to Make Friends and Influence Policy: Working with State and Federal Policymakers” on Wednesday, October 28, 2009. Click here for a press release.
- October 22: For more of the latest, read the new Center for Public Policy and Administration 2009 NEWSLETTER (PDF). Past CPPA newsletters are available here.
- October 15: Sylvia Brandt has been appointed to the Environmental Protection Agency's Advisory Council for Clean Air Compliance Analysis. The Council provides guidance on methodologies used to evaluate the Clean Air Act.
- October 6: CPPA, the Science, Technology and Society Initiative, and the UMass Libraries are organizing a workshop, "Ethics in Science and Engineering: Redefining Tools and Resources," to examine the new responsible conduct of research requirements of the National Science Foundation and to explore the potential of digital libraries as a tool to support ethics raining. more
- October 6: NCDG co-sponsors World Bank forum
The National Center for Digital Government (NCDG) is co-sponsoring the 2nd Annual US-Korea Information and Communication Technology-Based Policy Forum at the World Bank on November 5, 2009.
Building off of discussions from the first US-Korea Forum held in Seoul, this year's forum provides a unique opportunity for dialog between Korean and US experts on national information technology enablement, green IT, knowledge infrastructure, and job creation in a knowledge-based economy. The Forum will also act as the kick-off-meeting for a US-Korean committee for cooperation on IT policies.
The forum is organized by Korea's National Information Society Agency and sponsored by NCDG, the Korean Ministry of Public Administration and Security, the World Bank, the Center for Advanced Technology Strategy, and
Intel.
NCDG is a research center based at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the Center for Public Policy and Administration and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. NCDG's mission is to build global research
capacity, to advance practice, and to strengthen the network of researchersand practitioners engaged in building and using technology and government. For more information visit www.ncdg.org.
- June 19: Some oil companies are greener than others, according to Michael Ash, economics and public policy, who cited a ranking of the 100 worst air-polluting companies compiled by the Political Economy Research Institute at UMass Amherst. The studies were published in 2002 and 2005. (Fox News, 6/18/09)
- June 18: In May, Professor David Mednicoff participated in a working group on "Migrant Labor in the Gulf" in a Qatar-based conference funded by Georgetown University's Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS). For more information about the working group, visit CIRS’s website.
- Congrats MPPA class of 2009! For capstone information, see the schedule and project descriptions, and see the 2009 newsletter for names, photos and more.
- June 18: MPPA student summer internships included...
Puja Jain spent her summer working with Save the Children Bal Raksha Bharat (Kolkata, India) and she writes that "(d)oing advocacy work at the ground level is fascinating and a great learning experience."
Puja worked on two projects: the first is a training module for the on-the field researchers to use legal tools (laws and Acts enforceable in the State/Country) to work at the Village/Block Level for child labor in brick kilns in the State of West Bengal, India. Puja writes that, In the last two years and under EU Funding, Save the Children Kolkata has started educational centers and "bridge course" centers for children working in the 70 brick kilns in the State. They have also ensured that eight brick kilns are completely child-labour free. This project is coming to an end and they are starting to advocate to the District/State government to take over this initiative.
Puja's second project involved negotiating with the government to taking over the brick kiln child labor program and, within that broader effort, working on sub-projects like targeted presentations to show the progress made in making brick kilns child-labor free. Puja notes the skills she learned in her MPPA Policy Analysis course have been extremely helpful: "I can critically analyze policies (necessary for making the training module and then conducting the training as well) and bring out the salient features." She notes other courses have been very helpful, including Globalization and Organizational Theory.
C. Maxwell (Max) Solie, a second year student in the MPPA program, spent summer internship with the Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BRDC) in Northampton, MA. A non-profit, BRDC helps "promote, organize, and support a diverse, effective, national grassroots movement to restore and protect civil rights and liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights." As part of his internship, Max assisted with the launch of a series of sign-on letters inviting individuals concerned about torture accountability to share their views with the US Attorney General and members of the US Senate Intelligence Committee. In addition to a letter drafted on behalf of any concerned American, the effort also provides particular letters drafted to capture the unique perspectives of educators, lawyers, and people of faith. As part of his internship, Max was involved in this outreach effort, including building web presence at http://bordc.org/alerts/2009-06-signon.php.
Oxana Zabelina spent her summer in Chicago interning with the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation (DMRF), an excellent fit with her interest on health policy and nonprofit lobbying. DMRF's Executive Director Janet Heishetter writes on the DMRF blog that Oxana's work with them this summer is "allowing us to implement plans to identify the challenges and successes persons living with dystonia have experienced in getting their treatment covered by insurance." Oxana designed a survey for patients and healthcare providers.
Minako Koike interned with the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership (NYC). Minako worked on a research project exploring the grassroots exchange and educational outreach resources of each country, including analyzing current nationwide situations and making policy recommendations for improved US-Japan relations. For her projects, Minako applyed the policy analysis and quantitative/ qualitative research methods that she learned during her MPPA first year.
Josh Geyer interned with the City of San Francisco's Capital Planning Program (CPP), a City division responsible for planning for the long-term safety, accessibility and modernization of San Francisco’s public infrastructure and facilities. In addition to CPP, Josh will also be interning with Urban Ecology, a San Francisco-based non profit.
Elena Kvochko spent the summer at the Boston office of Standard & Poor's. As part of her internship experience, Elena worked closely with analysts gathering information on upcoming municipal bond issuances. She also analyzed local economic and financial conditions of New England towns and cities issuing bonds. Elena worked on other projects including preparing overviews of private companies that issue debt and helping prepare interviews with experts in the public finance field. She participated in bond market related seminars held at S&P and other organizations.
- May 21: Jane Fountain, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy and Director of the National Center for Digital Government and the Science, Technology and Society (STS) Initiative, and Marilyn Billings, Scholarly Communication & Special Initiatives Librarian at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library, have been awarded a $250,000 grant from the National Science Foundation’s Office of Integrative Research to beta test cybertools and cyberinfrastructure for an interdisciplinary, multimedia, and international online beta repository to support ethics in science and engineering. The project is based at CPPA.
For more information about this project www.umass.edu/sts.
- April 18: David M. Mednicoff, assistant professor of legal studies and at CPPA,, will conduct the two-year study with a $34,958 grant from the Center for International and Regional Studies at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service in Qatar. See the UMass press release. For additional conference information, visit the conference website.
- April 17: Jane Fountain, director of the National Center for Digital Government, discusses the advantages and possible drawbacks of using technology to promote transparency in government operations in Mass High Tech.
- March 24: A Boston Globe op-ed cites Michael Ash's "Toxic 100" project as a key indicator of the ineffectiveness of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency under the Bush administration. Derrick Z. Jackson writes that "(t)he degree to which Performance Track became Polluter Travesty is the fact that many of its members are in the 2008 Toxic 100 Index, as compiled by the Political Economy Research Institute at UMass-Amherst." Read the Globe op-ed.
- March 20: A recent report co-authored by Professor (and CPPA Director) Lee Badgett debunks a popular stereotype (that) paints lesbians and gay men as an affluent elite. Sponsored by UCLA's William's Institute and available in its entirety on their website, the report finds that, unlike the upper-middle-class gay characters on TV's The L Word and Will and Grace, "(t)here are clearly many poor lesbian, gay and bisexual people." (Lee Badgett quoted in USA Today article ).
- March 11: The jointly sponsored CPPA-PAGC Winter Internship Panel featured MPPA students Puja Jain, Elena Kvochko, Megan Nagel, and Anna Tomaskovic-Devey. Puja Jain worked with Verité child labor issues, Elena Kvochko worked with a Harvard professor on the competitiveness of Nordic countries' people-centered economies, Megan Negal worked on publicizing and "branding" the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC), and Tomaskovic-Devey deepened her knowledge of security policy in the Caucasus at an international NATO school in Baku, Azerbaijan.
 March 10: Beth McBratney, a 2007 MPPA alum, has co-edited a book with professors Peter Haas and John Hird called Controversies in Globalization: Contending Approaches to International Relations.
- March 9: CPPA to co-sponsor April 16 & 17 conference on YouTube and the election. Visit www.umass.edu/polsci/youtube and read the UMass press release.
- March 5: The NYTimes "Economix" blog features an entry by Professor Nancy Folbre. Economics professor Nancy Folbre discusses the economics of public support for family planning. Read her NYTimes blog post Sex and the Stimulus
- March 5: Professors Joya Misra and Michelle Budig's paper “How Care Work Shapes Earnings in a Cross-National Perspective” has been chosen as the winner of the first World Bank / LIS Gender Research Award. Read more here.
- March 1: MPPA alumni Mike Hamel and Professor Schweik publish open source software paper Mike Hamel (MPPA alumni) and Charlie Schweik (Associate Professor in Public Policy and Natural Resources Conservation) published findings from interviews with consortia-members pursuing the use of open source software in the government sector. The paper stems from Mike Hamel's MPPA capstone project. Read see the published paper in the January issue of First Monday.
- March 1: Kyle Wedberg, MPPA alumni and interim president of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, was invited--along with a New Orleans high school student -- to attend the White House's tribute to Stevie Wonder. According to the NY Times, Mr. Wedberg used his time to press David Axelrod on White House access for public school artists. Read more..
 MPPA student wins Mass. Municipal Management Association's Gerry Whitlock Scholarship
MPPA candidate Pheobe Walker has won the Massachusetts Municipal Management Association's Gerry Whitlock scholarship. The scholarship award is $2,000 and Walker, per her winning application, will work with a member of the MMMA's form of government committee on a study of a town that has recently undergone a change in their form of government. Learn more about MMA.
MPPA brief Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict (CIVIC) officials
 As part of a winning class group, MPPA candidates Anna Tomaskovic-Devey and Patricia Tillman and their group-mates were selected to travel to Washington DC on December 12 to meet with Campaign for Innocent Victims in Conflict's (CIVIC's) executive director and staff. Supported by a collaborative research paper, Tomaskovic-Devey and Tillman presented on strategies for building global support for CIVIC's goals. An example of professors leading students in directly applying current research, the paper and presentation were the main assignment for Professor Charlie Carpenter's "Global Agenda Setting" course (a Fall 2009 CPPA elective). The trip was sponsored by CPPA and Professor Carpenter as part of her research on global agenda setting.
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