The 2024-2025 Watson Director's Fellowship projects and MPA fellows are listed below. Fellows will work on their projects from October to January and have several opportunities to learn from practitioners in the international and public affairs space. They will also present their work and learnings at a workshop early in the Spring Semester.
Watson Director’s Fellowship Projects, 2024-2025
“Illicit Financial Flows in West Africa”
Project Sponsor: Africa Initiative, Watson Institute
Faculty Lead: Dr. Chernoh Bah, Postdoctoral Fellow; and Professor Daniel Jordan Smith, Director, Africa Initiative, Charles C. Tillinghast, Jr. ’32 Professor of International Studies, Professor of Anthropology
Director’s Fellow: Kathleen McPeak
"Participatory Budgeting with K12 Schools in Providence, RI"
Project Sponsor: Annenberg Institute
Faculty Lead: Katie Doyle, Managing Director, Annenberg Institute, and Adjunct Lecturer in International and Public Affairs
Director’s Fellow: Nathan Hostert
"Women, Peace, and Security in the Middle East"
Project Sponsor: Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies
Faculty Lead: Adam Levine, Director, Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies, Professor of Emergency Medicine and International and Public Affairs
Director’s Fellow: Kunzang Namgyal
"Understanding Public Attitudes Towards Civil-Military Coordination in National Pandemic Response"
Project Sponsor: Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies
Faculty Lead: Adam Levine, Director, Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies, Professor of Emergency Medicine and International and Public Affairs
Director’s Fellow: Evan Warren
"The Supervised Society and the Great American Migration Slowdown"
Project Sponsor: Justice Policy Lab, Watson Institute
Faculty Lead: John Eason, Watson Family University Associate Professor of Sociology and International and Public Affairs, Elizabeth Fussell, Professor of Population Studies and Environment and Society (Research)
Director’s Fellow: Isabella Nadeau
“Use of Armed Escorts for Humanitarian Convoys Research Project”
Project Sponsor: Military Fellows Program, Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies (joint research effort that is supporting the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs)
Faculty Lead: David Polatty, Senior Fellow in International and Public Affairs, Director, Military Fellows Program
Director’s Fellow: Elena Bernardi
"Realizing Rights - Opportunities and Barriers to Participation in American Public Education"
Project Sponsor: Realizing Rights Research Lab
Faculty Lead: Susan Moffitt, John Hazen White Professor of Public Policy, Chair, Department of Political Science, Professor of Political Science and International and Public Affairs
Director’s Fellow: Morgan Reilly
"Carbon Politics Book Project"
Project Sponsor: The William R. Rhodes Center for International Economics and Finance, Watson Institute
Faculty Lead: Mark Blyth, Rhodes Center Director; The William R. Rhodes ’57 Professor of International Economics; Professor of Political Science and International and Public Affairs
Director’s Fellow: Bella Mittleman
“Research and Project Management, The Rhodes Center Podcast with Mark Blyth”
Project Sponsor: The William R. Rhodes Center for International Economics and Finance, Watson Institute
Faculty Lead: Mark Blyth, Rhodes Center Director; The William R. Rhodes ’57 Professor of International Economics; Professor of Political Science and International and Public Affairs
Director’s Fellow: Sabrina Clumeck