Brown's first new school in over a decade, the Thomas J. Watson Jr. School of International and Public Affairs, launched on July 1. Plans for the new school include broadening the scope of research, expanding the faculty, and breaking down traditional barriers between disciplines to address the world's most pressing economic, political, social and policy challenges.
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Site News from the Last 365 days
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News from Watson
Human Capital Investment in the Presence of Child Labor
New research by the Watson School's Bryce Millet Steinberg, funded by the Orlando Bravo Center for Economic Research, finds that early childhood interventions in places with high child labor rates lead to reduced schooling.
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John Friedman Testifies on Social Mobility Before UK House of Lords
John Friedman recently testified before the UK House of Lords’ Social Mobility Policy Committee, which is exploring ways to improve social mobility through education and employment integration.
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From May 12-14, the Watson Institute's Master of Public Affairs (MPA) program held its annual Policy in Action (PIA) Symposium, in which students presented the results of work they did for government, nonprofit and private sector organizations over the spring semester.
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The Illicit Global Economy: What Everyone Needs To Know
Peter Andreas recently published "The Illicit Global Economy: What Everyone Needs to Know," a new book that explores the unauthorized cross-border flows of goods, people and money shaping global trade and politics.
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Jennifer Hadden recently published a book titled "Crowded Out: The Competitive Landscape of Contemporary International NGOs," examining how global nonprofits are being squeezed by competition, specialization, and dispersion—even as global needs grow.
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Eric Patashnik Awarded APSA's Outstanding Public Engagement Award
Eric Patashnik has been awarded the 2025 Outstanding Public Engagement Award by the American Political Science Association.
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Watson Policy Labs experience busy, productive first year
The Watson Institute’s Policy Labs — created with the goal of turbo-charging research on critical policy issues by bringing together students and researchers — were highly productive during their first year of operation. The Civil Conflict and Democratic Erosion Policy Lab, the Justice Policy Lab, and the Realizing Rights Lab created cutting-edge social science research while enhancing student research skills.
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Student Spotlight: Charlie Adams ’25
Senior International and Public Affairs and environmental science concentrator Charlie Adams, who graduates this month, grew up around policy and politics. Naturally, he found himself at home in the Watson Institute's International and Public Affairs (IAPA) concentration.
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The Watson Institute's Africa Initiative is the only U.S. partner in the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), an organization dedicated to building a vibrant multidisciplinary African academy that produces world-class research.
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News from Watson
Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers
Mark Blyth recently co-authored a book titled "Inflation: A Guide for Users and Losers," which challenges conventional thinking on inflation and calls for new policy approaches.
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The Massachusetts Book Awards recently named Exit Wounds to its 2025 nonfiction longlist, recognizing author Ieva Jusionyte’s powerful examination of gun trafficking across the U.S.-Mexico border.
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The Evolving Landscape of US Green Banks
A new Climate Solutions Lab white paper highlights the rapid rise of green banks in the U.S. over the past decade as a vital tool for financing the green energy transition.
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Mark Blyth co-authored a paper for Review of International Political Economy as part of a special issue on macrofinance and the green transformation, titled "Macrofinance and the green transformation: nudging, attracting, and coercing capital towards decarbonization."
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Mark Blyth co-authored a paper for Review of International Political Economy as part of a special issue on macrofinance and the green transformation, titled "Decarbonising national growth models: derisking, ‘hobbled states’, and the decarbonisation possibility frontier."
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News from Watson
Ieva Jusionyte Awarded the 2025 Salomon Award in Social Sciences
Brown University’s Office of the Vice President for Research awarded Ieva Jusionyte a Richard B. Salomon Faculty Research Award in social sciences for her project titled “Extradition: Can Justice Be Exported?”
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Alumni Spotlight: Amienne Spencer-Blume ’23
Driven by a curiosity to push our collective spatial imaginaries, Amienne Spencer-Blume, a 2023 graduate of Watson's International and Public Affairs (IAPA) concentration and current sociology Ph.D. student at Johns Hopkins University, is researching how the configuration of space, at the micro- and macro-scales, impacts social structures and politics.
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Robert Blair recently co-authored a paper finding that randomized military patrols in Cali, Colombia, reduced citizens' commitment to democracy and the rule of law.
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A new paper co-authored by Jennifer Hadden for the Climate Solutions Lab examines why communities in developing countries oppose wind power projects and how that opposition could hinder clean energy expansion.
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Dany Bahar co-authored a paper examining the impact of economic sanctions on Venezuelan migration, finding that higher oil income — not lower — correlates with increased crossings of Venezuelan migrants at the U.S. southwest border.
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Renowned human rights attorney and Watson Senior Fellow Malika Saada Saar has organized a series of events for the spring 2025 semester called Fireside Chats on Building AI for Humanity, featuring conversations with tech industry leaders about AI and human rights.
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Costs of War's latest research links debris from bombardments in Fallujah, Iraq to poor health outcomes for returnees.
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On Thursday, February 27, seven Master of Public Affairs (MPA) Director's Fellows presented the results of a semester of research working with Watson faculty and other international and public affairs professionals.
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Alumni Spotlight: Jillian Harvey ’19 MPA
After witnessing systematic inequalities first-hand while working two jobs supporting at-risk communities, Jillian Harvey decided she needed to further her education in public policy to make a real impact in her community. After graduating from the Watson Institute's Master of Public Affairs Program in 2019, Harvey became a leader in the field of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the state of Massachusetts.
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