Center for Policy Research News

The Maxwell School has appointed new chairs for the departments of anthropology, economics, history, international relations (undergraduate), political science and sociology, as well as an interim chair of social science. 

"The United States has a long tradition of enlisting immigrants. Immigrants make up an important part of the U.S. military, and have since the formation of the United States. Our country should not make it difficult for them to serve," writes Amy Lutz, associate professor of sociology.

Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology and Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion, and her team secured a grant from the National Institute of Justice to conduct a study that will provide recommendations to law enforcement agencies on how to maximize the efficiency of disrupting the supply of opiates into communities and develop a model for use in other jurisdictions.

"Typically people who qualify for higher SNAP benefits are in the worst health, so this suggests there is something really protective about the SNAP benefits," says Colleen Heflin, professor of public administration and international affairs.

"Typically people who qualify for higher SNAP benefits are in the worst health, so this suggests there is something really protective about the SNAP benefits," says Colleen Heflin, professor of public administration and international affairs.

A paper co-authored by Leonard Burman, professor of public administration and international affairs, found that the taxable share of U.S. corporate stock had fallen from 80 percent in 1965 to a mere 24 percent in 2015. The explanation for the sharp decline lies in the proportion of shares held by tax-exempt retirement accounts or by foreigners, who generally escape U.S. tax on dividends.

"In the places with high rates of drug, alcohol and suicide mortality, economic distress has been building and social and family networks have been breaking down for several decades," says Shannon Monnat, Lerner Chair for Public Health Promotion.

Amy Ellen Schwartz, Daniel Patrick Moynihan Chair in Public Affairs, and her co-authors found that from 2005 to 2008, high school students who joined New York City’s summer jobs program were more likely to take, pass and earn higher scores on the Regents exams.

Andrew Wender Cohen, professor of history, has been announced as the recipient of the Montgomery Gruber Professorship. Additionally, the O’Hanley Faculty Endowed Fund for Faculty Excellence, which serves to help recognize, reward and retain excellent teachers at the school, announced three new scholars: Azra Hromadžić, associate professor of anthropology; Natalie Koch, associate professor of geography; and Rebecca Schewe, assistant professor of sociology.