The University of Massachusetts Amherst

Category: Faculty Research

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Faculty Research Public Engagement Project Social inequality & justice

Tropp Publishes New Book on Intergroup Contact

Linda Tropp, associate professor of psychology and a CPPA faculty affiliate, is the co-author of a new book, When Groups Meet: The Dynamics of Intergroup Contact.

In the book, Tropp and collaborator Thomas Pettigrew examine a range of research findings about what occurs when diverse groups interact, and use their extensive meta-analysis of the intergroup contact literature to address such questions as “Does intergroup contact reduce prejudice?”

The book is part of the Essays in Social Psychology Series published by Psychology Press.  Tropp is also director of the Psychology of Peace and Violence Program at UMass Amherst and a member of the UMass Public Engagement Project Steering Committee.  Additional information about the book and an order form is available at Psychology Press.

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Faculty Research Science, technology & society

Schweik receives NSF Grant for doctoral consortium in Brazil

Charles Schweik, associate professor of environmental conservation and public policy, has received confirmation from the National Science Foundation that it will fund a doctoral consortium on open source software research that he is organizing. The consortium will be held on October 5, 2011, in Salvador Brazil prior to the 7th International Conference on Open Source Systems. The grant will fund eight U.S. doctoral students to attend the consortium and the OSS 2011 conference.

Over the past decade, the Open Source Software (OSS) phenomenon has had a global impact on the way organizations and individuals create, distribute, acquire and use software and software-based services. OSS has challenged the conventional wisdom of the software engineering and software business communities, has been instrumental for educators and researchers, and has become an important aspect of e-government and information society initiatives. OSS is a complex phenomenon and requires a interdisciplinary understanding of its engineering, technical, economic, legal and socio-cultural dynamics.

The goal of the doctoral consortium is to provide PhD students with an environment in which they can share and discuss their goals, methods and results of their research, and get advice and reactions from others before their dissertations are completed. For more information about the conference, visit http://ossconf.org/.

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Events Faculty Research

“The Making of Ethnic Insurgency” with Cem Emrence

Cem Emrence, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of History, will discuss “The Making of Ethnic Insurgency: Lessons for Policymakers in the Post-Cold War Era,” on Monday, April 4, at 12 p.m. in Thompson 620. The talk is part of the Center for Public Policy and Administration’s Spring 2011 Faculty Colloquium.

Dr. Emrence’s talk will draw on his extensive use of both quantitative and qualitative research methods to examine the making of Kurdish armed contention in contemporary Turkey. He will argue that the Kudistan Workers’ Party, also known as the PKK, has successfully challenged the Turkish state over the years by building a mass organization. However, the same tactics and organizational strategies that gave rise to a successful insurgency have now become self-defeating, resulting in the PKK’s decline.

Emrence’s research has important implications for policymakers, as civil wars where domestic groups take up arms against their governments have emerged as important security issues around the globe.

Cem Emrence was trained as a historical sociologist and received his doctorate in sociology from SUNY-Binghamton in 2008. He also has served as a research affiliate at Harvard University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies. In addition to his research on Turkey’s Kurdish insurgency, he has investigated alternative paths to modernity in the Middle East during the 19th century.

This talk is free and open to the public. Brownbag lunches are welcome. For additional information, go to www.masspolicy.org or contact Kathy Colón (kcolon@pubpol.umass.edu).

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Faculty Research

Five Colleges, Inc., Grant Launches New Policy Practitioner Residency Program

A grant from the Five Colleges consortium will establish a residency program that brings in experienced public policy practitioners over the next two years to support the learning and research goals of Five College students and faculty. A group of 22 collaborating faculty from UMass, Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith colleges developed the successful proposal. The award will be centrally administered by the UMass Center for Public Policy and Administration (CPPA).

“I am excited by the opportunities this grant presents,” notes CPPA director M.V. Lee Badgett. “Public policy is an important focus in over 300 Five College courses. Visiting residents—nationally-recognized experts from government, think tanks, NGOs—will bring experience that touches many area faculty and students.”

According to the group’s proposal, another goal of the residency program is to help establish long-term collaborations among Five College public policy faculty, “develop[ing] the kinds of shared goals and working relationships that have launched other successful Five College committees, councils, and programs.”

Beginning with the fall of 2011, the new program will support one policy practitioner per semester who spends up to two weeks in the Pioneer Valley giving public talks, meeting with students, working with faculty on curricular issues, assisting with new research initiatives, or helping to develop new internship opportunities for students.

A steering committee composed of faculty from all five colleges will help to identify and select the residents, soliciting nominations from area colleagues and others. Residents might include current legislators or directors of national or international nonprofits, policymakers who have recently retired or left public office, and alumni who have distinguished themselves through public service.

Practitioners who are expert in many areas of public policy—ranging from environmental policy to economic policies related to the recent fiscal crisis—will be considered as potential residents, but all those considered will have an interest in advancing social justice through their policy work.

For updates about the new Five College policy practitioner-in-residence program, visit www.masspolicy.org.

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Events Faculty Research Policy Viewpoints

Mednicoff Interviewed on Libya, Speaks on International Democracy

Assistant professor of public policy and acting director of the Social Thought and Political Economy program David Mednicoff is interviewed by The Republican and by WWLP-TV 22 News on the conflict in Libya.

Mednicoff says accusations that Moammar Gadhafi ordered the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 fit in with his generally unpredictable behavior over the years, and that Gadhafi justified his rule over Libya based on anti-western and anti-colonial sentiments. “If the regime falls, I think we are going to see a lot more very specific evidence of what happened,” he said.

In addition to his comments on Libya and the general unrest in the area, Mednicoff was a guest on the public affairs television show “CrossTalk” on February 12th. He and the other guests discussed efforts by the U.S. government to promote democracy in other countries and why this sometimes produces negative policy outcomes. Check out the video at Russia Today.

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Faculty Research Policy Viewpoints Social inequality & justice

Budig Interviewed About Paid Maternity Leave

Michelle Budig, professor of sociology and CPPA faculty associate, comments in a story about efforts to pass legislation that would grant federal workers four weeks of paid leave to care for newly born children. Researchers say the U.S. is one of just three nations out of 181 that don’t have such a benefit. Budig says a significant reason for earnings gaps between men and women is this lack of maternity leave.

Check out the article at Bloomberg.com and Bloomberg Businessweek.

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Faculty Research Policy Viewpoints Public Engagement Project

Badgett Featured at Brown University Forum on Same-Sex Marriage

CPPA director M.V. Lee Badgett drew laughs when she opened her remarks at a recent debate on legalizing same-sex marriage in Rhode Island, noting “I’ve been outed as an economist.”  Extending marriage privileges to gay and lesbian couples is currently an important policy issue in Rhode Island.  For additional information about the debate, please see the article in the February 20, 2011, issue of The Providence Journal by Edward Fitzpatrick.

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Faculty Research

Badgett Co-Authors New Study on Same-Sex Marriage Benefits in Rhode Island

A new study co-authored by M.V. Lee Badgett, UMass professor of economics and CPPA director, finds that recognizing same-sex marriage in Rhode Island would generate $1.2 million (in 2010 dollars) for the state over the three years following passage of the measure.

The net impact would result from savings in expenditures on state means-tested public benefit programs and an increase in state marriage license fees and income and sales tax revenue.

The study also finds that Rhode Island’s resident same-sex couples and their guests would spend more than $5 million in wedding expenses over three years.

Badgett is also Research Director for the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at the UCLA School of Law.  The entire study can be read using this link at their website.

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Faculty Honors & Awards Faculty Research Governance Policy Viewpoints

Fountain Featured on Davos/YouTube Video

Jane Fountain, professor of political science and public policy, is featured on a recent video taped at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.  In response to the question, “What keeps you motivated?,” Fountain notes the importance of using new media to bring the voice of the people to governance.  For more, go to the YouTube link.

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Faculty Research Policy Viewpoints

Mednicoff Contributes to Boston Globe, PBS, NPR

David Mednicoff, assistant professor of public policy and an expert on Middle East politics, has been widely cited in recent media articles and interviews about the Tunisian uprising.  In an article in this Sunday’s Boston Globe, Mednicoff explores what the situation in Tunisia suggests about the role of secular governments in ensuring stability and democracy in the Middle East.  Mednicoff also has been interviewed on WFCR by Bob Paquette; on the Emily Rooney show on WGBH radio; and on WGBY’s Connecting Points.

David Mednicoff is also acting director of the Social Thought and Political Economy Program and a member of the Five College Program in Middle Eastern Studies. He has a broad background in international law and politics. His research focuses on the rule of law in contemporary Arab societies and their prospects for political democratization.

Mednicoff has been a Fulbright scholar in both Morocco and Qatar; other recent awards in support of his research include a grant from Georgetown University to study the regulation of migrant workers in Arab countries and a 2010-2011 (non-resident) research fellowship from the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He is a frequent commentator in the media on issues related to politics in the Middle East, and has presented his work to policymakers in Washington at forums sponsored by the Department of State and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.