Centers, Institutes, and Initiatives

Centers, Institutes, and Multidisciplinary Research Initiatives

Maxwell’s unique strength derives from its multidisciplinary approach to the study of contemporary policy issues. Within the school’s research units, you will find faculty scholars and practitioners with expertise across the full spectrum of social sciences and public affairs specialties analyzing and problem solving alongside our students.
From aging, population, and public health, to the environment, conflict resolution, and the governance of autonomous systems, Maxwell faculty and students engage in the sort of silo-busting work that is essential to developing solutions and educating tomorrow’s effective leaders.

Aging Studies Institute

Promoting aging-related research, training, and outreach. Co-sponsored with SU’s Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics.

Autonomous Systems: Policy, Law and Governance

Advancing knowledge and teaching in the field of autonomous systems by exploring new frontiers in policy, law and governance of these fast-expanding technologies.

Campbell Public Affairs Institute

Serving a better understanding of contemporary challenges in democratic governance — particularly, the idea of citizenship, its evolution, and the conditions under which it thrives.

Center for Environmental Policy and Administration

Exploring environmental issues from an integrated perspective that considers technical, social, and humanistic aspects.

Center for Policy Research

A home for domestic policy concerns — among them health studies, econometrics, public education, public finance, social welfare, poverty and income security, and urban and regional studies.

Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism

Examining pervasive questions of national security and counterterrorism law and policy. Co-sponsored with the SU College of Law

Lerner Center for Public Health Promotion

Dedicated to creating public health programs that are motivating, sustainable, and effective replicated in community and national prevention programs.

Institute for the Study of the Judiciary, Politics, and the Media

Assessing the ways in which judicial independence is established and maintained. Co-sponsored with SU’s College of Law and with the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs

Facilitating research on issues raised by an increasingly interdependent world and studies challenges to the quality of governance worldwide.

Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration

Dedicated to the enhancement of knowledge about social conflicts and to collaborative governance and collaborative problem solving.

Syracuse University Infrastructure Institute

Bringing together public and private sector groups and companies to plan, design and suggest ways to implement new infrastructures.

Research News

Heflin publishes study linking food insecurity and disability
In their study titled "Food insecurity and disability in the United States," published in Disability and Health Journal, Professor Colleen Heflin and co-authors developed a model of the potential pathways connecting specific types of disability with food insecurity.

Faricy publishes paper on social spending attitudes, benefits delivery
"Race, 'Deservingness,' and Social Spending Attitudes: The Role of Policy Delivery Mechanism," co-authored by Christopher Faricy, was published in Political Behavior. Faricy and co-author Christopher Ellis found that "social benefits delivered through the tax code are less likely to trigger racialized thinking than similar or identical benefits delivered directly."

Gadarian article on how information helps voters published in UAR
"Voting Can Be Hard, Information Helps," co-authored by Shana Gadarian, was published in Urban Affairs Review. Americans are often faced with low-information conditions when voting. The authors found that in these conditions, voters use candidates’ race, ethnicity, and gender as cues for whom to support — penalizing candidates of color and benefiting women.

Karas Montez study examines educational disparities in US adult health
Jennifer Karas Montez and co-authors Mark Hayward and Anna Zajacova draw on contextual theories (e.g., economic policies) of health disparities to illustrate how U.S. states, as institutional actors, shape the importance of education for health. Their study, "Educational Disparities in Adult Health: U.S. States as Institutional Actors on the Association," was published in Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World.

Mitra paper on land reform enactments published in JDE
"The political economy of land reform enactments: New cross-national evidence (1900–2010)," co-authored by Devashish Mitra, was published in the Journal of Development Economics (JDE). The authors constructed a unique and extensive annual dataset that codifies 372 major land reform enactments across 165 countries during the period 1900–2010.

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Faculty Experts
Our faculty are available to speak about a wide range of issues, including tax policy, trade, foreign affairs, immigration, education, social welfare, and the environment, among others.
To find an expert, use our online directory to search by keyword topic or issue .

Centers, Institutes, and Multidisciplinary Research Initiatives

Research News

Faculty Experts