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Faculty Research

The 150-plus faculty members and roughly 800 graduate students are responsible for research that is influential and innovative.

Much of that research is conducted within the School’s research centers and institutes, but much is also completed by individuals working within their disciplines, toward purely scholarly ends. Similarly, much of Maxwell’s research is externally funded, and yet, much leads to the published books and articles that mark the progress of concepts and ideas in the academy.
In a typical year, Maxwell faculty members publish dozens of books and monographs and hundreds of book chapters and journal articles. Their work provides up-to-date material for the classroom.

It is one of the great distinctions of the Maxwell School that an institution so widely praised for its professional programs is, in fact, a home for esteemed research and scholarship across so a wide range of disciplines.
Research News

Faricy explores public perceptions of welfare via the U.S. tax code
In their new book, “The Other Side of the Coin: Public Opinion toward Social Tax Expenditures” (Russel Sage Foundation), Christopher Faricy, associate professor of political science, and Bucknell University professor Christopher Ellis examine how public opinion differs between two types of economic aid—direct government assistance vs. indirect assistance in the form of tax subsidies.
2/9/2021

Griffiths evaluates grievances of secessionist movements in new paper
"Local conditions and the demand for independence: A dataset of secessionist grievances," co-authored by Associate Professor of Political Science Ryan Griffiths and Ph.D. candidate Angely Martinez, was published in Nations and Nationalism. There are more than 60 secessionist movements around the world, and they all advance arguments for why they deserve independence. In the article, Griffiths and Martinez construct a dataset of secessionist grievances. They develop a set of grievance indicators, specify how they are operationalized and detail how the grievances are categorized and aggregated. They then tally the results for each contemporary movement and discuss the broader patterns.
2/3/2021

London, Hoy examine same-sex sexuality and divorce risk in new study
"Same-Sex Sexuality and the Risk of Divorce: Findings from Two National Studies," co-authored by Professor Andrew London and Aaron Hoy '14 M.A. (Soc)/'18 Ph.D. (Soc), was published in the Journal of Homosexuality. London and Hoy use data from the 1992 National Health and Social Life Survey (NHSLS) and the 2011–2013 National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) to examine the likelihood of divorce among the once-married. Specifically, among those who are or were married once and only once to a person of a different sex, they ask whether the components of same-sex sexuality—desire/attraction, behavior, and identity—are associated with an increased risk of divorce, net of demographic and early-life controls.
2/3/2021

Schwartz discusses her recent special ed study with Hechinger Report
"They’re closing the gap with their general education peers by about a sixth," says Professor Amy Ellen Schwartz, Daniel Patrick Moynihan Chair in Public Affairs and lead author of the recently published study, "The Effects of Special Education on the Academic Performance of Students with Learning Disabilities." "Their performance [in special ed] jumps up compared to other peers with learning disabilities who are not yet diagnosed" and still part of the general education population, she says. Read more in the Hechinger Report article, "PROOF POINTS: New answers to old questions about special education."
2/3/2021

Montez quoted in Undark article on state policies, life expectancy
In a study published in September 2020, Professor Jennifer Karas Montez and her colleagues merged state policy data with life expectancy data for each of the 45 years to see whether there was any association. Their finding: States that implemented more conservative policies were more likely to experience a reduction in life expectancy. "We know states that we can look to: What is Connecticut doing? What did New York state do?" Montez says. "We can also look to the states that are declining and say, 'What did they do wrong?'" Thus, the U.S. offers 50 individual case studies that show how policies are linked to health, Montez says. Read more in the Undark article, "Are Conservative Policies Shortening American Lives?"
2/2/2021

Himmelreich discusses vaccine verification systems in Brookings piece
"Building robust and ethical vaccination verification systems," co-authored by Assistant Professor of Public Administration and International Affairs Johannes Himmelreich, was published in Brookings TechStream. "VRV systems present both opportunities and risks in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic," the authors say. "They offer hope of more accurate verification of vaccine status, but they also run the risk of both exacerbating existing health and economic inequalities and introducing significant security and privacy vulnerabilities." The authors argue that VRV systems ought to align with vaccine prioritization decisions, uphold fairness and equity, and be built on trustworthy technology.
1/28/2021

Landes study on signature authority, cause of death accuracy published
"Assessing state level variation in signature authority and cause of death accuracy, 2005–2017," co-authored by Associate Professor of Sociology Scott Landes, was published in Preventive Medicine Reports. The authors examined whether variation in death certificate certifier type predicts the accuracy of cause of death reporting in the U.S. Their findings suggest that state-level differences in statutory signature authority may contribute to inaccuracies in U.S. mortality data, especially when considering myriad professional groups that can certify the cause of death.
1/27/2021

Schwartz study on special education, academic performance published
"The Effects of Special Education on the Academic Performance of Students with Learning Disabilities," co-authored by Amy Ellen Schwartz, was published in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. In the 40‐plus years since the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, special education has grown in the number of students and amount spent on services. Despite this growth, academic performance of students with disabilities remains troublingly low compared to general education students. The authors looked at students with specific learning disabilities (LDs), using rich New York City public school data and found that academic outcomes improve for LDs following classification into special education and impacts are largest for those entering special education in earlier grades.
1/22/2021

New study explores effect of preemption laws on infant mortality rate
"Effects of US state preemption laws on infant mortality," co-authored by Maxwell professors Douglas Wolf, Shannon Monnat and Jennifer Karas Montez, was published in Preventive Medicine. States are increasingly preempting city and county governments from enacting policies that benefit workers, such as raising the minimum wage. The authors found that each additional dollar of minimum wage reduces infant deaths by up to 1.8% annually in large U.S. cities. Additionally, in the 25 states that preempted minimum wage increases since 2001, over 600 infants could have been saved annually if localities had been allowed to raise their wage to $9.99.
1/19/2021

Landes, London study on self-reported ADHD and adult health published
"Self-Reported ADHD and Adult Health in the United States," co-authored by sociologists Scott Landes and Andrew London, was published in the Journal of Attention Disorders. Landes and London investigated the relationship between self-reported ADHD diagnosis status and adult health, and whether observed associations are attenuated by biomedical and socioeconomic factors. They concluded that research on adult health outcomes for those with ADHD should include consideration of the mechanisms by which a diagnosis of ADHD leads to cumulative social disadvantages that independently contribute to poorer health outcomes.
1/19/2021

Coffel explores power and climate struggle in new research paper
Ethan Coffel, assistant professor of geography and the environment, discusses his latest findings on thermal power and how warming temperatures will impact every part of our power infrastructure in the SU News story, "It’s Getting Hot In Here: Warming World Will Fry Power Plant Production in Coming Years."
1/4/2021

Takeda narrates early French-Persian trade relations
In her new book "Iran and a French Empire of Trade, 1700-1808: The Other Persian Letters" (Oxford University Press), Syracuse history professor Junko Takeda explores the political, commercial, and cultural links between eighteenth century France and Persia. Her global microhistory reveals how trans-imperial trade impacted the lives of various entrepreneurs and mercenaries living on the edge of empire, while demonstrating how French engagement with the Asian continent shaped Enlightenment political thought and policy making across the Age of Revolutions.
12/30/2020

Abdelaaty examines disparities in refugee treatment
In her new book “Discrimination and Delegation: Explaining State Responses to Refugees” (Oxford University Press), Syracuse political science professor Lamis Abdelaaty examines the factors that shape states’ responses to refugees. She asks important questions about why some states welcome refugees while others exclude them, and why some states cede control of the asylum process and refugee camps to the United Nations.
12/27/2020

New study by Cleary examines regime dynamics in fragile democracies
"When Does Backsliding Lead to Breakdown? Uncertainty and Opposition Strategies in Democracies at Risk," co-authored by Matthew Cleary, was published in Perspectives on Politics. The authors develop an agency-based perspective to enhance the understanding of aggrandizement and to explain when it results in democratic breakdown. Relying on comparative case studies of five countries—Bolivia, Ecuador, Thailand, Turkey, and Venezuela—their analysis suggests that the contingent decisions of opposition actors during the process of aggrandizement have a significant effect on regime outcomes.
12/17/2020

Liu study on multi-function products, firm scope/boundaries published
"What’s the big idea? Multi-function products, firm scope and firm boundaries," co-authored by Assistant Professor of Economics Mengxiao Liu, was published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. The authors examine the implications that flow from the fact that some firms are so much better than others at the Big Idea, that is, at identifying and bundling clusters of functions. The authors also look at how firms decide whether to outsource functions or produce them in-house given the holdup problems associated with bringing ideas to market and coordinating multiple suppliers.
12/17/2020

Wiemers examines vulnerability to COVID-19 complications in new study
"Disparities in vulnerability to complications from COVID-19 arising from disparities in preexisting conditions in the United States," co-authored by Associate Professor of Public Administration and International Affairs Emily Wiemers, was published in Research in Social Stratification and Mobility. Using a model validated on COVID-19 hospitalizations, the authors show large disparities across education and income in the prevalence of conditions associated with adverse outcomes, and in the overall risk of severe complications. These disparities emerge early in life, prior to age 65.
12/14/2020

Landes study on COVID-19 impact on people with IDD in CA published
"COVID-19 outcomes among people with intellectual and developmental disability in California: The importance of type of residence and skilled nursing care needs," co-authored by Scott Landes and sociology student Ashlyn Wong, was published in Disability and Health Journal. The study shows that California residents who receive services for intellectual and development disabilities (IDD) have lower COVID-19 case rates but a higher case-fatality rate than the general population. The lower case rate is being driven by those with IDD who live in their own home or a family home, while those living in congregate settings are more likely to be diagnosed with, and die from the virus.
12/10/2020

New study examines age‐at‐death disparity, people with and without IDD
"Evidence of continued reduction in the age‐at‐death disparity between adults with and without intellectual and/or developmental disabilities," co-authored by sociologists Scott Landes and Janet Wilmoth, along with social science PhD student Erika Carter Grosso '10 MA (PSc), was published in the Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities. Evidence from the study demonstrates that the age‐at‐death disparity between adults who did or did not have an intellectual and/or developmental disability reported on their death certificate continues to decrease, but the magnitude of the remaining disparity varied considerably by type of disability.
12/1/2020

Abdelaaty examines asylum admissions in International Interactions
Why would a country welcome some refugees and treat others poorly? More specifically, why do countries accept some asylum applications and reject others? In her study titled "Rivalry, ethnicity, and asylum admissions worldwide," Assistant Professor of Political Science Lamis Abdelaaty argues that states’ approaches to refugees are shaped by foreign policy and ethnic politics. The article was published in International Interactions.
11/16/2020

Allport explores Great Britain’s WWII experience
In his new book, "Britain at Bay: The Epic Story of the Second World War: 1938-1941" (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group), Maxwell history professor Alan Allport traces the history of Great Britain in the early years of the Second World War. The book was also reviewed in the New York Times, “Rethinking Winston Churchill and Neville Chamberlain.”
11/16/2020

Heflin, Lopoo study on collaboration across social programs published
"When States Align Social Welfare Programs: Considering the Child Support Income Exclusion for SNAP," co-authored by Professor Colleen Heflin, Professor Len Lopoo and PhD candidate Mattie Mackenzie‐Liu, was published in Social Science Quarterly. The authors investigated the state‐level conditions associated with the adoption of policies that benefit participants in multiple social welfare programs, focusing on the case of the child support income exclusion for SNAP benefit eligibility calculations. They found that collaboration across social programs is more likely as state income tax revenues increase and when administrative costs are lower.
11/11/2020

Abdelaaty piece on UNHCR refugee status determination published in FMR
"RSD by UNHCR: difficulties and dilemmas," written by Assistant Professor of Political Science Lamis Abdelaaty, was published in Forced Migration Review. Abdelaaty draws on archival research relating to Egypt, Kenya and Turkey to explore the potential consequences of the UNHCR's (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) involvement in refugee status determination (RSD) procedures in a country’s territory.
11/10/2020

Monnat part of team recognized for research on rural America
A research team of 39 investigators from 28 colleges and universities from across the United States has been recognized by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities and the United States Department of Agriculture with its National Excellence in Multistate Research Award. Shannon Monnat, associate professor of sociology, currently chairs the research coalition and accepted the award on behalf of her colleagues in a virtual ceremony.
11/4/2020

Harrington Meyer discusses new book on Colgate University podcast
University Professor Madonna Harrington Meyer and alumna Ynesse Abdul-Malak ’13 MA (Soc)/’17 PhD (Soc) of Colgate University discuss their research related to grandparents caring for grandchildren with disabilities in an episode of 13, a bi-weekly podcast from Colgate University.
11/4/2020

Purser looks at teaching thrift in job readiness programs in new study
"Both sides of the Paycheck: Recommending Thrift to the Poor in Job Readiness Programs," co-authored by Gretchen Purser and Brian Hennigan, PhD student in geography, was published in Critical Sociology. The article documents how job readiness programs—as anchors of the devolved organizational landscape of neoliberal poverty governance in the United States—endeavor to instill within the poor not simply the virtue of work, but the virtue of thrift, and thus orient them to "both sides of the paycheck." Using a comparative ethnographic study of two community-based, government-funded nonprofit job readiness programs, Purser and Hennigan show that this pedagogic focus on budgeting is central to the overall goal of conditioning clients to embrace and endure a degraded labor market.
10/26/2020

Ma examines stigma of wearing masks for Chinese students in new study
"To mask or not to mask amid the COVID-19 pandemic: how Chinese students in America experience and cope with stigma," co-authored by Associate Professor of Sociology Yingyi Ma and sociology PhD candidate Ning Zhan, was published in Chinese Sociological Review. Drawing from stigma theory, Ma and Zhan argue that what Chinese students experience when it comes to mask wearing is an exemplar of how stigma is socially constructed by power.
10/23/2020

Montez study on population health, policy trends published in MQ
"US State Polarization, Policymaking Power, and Population Health," written by Gerald B. Cramer Faculty Scholar in Aging Studies Jennifer Karas Montez, was published in the Milbank Quarterly. The troubling trend in US life expectancy and the widening disparities in life expectancy across the United States have deep roots. In the article, Montez posits that both trends are grounded in the dynamic changes in the policy and political landscapes since the 1980s.
10/21/2020

Heflin article on the effect of material hardship on health published
"Material Hardship, Perceived Stress, and Health in Early Adulthood," co-authored by Professor Colleen Heflin, was published in the Annals of Epidemiology. The authors found the adjusted odds of fair or poor health status, depression, sleep problems, and suicidal thoughts were higher among individuals with material hardship than counterparts without. A considerable proportion of the association between material hardship and health outcomes was attributable to perceived stress.
10/19/2020

Landes cited in HPR article on disability housing, COVID-19
A recent study led by Scott Landes found that the COVID-19 case rate for people living in New York’s residential group homes was disproportionately high. The fatality statistics reported for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in congregate settings are even higher than those reported for Black Americans, Landes explains, which are already exposing some of the nation’s worst inequities. "If you look at those mortality rates that we report, those are worse than any that I’ve seen from any minority in this country," he says. "That just makes the point." Landes was cited in the Harvard Political Review article, "A Crisis Decades in the Making: Disability Housing Policy and COVID-19."
10/16/2020

Lasch-Quinn explores the meaning of life in new book
In her new book, “Ars Vitae: The Fate of Inwardness and the Return of the Ancient Arts of Living” (Notre Dame Press), Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn, professor of history in the Maxwell School, explores Americans’ stirring interest in ancient Greco-Roman philosophies including Cynicism, Platonism, Gnosticism, Stoicism and Epicureanism, and whether they can offer any alternatives to contemporary consumer culture as a means to happiness and well-being.
10/16/2020

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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.
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Due to public health concerns around COVID-19, all in-person public events are postponed or canceled until further notice.

Jul

28

PAIA Webinar: A Curricular Review of Our Professional Masters Programs

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12

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23

Herbert Lourie Memorial Lecture on Health Policy

Strasser Legacy Room, 220 Eggers Hall

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08

Tanner Lecture Series: Phil Klay

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