Maxwell School News

Emily Thorson, assistant professor of political science, and her co-author found through survey research that sports fans tend to harbor more right-leaning attitudes on economic and foreign policy issues, even as Republicans are no more likely than Democrats to follow most sports.

Grant Reeher, professor of political science, says Trump’s words were "pushing that frontier of just what is acceptable on the part of a president. I think that’s why it is getting the attention that it’s getting. Any time you start talking fast and loose about…families that have lost members in the line of duty, that is political dynamite."

“The purpose of gaining knowledge is not to get a nice job or a fancy house or season tickets for basketball. Academic research in the social sciences should be motivated by a desire to change things for the better,” says Alexei Abrahams ’08 B.A. (Econ). He credits Syracuse University's Coronat Scholars Program for allowing him to take his time in finding his career path as an economist researching the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Mark Monmonier, Distinguished Professor of Geography, discusses his approach to maps and how to avoid data distortions with geographic data.

According to Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute, "voting has become much more rigid" along party lines.

"One problem is the [flood] maps are based on historical data, they're static maps," says Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science. "They don't take into account future development scenarios and future weather-related scenarios having to do with climate change."

Maxwell alumna Emily Simonson ’15 M.P.A./M.A. (IR) was one of the recipients of the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals, as part of the Urban Waters team, which created public-private partnerships to clean and revive urban waterways and their surrounding lands. 

"On the one hand, it takes him to a region, and to individual countries, that he's criticized, and with which he's already had tensions. So, a lot of things could go wrong," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute. "On the other hand, a diplomatic trip like this almost forces him to behave in a more conventional way, and that could help his image at home."

“The complexity of today’s global environment demands an interdisciplinary and practical understanding of the threats and challenges facing the international community,” says Dr. John Hamre, Center for Strategic and International Studies president and CEO. “We want to create a space where innovative ideas can surface and where the next generation of leaders can start to contribute meaningful policy ideas.”

Mehrzad Boroujerdi, professor of political science, was interviewed for The Guardian article, "'It's become a monster': is Iran's revolutionary guard a terror group?"

"Officials are concerned about the financial burden on individual property owners, but also worry about decreased property values and increased restrictions on development," Sarah Pralle, associate professor of political science.

Professor of Geography Thomas Perreault earlier this month was a visiting scholar with the Elisée Reclus Chair.  The Elisée Reclus Chair was established in the 1990s for the purposes of bringing French geographers to lecture and teach in Mexico, and later expanded to include geographers from more countries. Perreault was the first U.S. geographer to hold the chair.

"The vice president has an interest in technology and space policy generally, so the council becomes a good venue to put some context to all of this," says University Professor Sean O'Keefe.

"Emotions can cause us to care about foreign policy, and they can also fundamentally shape the types of policies that citizens want. Emotions change our decision-making calculus," finds Shana Gadarian, associate professor of political science, and her co-author.