Skip to content

Heflin Discusses USDA Sec. Rollins’s Three-Dollar Meal Claim With The Bulwark

“I was very confused,” says Colleen Heflin, professor of public administration and international affairs, about Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins’s three-dollar meal claim. “USDA has several established meal plans that they estimate the cost of each month. And none of those comes out to $3.”

February 3, 2026

A New Tool for Handling Multiracial and Multi-Identity Data in Health Research

Gabriel J. Merrin
This brief introduces CATAcode, a free software tool that helps researchers handle check-all-that-apply demographic data more thoughtfully. The tool reveals how coding decisions dramatically affect who is represented in research—decisions that inform health policy and resource allocation. 
February 3, 2026

See related: United States

Erin Hern Shares Expertise on Gender Discrimination for OECD

The Maxwell associate professor was an invited lead discussant for the organization as it prepares to update its Social Institutions and Gender Index, a widely used measure of international gender inequality.

February 2, 2026

Himmelreich Talks to Syracuse.com About the AI Policy Minor and AI in Teaching

“AI is going to have significant social impact. This will create policy challenges that require an understanding of the technology as well as the policy analysis skills,” says Johannes Himmelreich, associate professor of public administration and international affairs.
January 30, 2026

Wagner Weighs In on the Deployment of the National Guard in on LiveNOW from FOX

“The guard's role in law enforcement is unclear. The guards training in law enforcement across America is minimal at best...The vast majority of these people have absolutely no training or understanding in law enforcement, but they do know what the law of war is, and they're trained in the law of war,” says Alex Wagner, adjunct professor in Maxwell's Washington programs.

January 29, 2026

Sultana Discusses Hydro-Coercion and Water Justice in Counterpoint and Daily Star Articles

“For Bangladesh, water is far more than a resource; it is the vital pulse of our ecological resilience and the primary determinant of our human vulnerability. Yet, in the high-stakes geopolitical landscape of South Asia, our rivers are increasingly being reconfigured from lifelines into instruments of hydro-coercion,” writes Farhana Sultana, professor of geography and the environment.

January 28, 2026

See related: Government, India, South Asia, Water

Pandemic Mask Mandates and Closures Were Linked to Increased Gun Violence

Douglas A. Wolf, Emily W. Wiemers, Iliya Gutin, Jennifer Karas Montez, and Shannon M. Monnat
This brief examines how masking requirements and activity restrictions were associated with gun violence across U.S. counties. The authors find that counties’ indoor masking requirements were linked to a 28% increase in gun violence, while business closures and restrictions were associated with a 4.2% increase. 
January 27, 2026

See related: United States

McDowell Speaks With Marketplace About Europeans Selling Off US Treasurys

“Any mass sale of Treasurys like that would likely cause severe disruptions that not only impact the U.S., it would also impact European banks and the entire global economy,” says Daniel McDowell, Maxwell Advisory Board Professor of International Affairs.

January 27, 2026

From Hydro-Hegemony to Hydro-Coercion

Farhana Sultana

The study, authored by Professor of Geography and the Environment Farhana Sultana, was published in Human Geography.

January 27, 2026

See related: Government, India, South Asia, Water

Bright, Blurred Boundaries in the US Military: Experiences of Immigrants and Children of Immigrants

Amy Lutz, Iwona Franczak

The study, co-authored by Professor of Sociology Amy Lutz and Ph.D. student Iwona Franczak, was publised in the Journal of International Migration and Integration.

January 26, 2026

Bybee Examines the Importance of Civility in Public Discourse on WBUR's ‘Here & Now’

“There is some sense that if they go low and you don't go high, then you end up being reduced to the level of the person you're disagreeing with. I would suggest something different, which is to focus on the real stakes,” says Keith Bybee, professor of political science.

January 26, 2026

O’Keefe Talks With MS NOW About Senator Mark Kelly's Lawsuit Against Secretary Pete Hegseth

“It is a very fine line, but it's a special obligation that public servants carry, particularly those in uniform, to follow through in this manner and to do so in a way that they understand precisely why what they're being asked to do is lawful in prosecuting the national interest of the United States,” says University Professor Emeritus Sean O'Keefe.

January 26, 2026

See related: Government, Law, United States

Cultural Awareness for Peace Operations Personnel

Robert A. Rubinstein, Clementine K. Fujimura

Robert Rubinstein, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and professor of international relations, has co-authored the textbook Cultural Awareness for Peace Operations Personnel to accompany a course of the same name offered by the Peace Operations Training Institute in Richmond, Virginia. 

January 23, 2026

See related: International Affairs

Coaching to Learn: Does In-Person Coaching Help?

This study aimed to understand whether peer-led in-person coaching that provided evidence-based learning strategies would improve academic outcomes compared to online-only access material that described the same strategies for undergraduate students enrolled in introductory calculus.
January 23, 2026

Heflin Discusses SNAP Work Requirements, Food Insecurity Data in Mother Jones Article

Around half of early retirements between the ages of 55 and 65 are the result of health issues or difficulties maintaining employment, often compounded by challenging state processes to seek exemption from it, says Colleen Heflin, professor of public administration and international affairs. “It’s really important for states to be thinking about the administrative burden.”

January 23, 2026

Archaeology and World Prehistory: Unearthing Our Past

Christopher DeCorse

Drawing from material in the Maxwell School’s Introduction to Archaeology and World Prehistory course, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology Christopher DeCorse offers an overview of archaeology’s theories and methods and traces human history from early ancestors to the emergence of agricultural states across the globe.


January 22, 2026

See related: Archaeology

Murrett Speaks With CBS News About US-Iran Relations

“This was a level of killings and suppression which is different in scale from anything we've seen in the last few years of protest movements...and it hasn't really solved any of the underlying problems that exist in Iran, nor the anger that so many of their people have against the regime,” says Vice Adm. Robert Murrett (Ret.), professor of practice of public administration and international affairs.

January 22, 2026

Contemporary Land Transitions in the US: Critical Questions of Concentration and (Re)Distribution

Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern, Madeleine Fairbairn

Co-authored by Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern, associate professor of geography and the environment, the article was published in Geography Compass.

January 22, 2026

From Pretextual Planning to Prezoning: The Case of Vancouver, British Columbia

Austin Zwick

The article, authored by Associate Teaching Professor of Policy Studies Austin Zwick, was published in Urban Governance.

January 21, 2026

Griffiths Comments on the US’s Ability to Acquire Greenland in La Presse Article

“The executive power is less hampered than we normally see, but that doesn't mean that there are no constraints,” says Ryan Griffiths, professor of political science.

January 21, 2026
Communications and Media Relations Office
200 Eggers Hall