Maxwell School News and Commentary

“Americans today may not regard luxury as inimical to republican virtue in the way that they did in 1840. But prolonged inflation or a recession could reawaken those attitudes. In that context, Trump’s tacky and risible affection for gilded moldings and glitzy ballrooms could become a serious political liability,” writes Mark Schmeller, associate professor of history.

Azra Hromadžić, professor and undergraduate director for anthropology, has contributed to a recently published book, Bosnian Fluxes: Belonging, Caring, and Reckoning in a Post-Cold War Semiperiphery (Routledge, 2025).

The IDJC Visiting Fellows program brings in thought leaders in journalism, politics or public affairs to collaborate with Syracuse University students and faculty. Now in its first full year, the program is designed to deepen public understanding of democratic institutions and civic life through research, teaching and public engagement.

“There have also been arguments that DNI (Director of National Intelligence) has grown beyond its original intent. There is always a process of streamlining and covering the priorities effectively, but this doesn’t seem to be an effective way to do it,” says Kristen Patel, Donald P. and Margaret Curry Gregg Professor of Practice in Korean and East Asian Affairs.

Ruscitto ’23 M.P.A. is a two-time Syracuse graduate and a rising second-year law student in the College of Law. When he graduates, he plans to provide legal aid to his fellow veterans. Ruscitto’s passion for service and helping veterans is one of the reasons he was recently recognized as a 2025 Tillman Scholar by the Pat Tillman Foundation.

“It was a useful navigation tool in the 16th century, because it has straight lines, giving navigators a line of constant direction to sail along,” says Mark Monmonier, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Geography and the Environment. “But outside of that very narrow navigation application, there is no point in using it.”

Woodard, assistant professor of anthropology, recently traveled to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and to major cities in South Korea to examine the war’s impact on migration patterns throughout Europe and Asia.

“He [Putin] continues to launch missle and drone attacks, and military attacks continue along the front line. So Putin is really betting on a military solution, not a political one, despite all of the talks that took place over the last week,” says Brian Taylor, director of the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs.

$567,491 from the National Science Foundation will support groundbreaking work on how generative AI is reshaping productivity, satisfaction and skill development.

The article, co-authored by public health professors David Larsen and Bhavneet Walia along with Nicole Pulido, a research associate in the Public Health Department, was published in BMC Public Health.