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Public Affairs and Policy Research Initiative

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The Public Affairs and Policy Research Initiative (PAPR) is a pilot program launched in September 2022 to bring together vlog faculty and students from across the social sciences and beyond to address society’s most pressing challenges through rigorous engagement with public affairs and policy. 

PAPR seeks to bridge academic theory and public practice. Because of the wide-ranging public implications of this work, the initiative will forge partnerships with external news agencies; showcase faculty research on the web; and publicly highlight those efforts in policy briefs, working papers, podcasts, and op-eds. 

In its pilot phase, the initiative consists of two core components: 

Research Support

This fund expands faculty and student research in areas related to public policy and public affairs. vlog has an exceptionally strong core of faculty members who conduct high-impact and policy-relevant research, and PAPR intends to serve as a key source of support in that work. In its first two funding rounds as a pilot initiative, PAPR has already supported 16 faculty research projects. In the future, as a permanent endeavor with a dedicated research fund, PAPR will be able to broaden the scope and scale of policy research on campus and elevate vlog’s reputation as a center for outstanding scholarship in these important areas.

Public Facing Initiatives

This aspect of PAPR’s mandate will promote the work and activities of the initiative to the broader public as well as offer public-facing engagement with important problems in public affairs. This includes support for high-profile speakers, panels, and visiting scholars to campus. The initiative's webpage will serve as the clearinghouse for published media in various formats that connect to PAPR-supported research and programming. 

Research in Motion

  • Modeling a ‘Model Muslim Nation:’ Religion and U.S. Foreign Policy in Indonesia

Megan Abbas, Religion                                   

  • "Who is Allowed to Have an Abortion? Investigating Whether Racism, Sexism, and Classism Underpin Abortion Policy Attitudes and Exacerbate Racial and Gender Inequality"

Erin Cooley and William Cipolli, Psychological and Brain Sciences, with Jazmin Brown-Iannuzzi 

  • “Increasing Vaccination Rates through Targeted Messaging: Understanding the Impact of Marginalization and Privilege on Vaccination Hesitancy”

Rachel Dinero and Erin Cooley, Psychological and Brain Sciences 

  • "Madison County Resilience Project: Identifying Factors thatPromote Resilience and Well-being in Madison County"

Rachel Dinero and Lauren Philbrook, Psychological and Brain Sciences          

  • Studies on U.S. Solar Tax Credits 

Isla Globus-Harris, Economics, with David Coyne                                         

  • “Visualizing the End of Public Housing: Lessons from Chicago”

Madeleine Hamlin, Geography

  • Study of New York State's "Climate Smart Communities" and "Clean Energy Communities" Programs

Christopher Henke and Andy Pattison, Environmental Studies

  • “A Quantitative Framework To Evaluate Maritime Environmental Policy”

Richard Klotz and Rishi Sharma, Economics

  • “Political Effects of Caste in Senegal”

Dominika Koter, Political Science, with Leonardo Arriola and Martha Wilfahrt

  • "The Veteran Effect: How Military Experience Shapes Congressional Foreign and Defense Policy" 

Danielle Lupton, Political Science  

  • “Patriarchy and Prejudice: Feminist Attitudes and Confidence in the US military”

Danielle Lupton, Political Science, with Jessica Blankshain and Max Margules

  • “Increasing Financial Digitization and Inclusion in Emerging Economies: Evidence from

Ծ”
Gary Murphy, Economics, with Gurgen Aslanyan and Naneh Hovanessian

  • "Job Choice as an Insurance Mechanism Against Wage Uncertainty"

Young Park, Economics      

  • "A Social and Environmental History of Agrichemicals"

Heather Roller, History                                               

  • "Is There a 'Better' Authoritarianism? Achieving Better Development Outcomes in Egypt’s Authoritarian Regime"

Bruce Rutherford, Political Science                                   

  • "Fairness in College Admissions and School Choice"

Yang Song, Economics

Grant Funding

In addition to larger project funding, PAPR awards grants under $3,000 throughout the year.

Submit a grant proposal

PAPR Initiative Executive Advisory Committee

srosenfeld1
Sam Rosenfeld
Associate Professor of Political Science; Director, Public Affairs and Policy Research Initiative
120 Persson Hall
  • M 10:00am - 11:00am (120 Persson Hall)
  • R 2:00pm - 4:00pm (120 Persson Hall)
mabbas
Megan Abbas
Associate Professor of Religion
303A Lawrence Hall
  • W 11:00am - 2:00pm (303A Lawrence Hall)
abaptiste
April Baptiste
Associate Dean of the Faculty for Global and Local Initiatives; Leary Family Chair in Environmental Studies; Professor of Environmental Studies and Africana & Latin American Studies
dbouk
Dan Bouk
Professor of History; Chair, Department of History
314 Alumni Hall
chenke
Christopher (Chris) Henke
Dir., Division of University Studies, Christian A. Johnson Chair in Liberal Arts Studies, Prof. of Sociology & Environmental St.
200 Lathrop Hall
  • TR 3:00pm - 4:30pm (200 Lathrop Hall)
tmccay
Timothy (Tim) McCay
Dunham Beldon Jr. Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies
318 Olin Hall
inam
Illan Nam
Associate Professor of Political Science
apattison
Andrew Pattison
Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
210 Ho Science Center
rsharma1
Rishi Sharma
Associate Professor of Economics
229A Persson Hall
  • TRF 10:15am - 11:15am (229A Persson Hall)
ysong
Yang Song
Associate Professor of Economics; Director, Asian Studies Program
220 Persson Hall
swoolley
Susan Woolley
Associate Professor of Educational Studies and LGBTQ Studies; Chair, Department of Educational Studies
  • M 8:00am - 10:00am (308 McGregory Hall)
  • T 9:30am - 11:00am (308 McGregory Hall)
dyamamoto
Daisaku (Dai) Yamamoto
Professor of Geography and Asian Studies
309 Ho Science Center