Programs Hosted at the Malcolm Wiener Center

For more than twenty years, the Program in Criminal Justice Policy and Management has conducted research on major issues in criminal justice policy and management. Established in 1980 by the Daniel and Florence V. Guggenheim Foundation, the Program has had a continuing commitment to include practitioners in its work; to devise situations in which the researchers learn from the practitioners and the practitioners learn from both the researchers and each other; to synthesize and extract the best ideas; and to work to put these ideas into good currency. Integrating theory with practice and academicians with practitioners--through research, Executive Sessions, teaching, writing and publishing--the Program in Criminal Justice has attempted to challenge conventional wisdom in various domains of criminal justice policy.

Founded by Professors Stephen Cornell and Joseph P. Kalt at Harvard University in 1987, the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development (Harvard Project) is housed within the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Through applied research and service, the Harvard Project aims to understand and foster the conditions under which sustained, self-determined social and economic development is achieved among American Indian nations. The Harvard Project’s core activities include research, advisory services, executive education and the administration of a tribal governance awards program. In all of its activities, the Harvard Project collaborates with the Native Nations Institute for Leadership, Management and Policy at the University of Arizona. The Harvard Project is also formally affiliated with the Harvard University Native American Program, an interfaculty initiative at Harvard University.

The Joblessness and Urban Poverty Research Program was established in 1996 under the direction of William Julius Wilson, Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor. The Program seeks to analyze the effects of increasing urban poverty and joblessness plaguing the inner cities and to ensure that scholarly research plays a critical role in the creation and implementation of national public policy concerning the poor. Through conferences,seminars, and research activities, the Program agenda focuses on the various social forces and ecological factors that contribute to the marginalization and social isolation of urban populations.

The Multidisciplinary Program in Inequality & Social Policy emerged from the conviction that certain research puzzles may be particularly suited to an interdisciplinary approach. In its graduate training activities, the program aims to produce scholars who will be grounded in the recognized disciplines of their home departments, but who also understand the models, methods, and findings of scholars in adjacent fields.

Related Projects and Research:

The Ph.D. Program in Health Policy at Harvard University is an interfaculty program between the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), the School of Public Health, the Medical School, the John F. Kennedy School of Government, and the Graduate School of Business Administration that began in September 1992. Students in the Ph.D. Program in Health Policy choose a concentration and meet specific curriculum requirements in one of seven disciplines: Decision Sciences, Economics, Ethics, Evaluative Science and Statistics, Management, Medical Sociology, or Political Analysis. In addition to selecting a concentration, during the thesis stage, students specialize in one of four areas of policy interest: Environmental Health, Health Care Services, International Health, Mental Health, or Public Health.