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Wiener Center and other HKS faculty offer their analysis of the unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd and their thoughts on what's next.

 

News, insights, and other resources from Wiener Center faculty and researchers.

 

New books, articles, case studies, reports, and working papers are frequently added. Read more about the Center's working papers and faculty publications.

 

The Center's programs focus on PhD education, inequality, criminal justice policy, and the achievement gap in public schools.

 

New research from the Project on Workforce highlights the need for better policies to aid workers through job losses and job changes.

 

A new Shift Project report evaluates the implementation of Seattle’s scheduling ordinance and its impact on retail and food service workers.

 

Guggenheim Professor of Criminal Justice Sandra Susan Smith discusses her research into the long-term negative effects of pretrial detention.

 

New research shows that a large fraction of people around the world are willing to sacrifice their own rights and freedoms in order to improve public health conditions during the pandemic.

 

New research from the Shift Project shows that only a quarter of workers who were laid off or furloughed at the height of the pandemic lockdown received timely unemployment benefits.

 

Jane Mansbridge talks about her 'jagged trajectory' to becoming one of the world’s leading scholars of democratic theory.

 

The Shift Project uses innovative data collection to examine the impact of precarious and unpredictable work schedules on American workers.

 

New research finds black and Hispanic students living close to police-involved killings suffer substantial educational and psychological damage.

 

New research tracing outbreaks among prison inmates and correctional staff. You can also read a Q&A with study authors Marcella Alsan and Crystal Yang.

 

New research from George Borjas shows economic and racial disparities in testing and infection.

 

The recession and pandemic job losses highlight the critical need for US government, business and educators to target worker retraining.

 

The Wiener Center hosted the traveling exhibit Undesign the Redline: The Transformation of Race, Place, and Class in America.

 

New faculty member Will Dobbie talks about the common threads linking criminal justice, education, and consumer finance.

 

Educators have praised “The Formula: Unlocking the Secrets to Raising Highly Successful Children” as one of the most comprehensive studies on parenting.

 

With the visionary support of Malcolm Wiener, HKS has developed pathbreaking ideas in social policy.

New Funds for Student Research Projects

The Malcolm Wiener Center and Center for International Development jointly announce a new funding opportunity for student research projects.  The application deadline is March 31, 2021.
Read more information here.

News

The Black-white life expectancy gap grew in 2020 – but it can be reversed 
Vox, February 24, 2021
Featured: Marcella Alsan

Solving racial disparities in policing
Harvard Gazette, February 23, 2021
Featuring: Khalil Gibran Muhammad, Sandra Susan Smith, & Christopher Winship

Balancing privacy with data sharing for the public good
New York Times, February 19, 2021
Featured: David Deming

U.S. hiring alliances help tens of thousands find jobs
Wall Street Journal, February 19, 2021
Featured: David Deming


In Netflix’s stirring “Amend”, stars anguish over the injustices that led to the 14th Amendment
Salon, February 18, 2021
Featured: Khalil Muhammad 

On racial justice and reparations: A Q&A with prof. Khalil Gibran Muhammad 
New Jersey.com, February 17, 2021
Featured: Khalil  Muhammad 

Getting Black voters to take the wheel
The Harvard Gazette, February 17, 2021
Featured: Khalil Muhammad 

The battle for the ballot 
WBUR, February 16, 2021
Featured Alex Keyssar 

'White supremacy won today': Critics condemn Trump acquittal as racist vote 
The Guardian, February 14, 2021
Featured: Khalil Muhammad

Activist and organizer LaTosha Brown discusses voter mobilization at Kennedy School event
Harvard Crimson, February 12, 2021
Featured: Khalil Muhammad

The filibuster that saved the Electoral College
The New York Times, February 8, 2021
Featured: Alex Keyssar


What is Black History Month, and why is it important?
ABC 7,  February 1, 2021
Featured: Khalil Muhammad

The recession exposes the U.S.’ failures on worker retraining
WIRED, February 1, 2021
Featured: David Deming

And now, the way forward
The Harvard Gazette, January 20, 2021
Featured: Maya Sen, Sandra Susan Smith

The public health presidency
Axios, January 20, 2021
Featured: Robert Blendon 

Where are we now after a second impeachment?
Harvard Gazette, January 13, 2021
Featured: Alex Keyssar

If China no longer wants to be the world’s factory, who will take its place?
Quartz, January 9, 2021
Featured: Gordon Hanson

Democrats have both Congress and the White House—but not a free hand
Harvard Gazette, January 8, 2021
Featured: Alex Keyssar

A leading historian of U.S. democracy issues an urgent warning
Washington Post, January 4, 2021
Featured: Alex Keyssar

Republican electors cast unofficial ballots, setting up Congressional clash
Wall Street Journal, December 28, 2020
Featured: Alex Keyssar

The outdated law that Republicans could use to upend the Electoral College vote next time 
The New Yorker, December 18, 2020
Featured: Alex Keyssar

Workers at these companies say they’re still not safe from COVID-19
HuffPost, December 17, 2020
Featured: Daniel Schneider

Under attack from Trump, institutions bend but don’t break
Associated Press, December 15, 2020
Featured: Alex Keyssar

No one has lost quite like Donald Trump in nearly 150 years
CBC, December 15, 2020
Featured: Alex Keyssar

This team thinks they can fix the Electoral College by 2024
Slate, December 14, 2020
Featured: Alex Keyssar

Meet the Electoral College’s biggest haters: Some of the electors themselves 
Seattle Times, December 12, 2020
Featured: Alex Keyssar

Biden reaches deadline that makes victory nearly irreversible
Bloomberg, December 8, 2020
Featured: Alex Keyssar

Trump's false fraud claims are laying groundwork for new voting restrictions, experts warn
NBC News, December 6, 2020
Featured: Alex Keyssar

Even the Founders hated the electoral college
Los Angeles Times, November 22, 2020 
Featured: Alex Keyssar

Looking at what the election will mean to education policy
The Harvard Gazette, November 12, 2020
Featured: Desmond Ang

Why do the media call races in U.S. elections? 
U.S. News and World Report, November 11, 2020
Featured: Alex Keyysar

The end of $600 stimulus checks has left unemployed Americans facing financial ruin
The Philadelphia Tribune, November 4, 2020
Featured: Daniel Schneider


HKS CLASS DAY AWARDS

Each year, the Malcolm Wiener Center awards prizes for excellence in student research that best exemplifies the work of three remarkable individuals: Manuel Carballo, Susan Eaton, and Frederick Fischer. 

Manuel C. Carballo Memorial Prize

Stephanie Nussbaum (MPP 2020) for the Policy Analysis Exercise:
Keeping it FRESH: Evaluating the NYC Economic Development Corporation’s Food Retail Expansion to Support Health Program

Mr. Carballo was a faculty member from 1978 to 1982. This prize is awarded for exemplary articulation of ideas related to the implementation, management, and evaluation of programs to serve disadvantaged populations in the U.S.


Susan C. Eaton Memorial Prize

Lucy Moore (MPP 2020) for the Policy Analysis Exercise: 
Supporting Family Childcare Providers to Increase the Supply of Childcare in Boston

A student, alumna, and faculty member at Harvard Kennedy School from 1993-2003, Ms. Eaton was a tireless advocate for the rights of workers. The prize in her name is awarded to an outstanding paper on a topic related to human resource management; union leadership; health care quality, management, disparities and inequality; fair wage policies; work-family policies; gender equity, and aging.


Frederick Fischer Memorial Prize

Jyoti Gupta (MPP 2020) and Ella Han (MPP 2020) for the Policy Analysis Exercise:
Partnerships Strategy for Khan Academy Kids

This prize honors the memory of Frederick Fischer, an alumnus of the MPP program and a committed public servant. Awarded for  an outstanding paper on a topic such as  criminal justice; economic and social mobility; workforce development; inequality; education; immigration; social services; and related social policy issues.


 

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