Penn Fels Policy Research Initiative Announces Fall Interdisciplinary Grants

The Fels Policy Research Initiative in the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania has announced eight collaborative grant recipients. Each will be awarded as much as $15,000 in support of three new working groups and five conferences, designed to further interdisciplinary partnerships.

The three working groups will research social issues reflecting Penn’s commitment to local, national and global engagement. Included amongst the working groups, from Penn Arts and Sciences, are:

The Immigration and Immigrant Rights: Led by Michael Jones-Correa, professor of political science, and Amada Armenta, assistant professor of sociology, the group will identify Penn scholars focused on immigration and share their research with policy decision-makers.
    
River Research Seminar: Bethany Wiggin, associate professor of German, will connect faculty and students across disciplines from Penn, Drexel University and Temple University, in conjunction with community partners, to explore the Schuylkill River and Philadelphia’s urban waters.

The five conferences awarded grants will address a variety of issues related to economic policy, infrastructure, housing in the future, diversity and more. Included amongst the conferences, and featuring Penn Arts and Sciences faculty, are:

The Philadelphia Workshop on Macroeconomics and Economic Policy, in which Dirk Krueger, professor of economics, will pool academics and researchers from across Penn and policy institutions to present and discuss macroeconomic research and fiscal policies at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    
John MacDonald, professor of criminology and sociology, and the Fels Institute of Government will host the Rebuilding America Summit, addressing the problem of an aging and underfunded infrastructure by assembling Penn faculty, government budget directors and chief financial officers.
    
Dawn Teele, assistant professor of political science, will amass Penn scholars, faculty from other institutions, campaign training program leaders and politicians to better understand what incentives encourage women to seek political office in Nudging Women to Run.

Daniel Hopkins, associate professor of political science, will lead a conference to advance efforts toward integrating the perspectives of social and behavioral science into the City of Philadelphia’s work.

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