In Service of Humanity

SPIA enters a new era with the establishment of a physical presence in the nation’s capital. Dean Amaney Jamal chats with Washington veteran Alan Blinder about the initiative.

With SPIA in NJ launching April 28, Dean Amaney Jamal took some time to chat about the initiative with Stacy Mann, its director.

Recently, a group of our Princeton students and faculty traveled to Sharm El Sheik, Egypt for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – or COP27. While there, the students had a first-hand opportunity to observe the proceedings of the largest global gathering on climate change.In this episode we talk with some of the students who went to COP27 as well as to one of their faculty advisors, to hear first-hand about their experiences in Sharm El Sheik, what they learned, and any advice they have for the rest of us as we navigate global climate change.

Public policy influences all aspects of our lives, yet few people give much thought to how policy is made, let alone experience the policymaking process firsthand. A new one-year program — and the first of its kind in the nation — the Policy Advocacy Clinic at the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) educates students on the policymaking process and incorporates a clinical program where students work with lawmakers or advocates to advance a public policy issue. During this inaugural year, students will engage in policy advocacy before the United Nations, Congress, and the New Jersey State Legislature.On this episode of the Dean’s Dialogue, Udi Ofer, founder of the Policy Advocacy Clinic, and Princeton senior Ella Gantman ‘23, who is the senior commissioner for the clinic, join Dean Amaney Jamal to discuss the different projects at the international, federal, and state level that students can expect to work on at the Policy Advocacy Clinic during the yearlong program. Ofer is the James L. Weinberg Visiting Professor and Lecturer at SPIA and most recently served as both deputy national political director of the ACLU, as well as founding director of ACLU’s Justice Division. While at the ACLU, he oversaw the passage of hundreds of criminal justice reform laws and executive actions, including by the White House. He is perhaps best known for launching the ACLU’s first-ever effort to engage in candidate races through a nonpartisan lens. Ofer has testified before many legislatures, including the United States Senate, and is frequently cited as an expert on civil rights and criminal justice matters.Gantman is majoring in the School of Public and International Affairs and pursuing a certificate in Spanish. In the past, she has interned at the Office of the Federal Public Defender for the District of Columbia, where she worked directly with indigent clients and trial attorneys to prepare their legal defenses. This past summer, she worked in the Department of Justice, Office of Civil Rights, Voting Rights Section. On campus, Gantman is a goalkeeper on the varsity women’s soccer team, a student supervisor at Tiger Call at Princeton’s Annual Giving office, and a fellow at the Princeton Writing Program.

Within 30 years, Africa will be home to nearly 25% of the global population. As such, it’s poised to become a global power and is the focus of current global development finance. Kubik, co-founded by Kidus Asfaw MPA ’14, is an environmental tech company turning plastic waste into low-carbon buildings. Kubik’s focus on building environmental and economic dignity has made it Africa’s Startup of the Year. In this episode of the Dean’s Dialogue, Kubik’s CEO Asfaw talks with Dean Jamal about some of Africa’s biggest challenges and how those in the private and public sector can help. The company not only creates sustainable building materials, it is also trying to address the needs of marginalized communities, with a focus on women. Asfaw, a native Ethiopian, discusses how it was particularly important for him to contribute something valuable to African countries.  Previously, Asfaw led technology and innovation initiatives for UNICEF. As the organization’s first global product manager, he led UNICEF’s open source projects, with over 40 country deployments to support some of the largest and most critical programs improving the lives of children. Asfaw has also worked for the World Bank, Accenture, and Google.In addition to being a SPIA alum, he has a Biomedical Engineering degree from Duke University. He lives in Nairobi, Kenya.

It’s been a year since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the Taliban’s takeover of the country. Since then, the lives of many Afghans, especially women and girls, have been destroyed. Under Taliban rule, human rights violations continue to mount, while the country reaches economic collapse. In this episode, Dean Amaney Jamal discusses the current situation in Afghanistan — and what hope remains ahead — with Amb. Adela Raz, director of the Afghanistan Policy Lab at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. Amb. Raz was the first female permanent representative and ambassador of Afghanistan to the U.S. She’s also served as deputy minister for economic cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as the first female deputy spokesperson and director of communications for President Hamid Karzai. 

Governments around the world are limiting their countries' engagement with the global economy. These anti-globalization attitudes are troubling, especially as the world faces multiple global crises requiring international collaboration from climate change to supply chain production.Layna Mosley and B. Peter Rosendorff join Dean Amaney Jamal in this episode of the Dean's Dialogue to disentangle the backlash against globalization and consider what’s ahead. Mosley and Rosendorff are based at the Niehaus Center for Globalization & Governance at SPIA, which hosted a conference focused on this topic earlier this year. Mosley is a professor of politics at Princeton, and her work investigates the connections between domestic politics and the global economy. She’s studied the effects of global supply chains on workers’ rights in developing countries and how U.S. trade policies affect workers’ rights abroad. Another stream of her research focuses on the politics of sovereign debt. Rosendorff is a professor of politics at New York University and visiting scholar at the Niehaus Center for Globalization & Governance. His research interests include the political economy of terrorism, bilateral trade and investment, sovereign debt, international organizations, and the anti-globalization backlash.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Dean’s Dialogue is a monthly podcast hosted by Amaney Jamal, dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. The show is produced and edited by B. Rose Huber and receives support from Sarah Binder, Egan Jimenez, Daniel Kearns, and Brittany N. Murray.

In today’s workplace, writing is an essential skill. Whether drafting a policy memo, an email, or even a tweet, succinct writing is the key to effective communication.Best practices for clear writing are explored in a new book by Martha Coven: "Writing on the Job: Best Practices for Communicating in the Digital Age,” published by Princeton University Press. In the book, Coven draws upon decades of experience in the public and private sectors — as well as in the classroom at Princeton University — to provide a helpful guide for anyone looking to improve their writing.Coven, lecturer and John L. Weinberg/Goldman Sachs & Co. Visiting Professor at SPIA, has spent her career inside and outside of government working on domestic policy, with a focus on poverty reduction and the federal budget. Before coming to Princeton, she served for six years in the Obama Administration. She’s also served in nonprofit roles at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Consumers Union. Along with her teaching, she currently provides consulting services to foundations and nonprofits.Endnotes, a SPIA podcast, takes listeners behind the cover and through the pages of books on politics, policy, and more — all written by faculty at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. The show is hosted by B. Rose Huber.

China’s intentions to become the world’s next superpower are clear. After decades of trade and investments with advanced democracies, the country is far richer and stronger today than ever before. At the same time, China remains regressive toward its citizens and aggressive toward countries abroad. How did we get to this point?The West and its allies underestimated the resilience and ruthlessness of the Chinese Communist Party, Aaron Friedberg argues. In a new book, “Getting China Wrong,” he explains why the West’s strategy toward China failed and offers a path forward for U.S. foreign policy toward China.Friedberg is a professor of politics and international affairs at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. He studies international relations with expertise in international security, globalization, political economy, foreign and defense policy, and East Asia.Endnotes, a SPIA podcast, takes listeners behind the cover and through the pages of books on politics, policy, and more — all written by faculty at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. The show is hosted by B. Rose Huber.

Millions of people around the world are forcibly displaced each year due to rising conflict, environmental threats, and socioeconomic turmoil. Many of these refugees, including people from Syria, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, remain displaced, prompting action from U.S. and international governments. To recognize #WorldRefugeeDay, Amaney Jamal, SPIA dean, speaks with Eric Schwartz MPA ’85, president of Refugees International, in this episode of the Dean’s Dialogue podcast. They explore the challenges current refugees are facing and how public policy can help. Schwartz also reflected on how his Princeton training shaped his 30-year career in human rights. Schwartz previously served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration at the State Department. He was the senior human rights and humanitarian official at the National Security Council, managing humanitarian responses to crises in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. Prior to this, he served in several roles within the U.S. government.Just before his appointment to Refugees International, he was dean of the public affairs school at the University of Minnesota. In addition to his MPA from Princeton, he holds a law degree from New York University, and a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton. ***Subscribe to all of SPIA's podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else you find podcasts. Just look for “In Service to Humanity,” and you’ll know you’ve found us. The Dean’s Dialogue is a monthly podcast hosted by Amaney Jamal, dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. The show is produced and edited by B. Rose Huber and receives support from Sarah Binder, Egan Jimenez, Daniel Kearns, and Brittany N. Murray.