Maxwell School News and Commentary

Changyong Choi ’11 Ph.D. (SSc) has been appointed to the Korea Development Institute’s School of Public Policy and Management as a faculty in international development and public policy.

Osamah Khalil, associate professor of history and expert in Middle East affairs, says he views the announcement of the deal as an attempt to boost Trump and [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu, who both face intense political headwinds over their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and other matters.

"If time is a political resource of value," says Elizabeth Cohen, professor political science, "then anything you can do to force people to spend their time on what you want them to do, not the work they would want to do, is effective." 

"Trump knows this is an important, wealthy group, and I’m sure that’s why he’s seeking their support," says Prema Kurien, professor of sociology, of Trump's courting of the Indian American vote.

Paul Arras ’04 B.A. (Hist)/’11 M.A. (Hist)/’16 Ph.D. (Hist) has written a book titled "Seinfeld: A Cultural History." The book explores the history of the still-popular late-1990s sitcom Seinfeld—how the show’s ideas are woven into popular thought and behavior, and how it challenged previous conventions of television comedy.

Jeremy Ames ’04 M.P.A. is the new director of the Division of Communications in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Regulatory Affairs, which leads FDA field activities, inspecting regulated products and manufacturers, analyzing samples of regulated products, and reviewing products imported into the United States.

Scott Rayder ’92 M.P.A. is the new executive director of the Alabama Water Institute (AWI), based at the University of Alabama. As executive director, Rayder will facilitate collaboration with the National Water Center, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration center located on the University of Alabama campus. 

Fred Carriere, research professor of political science, says that one of the major impediments to getting countries to denuclearize, whether the U.S., North Korea or Iran, is that "everybody always wants everything up front, with the promise that good things will follow later on, but few will ever be able to accept this strategy." 

"We don’t need any more mechanisms to make whiteness more visible," says Jenn Jackson, assistant professor of political science.