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Sindiso Mnisi Weeks, Associate Professor of Legal Studies, has published a piece for I-CONnect, the blog of the International Journal of Constitutional Law, following her attendance of the Peopling Constitutional Law symposium. The post expands on Mnisi Weeks's fall 2023 Four @ Four presentation and discusses possibilities for decolonizing constitutional law. (I-CONect, 4/23/24)

Andrew March, Professor of Political Science, is quoted in a profile of Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of Tunisia’s main opposition party and an ardent critic of President Kaid Saied, who has been ordered to be imprisoned pending trial on charges of incitement against state authorities. March says Ghannouchi drew inspiration from the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, as well as from Tunisian thinkers and regional philosophers such as Algerian Malik Bennabi. “Ghannouchi’s ideology cannot be simply limited to the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, it is to a large extent because of Bennabi, who had a wider understanding of the concept of civilization – one that was not exclusive to Islam but that included other religions and cultures,” he says. (Al Jazeera, 4/20/23)

Signe Predmore has published an article, "Inclusion vs. Co-optation? Navigating recruitment as a Gender Diversity Candidate in Finance," in the journal New Political Economy.  The article draws from her immersive and interview-based dissertation research to examine the everyday politics of co-optation in gender diversity initiatives in the financial sector. (New Political Economy)

Seth Goldman, communication, Tatishe Nteta, political science, and Linda Tropp, psychological and brain sciences, will receive a seed grant for their project, “Understanding Change in How People of Color Respond to Narratives of Rising Diversity” from the UMass Amherst Institute of Diversity Sciences. Read More >

Kelsey Shoub, Public Policy, is the team leader of a 2023 PIT @UMass Faculty Fellows project with Jamie Rowen, Associate Professor of Legal Studies and Political Science; Youngmin Yi, sociology; and Cindy Xiong, CICS. Their winning project to address public interest technology challenges is "What Counts Count? How Information about Racial Disparities Informs the Public’s Evaluations of District Attorneys." Read More.

Raymond La Raja, Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of the UMass Amherst Poll, is quoted in articles examining the increase in donations Rep. Matt Gaetz received following his blockade of Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s campaign for Speaker of the House, and how the absence of lawmakers due to health issues highlights the challenges facing slim Senate majorities. “If it’s a longer-term thing, they should be obligated to say,” he says. “If it’s short term, they're going in for an operation, you don’t have to say much about that. The public should know about somebody’s health. Fetterman is doing the right thing.” (USA Today, MSN.com, The National Desk, 4/17/23)

 

Tatishe Nteta, political science and director of the UMass Amherst Poll, is quoted in an article that looks at Gov. Maura Healey’s legislative accomplishments 100 days into her tenure. “Why give Charlie Baker this victory when you can give it to the incoming governor?” Nteta asks, regarding the state Legislature’s willingness to work more with Healey than her predecessor on issues such as increasing funding for the state’s emergency shelter system. (Boston Globe, 4/17/23)

Jamie Rowen, Associate Professor of Legal Studies and Political Science, has co-authored a piece examining the medical misinformation and questionable legal reasoning about abortion behind recent anti-mifepristone court decisions, such as the decision by U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk in Texas overturning the FDA’s approval of the drug. “Judge Kacsmaryk frames the decision as one designed to protect women and girls, yet mifepristone is a drug that has more benefits than just safe abortion,” Rowen and her co-author write. “It has been shown in numerous studies to help women safely treat an incomplete miscarriage and is now used off label for this purpose. Studies have also shown mifepristone to be helpful with labor induction, increasing the safety of the delivery process for someone who does continue with a pregnancy. Ongoing research into other applications for mifepristone may be interrupted by these judges’ decisions that limit the ways the drug can be used.” (Yahoo!News, New Haven Register, SF Gate, Houston Chronicle, PennLive [all via The Conversation], 4/14/23)

A mural in the Campus Center titled “Justice, Diversity, and Opportunity,” was rededicated in a ceremony Monday, April 10, as part of the Art of Conflict Transformation Spring 2023 Event Series “The Good Friday Agreement @ 25.” The mural was painted in 2010 by Danny Devenny and Mark Ervine, two of the leading muralists during the North/Northern Ireland conflict and transition to peace, along with members of the UMass community. The artists were joined at Monday’s ceremony by the British consul general to New England, the consul general of Ireland, and UMass Amherst officials, including Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy. (WWLP-TV, 4/11/23; News Office release)

UMass Poll surveyed 700 residents and found overwhelming support — 79 percent — for making universal free school meals permanent (something Mariano said the House budget would do, while Healey is only asking to extend the program for another year). The poll also found that 8 in 10 support providing free breakfast and lunch for all K-12 public school students and nearly 7 in 10 support construction of high-speed rail service between Springfield and Boston. Fifty percent strongly or somewhat support lowering the short-term capital gains tax rate to 5 percent from 12 percent, while 19 percent oppose it and 31 percent offered no opinion.UMass Amherst polling Director Tatishe Nteta expects the upcoming budget discussions will help move the needle for those in that “neither” category. (Politico, The Boston Globe,  4/10/23; WCVB-TV, 4/11/23; News Office release)

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