Faculty expressed excitement for interdisciplinary programs and joint hiring opportunities expected to come with the establishment of the new School of International and Public Affairs at Brown.
The transition from the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs to a separate school was first approved by the faculty and the Corporation last spring. It is set to open July 1. The school is “absolutely on track” with this timeline, according to Wendy Schiller, the interim director of the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs.
Preparations for the new school are focused on establishing “connective tissue,” Schiller said.
Many aspects of the current Watson Institute are "siloed,” she explained. “They operate in their own sphere, and they don’t necessarily come together as a unified school.”
According to Schiller, the new school will link programs at the Watson Institute and across the University by further integrating the Master of Public Affairs Program and expanding research for International and Public Affairs concentrators. They also hope to open up new centers and find overlapping engagements for undergraduate IAPA concentrators and master’s students.
David Blanding MA’09 PhD’13, the faculty director of the Master of Public Affairs Program, emphasized that the school will “strengthen what we’re already doing by engaging more faculty from a wide array of disciplines.”
He imagines many faculty members are currently asking “where’s my place in this?”
“This is meant to be an inclusive, interdisciplinary community, as much as Brown itself and Watson certainly have always been,” Blanding explained.
Schiller added that the Watson Institute “has a very healthy endowment” and the school “won’t be a drain on other resources.” She said the school will also produce opportunities for joint hiring with other departments such as sociology, political science, public health and economics.
Emily Rauscher, a professor of sociology and director of graduate studies for the sociology department, said she finds the upcoming transition exciting because of the potential for faculty hiring opportunities.
While Rauscher said that future collaborations with the school have not been directly addressed within the sociology department, she believes that “there’s a lot of potential for benefits from this in terms of collaboration and research projects.”
“I’m excited about cementing relationships and strengthening programs that I think are, to me, just quintessentially Brown,” Blanding said.
But Rauscher noted that there has been uncertainty over how funding opportunities will be structured under the new school, explaining that it is unclear if current funding opportunities for students with strong affiliations to the Watson Institute will continue in the future.
Rauscher considers the transition “institutionally a good idea to formalize a real strength at the University.” She believes that the shift “cements Brown’s strength in that area and makes it even more widely known and even more highly esteemed than it already is.”
Schiller described the school as “a big megaphone” to the world, strengthened by the work of Brown researchers and students.
“Getting all of that energy harnessed to a single entity means that the world will know that that’s where you go at Brown to be involved and engaged in policy studies, whether it’s international or domestic,” she said. “Without a school infrastructure, it’s hard to get that kind of attention.”
Samah Hamid is a senior staff writer at the Herald. She is from Sharon, Massachusetts and plans to concentrate in Biology. In her free time, you can find her taking a nap, reading, or baking a sweet treat.
