This Month at the McCormack Graduate School
February & March 2021
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We are deep into the semester already, and again, the McCormack community of staff, students and faculty continue to exhibit resilience, creativity and fortitude as we all stay focused on our mission of teaching, research, engagement and learning and moving the world toward greater justice.
We started the semester at the end of January with new beginnings. We welcomed a new permanent Provost to UMass Boston, Joe Berger; we saw large scale roll out of COVID vaccines and a glimmer of hope that the end of the pandemic may be in sight (but we also saw racial disparities of access to vaccines); we saw the inauguration of a new president and a vice president of many firsts, and an insurrection at the Capital that attempted to violently subvert our core democratic process of voting.
And through these new beginnings and the continued turmoil, McCormack still tackles the hardest challenges of our day, and does so with scholarly acumen and grace. Our McCormack Racial Equity Taskforce (MRET), which launched in the fall, started the spring semester in high gear, inviting State Representative Nika Elugardo to a discussion moderated by Associate Dean Kiki Edozie on the policy and politics of passing police reform legislation. We sponsored a series of panels with McCormack and other UMB faculty to examine what to expect in the Biden-Harris administration, spanning topics from health care to racial equity to climate change to terrorism to international relations to the role of the presidency itself. We celebrated Black History Month and connected US Black history and African Black history. And McCormack continues to be a thought leader, with our faculty, students and staff regularly writing or appearing in media and the press, driving research-based discussion of policy from the local to the global levels. A great example is Senior Fellow Bob Turner’s op-ed piece published by 'NBC Think': "Trump Decimated America's 'Umpires.' Biden Needs to Hire Them Back."
We hope, as spring unfolds, that you take a chance to spend time in the warming outdoors with loved ones and take a deep and centering breath (even if it is through a mask!)
Warmly,
David W. Cash
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McCormack Making A Difference |
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Students Success
Two first semester Management of Aging Services (MAS) students, Josiane Hilaire (left) & Linda Jacobson (right), share their perspective of navigating the nuances of online learning and virtual collaboration during the pandemic.
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Faculty Accomplishments
Professor Kyungmin Kim came to the United States from South Korea in 2006 to earn her PhD, and subsequently had two impressive post-doctoral fellowships before joining the Department of Gerontology in 2015. In the Lunar New Year, she began a new role at her alma mater, Seoul National University (SNU), building upon the work she started at McCormack.
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Staff and Virtual Support
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, McCormack staff members have continued to provide invaluable support and services to faculty and students alike. Jack Li, Program Assistant in the McCormack Graduate School Dean’s Office & Emily Kennerley, Development and Outreach Coordinator for the Pension Action Center (PAC) share their perspective on keeping the MGS community together.
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Alums Making a Difference
MGS Public Policy Alum, Marija Bingulac, PhD, recently accepted the Janet Yellen Award for Outstanding Work in Community Development, a recognition of her ongoing efforts in racial and economic justice.
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Members of MRET and MA State Representative Nika Elugardo discussed the implications of "defunding" language for the so-called left and right, deconstructing slogans to peek into the realities of making legislation.
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In the second of three panels, faculty from MGS, Institute for New England Native American Studies, UMass Law, and School for Global Inclusion and Social Development, discuss and explore what we can expect from the new Biden-Harris Administration in regards to domestic policies.
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In the first of the Black History in Africa Series, ASF features Layla D. Brown-Vincent, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Africana Studies, College of Liberal Arts, UMass Boston. Professor Brown’s presentation/workshop will explore the illusive process of developing a writing practice and the importance of dedicated time to read, think, discuss, and write for scholarly production.
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Centers Delivering Impact |
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Gerontology PhD alum, Bei Wu works toward improving health status through research and policy. Recognized for her extensive research and pursued by top tier universities, Wu has become an international leader in the field since graduating from the University of Massachusetts Boston’s Department of Gerontology.
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Research Director for Center for Social Policy, Françoise Carré, PhD co-authored an article with Professor of Urban Planning at UCLA, Chris Tilly to discuss rapid technological change, COVID-19, and their effects on retail jobs.
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The Sustainable Solutions Lab at UMass Boston has awarded two research grants to project teams that will focus on groups that are often overlooked when evaluating the impacts of climate change.
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Accomplishments of the MGS Community |
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Robert L. Turner, Senior Research Fellow for the McCormack Graduate School & Former Deputy Editor of the Globe Editorial Page calls for Biden to restore the 'nonpartisan arbiters' who help to serve as referees to guard our democracy. The piece was published by "NBC Think," the network's print outlet.
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Nominated by the Faculty Council Executive Committee, Professor and Chair, Michael Johnson, PhD received an award for his excellence in serving the university and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
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McCormack Speaks
The Untold Story of the World’s Leading Environmental Institution: UNEP at Fifty by Maria Ivanova
The Invisibility Bargain: Governance Networks and Migrant Human Security, by Jeffrey D. Pugh
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Media Hits
A snapshot of recent McCormack news items.
(Top Row: Research Fellow Robert Turner, Associate Professor Maria Ivanova, Professor Christian Weller, and Research Director Francoise Carre. Bottom Row: Associate Professor Darren Kew, Public Services Manager Sarah Concannon, Assistant Professor Jeffrey Pugh, and Associate Dean Rita Kiki Edozie.)
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Event Date: Sunday, March 21, 2021 - 2 p.m.
Join family, friends, colleagues, and alumnae in celebrating beloved trailblazer, Betty Taymor, founder of the Program for Women in Politics and Government (now the Gender, Leadership, and Public Policy program), who was instrumental in creating the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy, on the occasion of her 100th birthday.
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Event Date: Friday, March 26, 2021 - 2 p.m.
Join us for the Spring 2021 Virtual Town Hall: 'Healing Together: Empowering McCormack Students with Opportunities and Resources' as we provide students with access to opportunities and resources to help us heal as we move forward!
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Event Date: Wednesday, March 31, 2021 - 11 a.m.
A Top-Down Approach to Bottom-Up Development: NGO Implementation of Early Childhood Development Programs in Rwanda
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Event Date: Wednesday, April 14, 2021 - 5:30 p.m.
Join us for a conversation with alumni of the Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security and Global Governance as they discuss their work as change agents in a variety of settings: from state government to academia to energy innovation in Africa.
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Check out the
eMcCormack Spring 2021 Resource Center
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McCormack Graduate School Newsletter Editorial Board
Jack Li
Rashelle Straker
Robert Turner
Associate Dean Rita Kiki Edozie
Dean David Cash
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John W. McCormack Graduate School
of Policy and Global Studies
University of Massachusetts Boston
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