The Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance maintains an active program of empirical and theoretical research and learning linked to the Institute’s policy and governance-related domains of interest to achieve more fully democratic societies at all geographic scales. We engage in research, capacity building, technical outreach and community-based participatory inquiry with and on behalf of those we serve, principally disadvantaged and vulnerable populations.

The Institute’s current research and project emphases are concentrated around these policy areas:

Child and Family Social Welfare Policy Group

Governance and Civil Society Group

Public and Community Health Group

Public Policy Data Group

Community Voices Research Articles

We welcome you to read a series of short research articles linked to our Community Voices talks.
Community Voices Research Article Archive

Latest News

May 24, 2013

• Max Stephenson's latest Soundings commentary posted - thank you for reading and enjoy! Reflections On Writing and Writing Well .
• Congratulations to Suzanne Lo on the acceptance of her presentation titled "Veterans and Broadband Access in Virginia: implications for healthcare planning and policy" to the Health in Members of the U.S. Armed Forces, Veterans and Their Families Conference. The conference will take place October 21-22 in Hampton, Virginia.

May 22, 2013

• Sabith Khan, VTIPG affiliated PhD student in Planning, Governance and Globalization, will be interning at the School of Philanthropy, Indiana University in June, working on the data from the Center on Philanthropy Panel Study (COPPS), trying to map American Muslim Philanthropy. In addition, he will also work on the Giving USA data, which is a compilation of 40 years' worth of trend information. During his time there, he will produce a research article and also make a presentation to staff and faculty.

May 21, 2013

• Congratulations to Bart Yavorosky on the successful defense of his proposal.  The title of Bart’s effort is “Participation in Notice-and-Comment Rulemaking: An empirical model for estimating the anticipated impact for public comments on proposed administrative rules.” Bart’s committee members are Max Stephenson, committee chair and VTIPG director, Tim Luke, Distinguished Professor and Chair of Government and International Affairs, Anne Khademian, Professor and Director of the School of Public and International Affairs, and Joe Rees, Associate Professor in the Center for Public Administration and Policy.

• The Community-Campus Partnerships for Health's next conference is accepting proposals for sessions and poster presentations. The conference will be held April 30-May 3, 2014 in Chicago, IL. The conference theme is "From Rhetoric to Reality: Achieving Authentic, Equitable & Transformative Partnerships." Proposals are due September 30, 2013 for skill-building workshops, creative arts sessions, stories, roundtable discussions and posters that advance the conference theme. More information about the conference can be found at http://ccph.info.

May 20, 2013

• Max Stephenson's latest Soundings commentary posted - thank you for reading and enjoy! ‘Through a Glass Darkly’ or Weighing the Democratic Price of Partisan Mobilization at any Cost .

May 17, 2013

• The latest "RE:Reflections and Explorations" commentary has been posted. The Modern University as A Free and Ordered Space is written by Sabith Khan who is a Ph.D. student in Planning, Governance and Globalization. This will be the last "RE:Reflections and Explorations" commentary until the fall semester begins.

May 16, 2013

• Congratulations to VTIPG affiliated Ph.D. student Eli Jamison, ASPECT, on the successful defense of her dissertation proposal. Eli's committee chair is Barbara Ellen Smith, Sociology, and Dr. Max Stephenson, VTIPG Director is also on her committee. The title of Eli's dissertation is "Immigration and Social Justice for Workers in Alabama: A Potential Space for CSR Discourse."

May 15, 2013

• Congratulations to VTIPG affiliated Ph.D. student Sabith Khan, Planning, Governance and Globalization, for receiving an award from the Graduate Student Assembly's Travel Fund Program.

May 14, 2013

• We welcome you to read the first in our series of short research articles linked to our Community Voices talks. Dr. Max Stephenson has written an introduction to the series. The first article is courtesy of Lyusyena Kirakosyan. Future articles will be distributed as they are added. Community Voices Reserach Article Archive

May 13, 2013

• Max Stephenson's latest Soundings commentary posted - thank you for reading and enjoy! Gabrielle Giffords: Heralding a ‘Profile in Courage’.

May 9, 2013

• The latest "RE:Reflections and Explorations" commentary has been posted. Exploring the Wellsprings of the ‘Virtue’ in Markets of Virtue is written by Selma Elouardighi who is a Ph.D. candidate in Planning, Governance and Globalization.
• Congratulations to VTIPG affiliated doctoral student Anna Erwin, Planning, Governance and Globalization, on her acceptance to the Summer Peacebuilding Institute at Eastern Mennonite University. The program is run by EMU's Center for Justice and Peacebuilding.

May 8, 2013

• Congratulations to Lyusyena Kirakosyan, who has completed the requirements for her Ph.D. in the APSECT program, on the publication of her article "Linking Disability Rights and Democracy: Insights from Brazil" in Societies Without Boarders Volume 8, Issue 1. Her article can be found here.
• VTIPG faculty member Holly Lesko has been invited to participate in the Community Coalition Leadership Program (CCLP) June 24-28, 2013 at the Center for Creative Leadership in San Diego, California. Holly will serve as a coach on a team with four health professionals and they will receive a week of intensive training. The purpose of the training is to equip the team to support health policy and programmatic advancement in their region. The PATH group (Partners for Access to Healthcare) is the umbrella organization that will be the home base of their work post-training.

May 6, 2013

• Max Stephenson's latest Soundings commentary posted - thank you for reading and enjoy! President Obama Revisits the “Gitmo” Nightmare.
• Abstracts are being accepted for the upcoming symposium "Poverty Today: Challenges and Opportunities" on July 19th, 2013 at the Roanoke Higher Education Center. The intention of the symposium is to increase awareness about pervasive poverty issues in rural and urban environments and to explore innovative approaches in alleviating poverty. Papers on this topic are solicited from students, professionals, and interest organizations for oral and posters presentations by May 3, 2013. See the attached announcement for details. Please contact Risa Pesapane at pesapane.risa@gmail.com with questions

May 2, 2013

• The latest "RE:Reflections and Explorations" commentary has been posted. Cross-sectoral networks and the Challenge of Disaster Relief Coordination is written by Verónica Arroyave who has recently defended her dissertation in Planning, Governance and Globalization.
• VTIPG affiliated doctoral student Sabith Khan, Planning, Governance and Globalization, has had an article published in Unrest Magazine which is a college run, peer-reviewed magazine. The article is Humanitarian Aid and Faith Based Giving – The Potential Muslim Charity

April 30, 2013

• Congratulations to VTIPG affiliated Masters student Gardner Burg on the successful defense of his thesis! Gardner will receive an Advanced Masters degree in Landscape Architecture, and his effort is titled "Exploring the Role of the Artifact: An Evolution of Form, Function and Memory in the Urban Landscape". Gardner's committee was Brian Katen, committee chair and Chair of Landscape Architecture Program, Max Stephenson, VTIPG Director, and Wendy Jacobson, Landscape Architecture.
• The South Atlantic Humanities Program Scholar Colloquium will be held on May 2 and 3. For a full schedule of events, please click here. The keynote speech, open to all, will be given by Dr. Jamie Winders of Syracuse University on May 2 from 6-8 pm at Torgersen Museum.
  “Borders, Bodies, and Belonging: The Changing Politics of Social Justice in the U.S. South”
  - Dr. Winders is an urban geographer in the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky in 2004 and has been at Syracuse since then. Professor Winders' research interests include international migration, racial politics and formations, qualitative and historical methods, urban, cultural, and social geography, and immigrant incorporation and reception follows.
• Congratulations to Sabith Khan, Planning, Governance and Globalization, on the acceptance of his paper "Re-imagining charity in America: Community based philanthropy and the American Muslims" for the 2013 annual meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion in Boston, MA. The meeting will take place November 8-10, 2013.

April 29, 2013

• Max Stephenson's latest Soundings commentary posted - thank you for reading and enjoy! “With Hatred and Malice toward those who Dare Differ with Me”.
• Congratulations to Rachel Christensen, Planning, Governance and Globalization, who was selected to receive the Government and International Affairs Founding Faculty Outstanding Graduating Ph.D. student award for 2013.

April 24, 2013

• VTIPG affiliated Ph.D. student Sabith Khan, Planning, Governance and Globalization, has co-edited a book with R.P. Thead, released at an event at the World Bank on April 24 entitled, Millennials Speak. The volume is a collection of 21 essays that seek to capture a snapshot of millenial generation views on major global political and policy issues. Information about the book can be found here. If you would like to purchase a copy, it is available here.

April 24, 2013

• The latest "RE:Reflections and Explorations" commentary has been posted. RE: How do we Move Beyond Rhetoric by Whitney Knollenberg, a Ph.D. student in Hospitality and Tourism Management.
• Congratulations to Eric Hodges, a Ph.D. candidate in Planning, Governance and Globalization, who successfully defended his proposal today. Eric's committee members are Max Stephenson, chair, Karen Hult, Political Science, Bruce Pencek, University Libraries, and Jim Dubinsky, English.

April 23, 2013

• Wafa Al-Daily's paper has been accepted for the SB13 (Democratic Transition and Sustainable Communities) conference in Cairo which will be held November 5 - 7, 2013. The title of her paper, co-authored with Robert Dare who is a PhD candidate at McGill University, is "Governance Networks as a Tool for Informal Settlement Management: A Way Forward for Yemen?"

April 21, 2013

• Max Stephenson's latest Soundings commentary posted - thank you for reading and enjoy! Democratic Torpor?
• There will be a viewing of Planet of Snail in the ICAT studio on Friday at 3pm. Pizza will be served and there will be a discussion after the film. If you plan on attending, please email Anna Erwin to RSVP.

April 19, 2013

• VTIPG would like to congratulate Rachel Christensen, who successfully completed her doctoral defense today. The title of Rachel’s effort is: “Beyond Antagonistic Nonprofit Accountability: A Case Analysis of Practitioner Responses to the Contracting Regime.” Rachel’s committee members are Max Stephenson, VTIPG director and chair, Alnoor Ebrahim, Graduate School of Business Administration, Harvard University, Charles Good, Department of Geography, and Larkin Dudley, Center for Public Administration and Policy. Rachel is the eighteenth completed affiliated doctoral student since IPG was established on July 1, 2006. Congratulations, Rachel!

April 18, 2013

• The latest "RE:Reflections and Explorations" commentary has been posted. Reflections on Veterans Readjustment, Higher Education and Community Service by Eric Hodges, a Ph.D. candidate in Planning, Governance and Globalization.

April 17, 2013

• Congratulations to Lyusyena Kirakosyan on her presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers in Los Angeles on April 10. Her paper was titled "Conceptions of Justice and Citizen Responsibility: Insights from São Paulo, Brazil" and was part of the session "Social Citizenship, Landscapes of Care and Health Geographies."
• Congratulations to Wafa Al-Daily for having her paper selected to proceed in the USAID Reducing Urban Poverty Paper Competition. Her paper is titled "Informal Settlement Governance in Sana’a, Yemen: Current Crisis and Future Challenges."

April 14, 2013

• Max Stephenson's latest Soundings commentary posted - thank you for reading and enjoy! On Kindness and Democratic Self-Governance.
• Congratulations to Grace Mulholland on being selected as the Outstanding Graduating Senior for the College of Science. Grace was mentored by Max Stephenson for the 1956 Honors award. The article can be found here.

April 12, 2013

• Congratulations to VTIPG affiliated MFA candiate Jon Catherwood-Ginn who was named the Outstanding Master's student in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences! Congratulations Jon!

April 11, 2013

• This week's RE:Reflections and Explorations student commentary has been posted. Community Healing Through the Arts by Jackie Pontious, Masters in Urban and Regional Planning student.
• ASPECT will host another "ASPECT Books at the Library" event on Monday April 22nd, from 4-7 pm, in the communal/open space of the Newman Library (formerly the space held by the coffee shop). This event will feature three recently published books by ASPECT core faculty members Chad Lavin and Trish Nickel, and ASPECT faculty affiliate Priya Dixit. The poster/flyer is attached. The VT bookstore will try to bring a few copies of each book for signing and purchase.

April 8, 2013

• Max Stephenson's latest Soundings commentary posted - thank you for reading and enjoy! Unleashing the Power of Empathetic Imagination.

April 5, 2013

• VTIPG is one of the sponsors for a lecture by Dr. Shamita Das Dasgupta. The lecture is part of Women's Month 2013. Dr. Das Dasgupta's lecture has been moved to tonight at 7pm in Surge 108. The lecture was rescheduled due to snow yesterday.

April 4, 2013

• This week's RE:Reflections and Explorations student commentary has been posted. Do Neurons Hold the Key to Understanding Racism in Society by Marc Thomas, PhD student in ASPECT.

April 1, 2013

• Max Stephenson's latest Soundings commentary posted - thank you for reading and enjoy! Alterity, Sensemaking and Innocents II.
• The latest VTIPG quarterly newsletter has been posted! Volume 2, Issue 2

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