June 2025
Weidenbaum Center Research Fellow Gregory Magarian authors article on how government can silence opinions it disagrees with
This award recognizes the best paper published in the journal, Political Behavior, in 2024. The paper was supported in part by a fellowship from the Weidenbaum Center.
Professors Jaclyn Kaslovsky & Michael Olson publish new article entitled "Gendered Perceptions of Legislative Influence."
The Weidenbaum Center is a research institute at Washington University in St. Louis that supports social scientific research in the fields of public policy, economics, political science, and sociology. Led by Weidenbaum Center Director Andrew Reeves (pictured), the Center funds faculty research, provides administrative support for research activities, and sponsors a wide range of public affairs programs. In doing so, the Center serves as a bridge between scholars, policymakers, and the general public.
Through unbiased empirical research and events, the Center addresses many of the pressing public policy issues facing America and the world today.
The Weidenbaum Center provides significant research support for faculty in the departments of Economics, Political Science, and Sociology. This support allows a wide array of faculty members to participate in a variety of impactful research, and is of particular importance to our younger faculty who are just starting their research careers. Research efforts contribute to work that addresses key social issues locally, nationally, and globally, and enhances the prominence of Washington University in the academic and policy world. Donations fund our grant programs which support this research. We could not support nearly as much research without this generosity.
Based on real events, the award-winning short film "Un Día Normal" follows Esmeralda Monzón, a young immigrant woman who finds herself detained by Immigration & Customs Enforcement despite having protection from deportation through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). The Weidenbaum Center co-hosted a screening of the film at WashU as part of the Cambio de Colores conference. The event featured a panel discussion with Dr. Bill Lopez and Weidenbaum Center Research Fellow Dr. Cynthia Feliciano.
In the 2025 academic year, the Weidenbaum Center hosted 28 events with a total attendance of 1,270 people. Several events were co-sponsored with WashU’s Law School, Business School, and School of Social Work. We awarded 24 research grants to faculty from our core departments—Economics, Sociology, and Political Science—as well as from Anthropology and Psychological & Brain Sciences. Faculty in our core departments also submitted more than $2.3 million in external research funding proposals to federal and private sponsors.
Weidenbaum Center Research Fellow Michael Strawbridge publishes new article on reviving and advancing research on Black political socialization. The article uses data from the 2024 Weidenbaum Center Survey.
Weidenbaum Center Grant Recipient Adia Harvey Wingfield authors article on overwork culture.
Congratulations to Weidenbaum Center Survey Research Affiliate Jordan Duffin Wong on successfully defending his PhD dissertation, “The Constellation of American Voters: Understanding Americans Who Live In and Out of American Municipalities.” His research explores how city boundaries shape political geography, introducing the concept of the “Municipal Superboundary” to capture these dynamics in unincorporated areas. Dr. Wong is now pursuing public sector roles focused on using data to address local policy challenges. We wish him all the best!
Post-Incarceration Supervision in Illinois: Effects of SAFE-T Act Reforms Arnold Ventures (Criminal Justice Initiative) awarded this grant to Professor Jordan and his collaborator Derek Neal (University of Chicago). This study will contribute to the literature on post-incarceration supervision by studying a blanket reduction in supervision time following conviction for some of the most common low-level felony crimes, such as narcotics possession. The study will produce unique insight concerning the importance of the duration of parole supervision among sentenced prisoners immediately following their release from prison, in a setting where other aspects of parole supervision remain constant.
Weidenbaum Center staff work with the faculty in the Departments of Economics, Political Science, and Sociology (and occasionally other department faculty) to identify sources of external funding and to assist with the preparation and submission of proposals to private foundations and government programs. Grant awards are administered by our staff who provide accounting, verification, and reporting services for awarded faculty projects.
We’re excited to welcome two new members to our grant team: Kelsie Hart (Grant Specialist II), who will support faculty with grant submissions, and Mirvali Ismaliov (Senior Grants Specialist), who will assist with post-award grant management. Both are part of the WashU Grants Administration Integrated Network (GAIN), which fosters collaboration among grant administrators across the university to provide seamless, high-quality support to faculty.
Join us September 9 for a timely conversation with economic experts Steven Fazzari and Chris Varvares on the impact of major economic policy shifts in the first year of a second Trump administration. Then on September 29, don’t miss a special event featuring the current president & CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and two former presidents as they discuss the evolving role of the Fed in the U.S. economy.
Upcoming events