The Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies (CACPS) received a three-year, $250,000 grant in July 2007 from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The Mellon Foundation has, since its inception in 1994, provided generous support to CACPS, which has enabled the Center to continue to train graduate students by encouraging and supporting policy-relevant research on culture and the arts. The Center launched its monthly Affiliates Luncheon series in 2008 with Emily Mann, playwright and director of McCarter Theater, as both subject and guest of honor at the January 17 luncheon. CACPS Visiting Fellow and Fulbright Scholar Tsu Chung Su, professor of English at National Taiwan Normal University, presented his research talk titled “Mise-en-sen and Mise-en-scène: Emily Mann’s Theater of Testimony and Its Doubles.” Professor Su called Mann an “auteur,” a playwright, and a theatre director with a distinctively recognizable vision and a personal imprint that can be identified in the artful arrangement of documentary information.

The National Institute for Early Education Research, with support from the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Packard Foundation, and the Education Research Section (ERS), sponsored a symposium for selected state and federal policymakers entitled “Enhancing the Knowledge Base for Serving Young English Language Learners” on March 14, 2008. Co-chaired by Dr. Eugene Garcia and Dr. Ellen Frede, it brought together experts in the field of English language learners to present the latest research findings in topics such as demographic trends, second language acquisition, effective classroom practice, the teaching workforce, assessment, and policy trends.

The Program in Law and Public Affairs (LAPA) has announced the selection of its 2008 Arthur Liman Fellows in Public Interest Law. The Liman Program enables University students to spend 10 weeks during the upcoming summer in an internship serving the needs of people and causes that might otherwise go unrepresented. The four undergraduate and two graduate students, selected through a competitive application process, began their program by participating in the Eleventh Annual Liman Public Interest Program Colloquium at Yale Law School on March 6-7. They joined advocates, scholars, government officials, and fellows from the five other participating schools to explore “Liman at the Local Level: Public Interest Advocacy and American Federalism.” The 2008 Arthur Liman fellows are Felipe Cala, a first-year Ph.D. student in Spanish and Portuguese Language and Cultures; Michelle Phelps, a first-year Ph.D. student in Sociology; Ryan Ebanks ’09, a political psychology major; Mark Zaichen Jia ’10; Lawrence Kornreich ’09, a religion major; and Emily Kathryn Stehr ’08, majoring in history.

The Liechtenstein Institute on Self-Determination (LISD) has published a new book, Building State and Security in Afghanistan, the second in a series of edited volumes. The volume features a collection of essays by leading scholars of the country and region, and contributions by experts in security, state-building, and development.

In February, the Policy Research Institute for the Region (PRIOR) marked the 25th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark housing decision with “Mount Laurel II at 25: The Unfinished Agenda of Fair Share Housing.” Scholars from Princeton University, Rutgers University, the MacArthur Foundation, and the National Housing Institute examined the origins of the decision, commented on the current state of the doctrine and its influence in the region and nation, and highlighted its unfinished agenda, touching on issues of race, class, redevelopment, and smart growth. Three panels addressed key implications for the future of the doctrine, as New Jersey, the region, and the nation grapple with persistent housing and related land-use challenges. Also in late February, PRIOR and the Regional Plan Association (RPA) hosted “Regional Models for Economic Development: Planning, Implementation, and Financing.” The forum brought together the region’s foremost leaders from the field of economic development to exchange ideas and shed light on the policies and processes that guide projects from inception to completion in New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. In December 2007 PRIOR hosted “A View from the Top: A Conversation with Former Governors about Abbott v. Burke.” Over 100 students, scholars, and practitioners gathered at the Woodrow Wilson School to listen to former New Jersey Governors Brendan Byrne, Jim Florio, and Donald DiFrancesco share their historical, analytical, and executive perspectives on the ongoing challenges of school funding—an issue with far-reaching implications throughout the state. The event, which received coverage from NJN, The Star-Ledger, The Record, and other media outlets, proved timely, as it provided the opportunity for the three to comment on Governor Jon Corzine’s formula for school financing since approved by the New Jersey Legislature. “I think it’s fabulous if it can be implemented in the proper way,” commented Governor DiFrancesco of the plan. Governor Florio applauded Governor Corzine’s intention to leave behind the outmoded and ineffective categorization of districts to “go to individual pupils” and “treat children as children.” In November, PRIOR joined with the Penn Institute for Urban Research to host “Land and Power: The Impact of Eminent Domain in Urban Communities,” at which experts offered incisive and evenhanded analyses of multiple issues surrounding eminent domain in the wake of the 2005 Kelo v. City of New London decision.