Momentum - September 2023

Updates from the
Pardee RAND Graduate School

September 2023

Campus Highlights

Students in front of the historic Watts Towers. Photo courtesy Cynthia Gonzalez/Pardee RAND

New Student Bootcamp Includes Focus on Watts

The students of Cohort '23 arrived last week for their orientation and "policy bootcamp." For the second year, Pardee RAND took the new cohort to Watts to immerse them in community-based participatory research. They met with project partners from the Watts Rising Collaborative, toured the historic neighborhood, and unpacked critical questions related to policy implementation. More »

Students, Faculty, and Alum Explore Decision Making under Deep Uncertainty

At a two-week program in Mexico City this summer, seven members of the Pardee RAND community took a deep dive into DMDU. More »

Partnering with Parents May Help Political Polarization in Schools

Ashley Woo and Melissa Diliberti suggest what schools can do to better engage parents as a way of alleviating political tensions. More »

Faculty Focus

Creative Credit/iStock and wavebreak3, Viacheslav Yakobchuk, and Jacob Lund/Adobe Stock

Road Map Offers Steps to Address Public-Sector Pension Crises

Beth Asch and Philip Armour, with student Zhan Okuda-Lim, developed a prototype framework to help stakeholders explore solutions for state and local pension reform. More »

Much of Maui's Damage Will Be Invisible, but Very Real

Isaac Opper explains that a natural disaster's damage to human capital is real and persistent. More »

ChatGPT's Risks for National Security

Christopher Mouton recommends a coordinated effort to forge an integrated defense against the threat of malign information operations. More »

Alumni Impact

Arthur Brooks and Oprah Winfrey, screenshot from CBS Sunday Morning

Arthur Brooks and Oprah Winfrey Coauthor Guide to Happiness

"All happiness is a combination of enjoyment, satisfaction, and meaning," said Arthur Brooks (cohort '96) in an interview on the CBS show Sunday Morning. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey coauthored Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier, out this month from Penguin Random House. More »

$1.5 Million NSF Grant Helps Alumni Promote Intersectionality in STEM

University of New Mexico professors Claudia Diaz-Fuentes (cohort '06) and Nancy López, a Faculty Leaders Program alum, will create a hub to advance equity and student success in STEM. More »

Schuster Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

AcademyHealth honored Mark Schuster (cohort '91) for his work in child health services research. More »

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