On May 2, UMD School of Public Policy hosted a research colloquium at Thurgood Marshall Hall to discuss Assistant Professor Claire Dunning’s recent book "Nonprofit Neighborhoods: An Urban History of Inequality and the American State” and the future of research and policy related to the nonprofit sector. Panelists included Associate Clinical Professor Ebonie Cooper-Jean and Distinguished University Professor Peter Reuter. Associate Professor Joshua Shifrinson served as moderator.
The panelists discussed a range of topics including the ability and limitations of the nonprofit sector to address racial and economic inequality, the construction of a "nonprofit industrial complex" in American cities, and the nonprofit sector as a historical product of the 1960s.
The panelists also touched upon the role of history at a policy school, historical methods and what the past can and should suggest for the present. Panelists engaged in conversation and discussed how research can and should address policy.
The engagement between the panelists and attendees highlighted the School’s interdisciplinary approach, cultivating a culture that leverages research to tackle current policy issues. The colloquium will become a regular series in the intellectual life of the School.
