Social Policy Institute and McDonnell International Scholars Academy, both at Washington University in St. Louis, have jointly announced the selection of three international policy-focused proposals to receive $10,000 seed grants following a call for proposals in September 2019. The selected proposals will develop research that fosters international collaboration on policy projects and includes faculty from both Washington University and an international university.
The first research team selected for a seed grant is comprised of Yu-Chih Chen, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at the University of Hong Kong; Nancy Morrow-Howell, PhD, Betty Bofinger Brown Distinguished Professor of Social Policy in the Brown School at Washington University; and Li-Chen Cheng, PhD, professor in the Department of Social Work at National Taiwan University. The researchers will investigate the dynamics of wealth accumulation and asset poverty among older adults in the U.S. and China. The research will identify the effects of life course factors on wealth building as well as the impacts of wealth and asset poverty on well-being.
In a second research proposal, researchers will conduct a survey in South Africa to study how the attitudes and behaviors of crime victims are associated with the process of democratization in the country. The project will be conducted by James L. Gibson, PhD, Sidney W. Souers Professor of Government in the Department of Political Science at Washington University; Amanda Gouws, PhD, professor in political science, and Collette Schulz-Herzenberg, PhD, senior lecturer, both in the Department of Political Science at Stellenbosch University in South Africa; and Judith February, senior research associate at the Institute for Security Studies in South Africa.
The third proposal selected to receive seed funding includes researchers, Melissa Jonson-Reid, PhD, Ralph and Muriel Pumphrey Professor of Social Work Research in the Brown School at Washington University, and Miriam Schiff, PhD, professor and Zena Harman Chair in Social Work in the Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. The research team will study the intersections of poverty, and child neglect and maltreatment. As part of their work, researchers will translate, adapt and implement the validated Child Abuse Screening Tool in the context of Israel.
The project proposals selected for seed grant funding approach international issues through collaborative, policy-focused research by implementing innovative frameworks, methods or interventions. Each research project proposal supports the overarching missions of both the Social Policy Institute and McDonnell International Scholars Academy.
Information about the Social Policy Institute: socialpolicyinstitute.wustl.edu
Information about McDonnell International Scholars Academy: global.wustl.edu/mcdonnell-academy