UMass Boston John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy & Global Studies

08/25/2026

📘 CPDD’s 2025–26 Annual Report is here!

Take a look at the Center for Peace, Democracy, and Development’s latest annual report highlighting the exciting research, events, publications, podcasts, and other work of their Fellows and affiliates.

Explore their work across four key impact areas: peacebuilding & conflict resolution, democratic development, global health & development, and security & human security.

Read the full annual report and learn more about what CPDD has accomplished this year—and what’s ahead! 🌎

https://sites.google.com/umb.edu/cpdd/home?authuser=0 .tv2n0d8uf6vl

08/24/2026

Congratulations to Sahar Badiezadeh, PhD student in GGHS on the publication of her new co-authored, peer-reviewed article in the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health! 🎉

The article, “Post-Migration Stressors and Health Vulnerabilities Among Afghan Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Türkiye,” explores important issues affecting Afghan refugees and asylum seekers following migration.

Congratulations, Sahar, on this wonderful accomplishment! 👏

🔗

This phenomenological study examines the lived experiences of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers navigating health and social support in Türkiye. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 25 Dari-speaking Afghan refugees residing in Kayseri, Türkiye, between December 20...

08/20/2026

Thank you to everyone who has already registered for the 2026 Robert C. Wood Visiting Professorship Lecture & Discussion on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, beginning at 5:00 p.m.

Haven’t registered yet? Please sign up for this free event here:
https://gqr.sh/XxTZ.

Whether you’ve already registered or are still planning to join us, be sure to check out our short list of readings and resources selected especially for this event, available at the top of the event page.

We hope you will join us!

08/18/2026

Congratulations to Dr. James Kintu, PhD in Global Governance and Human Security on his recent article in New Security Beat! 🌍👏

🔗Check it out with the link below!

In Uganda’s Busoga kingdom, seven sugar mills process the sugarcane grown on roughly 110,000 hectares in the region. The growth in this activity has been significant; the territory now comprises [...]

08/14/2026

🎉 Congratulations to GGHS alumni Dr. Pryanka Peñafiel Cevallos and Dr. David Sulewski on their well-deserved recognition from the Peace & Justice Studies Association!

We’re so proud to celebrate the accomplishments and continued scholarship of our GGHS community.

08/14/2026

New Publication 📚🌎 We’re excited to highlight “Health as the Embodiment of Climate Inequity: Evidence from Communities of Color in Greater Boston,” a new publication supported by the Sustainable Solutions Lab and co-authored by doctoral students working with the Sustainable Solutions Lab/Voices That Matter project.

The paper brings together faculty and doctoral student researchers across UMass Boston, including scholars from SFE, CLA, GGHS and PPOL in MGS, as well as a co-author from SGISD.

Congratulations to all of the authors!👏

🔗Read the full publication with the link below.

08/10/2026

A recent article by Adebobola Omowon, Doctoral Candidate in Conflict Resolution, Global Governance, and Human Security at UMass Boston and Fellow at the Center for Peace, Democracy, and Development (CPDD), is now featured on CPDD’s PaxBlog.

The article explores how the rescue of 44 kidnapped victims in Oyo State, Nigeria, may represent an emerging doctrine for intelligence-led operations in Nigeria.

🔗 Check it out here!

For more than a decade, Nigeria’s fight against terrorism and kidnapping has been measured largely by statistics: the number of people abducted, the number eventually released, the amount reportedly paid in ransom, and the number who never made it home. Every successful rescue has understandably b...

08/06/2026

🎉 Congratulations to Stacy VanDeveer, Professor of Global Governance and Human Security, and Firmesk Rahim, Ph.D. student, on the publication of their latest article in The Conversation!

👏 Join us in congratulating Stacy and Firmesk on this wonderful accomplishment!

🔗 Read the full article using the link below

Once completed, the 2,177-kilometer GCC Railway will connect six Gulf kingdoms and provide alternative routes to Europe and Asia.

07/20/2026

Congratulations to Alhassan Tahiru, a Global Governance and Human Security doctoral student at UMass Boston, on the publication of his latest blog for New Security Beat.

In “When the Rivers Heal: Child Welfare and Ghana’s Anti-Galamsey Fight,” Alhassan examines the impacts of illegal mining on children living in Ghana’s mining communities and calls for a comprehensive policy reorientation that prioritizes child welfare alongside environmental protection.

Read the full blog here:
🔗 https://www.newsecuritybeat.org/2026/07/when-the-rivers-heal-child-welfare-and-ghanas-anti-galamsey-fight/

07/09/2026

Congratulations to Stacy VanDeveer and the author team on the publication of their new online commentary, “Precaution Means Non-Use: A Response to UNEP’s Working Paper on Solar Radiation Modification.”

Read the full commentary at the link below🔗

https://www.solargeoeng.org/precaution-means-non-use-a-response-to-uneps-working-paper-on-solar-radiation-modification/