Courses
PLS 211 - International Relations
PLS 315 - International Political Economy
PLS 495 - Seminar: Study of Politics (Focus on Inequality)
Publications
The Power of a Promise: Education and Economic Renewal in Kalamazoo, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, 2009
Owning Up: Poverty, Assets, and the American Dream, Brookings Institution Press, 2002
The World Bank: New Agendas in a Changing World, Routledge, 1997
"The Kalamazoo Promise as a Model for an American Promise", with Timothy J. Bartik, Employment Research, July 2009, Special Issue: National Labor Market Policy.
"A Simple Gift? The Impact of the Kalamazoo Promise on Economic Revitalization," Employment Research, W.E. Upjohn Institute, July 2006.
“Breaking Into the Bank: The Challenge of Gaining Meaningful Access to the World Bank” (with Charles T. Myers). In Gaining Access: A Practical and Theoretical Guide for Qualitative Researchers, Martha S. Feldman, Jeannine Bell, and Michele Tracy Berger, eds., Walnut Creek, CA: Altamira Press, 2003.
“Financial Markets in 1986: The Paradox of Liberalization.” In Italian Politics: A Review, vol. 2, Nanetti, Leonardi and Corbetta, eds. London and New York: Pinter Publishers, 1988.
“The World Bank and Private Capital” (with John F.H. Purcell). In Between Two Worlds: The World Bank's Next Decade, Richard E. Feinberg, ed. Washington: Overseas Development Council, 1986.
Recent Papers and Presentations
Reducing Inequality Through Universal College-Scholarships: Lessons from the Kalamazoo Promise, paper presented at the annual conference of the Latin American Studies Association, Rio de Janeiro, June 11-14, 2009.
Presentation on the Kalamazoo Promise as an investment in human, economic, and social capital, University of Perugia (Italy), May 6, 2009.
The Kalamazoo Promise and the Diffusion of a Private Policy Innovation, paper presented at the annual conference of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, April 2-5, 2009.
"Is Good Will Enough? The Foreign Policy Priorities of the Obama Administration," presentation to the Kalamazoo chapter of the United Nations Association, November 16, 2008.
"Who Controls the World Bank? Lessons of the Wolfowitz Presidency," paper presented at the annual conference of the Midwest Political Science Association, Chicago, IL, April 3-6, 2008.
Other Activities and Interests
In addition to my teaching position at GVSU, I am currently a visiting scholar at the W.E. Upjohn Institute in Kalamazoo, where I recently completed a book about the Kalamazoo Promise as an asset-building strategy. I have taught previously at Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College. My professional career has spanned the fields of non-profit management, finance, research, and academia; positions have included strategic planning consultant at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, vice president for programs at the Twentieth Century Fund (now the Century Foundation), and vice president for research at Salomon Brothers. A native of Los Angeles, I live in Kalamazoo with my daughter. My extracurricular interests include music (I serve on the board of the New York Youth Symphony), cycling, knitting, and a variety of other crafts.