Britt Leake Publishes Article in Comparative Education

Published by Apolonia Preciado | Oct 12, 2026

Congratulations to Britt Leake on the publication of “Controversial Curriculum: Ambiguities, Silences, and the Politics of Religious and Political Pluralism in Post-Assad Syrian Textbooks” in Comparative Education!

Upcoming Events

Oct 13, 2026

Making California more affordable: An expert panel

Affordability is one of the central issues for California voters this election season, and for good reason. BESI recently published a white paper series, which diagnoses the core drivers of the affordability crisis, and proposes policy and governance reforms to improve things. This "author meets critics"-style event will put the series author, BESI researcher Samuel Trachtman, in conversation with three leading California policy experts to discuss how policy and political reform can set the state on a trajectory towards greater affordability.

Oct 23, 2026

Indispensable but Invisible: Legal Expertise and Juridical Capital in the Governance of Late Imperial China | Lecture by Li Chen

During the Qing period (1644–1912), late imperial China was in theory governed by approximately two thousand local administrators who were appointed for their mastery of the Confucian classics rather than for their administrative or legal expertise. How did these scholar-officials actually carry out the daily tasks of local governance, including judicial administration? Based on a forthcoming monograph, this talk analyzes the training and roles of the thousands of legal specialists who advised local officials behind the scenes and handled most of the judicial and other substantive administrative work on their behalf. Despite their important functions in local governance, these legal..

Nov 12, 2026

Surviving Exile: Why Activists Persist and Why it Matters Back Home

Professor Elizabeth R. Nugent will present part of a book she is finalizing on activism in exile. Dr. Nugent studies the politics and political psychology of authoritarianism and religion in the Middle East and is the author of After Repression: How Polarization Derails Democratic Transition, published by Princeton University Press (2020).

Nov 13, 2026

Under Pressure: Attitudes Towards China Among American Foreign Policy Professionals | Lecture by Rory Truex

How do social norms and professional incentives affect policy discourse within the Washington foreign policy community? We conducted over 50 semi-structured interviews and a survey of nearly five-hundred American foreign policy and national security professionals about their views towards the People's Republic of China. Over one fifth of survey respondents noted instances of professional pressure to voice a more hawkish point of view towards China, and many feared being perceived as naive or compromised by their views on, ties to, and experiences in China. These pressures were particularly acute for foreign policy professionals that are traditionally marginalized from power–those who..

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