Join twenty senior congressional staffers for a reception. The Batten School and the Center for Effective Lawmaking are honored to host this event welcoming the 117th Stennis Fellows Program to the University of Virginia.

The Batten School and the School of Education and Human Development welcome State of Virginia Secretary of Education, Aimee Guidera, and SEHD’s Dean Rowley for a fireside chat open to students.

This is an opportunity for students to learn more about the student organizations that the Batten School has to offer as well as hear tips on how to host programs that draw in peers.

The Batten School has collaborated with James Madison's Montpelier to host a private tour, lecture and lunch with Interim President and CEO of Montpelier, Elizabeth Chew.

Learn more about current research and engagement work being done by our own Batten faculty. 

Erdal Tekin is an economist with primary research interests in the fields of health economics and demographic economics. Within these fields, the main theme of his research is the economic analysis of risky behaviors and the consequences of prenatal and postnatal conditions and risk factors on the short and long-term outcomes of individuals on a multitude of domains including health, human capital, labor market, and crime.

Åsa Löfgren is associate professor at the Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg and chairs the Centre for Collective Action Research. Löfgren is an international expert in the area of climate economics; in particular she has focused on climate change and behavioral economics. She is particularly interested in the effect and design of policy instruments, fairness, and industrial investment behavior, such as firms' carbon-reduction investment behavior in response to climate strategies.

Kyle Dobson studies how we form authentic connections at work.  Dobson's research examines how organizations often devalue employees’ authenticity to ensure conformity and reduce conflict at the cost of inclusion, engagement, commitment, and performance—in settings from police departments to schools.

Gerald Higginbotham researches the role of culture and identity in education and politics, seeking to provide insight into (a) how history functions as important context that shapes how individuals see themselves and others and (b) how perceptions of history and its consequences are shaped by an individual’s attitudes and group memberships. 

Jieun Pai is a postdoctoral researcher at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. Pai researches social hierarchy and conflict resolution to provide insight into how people can satisfy their need for status in teams and organizations harmoniously. Her work challenges the assumption that status conflict is a battle over rank with winners and losers.