Penn Washington recently welcomed three new staff members to help lead its domestic and global policy programming as the center revamps its efforts to connect the University with the nation’s capital. Among the new hires are Director of Global Policy Programs Daniel Schneiderman, Domestic Policy Programs Coordinator Sasha Nicholas, and Global Policy Programs Coordinator Nikki…
Penn Washington welcomes Dr. Alex Noyes as a Visiting Scholar. He will be researching Irregular Warfare, Resilience, and developing policy recommendations to address the challenges of both. In addition to his work at Penn Washington, he is a fellow in the Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology at the Brookings Institution. He has expertise…
Do sanctions help combat corruption or contribute to it—or both? Is corruption a by-product of sanctions, a target of sanctions, or a driver of sanctions? How should policymakers think about these overlapping and at times potentially conflicting interests? On March 4-5, 2026, Perry World House convened a conference to analyze the nexus between sanctions and…
On November 20, 2025, Perry World House, with the support of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, held a workshop that convened leading democracy scholars and researchers to identify the key elements of a “democratic playbook.” How do resilient democracies push back against authoritarian and non-democratic populist movements? Democratic backsliding in the 21st century is…
Penn Washington is pleased to welcome Iris Ferguson as a Visiting Scholar focused on Arctic strategic competition and advancing stability and security in the region. Iris joins Penn Washington following a distinguished career spanning the Department of Defense, the Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Senate. Most recently, she served as the inaugural Deputy Assistant…
Penn Washington has joined Ground Shift, a new cross-partisan initiative dedicated to developing bold ideas for the future stewardship of America’s public lands and waters. Ground Shift brings together thought-leaders, scholars, and advocates from across the political spectrum to generate dialogue and fresh thinking about how the United States should manage its public lands and waters…
Penn Washington is pleased to announce that Nicole (Nikki) Hinshaw has joined the team as Global Policy Programs Coordinator. Hinshaw comes to Penn Washington from Purdue University’s Institute for Tech Diplomacy, where she built cross-sector partnerships with industry leaders, diplomatic missions, academic institutions, and the U.S. government in support of democratic values through technology policy.…
Penn Global Seminars Penn launched its Global Seminars program meant to “embed overseas travel into undergraduate seminars” in fall 2016. These seminars are open to all full-time undergraduate students. Students can apply for a Global Seminar during the advance registration period in the semester prior to taking them. The applications are reviewed by a committee of Penn Abroad staff…
Penn has advised students to defer travel and transit through the Middle East until further notice, following rising regional tensions and potential “travel disruption.” According to a March 2 alert from Penn Global, University-affiliated undergraduate travel to the region will also be prohibited through March 15, at which point the ban will be reevaluated. The alert cited…
The Middle East is in a state of war, with airstrikes and counterstrikes targeting sites in Iran and among U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf region. Yet questions remain about the future of Iran, the impact on its nuclear program, and the effects on oil going through the Straits of Hormuz. To learn more about…
