Leaders in the field of public policy will speak on a panel on Friday, Oct. 29, discussing the use of behavioral science in helping to solve the issue of gun violence in the United States.
The event is sponsored by the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy and will take place in Kennedy Hall. It hopes to discuss how behavioral science can be used to improve current policy made to reduce the prevalence of national gun violence.
The panelists for the lecture include Evelyn Diaz, the president of one of the world’s leading anti-poverty agencies Heartland Alliance. The organization’s goal is to advance social, economic and racial justice by providing comprehensive services and resources to people living in poverty, according to the organization’s website.
Prof. Jens Ludwig, public policy, the University of Chicago, will also be on the panel. His research focuses on crime in the United States, and he has written extensively on gun violence reform. He has published novels on the matter including, Evaluating Gun Policy and Gun Violence: The Real Costs.
Jennifer Koen-Horowitz ’93 and Mark Horowitz have funded the lecture, which is co-sponsored by Cornell’s Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, the Sloan Program in Health Administration and the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs. The event is hosted by Prof. Rosemary Avery, policy analysis and management, and Prof. Max Kapustin, economics.
Along with being the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago, Ludwig is also the director of the University of Chicago’s Crime Lab — which uses data to research programs and policies to reduce crime — as well as co-director of the Education Lab, which partners with community organizations to improve educational outcomes for Chicago students. He is also co-director of the National Bureau of Economic Research’s working group on the economics of crime.
Cornell hosted a similar debate-style panel in 2016, titled “Educate the Vote,” which was held directly before the U.S. presidential debate. The panel consisted of associate dean of the University of California public policy school and Gretchen Ritter ’83, the former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, among others.
The event is open to members of the Cornell community. It will be held in-person at Kennedy Hall, with non-Cornell attendees having to provide either proof of vaccination, results of a negative COVID-19 test collected within 72 hours of the event or an FDA-authorized antigen test. Students can register for the event here.