Centers, Initiatives and Programs

The Watson Institute is proud to house 11 region or topic-focused centers, initiatives and projects that are dedicated to research, teaching and outreach. These entities also serve as conveners, sponsoring informative events that inspire dialogue among scholars, students and the public.

Africa Initiative

The establishment of the Africa Initiative signals a long-term commitment by the Watson Institute to promote research, teaching, public engagement and sustainable partnerships in and about Africa.

Brazil Initiative

The Brazil Initiative facilitates and coordinates lectures, seminars, conferences, research partnerships and grants, as well as a host of other resources on campus related to Brazil.

Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies

The Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies conducts and facilitates interdisciplinary research on pressing global human rights and humanitarian challenges.

Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Through its programming and undergraduate and graduate-level course offerings, CLACS fosters knowledge, teaching and research on the history, peoples, environment, languages and contemporary problems of Latin America.

Center for Middle East Studies

The Center for Middle East Studies promotes research, teaching and public engagement on key issues of the Middle East in a historically and culturally grounded manner.

China Initiative

The China Initiative is an interdisciplinary hub for the study of modern China at Brown University.

Climate Solutions Lab

The Climate Solutions Lab's mission is to create, learn, and distribute solution-oriented climate knowledge at Brown and across the world.

Costs of War Project

The Costs of War project is a team of over 50 scholars, legal experts, human rights practitioners and physicians. We use research and a public website to facilitate debate about the costs of the post-9/11 wars.

John F. Kennedy Jr. Initiative for Documentary Film and Social Progress

Spearheaded by family, friends and classmates of John F. Kennedy Jr. ’83, the initiative aims to bring film and filmmakers to the University with the goal of shedding light on issues facing society through documentary.

Military Fellows Program

For one year, fellows participate in security-related research, seminars, classes, and public events alongside Watson’s faculty, students and policy practitioners.

Postdoctoral Fellows Program

Central to our mission is the Watson Postdoctoral Fellows Program, which supports young social scientists conducting research related to the Institute’s three core thematic areas: development, governance, and security.

Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia

The Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia promotes research, teaching and public engagement on key issues of modern South Asia in an interdisciplinary framework and in a historically and culturally grounded manner.

Senior Fellows Program

The Watson Institute Senior Fellows program is designed to bring leading policymakers and public intellectuals from around the world to Brown University to offer fresh thinking on contemporary global issues.

Stone Inequality Initiative

This initiative brings together the Brown Community –as students, teachers, and scholars for an urgent conversation about inequality. Our emphasis is on how great wealth distorts –perhaps even threatens- the republic.

Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy

The Taubman Center brings together scholars, practitioners and students with different perspectives to address important problems facing American politics and policy.

The William R. Rhodes Center for International Economics and Finance

The William R. Rhodes Center for International Economics and Finance seeks to understand how local politics, global economics and international finance combine to produce the uncertain world that we all inhabit.