Nia Law is a member of the Class of 2025 in the School of Foreign Service, majoring in International Political Economy and minoring in Justice & Peace Studies and Spanish. Growing up in a region of Ohio where the scars of a changing economic geography are plainly evident, she developed a passion for examining how policy can be proactively and effectively designed to uplift the agency and dignity of all people. As a MURF, Nia has explored a range of issues related to economic justice, including the impact of environmental provisions in trade agreements, the efficacy of federal recession recovery policies following the 2008 crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, and the effects of gerrymandering on federal funding allocations. Seeking to supplement her research with real-world experience in economic and social policy, Nia has served as an intern with the White House Chief of Staff’s Infrastructure Team, the Department of Labor’s Worker Voice Team, and the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Recovery Programs. In her free time, you can find Nia playing songs by Slow Pulp, the Fruit Bats, or Bad Bunny on her WGTB radio show, sipping coffee, teaching financial literacy classes to D.C. residents through the Hilltop Microfinance Initiative, or reading Joan Didion.
What advice would you give to future MURFs?
The most interesting questions are often the hardest to define, and one of the best parts of the MURF program is that the people around you are eager and equipped to help you find the right tools to explore whatever sparks your curiosity. You’ll be surprised by how quickly and deeply your research skills develop—and a method that feels novel and intimidating now is absolutely learnable if you stay curious and committed.Also, don’t be discouraged if your research results aren’t what you expected. Explaining the absence of a relationship can be just as valuable as identifying a statistically significant one. And, the beauty of digging into a subject is that the longer you stare at something, the less you may feel like you know—that might seem overwhelming at first, but it’s actually the most exciting kind of puzzle there is!
Tell us about a research project you worked on as a MURF
I spent time working on a project assessing how federal stimulus efforts—particularly the post-2008 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the post-pandemic American Rescue Plan—succeeded and fell short in supporting economically disadvantaged communities. While I ultimately had to set the project aside due to data limitations, the experience of trying to answer my research question with incomplete data was invaluable. It taught me that there’s always another way to frame a question, and that understanding the limitations of your research is what gives it real integrity and strength.
Describe your MURF experience in three words
Challenging, Formative, and Invigorating
What was one thing you learned that surprised you?
There’s often less data available than you’d expect. Developing effective proxies to work around those gaps can be tricky—but it’s also one of the most engaging parts of the process!
