Mortara Research Seminar – A Conversation with Professor Nicholas Kuipers

By Anna O’Sullivan (SFS ’28) —

On Monday, November 10th, the Mortara Center for International Studies had the privilege of welcoming Professor Nicholas Kuipers of Princeton University to present his new work to Georgetown’s graduate and faculty community. Professor Kuiper’s paper, titled “Forging Social Cohesion Through Mass Education: Evidence from a Nationwide Policy Reform in India”, explores how governments can best manage ethnic and religious conflict in diverse societies. The piece, co-authored with Professor Gateth Nellis of the University of San Diego and Professor Drew Stommens of New York University, was presented at the weekly Mortara Research Seminar, a forum for academics to share their upcoming work for feedback and lively discussion.

Professor Kuipers is an Assistant Professor of Politics at Princeton University, concentrating in comparative politics, political economy, and public policy. Kuiper’s research has been supported by a myriad of prestigious international organizations, such as the Institute for International Studies, the Singapore Ministry of Education (AcRF), and the Weiss Family Fund. His specific interests in bureaucracy and Southeast Asia were a source of inspiration for his most recent work, in which he examined the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP) in India. The program operated in about half of India’s districts, funding efforts to improve the quantity of education by constructing primary schools and promoting secular education values, with state-level variation in curriculum and implementation. 

Using survey data and a decision-theoretic model, the authors graph mentions of caste, gender, and religious issues in textbooks before and after the DPEP, finding that discussion of these topics increased. Using individual-level data clustered at the district level, they find that the DPEP increased education access and quality, and overall reduced intergroup conflict in India—but its effects were not uniform across all dimensions, as impacts varied by factors such as caste. There was no evidence that the DPEP led to greater intergroup contact or improved economic conditions. Despite this variation, the study demonstrates that large-scale, inclusive education reforms can play a powerful role in fostering long-term social cohesion and mutual understanding in diverse societies.

The seminar followed a brief coffee chat with Georgetown graduate students and Professor Kuipers. Students were given the opportunity to discuss a variety of topics, from Professor Kuiper’s academic journey to the methods used in his research. The Mortara Research Seminar values the contribution of Kuiper’s work to ongoing conversations about education policy, development, and conflict reduction, and looks forward to further scholarship that deepens our understanding of these critical issues.