Associate Professor in Public Policy Emily Jones has been appointed Director of the Case Centre on Public Leadership, taking over the role from Professor Karthik Ramanna.
Emily will lead the School’s Case Centre alongside her work as co-founder and co-director of the Trade and Public Policy (TaPP) Network, which seeks to foster engagement between academics and UK policymakers.
Case method teaching draws on lessons of cognitive science and experiential learning to help develop participants’ decision-making skills. The Case Centre writes cases based on real-life scenarios to illustrate complex policy ideas and difficult managerial challenges, and in the classroom, the cases enable students to bridge theory and practice while also honing their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
With more than 30 available cases featuring real-life situations, such as crisis management during the Covid-19 pandemic to education reform in Brazil, and decisions by, among others, the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the Vatican’s financial regulator, the Commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police, and Colombia’s Finance Minister, participants are provided with the opportunity to explore solutions to some of the most demanding real-world challenges in government.
Emily said:
“In an increasingly complex world where policymakers are faced with challenging policy decisions, the case method is proving key to enabling public sector leaders think critically and make those decisions with confidence.
“Over the past three years Karthik and I have co-led our case method training workshop, helping to train faculty from more than 80 institutions and more than 25 countries. I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead the Case Centre into its next phase and build on the work that Karthik and the team undertook to make the Case Centre a global centre of excellence.”
Case method teaching is used to provide an education in judgement. For the School’s MPP students, the next generation of global policymakers, case method teaching provides them with an introduction to complex, ambiguous, or challenging real-world issues helps to prepare them for the challenges they'll face in their careers.
It is also used by the School as part of the executive programme teaching, including in the training of very senior public sector leaders, allowing them to learn from each other, reflecting on their own experiences and instincts.
Biography
Emily Jones is an Associate Professor of Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government and a Fellow of University College. Her research examines the political economy of global trade and finance. She is co-founder and co-director of the Trade and Public Policy (TaPP) Network, which seeks to foster engagement between academics and UK policymakers. She is an Associate Fellow of Chatham House, and recently served as a specialist adviser to the International Trade Select Committee in the UK Parliament.
A skilled trainer and negotiations expert, Emily has delivered a variety of executive programmes and negotiations masterclasses for senior government officials from around the world. These include training programmes for the UK’s most senior trade negotiators; political leaders from underrepresented groups; and fellows from the World Economic Forum. She also teaches a range of graduate courses, including on the politics of the global economy and negotiation skills for public policy.
