Mat Karas, MFA, BFA

My research explores: the policy and politics of population aging; urban politics, policy and theory; and changing relations between the state and nonprofit organizations.

These topics are combined in my ongoing research agenda, which examines the ways in which municipalities and nonprofit actors develop and implement age-friendly policies and programs in collaboration with older adults. I also conduct research on the social innovation agenda (including social impact bonds and social innovation labs) and its impact on the nonprofit sector (with Dr. John Shields), ‘progressive’ urban politics and policy (with Dr. Ronald K. Vogel), and the design and implementation of sanctuary city policies (with Dr. Mireille Paquet). Recent publications include my book The Right to an Age Friendly City: Redistribution, Recognition, and Senior Citizen Rights in Urban Spaces (MQUP, 2020) and article “A Future Research Agenda for Transformational Urban Policy Studies” (with Dr. Ronald K. Vogel, Policy & Politics, 2022).

I am interested in supervising students on various topics related to urban politics and policy, aging policy, and changing state-nonprofit sector relations.