The Cornwall Center For Metropolitan Studies

The Joseph C. Technique cannot substitute for substance and analysis. The United States is a nation dominated by its regions and metropolises.

Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies researches and analyzes complex issues facing urban areas, primarily metropolitan Newark and northern New Jersey Cornwall Center strives to be:

A key resource in the production of “usable” knowledge for the public, private and nonprofit sector development in Newark, the northern region of New Jersey and beyond. Using a variety of research methods and tools

, the Cornwall Center is committed to producing timely reports, briefing papers, and books that document innovative strategies, programs and policies. We say “usable” because our written work aims to meet the highest research standard that time and resources will allow, but we also maintain that the research must fit the problem. Our goal, then, is to produce important research that encourages thought, questions, and ultimately action by all stakeholders working in a specific issue area and those in the general public. A central force convening key civil society individuals and institutions as they engage in and pursue the economic, political and cultural revitalization of Newark. Convening without strategy frustrates people—even those who understand that change is a complicated process. The Cornwall Center uses large- and small-scale meetings to bring together key actors for any given issue area with the goal of encouraging collaboration and progress. A secondary goal of our convening work is to document key learning to share with a wide audience. Much of our convening is conducted under the auspices and support of a requesting institution such as a foundation, local or regional public sector organization, or civil society group. A forceful agent for the economic and administrative coordination and cooperation of Newark and its surrounding communities. Economic and political trends have sometimes strengthened suburbs and outlying communities in a region at the expense of cities. While there are powerful market forces underlying these trends, the Cornwall Center holds that the result need not be a net negative for all concerned. Other regions and places have found opportunities to exercise mutual self-interest between cities and their surrounding communities. The need to find common ground is increasingly supported by shifting problems and challenges traditionally identified with cities to suburbs. The Cornwall Center, through our research and convening function, will take serious any opportunity to build ties between Newark and its region. A national model for what a university-based center can accomplish working with regional, local and community partners. Though universities have always played a significant role in social and economic development in their proximate communities, that role has been less recognized given the university’s unique mission to seek objective truth and educate citizens broadly. That universities should be recognized and encouraged to play a social and economic development role is less argued today than the extent and richness of that role. University-based centers, such as Cornwall, often act as a portal to link the university and its community. We at Cornwall are in a continual search to make the Center a valuable asset to our university colleagues and community partners.

02/11/2026

A beautiful moment of collective visioning: practitioners joined together at the Pedagogy of Liberation Convening, hosted by The Brotherhood Sister Sol, to strengthen our shared work in youth liberation and learning.

01/15/2026

Join us for I’ve Got the Light of Freedom: In Conversation with Charles M. Payne, a special event celebrating the 30th anniversary of this seminal work on the Civil Rights Movement.

Tuesday, February 10
6:00 to 8:00 PM EST
Express Newark at Rutgers University Newark

This program will examine the legacy of grassroots organizing in the Mississippi Freedom Struggle and the enduring importance of collective action.

Register here: [https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ive-got-the-light-of-freedom-in-conversation-with-charles-m-payne-tickets-1980202288350?aff=oddtdtcreator]

Photos from The Cornwall Center For Metropolitan Studies's post

10/17/2025

PULSE (Parents Unified for Local School Education) is back and better than ever!

After a period of dormancy, PULSE returned to bring parents, educators, and community leaders together for honest conversations and renewed partnerships supporting student success.

Check out highlights from this inspiring event on the Cornwall blog
https://cornwall.rutgers.edu/dormant-no-more-pulse-pops.../

09/10/2025

Funding cuts, curriculum restrictions, and threats to critical programs are putting our kids’ opportunities at risk. What can we do as a community to respond? Join the parent organizers of PULSE on September 13th at Rutgers Newark for a community conversation on how we respond, resist, and reimagine public education for our children. Lunch will be served; registration is required. https://go.rutgers.edu/equityined

08/01/2025

The Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies at Rutgers University - Newark is excited to announce that our very own Marquise Guzmán has been selected as a national White-Riley-Peterson (WRP) Policy Fellow! The WRP Policy Fellowship is run by the at Furman University, in partnership with the Mott Foundation, and equips participants with a real-world understanding of the art, science, possibilities, and realities of policy-making around afterschool and expanded learning. For the next 10 months, Marquise will be learning how to improve afterschool programs and opportunities in the state of New Jersey. We can’t wait to see what wonderful things these fellows do across the country! Learn more about the fellowship at https://bit.ly/riley-wrp

Charles Payne of the Cornwall Center at Rutgers-Newark Named to American Academy of Arts and Sciences

05/06/2025

https://www.newark.rutgers.edu/news/charles-payne-cornwall-center-rutgers-newark-named-american-academy-arts-and-sciences

Cornwall Director Charles Payne was named to the 2025 class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences! This award recognizes exemplary individuals in the arts, academia, science, research, and policy. Dr. Payne shares this honor with past awardees such as MLK, Jr., Nelson Mandela, Jonas Salk, and Alexander Hamilton. Please join us in congratulating Charles on this spectacular achievement!

Charles Payne of the Cornwall Center at Rutgers-Newark Named to American Academy of Arts and Sciences Pioneering sociologist Charles Payne, director of the Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies at Rutgers-Newark, was named this year to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

03/20/2025

“Whatever you can do matters”: Jackson State University celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy

01/29/2025

"It's important to realize that whatever you can do matters." -Charles M. Payne, Director of the Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies at Rutgers University-Newark

“Whatever you can do matters”: Jackson State University celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy Mississippi Public Broadcasting is MPB. Mississippi is Our Mission. Get the latest news on Tate Reeves, the Election and updates on Television, Radio and Online

2025 Community Collaboration Challenge | The National Partnership for Student Success

01/17/2025

We are thrilled to announce that Cornwall has been selected by the National Partnership for Student Success Hub as a 2025 Community Collaboration Challenge! 🎉

Thanks to generous support from the Leon Lowenstein Foundation, the NPSS Hub will distribute a total of $163K in micro-grant stipends to 23 communities around the country. We're excited to be able to bring together diverse local stakeholders—including schools, nonprofits, families, and community leaders—to work towards a common goal: providing evidence-based for learners in our community. 📚 From tutoring and mentoring programs to post-secondary and wrap-around supports, these efforts are designed to reduce and foster .

So, what’s next? 🤔 We’ll be working hard over the coming months to build, collaborate, and implement solutions that will help our students thrive—while sharing our progress and learnings with the NPSS Hub and our local community partners.

Stay tuned for updates, and thank you to all the partners and stakeholders who are helping make this possible!

⬇️ Visit the NPSS website to view all awardees:

2025 Community Collaboration Challenge | The National Partnership for Student Success 2025 Community Collaboration Challenge Supported by the Leon Lowenstein Foundation. The NPSS Support Hub, with support from the Leon Lowenstein Foundation is distributing $163,000 in Community Collaboration Challenge stipends to 23 communities across the country. Awardees will use these funds to sup...