Three evenings. Three questions. Three surprising journeys into what works.
What makes an idea work in the real world? What stands between a child and an education, a girl and the future she imagines, a family and a pathway out of poverty?
BRACademics invites you to investigate these questions.
Join us the second Tuesday of each month for a new kind of donor learning experience from BRAC USA.
Fall Semester:
10/13 • 11/10 • 12/8
5PM PT • 8 PM ET • (Virtual)
Register by September 30th to join the Fall Semester
Register for the full three-part semester
Register early (by [DATE]) and we’ll mail you a BRACademics syllabus, notebook, and short selection of supplemental readings and materials to explore before the series begins.
How the evenings work
Hosted by Stephen Smith, BRAC USA Board Member and Professor of Economics and International Affairs at George Washington University, each evening follows the same three-part journey:
START WITH A QUESTION
We'll begin with a puzzle drawn from BRAC's work and ask you to make a prediction.
FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE
A researcher and BRAC practitioner will take us through what we've learned, what surprised us, and what it means in practice.
LOOK AT THE WORK DIFFERENTLY
Each evening ends with art, stories, or perspectives from the people at the center of the work.
Who is this series for?
Has the autumn chill and turning leaves brought on a little envy as students head back to school? Do you wish you could join them in learning something new this fall?
BRACademics is for the perpetual learners: the people who are always curious, always asking one more question, and always armed with an interesting tidbit at the dinner party.
If you want to explore a new idea, deepen your understanding of the issues you support, or simply spend an hour following a question somewhere unexpected, this is for you.
No prior knowledge of BRAC or development economics is required. Just bring your curiosity.
Fall Semester: A Life in Three Chapters
This first BRACademics semester follows a life from childhood to adolescence to adulthood, exploring the hidden barriers that can shape a person's path, and the capabilities that can help transform it.
Chapter I: Childhood (October 13)
The Impossible School
The surprising story of BRAC’s floating schools
In the haor wetlands of northeastern Bangladesh, the land disappears for half the year. Roads vanish, schools go underwater, and children too young to travel alone are often kept home.
So how did BRAC’s boat schools help children in one of the hardest places in Bangladesh to access education achieve some of the best outcomes?
We’ll follow the evidence behind the model, from the boat that brings the classroom to the child to the community that helps make the school its own.
Tuesday, October 13, 2026 | 5:00 PM PT / 8:00 PM ET
Chapter II: Adolescence (November 10)
Beyond the Bride
The unasked question about ending child marriage
Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world. We have spent decades studying the girls who are married young and the families who make that decision.
But every child marriage has another person in it: the man on the other side.
What happens when researchers turn the lens toward the part of the story we have rarely studied? We’ll explore what the evidence tells us about poverty, social norms, education, and the overlooked role of boys and men.
Tuesday, November 10, 2026 | 5:00 PM PT / 8:00 PM ET
Chapter III: Adulthood (December 8)
Can Hope Become Action?
The hidden capabilities behind lasting pathways out of poverty
We know that assets, skills, savings, and support can help families move out of extreme poverty. But what allows those tools to take hold?
This conversation follows the evidence behind BRAC’s Graduation approach and explores the less visible capabilities that can turn opportunity into action: aspiration, agency, self-efficacy, and the power to imagine a different future.
Tuesday, December 8, 2026 | 5:00 PM PT / 8:00 PM ET
Your BRACademics "Faculty"
(More to be announced...)
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Professor Stephen C. Smith, Series Moderator
Professor of Economics and International Affairs George Washington University
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Professor Munshi Sulaiman
Director of Research & Professor BRAC Institute of Governance and Development BRAC University
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Shashwatee Biplob
Associate Director, Gender Justice and Diversity BRAC Bangladesh
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Shaila Ahmed, PhD
Assistant Professor, Research Fellow, and Head of the Gender and Social Development Cluster