Hi — I’m Jay Melton (Jared Thomas Augustine, if we’re being formal). I’m a technology professional and a dual Master of Public Affairs–Master of International Affairs candidate at Indiana University Bloomington. And, for better or worse, I write a lot.
This site is part blog, part portfolio — a space to track the ideas I keep circling back to. It’s where I think out loud about history, institutions, public service, and the systems we build around meaning and power.
I’m a student member of APPAM, the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management, and my graduate work focuses on the intersection of governance, law, cybersecurity, and global policy. I have been honored to receive fellowship support from Indiana University, including the Thomas C. Graham Fellowship, the MPA-MIA Merit Award, and selection as a cohort member of the O’Neill D.C. Accelerator Program, which supports policy-focused graduate work in the nation’s capital.
My perspective is shaped by my Catholic faith, my political independence, and a growing interest in the strange overlap of institutional fragility, regulatory power, and the narratives we lean on to make sense of both.
Thanks for reading — and for being here.