Engage in Scholarly Discourse

Overview

The Institute for Humane Studies invites graduate students to apply for “Polarization, Pluralism, and Democracy,” a series of four online discussions exploring the rise of polarization in America, how polarization threatens to undermine American democracy, and what can be done to address those threats. You may apply for one or more sessions.

Please note that accepted applicants are asked to acquire the reading materials on their own, whether through their institution’s library or by purchasing books. Participants will receive a $125 honorarium plus a $50 stipend per session to purchase books.

Reading List and Schedule

Discussions take place the first Thursday of each month, March–June 2023, from 2–4 p.m. ET

March 2 – “Social Media”

• Settle, Jaime E. Frenemies: How Social Media Polarizes America. Cambridge University Press, 2018.
  • Chapter 3: The END Framework of Political Interaction of Social Media
  • Chapter 4: How Do END Interactions on the News Feed Psychologically Polarize Users?
• Barberá, Pablo. “Social Media, Echo Chambers, and Political Polarization.” Social Media and Democracy. Nathaniel Persily and Joshua A. Tucker, Eds. Cambridge University Press, 2020, 34–55.
• Hwang, Tim. “Dealing With Disinformation: Evaluating the Case for Amendment of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.” Social Media and Democracy. Nathaniel Persily and Joshua A. Tucker, Eds. Cambridge University Press, 2020, 252–285.
• Villasenor, John. The Supreme Court and Social Media Platform Liability. Brookings.
• Gorwa, Robert and Timothy Garton Ash. “Democratic Transparency in the Platform Society.” Social Media and Democracy. Nathaniel Persily and Joshua A. Tucker, Eds. Cambridge University Press, 2020, 286–312.

April 6 – “Populism’s Rise”

• Ingleheart, Ronald and Pippa Noris. 2016. “Trump, Brexit, and the Rise of Populism: Economic Have-Nots and Cultural Backlash.” HKS Working Paper.
• Autor, David, David Dorn, Gordon Hanson, and Kaveh Majlesi. “Importing Political Polarization? The Electoral Consequences of Rising Trade Exposure.” American Economic Review 2020, 110 (10): 3139–3183.
• Mutz, Diana C. “Status threat, not economic hardship, explains the 2016 presidential vote.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115.19 (2018): E4330–E4339.
• Carney, Timothy P. Alienated America: Why Some Places Thrive While Others Collapse. HarperCollins, 2020.
  • Chapter 3: “They’ve Chosen Not to Keep Up”: Is It Economics or Culture?

May 4 – “Race and Polarization”

• Abramowitz, A. and Jennifer McCoy. “United States: Racial Resentment, Negative Partisanship, and Polarization in Trump’s America.” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. January 1, 2019.
• Westwood, S. and E. Peterson. “The Inseparability of Race and Partisanship in the United States.” Political Behavior. 2020.
• Gest, Justin. Majority Minority. Oxford University Press, 2022.
  • Chapter 1: Majority Minority: An Introduction
  • Chapter 2: Escape Velocity: The Pull of Nationalism amid Demographic Change
  • Chapter 10: From Backlash to Coexistence: How Institutional Choices Determine Social Boundaries
  • Chapter 11: National-Building: Messages and Messengers that Cultivate Coexistence

• Mounk, Yascha. The Great Experiment: Why Diverse Democracies Fall Apart and How They Can Endure. New York: Penguin Press, 2022.
  • Chapter 9: Demography Isn’t Destiny

June 1 – “Polarization, Pluralism, and Democracy”

• Jacobs, Nicholas F., Desmond King, and Sidney Milkis. “Building a Conservative State: Partisan Polarization and the Redeployment of Administrative Power.” Perspectives on Politics, 17(2), 453–469.
• Postell, Joseph. “Situational Constitutionalism and the Congress of Collective Inaction.” Law and Liberty, 2017.
• Postell, Joseph. “The Case for the Unitary Speaker.” Law and Liberty, 2015.
• McCarty, Nolan. Polarization: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019.
  • Chapter 6: How Does Electoral Law Affect Legislative Polarization?
  • Chapter 8: Is the Trump Presidency a New Normal or More of the Same?
• Smith, Steven B. Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes. Yale University Press, 2021.
  • Chapter 5: Enlightened Patriotism
• Nussbaum, Martha. “Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism.” Boston Review. 1994.

The Institute for Humane Studies is inviting applications to “Race and Contemporary Political Life,” an online discussion series. This series will include discussions ranging from the contemporary framing of debates over race in both academic and political spheres to current and near-future developments in both discrimination and civil liberation. While the Classical Liberal tradition has always broadly supported equal rights without regard to race, we all face the hurdles of contemporary political polarization, the lack of a common language of or approach to racialized discourse, and the potential to blind ourselves from the discriminatory impacts of new technologies. This series will attempt to reposition Classical Liberalism on the forefront of these issues, seeking a way forward in our political lives that accomplishes equal justice for all both today and tomorrow.

Please note that participants are expected to acquire their own readings and will receive an honoraria of $125 plus a $30 book stipend per session.

March 22 – “Contemporary Conversations on Race” 

• Noel Ignatiev. Treason to Whiteness is Loyalty to Humanity. Verso Books. 2022.

April 19 – “Race as a Source of Modern Folklore” 

• Patricia Turner. Trash Talk: Anti-Obama Lore and Race in the Twenty-First Century. University of California Press. 2022.

May 24 – “Recentering Abolition” 

• Derecka Purnell, Becoming Abolitionists: Police, Protests, and the Pursuit of Freedom. Astra. 2022.

June 21 – “The Future of Equity” 

• Ruha Benjamin. Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code. Polity. 2019.

Overview

The Institute for Humane Studies is inviting applications to “Classical Liberalism vs. Doomsday Weapons,” an online discussion series. Few things — if anything at all in our history — threatens human prosperity like the continued existence of “doomsday” nuclear weapons. They are in many ways the ultimate man-made threat to individual life, liberty, rights, and freedom itself, allowing powerful states to cement their existence and dictate much of the course of recent history. In this series, discussants will debate the value and danger of doomsday weapons, explore paths to abolition and destruction of stockpiles, and consider potential or likely future threats at dramatic scales.

Please note that participants are expected to acquire their own readings and will receive an honorarium of $125 plus a $30 book stipend per session.

Schedule

One Thursday a month from, March 23–June 22, 2023, from 2_4 p.m. ET

Reading List

March 23

• “A Case for the Bomb”  Mueller, John E. Atomic Obsession Nuclear Alarmism from Hiroshima to al Qaeda. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.

April 27

• “Against the Bomb”  Ellsberg, Daniel. The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear Planner. Bloomsbury USA, 2017.

May 25

• “Contemporary Attempts at Nuclear Abolition” Acheson, Ray. Banning the Bomb, Smashing the Patriarchy. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2021.

June 22

• “The Future of Doomsday” Hanson, Robin. “The Great Filter: Are We Almost Past It?” September 1998.
• “The Vulnerable World Hypothesis.” Bostrom, Nick. Global Policy 10, Iss. 4, November 2019.

Overview

The Institute for Humane Studies is inviting applications to “Race, Ethnicity, and Entrepreneurship.” This multidisciplinary series of online roundtable discussions will explore the barriers to entrepreneurial activity faced by different racial and ethnic groups.

Understanding these barriers requires zooming in on the characteristic experiences of racial and ethnic minorities. This includes the history of racially motivated legislation, regulation, and enforcement policies, and their ongoing effects. This discussion series will dig into that history, as well as contemporary analogs, to explore entrepreneurial activity and the barriers to it for groups such as Black, Indigenous, and Asian Americans.

Please note that participants are expected to acquire their own readings and will receive an honorarium of $125 plus a $30 book stipend per session.

Schedule

Discussions will take place one Wednesday per month, April–July 2023, from 2 to 4 PM Eastern Time.

• Session 1: April 19
• Session 2: May 31
• Session 3: June 21
• Session 4: July 19

Overview

One of the biggest barriers to affordable housing is the NIMBY (Not in My Backyard) movement, which routinely stifles construction in America’s most expensive cities. In this four-part online discussion series, participants will explore and discuss ideas and assess the underlying motivations of NIMBYs. This will go beyond economic concerns by investigating the psychological and cultural drivers of aversion to migration and dynamism, such as worries about the environment, social equality and justice, and neighborhood character.

Please note that participants are expected to acquire their own readings and IHS will provide a $750 honorarium for your full participation in the series.

Schedule
Discussions will take place one Wednesday per month, April–July 2023, from 2 to 4 PM Eastern Time.

• Session 1: April 26
• Session 2: May 24
• Session 3: June 28
• Session 4: July 26

Overview

The Institute for Humane Studies is inviting applications to “Information, Narratives, and Race,” an online discussion series. This series will focus on the importance of both the flow of information and the construction of social and historical narratives, specifically as it relates to racialized politics in America. From the early days of Atlantic-wide slavery, marginalized and enslaved peoples have relied on their acute abilities to transmit information unnoticed by the enslavers; yet in modern times, information has been weaponized in entirely different ways. Through this series of discussion panels, faculty and graduate students will probe the intersections of information and race in America to better understand the origins of racialized political polarization, the ideological divisions within and between constructed racial groups, and chart a path forward for synthesis.

Please note that participants are expected to acquire their own readings and will receive an honorarium of $125, plus a $30 book stipend per session.

Reading List & Schedule

Discussions take place on the last Tuesday of each month, from May to August, at 2–4 PM Eastern Time.

May 30 – Blackness and Freedom

• Lindsey Stewart, ed. “The Politics of Black Joy: Zora Neale Hurston and Neo-Abolitionism.” Northwestern University Press. 2021.

June 27 – The Edges of Blackness: Ye, Conservatism, and Color

• Brandi Collins-Dexter. “Black Skinhead: Reflections on Blackness and Our Political Future.” MacMillan. 2022.

July 25 – Race in the Age of “Alternative Facts”

• Flint, Michigan Water Crisis–News Articles and Government Documents:
  • April 2014: https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2014/05/state_says_flint_river_water_m.html
  • July 2015: http://flintwaterstudy.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Muchmore-Lyon.pdf
  • July 2015: https://www.michiganradio.org/health/2015-07-13/leaked-internal-memo-shows-federal-regulators-concerns-about-lead-in-flints-water#stream/0
  • Leaked July 2015: https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-11/documents/transmittal_of_final_redacted_report_to_mdeq.pdf
  • September 2015: http://flintwaterstudy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Lead-Advisory-Release.pdf 
  • November 2018: https://www.nrdc.org/stories/flint-water-crisis-everything-you-need-know
  • July 2020: https://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/health/repro/reports/clean-water-case-study-flint.html#:~:text=The%20water%20poisoning%20in%20Flint,the%20Flint%20River%20in%202014. 
• What is Flint? Place, storytelling, and social media narrative reclamation during the Flint water crisis
  • https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1369118X.2019.1577477?journalCode=rics20 
• Kansas City Kidnapping “Rumors”
  • September 2022: https://www.tiktok.com/@kansascitydefender/video/7147343546595413291 
  • September 2022: https://www.kmbc.com/article/kansas-city-missouri-serial-killer-rumor-kcpd-police-untrue/41390603
  • October 2022: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/16/missouri-woman-escapes-captivity 
  • October 2022: https://kansascitydefender.com/justice/black-woman-kidnapped-prospect-excelsior-springs-serial-killer/ 

August 29 – The Future of Being Black in America

• Andre Carrington. “Speculative Blackness: The Future of Race in Science Fiction.” University of Minnesota Press. 2016.

Overview:

The Institute for Humane Studies is inviting applications for “Crime Dramas and Criminal Justice.” Television crime dramas dominate the ratings and are the closest many Americans will get to seeing the criminal justice system in action. This means that the way crime dramas present policing not only shapes public perceptions of real world police, but also can have implications for criminal justice reform. This multidisciplinary series of online roundtable discussions will explore the impact television’s fictional cop shows have, as well as look at the biases and misrepresentations in the way they present the criminal justice system.

Participants will be provided with the readings for each discussion and will receive an honorarium of $500 for full attendance.

Schedule

Discussions will take place once per month, June–July 2023, from 4:00-6:00 PM Eastern Time.

• Session 1: June 14
• Session 2: June 28
• Session 3: July 12
• Session 4: July 26

Overview

The Institute for Humane Studies invites graduate students to apply for “Motivations for Migration,” a series of four discussions about complex reasons for migration. Participants read and discuss ideas covering climate and economic pressures, as well as review the forms of Mexico-U.S. migration, the advantages of migration, and the consequences to potential migrants and their destination countries. 

Please note that participants are expected to acquire their own readings and will receive an honoraria of $500 for full participation in all four sessions as well as a $30 book stipend per session, totalling $620 paid at the conclusion of the program. Participants are encouraged to acquire their book copies as soon as possible upon registration.

Reading List

August 1 – “Human Migration: An Overview”

McLeman, Robert A. Climate and Human Migration: Past Experiences, Future Challenges. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014.

• “Why People Migrate.” Chapter 2, pgs 16-49.

Stalker, Peter. No-Nonsense Guide to International Migration. Oxford: New Internationalist, 2008.

• “How many immigrants are there?” Chapter 1, pgs 10-20.

August 8 – “Mexico-U.S. Migration”

Garip, Filiz. On the Move: Changing Mechanisms of Mexico-U.S. Migration. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2016.

• “Go Work Over There and Come Do Something Here: Circular Migrants.” Chapter 2, pgs 43-66.
• “We Leave to Help Our Parents Economically: Crisis Migrants.” Chapter 3, 73-94.
• “Your Place is Where Your Family Is: Family Migrants.” Chapter 4, pgs 95-124.
• “Putting Down Roots: Urban Migrants.” Chapter 5, pgs 122-152.

August 15 – “Economic Reasons for Migration”

Stalker, Peter. No-Nonsense Guide to International Migration. Oxford: New Internationalist, 2008.

• “Why people migrate.” Chapter 2, pgs 20-40.
• “Choosing the destination.” Chapter 3, pgs 40-62.

Somin, Ilya. Free to Move : Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 2020.

• “Foot Voting and international Migration.” Chapter 3, pgs 64-79.

Carbone, Giovanni. Out of Africa: Why People Migrate. Italy: Ledizioni, 2017. https://www.ispionline.it/sites/default/files/pubblicazioni/out_of_africa_web.pdf 

• “Nigeria: Leaving Africa’s Giant.” Chapter 6, pgs 119-141.

August 22 – “Climate-Driven Migration”

McLeman, Robert A. Climate and Human Migration: Past Experiences, Future Challenges. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014. 

• “Migration in the Context of Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Variability and Change.” Chapter 3, pgs 49-77.
• “Extreme Weather Events and Migration.” Chapter 4, pgs 95-109.
• “River Valley Flooding and Migration.” Chapter 5, pgs 128-139.
• “Drought and Its Influence on Migration.” Chapter 6, pgs 168-177.
• “Mean Sea Level Rise and Its Implications for Migration and Migration Policy.” Chapter 7, pgs 190-203.
• “Emergent Issues.” Chapter 8, 221-224.

Schedule 

Four consecutive Tuesdays in August, from 2 to 4 PM Eastern Time.

Overview

In the spirit of sustaining diverse, pluralistic societies, the Institute for Humane Studies is convening an interdisciplinary group of scholars to explore the impact of misinformation on communities. This includes but is not limited to its impact on polarization and trust within and between communities.

Share your expertise, discuss ideas, and tackle pressing questions with scholars attending the American Psychological Association’s (APA) annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

The research symposium takes place at the Madison on August 2 — the day before the APA meeting starts — beginning with opening remarks at 4:00 PM Eastern Time and concluding with a networking reception at 6:45 PM.

Please come prepared to share your ideas for future academic research collaboration or public-facing work, such as op-eds, on the impact of misinformation on communities. For your full participation, IHS will provide a stipend to offset one night of hotel accommodations.

Key Note Speaker

• David G. Rand, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Panelists

• Joanne Miller, University of Delaware
• Nadia Brashier, Purdue University

Schedule

*All times are listed in Eastern Time

Wednesday, August 2

3:30–4:00 PM | Registration with Coffee

4:00–4:15 PM | Welcome and Opening Remarks

4:15–5:00 PM | Keynote Address

5:00–5:30 PM | Coffee Break

5:30–6:40 PM | Panel with Q&A

6:40–6:45 PM | Closing Remarks

6:45–7:45 PM | Cocktail Hour

Overview

Large language models and generative AI raise interesting and immediate issues not just for creators, computer scientists, and ethicists, but also increasingly for entrepreneurs, managers, and business leaders. Share your expertise and discuss ideas around the latest research on artificial intelligence and the future of work with scholars at this Academic Research Symposium on August 3, 2023, in Boston, Massachusetts. This academic seminar precedes the Academy of Management (AOM) Annual Meeting.

The research symposium will begin with opening remarks at 2:00 PM Eastern Time on Thursday, August 3, and conclude with a networking reception ending at 6:30 PM.

Please come prepared to share your ideas for future academic research or public-facing work, such as op-eds, on artificial intelligence and its impact on the future of work. For your full participation, IHS will provide a stipend to offset travel costs.

If you have research interests in this area, we encourage you to apply for this opportunity.

Overview

While voters and policymakers agree that promoting entrepreneurship is a significant contributor to economic dynamism and growth, the policies aimed at doing so often fail. This research symposium brings together top scholars to explore questions about the institutions, incentives, and policies benefiting — or unintentionally hindering — entrepreneurial activity.

The Institute for Humane Studies and the Center for Free Enterprise at the University of Louisville invite you to share your expertise and discuss ideas surrounding the latest research on political economy and entrepreneurship with scholars at this Academic Research Symposium on August 3, 2023, in Boston, Massachusetts. This program precedes the Academy of Management (AOM) Annual Meeting.

The academic symposium will begin with opening remarks at 2:00 PM Eastern Time on Thursday, August 3, and conclude with a networking reception ending at 7:00 PM.

Please come prepared to share your ideas for future academic research collaboration or public-facing work, such as op-eds, on political economy and entrepreneurship. For your full participation, IHS will provide a stipend to offset one night of hotel accommodations.

 If you have research interests in this area, we encourage you to apply for this opportunity.

Keynote Speaker

• Maria Minniti, Syracuse University

Panelists

• Luis Dau, Northeastern University

• Peter Klein, Baylor University

• Lauren Lanahan, University of Oregon

Schedule

*All times are listed in Eastern Time

Thursday, August 3

Overview

In the post-Covid world, the downstream effects of Covid-era immigration policy are already making an impact in labor, education, health and numerous other sectors. This program is open to scholars in economics, sociology, law, and other related disciplines. We invite scholars researching immigration issues to discuss their work, collaborate with cross-disciplinary participants, and benefit from time with our panelists as well as our keynote, Dr. Giovanni Peri.

Share your expertise and discuss the future of immigration in the post-Covid world with other scholars at this Academic Research Symposium on August 11–12, 2023, in San Diego, CA.

The symposium will begin with opening remarks at 5:00 PM Pacific Time on Friday, August 11, and conclude with a networking reception at 5:00 PM PT on Saturday, August 12.

Please come prepared to share your ideas for future academic research or public-facing work, such as op-eds, on post-Covid impacts on immigration. For your full participation, IHS offers a hotel room onsite at the event for the nights of August 11 and 12, as well as a travel stipend to help offset the costs of travel to the event.

If you have research interests in this area, we encourage you to apply for this opportunity.

Keynote Speaker

Giovanni Peri, University of California-Davis

Schedule

*All times are listed in Pacific Time

Friday, August 11

4:30–5:00 p.m. | Registration with Coffee

5:00–5:15 p.m. | Welcome and Opening Remarks

5:15–6:45 p.m. | Panel One

6:45–7:30 p.m. | Dinner

7:30–8:30 p.m. | Keynote Address

8:30–10:00 p.m. | Evening Social

Saturday, August 12

10:30–11:00 a.m. | Coffee Service

11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. | Panel Two

12:30–1:45 p.m. | Luncheon

1:45–3:15 p.m. | Panel Three

3:15–3:45 p.m. | Coffee Break

3:45–4:45 p.m. | Breakout Discussions

4:45–5:00 p.m. | Closing Remarks

5:00–6:30 p.m. | Cocktail Hour

Overview

Share your expertise in an online discussion on corporate governance and ethics research. This casual networking forum will commence with opening remarks given by Dr. Stephen Bainbridge of UCLA School of Law and Dr. Daryl Koehn, Wicklander Chair of Professional Ethics at DePaul University. Following these remarks, participants will have the opportunity to join a breakout discussion panel, where they can connect with other researchers working on similar issues and further hone their own research ideas. The breakout rooms will be organized as follows:

• Non-Western Approaches to Business Ethics – Moderated by Dr. Daryl Koehn
• Corporate Governance and ESG – Moderated by Dr. Stephen Bainbridge

This event will take place on June 8, from 4:30 to 6:00 PM Eastern Time, and will be hosted via Zoom. Apply today for a spot in the conversation!

Schedule

*All times are listed in Eastern Time

Thursday, June 8, 2023

4:15–4:30 PM | Zoom Room Opens

4:30–4:45 PM | Opening Remarks

4:45–5:55 PM | Discussion Rooms Open

5:55–6:00 PM | Closing Remarks

Overview

In the spirit of sustaining diverse societies, the Institute for Humane Studies is convening an interdisciplinary group of scholars to explore how religious pluralism interacts with trust and polarization in liberal democracies. 

Join us online for a discussion panel followed by breakout conversations where you can discuss ideas, share your expertise, and tackle pressing questions with other scholars.

This event takes place online on August 9, beginning with opening remarks at 3:00 PM Eastern Time and concluding with breakout discussions from 4:00 to 5:00 PM.

Please come prepared to discuss your current research and share ideas for future academic research or public-facing work, such as op-eds, on trust, polarization, and religious pluralism. 

If you have research interests in this area, we encourage you to apply for this opportunity.

Panelists

• Sam Perry, University of Oklahoma – Norman
  “Christian Nationalism, Race, and Polarization in the United States” 
• Asma Uddin, The Catholic University of America
  “The Social Psychology of Religious Liberty Depolarization”

• John Inazu, Washington University in St. Louis
  “Religious Freedom in an Age of Pluralism” 

Schedule

*All times are listed in Eastern Time

Wednesday, August 9

2:45–3:00 PM | Room Opens

3:00–3:15 PM | Welcome and Introductions

3:15–4:00 PM | Panel

4:00–5:00 PM | Breakout Discussions