This is my eighth fall at the Center, ninth if you include when I was myself a fellow (in 1993-94), and never have I seen such excitement and enthusiasm among a cohort.
There is the usual thrill at being on the hill but added to that is the pure joy of being able to so interact so freely after a year and a half of lockdown. Yes, we operate with restrictions: masks in all buildings, including speakers during research seminars; weekly Covid tests; no jumpy house for the small children at our opening party; a little paperwork for non-Stanford visitors. But these seem minor obstacles.
The 2021-22 cohort is also among the most diverse I have ever witnessed. And I mean on almost every dimension of diversity—range of disciplines, gender, color, country of origin and nationality, institutional affiliation. There are two policy fellows, two short-term fellows, and an active complement of visiting scholars, faculty fellows, and research affiliates. Perhaps one effect is the proliferation of study groups around topics such as norms, identity, the commons, and democracy and the proliferation of social events, from wine and whiskey tastings to excursions. I wish I could attend everything, but as I keep reminding the fellows: they are on sabbatical; I am not!
Numerous fellows are part of ongoing labs and research programs; many continue to meet regularly with their grad students. This has put considerable pressure on our space, and we have had to create additional Zoom rooms so that fellows can talk with their off-site colleagues without disturbing neighbors in nearby studies. We’ve also been creating additional meeting rooms so that the many now meeting in person can continue to do so. This pressure on space will grow with the increase of colder days and with rain.
There is lots of additional good news to report.
The new building, what I call the Collaboratory, will be going up. The current hope is that we will be breaking ground in June 2022—although this could be delayed briefly if birds choose to nest in nearby trees, as they undoubtedly will despite our best efforts to offer them alternative residences. Although there were significant additional costs due to the delay, we have now raised the necessary funds. I thank all who contributed, once again, for helping us realize the first new building at CASBS since 1954.
Our programs and projects are going from strength to strength. Our model of raising external funding to support the programs, the program directors, and, hopefully, a few fellows is succeeding. I have italicized below the numerous former fellows, current fellows, research affiliates, and current board members who are helping to lead our initiatives. Betsy Rajala and Zack Ugolnik have more than repaid the investment to hire two staff program directors. They not only help locate and raise funds and organize the workshops and discussions; they also have proved full and valued intellectual partners in the programs and projects they manage so professionally.
- The new summer Institute on Diversity, led by Mary Murphy, Kate Stovel, and Jennifer Richeson, has received sufficient support from a combination of the Ford, McArthur, and Spencer Foundations to run for at least two years.
- The Moral Political Economy program has received enough additional funding from the Hewlett Foundation to complete its work in 2023.
- The Rockefeller Foundation provided an additional grant for development of our efforts to generate a new field of study combining computer science, engineering, and cognitive and behavioral science; the initiative is led by James Guszcza and Allison Stanger and will, hopefully, culminate in a meeting at the Rockefeller Bellagio Center.
- Alison Gopnik has organized and held her initial meeting of the star-laden working group on Care and Caregiving and is working with us to raise additional funding.
- Under the leadership of James (Jamie) Holland Jones, our new program “Humans, Nature, Machines” is off to a good start. The program encompasses the Rockefeller and caregiving projects mentioned above and also several Stanford-funded projects that Jamie and I coordinate. We are also in the process of applying for a major award from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR); the key team for that, in addition to Jamie Jones, is Abby Rumsey, Peter Loewen, and Thomas Pradeau. Mpho Tshivhase and Jenna Bednaralso are involved.
- Current fellow Michael Bernstein and I have received major funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for the Ethics and Society Review (ESR). The NSF support supplements the funding received from Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI) and from the Stanford Ethics, Society, and Technology (EST) Hub. (The ESR is steered by CASBS as part of its contribution to the EST, the Stanford long range presidential initiative I co-chair with Stanford’s Rob Reich.)
- CISIL (Causal Inference for Social Impact Lab) is planning an innovative data hackathon in 2022. It is run by Jacob Bowers and Carrie Cihak.
And, just as we hoped, the programs are creating products that are getting widespread attention. CISIL has generated methods guides sought by government, NGOs, academics, and foundations. A Moral Political Economy, co-authored by me and former CASBS program director Federica Carugati and published by Cambridge University Press, summarizes the first several years of that program. It has already been the focus of several public affairs radio programs, a webcast at the London School of Economics, and media attention internationally. Henry Farrell and I are editing an issue of Daedalus, the flagship publication of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, on a moral political economy with essays and respondents from various program working groups. Program director Zack Ugolnik and I will co-author the lead article. The University of Chicago Press recently released Gen Z Explained: The Art of Living in a Digital Age by Roberta Katz, Sarah Ogilvie, Jane Shaw, and Linda Woodhead. It has already received lengthy attention in the New Yorker, and we are expecting it to hit the best-selling lists. Allison Sandoval Casasola, an undergraduate research assistant on our project on speculative fiction, “Imagining Adaptive Societies,” has already produced one piece for a regular column in The Stanford Daily based on her work with CASBS. Michael Bernstein, Betsy Rajala, David Magnus, Debra Satz, Charla Waeiss, and I produced the ESR white paper, mentioned above, that is being widely cited as a model for establishing and evaluating an ethics and society review, and we are publishing a shorter and revised version in the journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science). Mike Gaetani, CASBS’s communications director, is skillfully taking advantage of all this activity, crafting our successful webcasts and podcasts and working with the Long Now Foundation, Public Books, and others to bring attention to our fellows, projects, and programs.
This is also, as you may know, a period of transition. Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, Tino, has been a remarkable partner during his too-short tenure as chair of the CASBS board. Not only is he wise, strategic, and thoughtful, he is the kind of leader we dream about. He is imaginative and brilliant, yes, and a master at forging cooperation and promoting productive innovation. He is also immensely kind, caring, and supportive of all those he touches. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is lucky to have him as its president. We, of course, are sorry to lose him. Yet, we knew that day would come. Tino has worlds to conquer yet, and I know you share with me gratitude for what he’s done for CASBS and best wishes for this next step in his journey as he does ever more to create the kind of society we all seek.
At the same time, the CASBS Board and I are pleased to welcome Abby Smith Rumsey as the new chair. A distinguished writer and historian and an active participant in several CASBS projects, Abby will bring to her new role her keen insight and enthusiasm; she is just the right person to help guide our various transitions.
The other major transition, of course, is mine. It is with bittersweet feelings that I experience this last academic year as director. I feel happy with what I’ve accomplished, excited about all we’re doing now, and eager for my own next steps. I am confident the search committee and the board will select a successor who will make the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences an even more storied institute for advanced study. I thank the entire CASBS community for all it has done to help me achieve my aspirations, and express thanks in advance for the support you will provide to whoever comes next.
