Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences

Workshops 2017-18

A speaker at a workshop conference table

 

Impact Evaluation Design Lab Summer Institute - June 25-28, 2018

In the CASBS Design Lab, we bring together people from local governments and from academia to collaboratively develop innovative and practical evaluation plans to rigorously assess the effectiveness of major public programs. The Design Lab takes place over two sessions. The March workshop refined the scope of the evaluation questions, delved into data issues, and provided some promising avenues for the evaluation design for government and academic partners to work on together in the following months. The June 26-27 workshop is a “design hack-a-thon” where teams present evaluation design proposals for input, feedback, and critique from each other and other experts.

Technology-Based Solutions for Pressing Societal Challenges - June 5, 2018

The objective is to explore a wide variety of ideas and approaches for using technology to address significant societal challenges, to spark new possibilities for effective philanthropic investment.

Socioeconomic Weather Maps: Data and Tools for the Future of Economic Opportunity - June 4, 2018

The objective is to explore and identify key elements in achieving "socioeconomic weather maps": the fresh, dynamic, fine-grained, comprehensive data and tools that will engage individuals, companies, policymakers, and scholars to make smarter decisions through a better understanding of how people live and work.

Transformations of the Human - May 31, 2018

The goals of this workshop are twofold: to examine how the transmission and determinants of opportunities and life outcomes across generations stand to be reshaped by accelerating advances in biomedical research – specifically DNA testing and genetic modification technologies (CRISPR), in light of improvements assisted reproductive technology, and to explore what some appropriate regulatory, research, and private sector responses to this brave new world might be. We will step back from siloed inquires to explore the inequality implications of the application of these three emerging threads of genomic and biomedical advances within the context of a global free-market economy.

Creating a Framework for a New Moral Political Economy - May 4-5, 2018

The aim is to create a network of cutting edge thinkers to generate a vision of a more humane political and moral economy to supersede the still dominant but fraying paradigm. This will require shifting popular ideas about markets, trade, and work, designing a new regulatory apparatus, and fashioning a safety net that unleashes the economic potential of a technologically driven economy. We cannot go back to the post-World War II Keynesian period, but we can choose where we will go next.

The Comparative Politics of Climate Change - April 20-21, 2018

The premise of this workshop is that for both intellectual and policy reasons it is important to understand the sources of climate policies – by states as well as sub-state entities such as provinces or cities. Specifically, under what conditions will these agents devote more effort to responding effectively to anthropogenic climate change? What policy networks are emerging? What political strategies will these agents follow to achieve their objectives? Under what conditions will they favor policies that are more or less centralized; that depend more or less on direct regulation or policies that rely on markets; that depend more or less on coercion or on changing or reinforcing social norms? This working group, composed mostly of leading young political scientists, is designed to generate new ideas, to critique participants’ research designs, and provide the basis for extensive collaborative work on this subject. The ultimate objective is to enrich an incipient social science field: the comparative politics of climate change policy.

Frontiers of Organization Studies: Reunion - April 12-14, 2018

The purpose of this reunion of the first two classes or the CASBS summer institute is to strengthen the cohort of organization studies scholars forming as a result of their participation. Guest speakers will be Jonathan Levin, Nick Bloom, Sarah Soule, and various members of the Seattle government, with former summer scholars from different disciplines as discussants. Representatives from the different disciplines will present work that was influenced by their CASBS experience.

Impact Evaluation Design Lab - March 26-27, 2018

In the Design Lab, we bring together people from local governments and from academia to collaboratively develop innovative and practical evaluation plans to rigorously assess the effectiveness of major public programs. The Design Lab will take place over two sessions. The March workshop will refine the scope of the evaluation questions, delve into data issues, and provide some promising avenues for the evaluation design for government and academic partners to work on together in the following months. We will reconvene during the week of June 25, 2018, for a “design hack-a-thon” where teams will present evaluation design proposals for input, feedback, and critique from each other and other experts. This will be the fourth meeting of the CASBS evidence-informed policy initiative.

The Future of Work and Workers in a Moral Economy - March 22-23, 2018

This workshop will build on previous discussions but focus more specifically on the bases for worker power and voice in a transformed economy. 

Stanford Electoral Project - March 8, 2018

This is a follow-up to an earlier conversation at CASBS (December 7, 2017). We will consider best practices for electoral field research as well as the university's interests relative to both human subjects and various legal requirements.

Neuroscience and Global Literacy - January 11-12, 2018

This workshop will bring together two dozen scholars focusing on basic developmental and cognitive neuroscience research on the impact of print and digital mediums, alongside researchers and technology designers engaged in conducting digitally based literacy initiatives both in developed and developing countries. There are by now a group of still largely unconnected initiatives whose collective insights, when connected to basic research, could become the basis for making far greater progress in literacy across cultures and contexts. We anticipate that the proceedings will be published so that the results of our discussions can be disseminated more broadly.

Stanford Election Research Meeting - December 7, 2017

This meeting is a conversation concerning how the University can facilitate research on political campaigns and voting. The IRB process for reviewing human subjects’ participation is established. That said, it is timely to review best practices for field research related to elections. We also need efficient and well-understood processes for implementing the administrative policy that Stanford researchers should consult with the General Counsel's Office for any legal restrictions when they are considering doing research involving political campaigns.

Robotics, Infrastructure, and Society - October 27, 2017

Focusing on human-robot collaboration and autonomous mobile robots, the workshop will explore how researchers can better incorporate social scientific perspectives earlier in the process of developing AI and machine learning technologies. Our broader goal is to bridge disciplinary divides while strengthening future Catalyst proposals.

Immigration Policy Lab-Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS) Circle of Welcome Research Training - September 28, 2017

Members of the Immigration Policy Lab, LIRS Headquarters, and LIRS affiliate sites met for the purpose of discussing and refining protocols, processes, and goals associated with a joint study of LIRS’ Circle of Welcome program. 

Catalyst Ocean Solutions Lunch Meeting - September 15, 2017

This meeting was organized by the Catalyst for Ocean Solutions project at Stanford.

Knight Foundation Board Meeting - September 12, 2017

This meeting was organized by the Knight Foundation.