In this Scholar Spotlight we feature three former scholars: Michael Hanchard (Social Science), Jo Nelson (Mathematics), and Tracy Slatyer (Natural Sciences). They explain how and why the environment at IAS nourishes independent thinkers and prompts scholars to ask questions that push the boundaries of knowledge.
Sonja van Wichelen is focused on bioscience governance and global inequality—a particularly important topic to understand in the midst of a pandemic. She talks about her father’s inspiration and her hope for a more equitable society.
Zachariah Cherian
Mampilly, a Member in the School of Social Science, studies
violent and non-violent movements for political transformation,
focusing on Africa and South Asia. Previously his work has focused
on governance by armed groups and the...
Death of a Traveller: A Counter Investigation by Didier
Fassin, James D. Wolfensohn Professor in the School of Social
Science, was published on July 6, 2021, by Polity:
“It is a simple story. A 37-year-old man belonging to the
Traveller community...
Running Out: In Search of Water on the High
Plains (Finalist, National Book Awards 2021 for
Nonfiction) by Lucas Bessire, past Member in the School of
Social Science, was published by Princeton University Press on May
18, 2021:
“I think an unaccompanied scholar, particularly a male,
probably has the best of all possible worlds at the
Institute.”
—Social Science Member in the 1970s, male, age 50 at the moment of
the questionnaire in 1976
Diana Graizbord, Member
in the School of Social Science, is writing her first book
"Indications of Democracy: Expertise and the Politics of
Accountability," which examines how policy evaluation techniques
have been adopted by the Mexican state and...