Ideas

“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

Founded in 1930, the Institute for...

The current pandemic intensifies the need for universal health insurance, but it raises, in some quarters, the specter of “moral hazard.” This term, with its troubling history, is taken to refer to incentives for patients to overuse healthcare...

In colloquial speech the word “duality” connotes two contrasting facets of a single entity, often at odds with one another. The concept is anthropomorphized in mythology by deities or monsters with multiple faces, like the two-faced Janus, Roman god of doorways. It is also enshrined in pop culture in the double visages of Jekyll and Hyde, and in the Batman villain Harvey Dent (alias Two-Face). In physics and mathematics, the concept of “duality” takes on a more positive connotation because of its ubiquity, utility, and power. 

The dramatic story of the origins of the Second World War has long been used by politicians to buttress foreign policy. The stark lesson, certainly in Britain, where the consequences of naïveté were the most severe, but also for the French, who...

Social Science Member Sarah E. Vaughn discusses her research on climate change in the Caribbean, particularly how to think about climate adaptation not just from a national perspective, but from a regional perspective.

How do we teach something we don’t yet know? In today’s Scholar Spotlight, Historical Studies Member Anna Bokov discusses her research on architecture and design pedagogy, the pursuit of truth and beauty, and breaking the rules (and making your own). 

Since March, the world resembles a disaster movie. For their plot, screenwriters follow a proven model: scientists warn about a threat—an earthquake, a volcano, a virus, a meteor, or a terrorist attack; politicians ignore the warning because of...

Franz Steiner Verlag has published Unveiling Emotions, Vol. 3: Arousal, Display, and Performance of Emotions in the Greek World (2020), edited by Angelos Chaniotis, Professor in the School of Historical Studies.

From the publisher: “The study of...

I am very happy to be back, albeit in virtual space, at the Institute. I completed my entire manuscript for The Spectre of Race: How Discrimination Haunts Western Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2018) at IAS, and have great memories of...

Scribal Habits in Near Eastern Manuscript Traditions, edited by Sabine Schmidtke, Professor in the School of Historical Studies, and George Kiraz past Member and current Research Associate in the School of Historical Studies, has been published by...