Carnegie Reporter, Vol. 2, No. 3

Expanding the Boundaries of Health and Social Science
Edited by Frank Kessel, Patricia L. Rosenfield and Norman B. Anderson
Oxford University Press, 2003

Growing out of the work of the Social Science Research Council Working Group on Bio-Behavioral Social Perspectives on Health, Expanding the Boundaries of Health and Social Science explores the nexus between the health and social sciences. Underlying the diverse mix of case studies presented in this volume is the premise that problems in human biology and health may best be solved through an inter-disciplinary approach.

The editors, who include Patricia Rosenfield, Chair, Carnegie Scholars Program and Special Advisor to the Vice President and Director for Strategic Planning and Program Coordination, note the well-recognized fact that research on human health requires more than a focus on human biology and illness. Lifestyles, attitudes, stress, education and income, for example, may also contribute to the spread of disease and can impact efforts both to prevent illness and to enhance an individual’s sense of well-being. Yet there is still considerable debate about how best to conduct research and shape policies that combine concepts and methods drawn from the full range of the health, social and behavioral sciences.

Expanding the Boundaries of Health and Social Science attempts to fill in some of the gaps by offering case studies that provide a variety of models for undertaking interdisciplinary health research. Some of the common themes that emerge across the chapters include the need to build research teams within and across institutions; to identify dedicated funding streams; and to overcome particular peer review and publishing challenges. By detailing the substantive results that their work has produced, the authors make a compelling case for the benefits of interdisciplinary health research; by describing the factors that have at times inhibited as well as facilitated their work, they also articulate some of the fundamental strategies required for successfully achieving such benefits.

Islam: A Mosaic,
Not a Monolith
By Vartan Gregorian
Brookings Institution Press, 2003

Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York, began work on this survey of Islam before September 11th, 2001, as a report to the trustees of the Corporation about possible opportunities for grantmaking in light of the growth of the Islamic population in the U.S. After the terrorist attacks, he felt a need to further enrich the work in order to contribute to a deeper understanding of Islam and the diversity of the Muslim world and its people. Brookings felt the essay deserved a larger audience that would include educators, scholars and policymakers, and so published a slightly expanded edition in the spring of 2003.

The book, which provides highlights of 14 centuries of Islamic history, begins with an overview of Islam’s tenets, institutions and evolution. Gregorian traces the origins of the Islamic religion, culture and fundamental principles from Prophet Muhammad’s call to faith nearly 1,400 years ago to the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, and the subsequent development of what has come to be called Islamic fundamentalism.

Dismissing the “clash of civilizations” theory that has become popular among scholars in the western world, Gregorian points out that the history of Islam is marked by divisiveness and internal struggles, which suggests that any serious movement toward a monolithic Muslim world force is unlikely. Instead, says Gregorian, these theories “provide unwarranted support for prejudice and false generalizations and categorizations in both Muslim and
non-Muslim societies.”

In light of the growing influence of Islam and the lack of understanding on both sides, Gregorian suggests that the great challenge before us all is “one of understanding and accommodation: how can each group maintain and develop its own set of values and at the same time coexist?” He offers one hopeful path for all to follow: that “out of dialogue will come understanding and respect, and out of respect will come tolerance.”

The Road to Home
By Vartan Gregorian
Simon and Schuster, 2003

Vartan Gregorian’s memoir describes the extraordinary journey of an Armenian boy from a poor section of Tabriz, Iran, who became president of the New York Public Library, president of Brown University, and who is now president of Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Born in 1934 to Armenian Christian parents living in a largely Muslim community, Gregorian’s early years were difficult: his mother died when he was six, and his father was emotionally and often physically distant. The center of his family life was his maternal grandmother, Voski, who raised him and his younger sister. Through her stories, which introduced the young Gregorian to a world of mythology, magic and fantasy, his grandmother taught him that what endures are good deeds and reputation—one’s name and, above all, one’s dignity.Spurred by a growing desire for education and aided by the first of several benefactors who appeared serendipitously in his life, Gregorian left Iran at the age of fifteen and traveled to Beirut to the attend the Collège Arménian. Eventually, Gregorian was accepted at Stanford Univer-sity in California, where he completed his bachelor’s degree, entered a Ph.D. program in Middle Eastern and European Studies and met his wife, Clare, beginning a lifelong
partnership that has included raising three sons.

In his memoir, Gregorian’s “road to home” includes helping to restore the New York Public Library to its rightful place as one of the crown jewels of New York City and the nation, and devoting himself to raising Brown University to new levels of prominence. Along the way he received honorary degrees from some fifty universities, and was awarded the National Humanities Medal. But among the most important achievements in his life was becoming an American citizen. Of the official ceremony he says, “I became emotional and even teary. I felt as if I were getting married.”

Gregorian’s personal journey is perhaps as compelling as his public achievements. With the exuberance and passion for which he has become known, he writes of how he was a poor boy, yearning for knowledge, “who—I hope!—became an educated man… This is the life I could never have expected, the life it has been my privilege to lead.”