THIRTEEN SCHOLARS CHOSEN FOR INNOVATIVE SCHOLARSHIP IN EDUCATION, INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, STRENGTHENING U.S. DEMOCRACY, AND INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY
Carnegie Corporation of New York today named 13 new Carnegie Scholars, including emerging and recognized scholars at American universities and research institutions. Each scholar, chosen in a highly competitive process, will receive up to $100,000 over the next two years to pursue pathbreaking research that expands the intellectual margins of the Corporation's program areas. They will explore issues critical to education reform, widening global income gaps, violence in societies, the politics of federal judicial selection, economic growth and development, legal reform in Russia, the political and economic questions facing Africa, the making of U.S. foreign policy over the years and the implications of Islamic politics and identity.
"As the Carnegie Scholars program approaches its fourth year, the announcement of the new class of Carnegie Scholars underscores the importance of the role the creative intellectual plays in a democratic society," said Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York. "The support for research and scholarship has been a fundamental theme of the Corporation’s work over the years and the Scholars program each year helps men and women of vision to examine some of the most significant and critical questions facing the world today.”
The 13 Carnegie Scholars of 2003, their institutions and research titles are:
Sarah A. Binder, The Brookings Institution and George Washington University
"Stacking the Bench: The Politics and Process of Federal Judicial Selection"
Rachel Bronson, Council on Foreign Relations
"With Us or Against Us? The Making of U.S. Policy toward Saudi Arabia: 1945 to the Present"
Louise Cainkar, University of Illinois, Chicago
"A Sociological Study of the Islamicization of Chicago’s Arab Community: Implications for Democratic Integration"
Kathleen Collins, University of Notre Dame
"Islam, Identity and Conflict in Central Asia and the Caucasus"
Paul Edwards, University of Michigan
"The Technopolitics of Information Infrastructure in South Africa: Apartheid, Regime Change and Legitimate Sovereignty"
James K. Galbraith, University of Texas at Austin
"Global Inequality and Financial Disorder: The Need for a New System"
Michael Gilsenan, New York University
"Islam, Citizenship and Identity in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore"
Stephen Holmes, New York University
"A New Approach to Russian Legal Reform"
Alan B. Krueger, Princeton University
"A Re-evaluation of Three School Voucher Experiments"
Xiaodong Lin, Teachers College, Columbia University
"Images of Good Students and Good Classrooms: Enhancing Teacher Awareness of Their Own and Student Cultural Beliefs"
Daniel N. Posner, University of California, Los Angeles
"Ethnicity and Africa’s Growth Tragedy"
Darius Rejali, Reed College
"Approaches to Violence: A Citizen’s Toolkit"
Carrie Rosefsky Wickham, Emory University
"The Path to Moderation: Lessons from the Evaluation of Islamism in the Middle East"
Project descriptions for each scholar are attached to this release.
The Corporation names up to 20 Carnegie Scholars annually, with each award lasting up to two years and providing a maximum of $100,000 in total funding. At the end of each fellowship, Carnegie Scholars submit written reports to the Corporation, which may then assist in disseminating those results.
This year, 144 nominations were received and 48 were invited to provide complete project descriptions. The finalists were then evaluated by committees including both Carnegie Corporation program leaders and external advisors. Thirteen finalists were then presented to Carnegie Corporation's Board of Trustees.
"Criteria for selection were based on stringent academic standards as well as the relevance of the project to Corporation program priorities," says Neil Grabois, vice president and director for strategic planning and program coordination at Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Including this year’s Scholars, 52 people have been named Carnegie Scholars since the inception of the program in 2000. Patricia Rosenfield, chair of the Scholars program and special advisor to the vice president and director for strategic planning and program coordination, says, "The annual announcement of Carnegie Scholars provides a new opportunity to identify and encourage innovative individuals who are engaged in promising scholarship. The 13 new Scholars for 2003 are a diverse group of men and women working on many different areas, each of whom is dedicated to communicating the results of their research to the broader public.”
Carnegie Corporation of New York was created by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote "the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding." As a grantmaking foundation, the Corporation seeks to carry out Carnegie's vision of philanthropy, which he said should aim "to do real and permanent good in the world." The Corporation's capital fund, originally donated at a value of about $135 million, had a market value of $1.6 billion on September 30, 2002. It is expected that the Corporation's grantmaking will total more than $80 million during fiscal year 2002-2003 in the areas of education, international peace and security, international development and strengthening U.S. democracy.
2003 SCHOLARS PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS
SARAH A. BINDER
Senior Fellow in Governance Studies
Brookings Institution and
Associate Professor of Political Science
George Washington University and
Washington, D.C.
"Stacking the Bench: The Politics and Process of Federal Judicial Selection"
Binder, a promising young scholar studying Congress and other American political institutions, will examine the politics of federal judicial selection, assessing the ways in which institutions, elections and party politics combine to shape the selection and confirmation of judicial nominees. Her research will involve data collection on the timing of nominations and confirmation and archival work on the creation of Senate practices that empower senators during the process of judicial selection. She will also create statistical models charting the duration of nomination and confirmation politics, as well as the timing of changes in relevant practices. A monograph detailing the results of her research will advance knowledge about judicial selection, bring to light breakdowns in the current process and contribute to reform in judicial appointment politics.
RACHEL BRONSON
Senior Fellow and Director, Middle East Studies
Council on Foreign Relations
New York, NY
"With Us or Against Us? The Making of U.S. Policy toward Saudi Arabia: 1945 to the Present"
Bronson’s research asks why, in light of September 11th, the debate over U.S.-Saudi relations has been muted and why a restructuring of the relationship has not occurred. Her hypothesis is that critical information about the relationship is missing. She proposes to write a book to provide data to guide U.S. policymakers and help the wider, interested public better understand U.S.-Saudi relations and determine if and how to redefine this troubled relationship. Her book will attempt to answer four fundamental questions: why have the tensions that were apparent at the establishment of the U.S.-Saudi relationship not been resolved over the course of its history? When has the U.S. attempted to modify this relationship and what has blocked such efforts? Has the partnership benefited the U.S.? How should socioeconomic reform including democratization, human rights and education be incorporated into American foreign policy towards Saudi Arabia?
LOUISE CAINKAR
Research Fellow, Great Cities Institute
University of Illinois, Chicago
Chicago, IL
"A Sociological Study of the Islamicization of Chicago’s Arab Community: Implications for Democratic Integration"
Cainkar, a sociologist, proposes to study the processes by which the ideologies of transnational political and religious movements transform affiliations, institutions, political goals and democratic participation in the U.S. In her study of the Arab-American community of the Chicago metropolitan area, she will examine the emergence of increased religiosity in local institutions, beliefs and practices. She will attempt to deepen understanding of the complex causes of this shift and the implications for secular democratic institutions. The results of her research will be published in scholarly papers, journal articles and ultimately, a book.
KATHLEEN COLLINS
Assistant Professor of Political Science
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN
"Islam, Identity and Conflict in Central Asia and the Caucasus"
Collins, a political scientist working on the role of Islam in Central Asia and the Caucasus, seeks to understand and explain the relationship between Islamic identity and violent conflict. Her project will investigate several problems of identity and conflict, relevant both to policy debates and to theoretical discussions, by exploring whether or not Islamic identity is a cause or a consequence of violence. She will compare political and sociological mobilization in six countries (Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Chechnya) within the context of globalization, transnational movements and social network theory. Her findings will be communicated on the Internet, in scholarly and policy papers and in a book.
PAUL EDWARDS
Associate Professor, School of Information
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
"The Technopolitics of Information Infrastructure in South Africa: Apartheid, Regime Change and Legitimate Sovereignty"
Edwards is researching critical questions about global technological transformations and their impact on the history and politics of South Africa’s information infrastructure, covering the apartheid era, the transition to democracy and the creation of an open government. Drawing on how pre- and post-1994 South African regimes used information technologies to underwrite their sovereignty in nearly opposite ways—the former as a mechanism of oppression, the latter in providing openness—he intends to use this stark contrast to offer a compelling study in “technopolitics”: the strategic practice of designing or implementing technologies to enact political goals. His book will advance understanding about the role of information technology in establishing peace, security and justice.
JAMES K. GALBRAITH
Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations
Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX
"Global Inequality and Financial Disorder: The Need for a New System"
Galbraith’s research has focused on global inequality, resulting in the creation of global, regional and national datasets. At the same time, he has been analyzing the relationship between American economic interests and instability in developing countries. He proposes to write a book that argues that the true economic interests of the United States lies in a reconstruction of a stable, governed and regulated system for world development. He will demonstrate that the rising global inequalities in the world today cannot be sustained and that a fundamental cause of instability lies in the asymmetrical financial position of the United States in the post-Cold-War period. In his book, he will outline the major elements of a new alternative regulatory system and highlight the importance of redefining U.S. policy and political discourse on global financial matters.
MICHAEL GILSENAN
David B. Kreiser Chair in the Humanities
Department of Middle Eastern Studies
New York University
New York, NY
"Islam, Citizenship and Identity in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore"
Gilsenan, a scholar of Arab and Islamic politics, religion and culture, is currently researching the causes and consequences of the Islamic diaspora. His project will look at the culture and history of a Muslim Indian Ocean diaspora—that of Arabs who migrated to Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore from their homeland in the Hadhramaut region of southeast Yemen. He intends to use this study to develop more general anthropological and historical approaches to and understandings of Islamic practices, knowledge and authority in the shifting cultural, political and economic contexts of modernity in Southeast Asia. His book will challenge conventional ways of looking at Islamic identity and citizenship as well as institutional boundaries that currently define area studies.
STEPHEN HOLMES
Professor of Law
New York University School of Law
New York, NY
"A New Approach to Russian Legal Reform"
Holmes’ area of expertise is legal reform in Russia. He intends to show that legal reform in Russia will not succeed if based purely on abstract, idealized concepts of the “rule of law.” The application of a “rule-of-law” regime is dependent upon wider developments in Russia’s polity and civil society. His book will examine the current troubled state of Russia’s legal system and the Kremlin’s plans for transforming it. The results of his research will be useful to program designers in both governmental and nongovernmental organizations working on legal reform in Russia and elsewhere.
ALAN B. KRUEGER
Bendheim Professor of Economics and Public Policy
Woodrow Wilson School
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
"A Re-evaluation of Three School Voucher Experiments"
Krueger is a leading expert on the economics of education, who has written much of the literature on how resources and the quality of schools affect educational outcomes. His current project will research and re-evaluate school vouchers based on three randomized experiments conducted in New York City, Dayton, Ohio and Washington, D.C. His initial analyses from the New York City experiment have uncovered problems with the experimental design, the classification system and the statistical weights. His research will attempt to correct for these conditions in order to arrive at a more accurate assessment of the impact of vouchers, as well as to promote improvements in evaluation research using experimental designs and statistical methods. He will disseminate the results of his work in scholarly journals and the popular media.
XIAODONG LIN
Associate Professor of Education, Culture and Technology
Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology
Teachers College, Columbia University
New York, NY
"Images of Good Students and Good Classrooms: Enhancing Teacher Awareness of Their Own and Student Cultural Beliefs"
Lin, an award-winning scholar on education and technology, has become well known for her work on how technology can best foster understanding and communication among teachers and students from different class, race and cultural backgrounds. Her current research focuses on systemic studies about what it takes for people from different cultures to understand and appreciate one another’s values and products, and how technology can be designed to support such cultural appreciation. Based on established research showing that teachers and students are often not aware of how their own beliefs affect their approaches to learning and teaching, Lin will use her fellowship to study how students and teachers from various cultural backgrounds interact in classrooms in the U.S. and how deeper knowledge of those similarities and differences can lead to improved classroom practices. She will develop a computer program that will help teachers self-assess their own beliefs about learning, unpack their cultural link to such beliefs and use students’ beliefs as the basis for instructional practice.
DANIEL N. POSNER
Assistant Professor, Political Science Department
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
"Ethnicity and Africa’s Growth Tragedy"
Posner, a political scientist, will write a book challenging the conventional wisdom about the causes of Africa’s economic difficulties. He claims that, although there are many factors that are responsible for the region’s development problems, in recent years much of the research has focused on the continent’s ethnic diversity as an explanation for its poor economic performance. He believes that since a country’s ethnic diversity cannot be easily changed, the notion that development ills are rooted in its ethnic diversity threatens to distract attention from policies that do hold promise for generating growth and development in the region. His book will combine a critique of the existing literature on ethnicity and economic growth in Africa with the collection and analysis of new data to generate more valid conclusions about the relationship between these variables. His book will provide new insight into how sustained growth in African countries can be achieved.
DARIUS REJALI
Professor of Political Science
Reed College
Portland, OR
"Approaches to Violence: A Citizen’s Toolkit"
Rejali, an expert in political philosophy, social theory and comparative politics, will complete a new book, Approaches to Violence: A Citizen’s Toolkit, that will build on his studies of the place torture occupies in modern life and offer ways for individuals to reflect on and act against violence. The book will help citizens in democracies cultivate for themselves the ability to speak intelligently about cruelty. Furthermore, it will bridge divides which pose critical obstacles to the study and monitoring of violence. The book has four aims: to clarify the ways our reflection on violence is impeded, to identify the range of cognitive tools available for overcoming the paralysis violence imposes, to show how others have used these skills and to enable individuals to exercise the tools.
CARRIE ROSEFSKY WICKHAM
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
Emory University
Atlanta, GA
"The Path to Moderation: Lessons from the Evaluation of Islamism in the Middle East"
Wickham’s project seeks to identify the environmental conditions and policy choices which have fostered or inhibited the moderation of Islamist rhetoric and practice in the Middle East. She will undertake a comparative study of Islamist participation in five Arab nations and Turkey to look at why some Islamist leaders have been more inclined than others to break from the dominant revivalist or “fundamentalist” positions on such issues as democracy, pluralism and human rights. Drawing on theoretical and policy perspectives, she will analyze how different types of political and civic participation have affected Islamist political goals and behavior. Her book will contribute to redefining political theory in the field of social movements, as well as illuminate distinctive characteristics which result in moderation.