Exploratory Initiatives

The Exploratory Fund

The Exploratory Fund was established in 2015 to support Members who wish to work together, and with other scholars, experts, and practitioners, to look over the horizon for issues and opportunities not well understood, to think of problems in a fresh way, and to search for connections between re- search and policy that advance the common good. Through the Exploratory Fund, the Academy is committed to encouraging forward-thinking collaborations that incorporate diverse perspectives and bring together creative thinkers and leaders representing a range of disciplines, career stages, backgrounds, and experiences.

Proposals are accepted on a rolling basis and awarded funds to cover the costs associated with an Exploratory Meeting. The Exploratory Fund has supported proposals on a wide array of topics, from The Future of Jazz in America to Under- standing the New Nuclear Age. Members are encouraged to contact the Academy President and staff to discuss their ideas for Exploratory Meetings.

The Exploratory Fund is made possible through the generous support of the Arnhold Foundation, John F. Cogan, Jr., Michael E. Gellert, Bob and Kristine Higgins, Carl and Betty Pforzheimer, William Poorvu, and Kenneth L. and Susan S. Wallach.

 

RECENT EXPLORATORY MEETINGS

 

Technology and the Future of Work

February 20–21, 2018
Cambridge, MA

In partnership with the Royal Society and the U.K. Science and Innovation Network, the Academy held an exploratory meeting on “Technology and the Future of Work.” Led by cochairs Peter Donnelly, Margaret Levi, and Moshe Vardi, the participants discussed how AI-enabled automation will affect the workforce, what can be learned from history, and the use of AI for the social good. The participants represented a wide range of fields: from sociology, business, and public policy to labor, computer science, and economics. Keynote speakers included Earl Lewis, President of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Antony Phillipson, Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner to the United States, and Megan Smith, CEO of shift7 and formerly Third U.S. Chief Technology Officer.

Chairs

Peter Donnelly
University of Oxford

Margaret Levi
Stanford University

Moshe Vardi
Rice University

Participants

Daron Acemoglu
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Andrew Blake, FRS
Alan Turing Institute

Brad Burnham
Union Square Ventures

James Caldwell
University of Wyoming

Luke Clarke
Royal Society

Gail Cohen
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Christina Colclough
UNI Global Union

Claire Craig
Royal Society

Marcus du Sautoy, FRS
University of Oxford

Juan Enriquez
Excel Venture Management

Jonathan F. Fanton
American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Richard B. Freeman
Harvard University

Howard Gardner
Harvard Graduate School of Education

Katherine Gorman
Talking Machines

Mary L. Gray
Microsoft Research; Harvard University

Barbara Grosz
Harvard University

Wendy Hall, FRS
University of Southampton

Andrew Hopper, FRS
University of Cambridge

Louis Hyman
Cornell University

Jeff Inglis
The Conversation

Anita Jivani
Envision Business Consulting

Frank Kelly, FRS
University of Cambridge

Will Knight
MIT Technology Review

Bruce Laurie
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Earl Lewis
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Nelson Lichtenstein
University of California, Santa Barbara

J. Michael Locke
formerly, Rasmussen Inc.

James Manyika
McKinsey Global Institute

Robert Margo
Boston University

Ehsan Masood
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Angela McLean, FRS
University of Oxford

Jamie Merisotis
Lumina Foundation 

Jess Montgomery
Royal Society

Alondra Nelson
Social Science Research Council; Columbia University

David Parkes
Harvard University

Alex Pentland
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Nancy Peretsman
Allen & Company, Inc.

Carl Pforzheimer
Carl H. Pforzheimer & Co.

Antony Phillipson
U.K. Government

Ronit Prawer
U.K. Science & Innovation Network

Jason Resnikoff
Columbia University

Dan Restuccia
Burning Glass Technologies

Alex Rosenblat
Data & Society Research Institute

Daniela Rus
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Juliet Schor
Boston College

Kristin Sharp
New America

Megan Smith
shift7

Alfred Z. Spector
Two Sigma Investments

James M. Stone
Plymouth Rock Companies

John Van Reenen
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Michelle Weise
Strada Education Network

Irving Wladawsky-Berger
Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Wall Street Journal CIO Journal

 

Moving Toward Equality: Mapping Women’s Achievements and Challenges around the World

December 15–16, 2017
Cambridge, MA

On December 15–16, 2017, Academy Members Nannerl Keohane and Frances McCall Rosenbluth convened a meeting at the Academy that explored the social, political, and economic realities for women across multiple and diverse contexts – considering, for example, how women exercise influence as leaders, managers, mothers, and citizens to make changes in their communities, and how women relate to power. The participants represented numerous fields of study and practice, including politics, economics, gender studies, public policy, human rights activism, history, law, and more. The discussions focused on five major areas: Work and the Economy; the Care Agenda; Vulnerability and  Resilience;  Innovation in Global Development; and Feminism and Inclusion. The meeting grew out of an exploratory meeting on Women and Equality, held at the Academy in 2016.

Chairs

Nannerl O. Keohane
Princeton University

Frances McCall Rosenbluth
Yale University

Participants

Tithi Bhattacharya
Purdue University

Kamala Chandrakirana
Musawah

Martha Chen
Harvard Kennedy School

Rafaela Dancygier
Princeton University

Paula England
New York University

Yassine Fall
African Women Millennium Initiative on Poverty and Human Rights

Jonathan F. Fanton
American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Nancy Folbre
University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Anne Marie Goetz
New York University

Darlene Clark Hine
Michigan State University

Mala Htun
University of New Mexico

Anita Jivani
Deloitte

Anne E. Lacsamana
Hamilton College

Jieyu Liu
SOAS China Institute

Sara Lowes
Bocconi University

Catharine Alice MacKinnon
University of Michigan Law School

Rose McDermott
Brown University

Anne Patterson
formerly, U.S. Department of State

Marshanda Smith
Michigan State University

Marta Tienda
Princeton University

 

Constraints on Revising National Memories Planning Meeting

December 4, 2017
Cambridge, MA

In too many countries today one hears comments about how people in power feel entitled to rewrite history. At a time when nationalist and populist leaders are emerging across the globe, this issue takes on especially ominous overtones. Recent research in cognitive psychology has shown that people interpret current events and imagine events in the future based on how they recollect similar events from the past. Some of these findings also extend to the latest research in neuroscience on how various areas of the brain work. Academy Members Henry Roediger and James Wertsch convened a small group of scholars from psychology, history, and sociology to begin planning a larger interdisciplinary exploratory meeting on the implications of psychological and neuroscientific research on collective memories held by people in nation-states and their leaders.

Chairs

Henry L. Roediger III
Washington University in St. Louis

James V. Wertsch
Washington University in St. Louis

Participants

David Blight
Yale University

Amy Corning
University of Michigan Institute for Social Research

Carol Gluck
Columbia University

Jeffrey Olick
University of Virginia

Roger Petersen
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Daniel Schacter
Harvard University

 

 

Science and the Legal System

July 20–21, 2017
Cambridge, MA

As the overlap between scientific learning and legal issues increases, leading scientists have reportedly shied away from involvement with the legal system or have had difficulties communicating their knowledge. Despite the importance of this issue, there are few systematic studies on how scientists view the legal system or on their experiences as consultants to lawyers or judges or as expert witnesses. Academy Members Shari Diamond and Richard Lempert, who are guest editing an issue of Dædalus on “Science and the Legal System,” convened leading scientists, lawyers, and legal scholars to learn what motivates scientists to participate in legal processes and to recommend ways to improve the relationship between science and the law.

Chairs

Shari Diamond
Northwestern University

Richard Lempert
University of Michigan

Participants

Huda Akil
University of Michigan

Robert Cook-Deegan
Arizona State University

Rebecca Eisenberg
University of Michigan Law School

Nancy Gertner
Harvard Law School; U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, ret.

Linda Greenhouse
Yale Law School

Susan Haack
University of Miami

Valerie Hans
Cornell Law School

Sheila Jasanoff
Harvard Kennedy School

Jay Kadane
Carnegie Mellon University

Elizabeth Loftus
University of California, Irvine

Anne-Marie Mazza
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Jennifer L. Mnookin
University of California, Los Angeles School of Law

Jed Rakoff
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

Daniel Rubinfeld
University of California, Berkeley School of Law; New York University

Michael Saks
Sandra Day O’Connor College  of Law, Arizona State University

Joseph Sanders
University of Houston Law

Patti Saris
U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

 

PREVIOUS EXPLORATORY MEETINGS

 

Nationalism, Populism, and the Future of Global Governance
June 12, 2017
Cambridge, MA

The Future of Public Media
June 5, 2017
New York, NY

The Children of Immigrants in New Places of Settlement
April 20–21, 2017
Cambridge, MA

Building and Strengthening the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)
February 5–6, 2017
Cambridge, MA

Women and Equality
December 10, 2016
Cambridge, MA

R2P: Cultural Heritage
November 29–December 1, 2016
London, England

Best Practices in Philanthropic Funding
October 17–18, 2016
Cambridge, MA

Preserving Intellectual Legacies in a Digital Age
September 22–23, 2016
Cambridge, MA

Native Americans and Academia
August 21–23, 2016
Cambridge, MA

The Future of Jazz in America
May 19, 2016
Cambridge, MA

Bridging the Gap between Area and Global Studies
March 7, 2016
Cambridge, MA

Collaborative on Autism and Sign Language
December 12–13, 2015
Cambridge, MA

Making Justice Accessible
November 11–12, 2015
Cambridge, MA

Understanding the New Nuclear Age
June 19, 2015
Cambridge, MA