SSRC Work and Experts Related to

Public Engagement

Features and Press Releases

May 27^th 2009: Visit photojournalist Kael Alford's audio slideshow, "Windows on Iraq," created for an SSRC-funded program
After engaging in a series of SSRC-funded conversations at Harvard's Center for Middle Eastern Studies, photojournalist Kael Alford created an audio slide show of some of the photos she took during the U.S.-led invasion of that country. Alford's work is one of several resources the Center has made available to journalists and the wider public.
March 9^th 2009: SSRC Awards 13 Grants to Improve Public Knowledge on Islam and Muslim Communities
December 2^nd 2008: Author, Meet Blog
Columbia humanities professor Mark Lilla writes for himself, prefers to discuss his works in front of live audiences, and doesn't read blogs. No wonder he was pleasantly surprised by his experience writing for the SSRC's The Immanent Frame about his book, The Stillborn God. As he explains in this interview with Nathan Schneider, he enjoyed the exchanges so much that he was inspired to write an afterword for the book's paperback edition.
June 30^th 2008: Redesigned Abe Fellowship Program Offers New Opportunities for International Research and Collaboration
April 22^nd 2008: Professor-Turned-Governor Ikuo Kabashima
In this year of the unusual political candidate, Abe Fellow Jeffrey Broadbent reports on another first: the candidacy of Ikuo Kabashima for a governor of a Japanese prefecture, reportedly the first time in history a seated Tokyo University professor has withdrawn from his position to enter politics. From political science to politics: How will the new governor cope? Broadbent, who first got to know Kabashima-san in their graduate school days, provides a first-hand account of the landmark campaign and of the challenges his friend will soon be facing.; All news items related to Public Engagement

Programs and Projects

Academia in the Public Sphere Grants Program: Working to ensure that academic knowledge on Islam and Muslim societies informs public policy
Broadband Adoption in Low-Income Communities: Stories from the field create a better understanding of barriers to broadband adoption
Initiative on Think Tanks
Minerva Controversy
Necessary Knowledge for a Democratic Public Sphere: Building a culture of collaboration between media research and media reform
Politics of Expertise Program: Working to restore the place of social science research in public discussion and policymaking
The Immanent Frame: Secularism, religion, and the public sphere

Fellowships & Grants

Abe Fellowship: The Abe Fellowship Program seeks to foster the development of a new generation of researchers who are interested in policy-relevant topics of long-range importance and who are willing to become key members of a bilateral and global research network.
Islamic Traditions and Muslim Societies in World Contexts