IRiSS Welcomes Faculty Fellows

IRiSS will welcome a diverse cohort of faculty fellows for the 2011-2012 academic year.  Eight outstanding Stanford scholars were selected through a competitive proposal process for their work to advance new lines of social science inquiry.  For research highlights, visit this page.

Research highlights include:

• Jennifer Adams, Assistant Professor of Education-- MODES OF MOBILITY IN A CHANGING CHINA: RURAL YOUTH STRATEGIES FOR ESCAPING POVERTY

A project tracing rural Chinese children’s schooling, family, and life experiences over nine years and across multiple environments, to explore both the traditional educational pathways and non-traditional, alternative routes to adulthood and upward mobility in one poor, interior province in China.

• Lisa Blaydes, Assistant Professor of Political Science-- REPRESSION, RESISTANCE AND REGIME DURABILITY IN AUTHORITARIAN IRAQ

A study of the internal workings of authoritarian regimes, using a dataset of over 7 million internal security documents recovered upon the overthrow of Saddam Hussein by U.S. and coalition forces in 2003—a collection which represents the single largest archive amassed following the fall of an authoritarian regime. 

• Gary W. Cox, Professor of Political Science –REGIME TYPE, BARGAINING AND POLITICO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 

A joint investigation with political science professor Barry Weingast exploring how regimes marred by endemic violence, through more transparent and efficient bargaining processes, can change into regimes in which violence rarely occurs, with all the beneficial consequences for economic growth that such a change entails.

• Kalina Manova, Assistant Professor of Economics-- CHINA’S INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT

 An examination of how China’s unique institutional environment and gradual market liberalization allowed its spectacular trade expansion, which may yield relevant insights to other less developed countries in the process of reforming their economic and political systems.

• Susan Olzak, Professor of Sociology--PRO- AND ANTI-IMMIGRANT PROTEST AND POLICY IN WESTERN EUROPE

A project examining the relationship between pro- and anti-immigrant social movement activity and multicultural policies in five countries in Western Europe during the 1990s, following the events of 9-11, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and ongoing terrorist attacks which heightened anti-foreigner sentiment. 

• Rob Reich, Associate Professor of Political Science and Lucy Bernholz, Visiting Scholar, Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society--PHILANTHROPY, POLICY AND TECHNOLOGY PROJECT

Examining the 21st Century, technology-driven innovations in philanthropy and civil society with an eye toward updating the 20th Century public policy framework that structures the nonprofit sector.  A high-level and cross-disciplinary mapping of the new “impact economy,” which brings social investing and for-profit companies that produce social returns into the established realm of nonprofit organizations. The changing landscape pits 21st century enterprises against 20th century public policy and regulatory frameworks.

• Jonathan Wand, Assistant Professor of Political Science--SHAPE CONSTRAINED INFERENCE IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

A contribution to social science research methodology through an examination of the mismatch between the theoretical questions that scholars seek to evaluate and the statistical models from which they draw inferences.  Its broader goal is to advance the training of social scientists in statistical methods and to enhance applied research in the social sciences.  

Joining these eight scholars will be Professors Mike Tomz (Political Science) and Paolo Parigi (Sociology), who will continue as Faculty Fellows in the new year.  Parigi’s project is entitled “Trust Studies in an Internet  Mediated Environment" and Tomz’s project, “The Democratic Peace,” looks at whether democracy contributes to peace, or whether the apparent correlation between democracy and peace is spurious.

In addition to course release, fellows are provided access to research space and support services at the IRiSS offices at 30 Alta Road, and participate in the residential program.  Located in the hills above campus near the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and the Stanford Golf Course, the facility provides a quiet and undisturbed setting for their work.  For more on the program, visit the Faculty Fellows webpage.