Fellowships for the Study of Science and Society

The topics to be addressed are matters of contemporary importance within the rubric of science and politics.  

Lines of inquiry may include: the prospects of the university in late-modern democracy,  the economic future of America, free speech and technocracy, healthcare and rights, the use and misuse of scientific models, the decline of science and its future, the challenges to living well in an atmosphere of distractions.  

Here is a particular example of an initial motive for investigation. It is merely meant to stimulate the formulation of topics for investigation. One can take as a staring point an analysis of Tim Cook’s recent remarks at Tulane's commencement ceremony (May 2019).  Cook's voice is a small but audible part of a group that suggests that we may have to dispense with deliberation and consent in cases where our science tells us that the threat to our way of life, or to life itself, is real and imminent. A  fellowship project may examine such implications. 

The aim of the year-long fellowship program is to support young students, such as recent college graduates, in thinking through a significant contemporary question. The participants will devote a year to the study of that question. The objective of each fellow will be to attain sufficient mastery of the chosen issue, so that he or she will be able, by the end of their fellowship, to:

a) Prepare for publication a comprehensive reasoned analysis of the question in a manner accessible to the broader public and appealing to contemporary leaders.

b) Direct a two-hour seminar on the topic for the benefit of practitioners and experts in the area.

Scholars associated with the Instauratio Magna foundation, as well as experts from the broader network, will play an active role in the students’ project. In addition to being available to provide regular critical feedback and advice, these scholars will take on a mentoring role. Regular conversations on the topic will occur at least weekly, but expected more often. Faculty will play an active role in encouraging, challenging, and guiding the fellows.

  The program will begin in September and last through June; the seminars directed by the fellows may occur after June. The fellows will reside in Chicago, a city of considerable intellectual resources.