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Introduction
Our fellowship program was built to complement the existing
infrastructure of higher education. The distinctive aspects of our
design, and the special environment and community we create for
Fellows, enable us to fulfill our mission: To improve contributions of the social and
behavioral sciences and humanities by facilitating interdisciplinary
perspectives, depth of inquiry, integration of knowledge, and
application to real world concerns.
Our central aim is to encourage the most consequential scholarship
possible from the members of each Center class. Over the past fifty
years we have improved the art of creating an environment that nurtures
important scholarly work. In fact, we recreate this environment and
community every year with each new class of Fellows. Many Fellows
report that the working conditions at the Center—the diverse
intellectual community, the collaborative activities, the
freedom, time, and staff support—are the best they have experienced in
their careers.
A rich interdisciplinary mix Each year a rich mix of scholars arrive from disciplines and
interdisciplinary areas in the humanities and the social and behavioral
sciences. In any given year, for example, the range might span art and
economics, law and neuroscience, business and women’s studies,
architecture and medicine, communication and biology.
CASBS Fellows, who might find it difficult to interact with scholars
from other fields on their home campuses, come to see themselves as
part of the Center community and develop a sense of themselves as a
distinct Center “class.” This cohesion fosters an open exchange of
ideas, theories, and methods as classmates interact informally over
lunch and on social occasions, as well as in seminars, working groups,
and other academic gatherings. Fellows come to appreciate diverse
points of view and to see the strengths of different disciplines in a
new way. They often develop unexpected collaborations and begin
exciting new work. They establish personal and professional
relationships that will extend long beyond the Center year.
The benefits of diversity Our primary goal is to identify the most accomplished and promising
scholars in the fields represented at the Center. But our mission also
involves a conscious effort to advance the careers of several groups
that have often been overlooked in academia: younger scholars,
minorities, women, international scholars, and scholars whose home
universities are not research oriented. We seek outstanding scholars
and scientists through our application and selection process. Our
procedures aim to achieve a diverse group of Fellows in each Center
class.
A diverse class of Fellows benefits the group as a whole. Scholars from
differing backgrounds provide important perspectives on theoretical and
empirical questions, and all scholars discover that other perspectives
and challenges improve their thinking and research. In this way, we
facilitate excellent and important scholarship that will advance fields
and society.
A vibrant community We have continually improved the art of creating a vibrant intellectual
community out of the approximately 45 Fellows who compose each class.
The process of community creation goes back to our founders who sought
ways to provide opportunities for serendipity in ideas. The CASBS
process fundamentally involves social interaction. Many activities
offer Fellows significant opportunities to engage with one another:
- a seminar series in which Fellows are invited to present their work
- informal seminars that emerge during the year, which give Fellows with
broadly overlapping interests a basis for sustained conversation
- public meetings of special projects in residence, which give
Fellows a chance to learn more about these projects and to engage with
participants on substantive issues of mutual interest
- daily lunches at the Center, which often result in one-on-one meetings between potential collaborators
- special events and recreational activities organized by the Center
Intellectual freedom and time
Our residential fellowships provide strong scholars the freedom they
need to pursue their priority research. A crucial component of our
environment is simply time: time to reflect deeply on one's work, time
to think through new projects, and time to read in new areas. Projects
originally planned for the year may get transformed by the CASBS
experience. Fellows use this time and freedom to connect with their
intellectual passions, to explore fields outside their own, to
collaborate with other Fellows, and to forge new—and often more
ambitious—research agendas for the future.
Center services
In addition to the community-building and intellectual activities we
organize and support, the Center also facilitates scholarship by
providing various research services designed to make Fellows more
effective and efficient. Among the support services our staff provides
are:
- library assistance
- network and personal computer maintenance and support
- photocopying, fax and mail services
- administrative services
- pleasant work spaces at the Center
- housing assistance when relocating to the Palo Alto area for the fellowship year
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