Institute for Public Knowledge Brings Social Science Ideas to the Forefront

By James Devitt

NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge (IPK), which brings theoretically rigorous scholarship in the social sciences to bear on major public issues, has just completed its inaugural academic year, which included a dialogue series, the publication of two books, and the establishment of partnerships with selected NYU global sites.

    IPK, which moves into newly renovated space at 20 Cooper Square this summer, is directed by NYU sociologist Craig Calhoun, a University Professor.

    “Public engagement was a strong feature of the social sciences from their birth,” said Calhoun. “Could one imagine Hobbes, Locke, or the Scottish moralists as mere academics? Weber, Durkheim, and the great Chicago School sociologists had university jobs, but public concerns and public audiences as well. IPK was created to continue and bolster this tradition of building bridges between university-based researchers and organizations pursuing practical action.”

    Since its launch in the fall of 2007, IPK has sponsored a series of dialogues exploring issues of public interest. The 2007-08 theme, “Rethinking Secularism,” brought to campus leading scholars and researchers to discuss their perspectives with NYU faculty and students and members of the larger community. There were also events designed to help junior faculty from a range of departments and schools network with each other and find common intellectual interests.

    In the 2008-09 academic year, IPK will sponsor events specifically for assistant professors to pursue common research interests in the the political, economic, and social aspects of food and diet; social inequality; and technologies of culture. An additional project brings leaders from the United Nations and non-governmental organizations together with academics to explore the nature and problems of humanitarian action.

    In addition, IPK has developed partnerships with NYU’s different global sites to create conferences, workshops, and joint publications. For instance, its collaboration with NYU’s London site, organized with NYU sociologist and University Professor Richard Sennett, resulted in two books: Practicing Culture (2007) and Creating Authority (2008), both published by Routledge and both featuring the work of NYU Ph.D. students.

      For more on IPK, go to www.nyu.edu/IPK.