From Our Programs

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SSRC programs focus on scholarly innovation and border-crossing, deepening understanding of major public issues, and providing opportunities for social researchers. From Our Programs provides a window on current work at the SSRC, including intellectual breakthroughs and challenges; impacts on practice and policy; and the craft of organizing social knowledge production, dissemination, and use.

Predicting the Future of Technology and Power: A Conversation

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In this conversation, hosted by the SSRC’s Media & Democracy program, program officer Mike Miller revisits an often overlooked topic—expectations and predictions for the internet in its early days—with Sarah J. Jackson (Northeastern University) and David Karpf (George Washington University). Understanding the pessimistic and optimistic outlooks journalists, entrepreneurs, and others had for the internet, where these predictions fell short, and whose voices were listened to, sheds light on the digital age’s present and future shortcomings.

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May 21, 2019

Reconnection through Transportation: A New Measure of America Report

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In designing solutions to youth disconnection—young people who are both out of school and out of work—the issue of transportation may not immediately come to mind. Yet, a new report by the SSRC’s Measure of America program, Making the Connection: Transportation and Youth Disconnection, investigates the role lack of transportation infrastructure and services play in the lives of disconnected youth. Here, Kristen Lewis, the report’s author and Measure of America’s director, and Clare McGranahan summarize the report’s findings. While disconnection continues to decline post-recession, the pace is slow and youths of color are disproportionally affected. The report provides suggestions for how greater access to public transportation can improve youth reconnection.

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May 21, 2019

The Modern Origins of Our Epistemic Crisis: A Media & Democracy Workshop

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The SSRC’s Media & Democracy program has launched a series of workshops that put current controversies and debates into historical and cross-disciplinary perspectives. Here, Mike Miller and James Kirwan provide the key takeaways from a recent event on “A Modern History of the Disinformation Age.” Scholars at the workshop engaged the roots of our “epistemic crisis” regarding what counts as facts and as “reality.” Participants focused on actors who benefit from the questioning of truth claims, and how institutions that once served as gatekeepers for such claims have been weakened and unable to adjust to new media ecosystems.

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May 7, 2019

The Social Science Research Council Announces the First Recipients of the Social Media and Democracy Research Grants

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·April 29, 2019
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April 29, 2019

Online Campaign Contributions in US Politics: A Conversation

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In this conversation hosted by the Media & Democracy program, program officer Mike Miller discusses the trajectory of campaign financing in recent elections with Ciara Torres-Spelliscy (Stetson University) and Heath Brown (John Jay College of Criminal Justice). In particular, they address the impact of online fundraising and small-dollar contributions.

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April 2, 2019

Social Media and Democracy Research Grants Program Update: February 2019

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·February 28, 2019
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February 28, 2019

How Drug Courts Fall Short: A New Report Investigates this Policy Model’s Performance in the Americas

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The SSRC’s Drugs, Security and Democracy program has recently released a report titled Drug Courts in the Americas. Here, program manager Cleia Noia provides an overview of the report’s findings and recommendations. In discussing how drug courts became the preferred alternative to incarceration not just in the United States but Latin America and the Caribbean, she highlights their limitations—especially their continued connection to the criminal justice system.

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February 19, 2019
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