Article | Spring 2008
Robert Shapiro Appointed Next Director of ISERP
by Grace Hong (ISERP)
Renowned political scientist and public opinion expert Robert Shapiro has agreed to serve as Acting Director of ISERP. Since joining Columbia faculty in 1982, Shapiro has been a leading figure in the charge to reinvigorate the social sciences at the University. From his position as Chair of the Political Science department, as a leader and founder of multiple interdisciplinary initiatives, and through service on numerous University committees, he has facilitated key improvements to research, teaching, and overall quality of life for faculty and students at Columbia. Few people could match the record of leadership, deep institutional knowledge, and intellectual contributions that Shapiro will bring to ISERP when he assumes the post of Acting Director in summer 2008.
"Bob Shapiro is the perfect choice to direct ISERP," said Peter Bearman. "He was there at the beginning and helped imagine ISERP, a new vision for social science, and a new strategy for enhancing interdisciplinary work in the social sciences."
Shapiro's long-standing engagement with ISERP, founded in 2001, stretches back to a time when the Institute was little more than a budding idea. As a member of ISERP's Executive Committee and as Associate Director of ISERP's direct predecessor, the Institute for Social and Economic Theory and Research (ISETR), he was formative in chartering a vision of what ISERP would become. In tracing the Institute's genealogy even further back in time, Shapiro's mark can be felt on many of the units and activities that constitute ISERP today. The multiple workshops and seminars he founded, the interdisciplinary collaborations he fostered, and the historic Paul F. Lazarsfeld Center for the Social Sciences, which he led as Associate Director and Acting Director throughout the 1990s, all bear his mark. Today, Shapiro continues to be deeply engaged in the Institute's activities as Director of the Public Opinion Project, a faculty advisor of all of the Institute's educational programs, and chair of several workshop and seminar series over the years.
Reflecting on ISERP's development, Shapiro commented on how far the Institute had come since it was founded in 2001. "Over the course of seven years, ISERP has established a physical and intellectual infrastructure that is vital for encouraging innovative social science research that cuts across disciplines," Shapiro said. "This infrastructure has enabled faculty to get the support they need to get new projects off the ground and to pursue risky but potentially groundbreaking research."
As Acting Director, Shapiro plans to build on infrastructure by consolidating the gains of ISERP's vast expansion since 2001, by extending the institute's work into key new areas, and by enhancing resources and support to faculty. At the organizational level, he hopes to expand ISERP's pedagogical services, invest in social science computing, and reconfigure governance structures to better cater to faculty and departments. Always modest, Shapiro maintains that he will be "doing what a regular director would do anyway."
Some of his specific plans for research development include looking for opportunities to expand interdisciplinary work in the areas of public policy, of mass media and communications, and at the intersection of economics, political science, and sociology. He intends to pursue these initiatives by forging partnerships with other schools, departments, and research units at the University.
One area where he will attempt to make a contribution is in pedagogy and instruction. Recognized by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for his excellence in mentoring students and nominated for numerous teaching awards, including the Presidential Teaching Award, Columbia's highest honor, Shapiro has made a difference in the lives and intellectual development of countless students.
For Jason Bello, a Columbia College senior and a 2008 recipient of the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, this support has been crucial. As an ISERP Undergraduate Fellow last summer, he assisted Shapiro with his research on news coverage and public perceptions of terrorism threats in the United States. When Bello and Shapiro found they shared an interest in the presidential delegate selection process, they turned this research idea into a reality, cementing a research partnership that has continued to this day.
"Eight months later, when delegate selection has become a hot topic, we have jointly published commentary on the subject," said Bello. "It has been invaluable for me as an undergraduate to have had the experience of researching and publishing an article on a cutting-edge topic. I am so grateful for Professor Shapiro's mentorship without which I could not have done this. As I prepare to enter graduate school in the fall, I know I am much better equipped thanks to Professor Shapiro's guidance."
Shapiro hopes to improve undergraduate training by expanding research opportunities and by providing new ways for undergraduates to get involved in the Institute. "ISERP has had a very successful Undergraduate Fellows Program. I want to maintain momentum on this program and see what else can be done to improve undergraduate education and research at the University - not just during the summer but during the academic year," said Shapiro.
In this vein, he intends to capitalize on ISERP's role in teaching quantitative methods and methodology to enhance instruction and services in statistics and methodology for students at all levels as well as for faculty. The Institute is currently home to several educational programs focused on quantitative and qualitative methods and offers a free statistical consulting service and periodic short courses on select methodological topics.
"Our project has been to reject narrow disciplinary orthodoxies and to support new ideas, new visions, and new ways of advancing our collective social science project," said Peter Bearman. "I cannot think of a single individual better suited to the achievement of these important goals than Bob Shapiro."
