Director’s Message: April 2017

April 30, 2017

April showers bring May flowers, according to the old saying. But at ISPS, social science research is in bloom year-round, and the showers of praise are always falling. Take David Mayhew’s new book, The Imprint of Congress, the ninth from this prolific ISPS professor. Planted in his 2015 Henry L. Stimson Lectures, it is certain to be long in flower, reminding readers that no political scientist has done more to help us understand Congress. Somewhat less colorful, Mark Schlesinger’s new paper on patients’ awareness of low-value medical care is likely to blossom into a debate about unnecessary testing and treatment. And Celene Reynolds offers her own intellectual bouquet in a new podcast on Title IX’s unexpectedly central place in the fight against campus sexual assault. Having run out of floral metaphors, I will close by simply noting that I am deeply honored to have been elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. April showers indeed.