Dr. Michael Lindsay
The Social Dynamics of Leadership
Begun in 2003, The PLATINUM Study (Public Leaders in America Today and the Inquiry into their Networks, Upbringing, and Motivations) is a comprehensive examination of leadership and public responsibility at the highest of levels. It examines the personal, moral, and social factors that sustain individuals and groups who exercise significant influence today. Drawing on social-scientific analyses, the project endeavors to understand how leaders influence their organizations, communities, and society as a whole. Through in-depth interviews with leaders and analysis of various leadership cohorts, the project seeks to explain how leaders have risen to prominence, what challenges and opportunities they face, and how they establish legacies of influence beyond their tenure. The Century Scholar will assist Dr. Lindsay in collecting data on various leadership groups and organizations (such as the Aspen Institute or the White House Fellows program) and analyze this data to consider how particular programs and initiatives shape the contours of public leadership in the United States today. Dr. Lindsay will also help the Century Scholar choose an associated research topic that can be developed into a major thesis or presentation and submitted to an undergraduate student research conference or publication such as the Rice Undergraduate Research Symposium or the Baker Institute Student Forum.
Religion and Public Life Religion has an inherently social dimension, and this project examines the expression of religious conviction in public by looking at various organizations that span the boundaries between religion and other social sectors. Fields of particular interest include connections between religion and the economy, politics, professional life, the arts, and medicine. The project aims to explore religion's social consequences and pay particular attention to characteristics of religion in the contemporary United States. As part of the research project, the Century Scholar will help develop a comprehensive bibliography as well as collect and analyze data via online and archival sources about various organizations sponsored by different religious traditions within a particular domain (such as religion and the economy). Depending upon the student's level of interest, the Century Scholar may assist Dr. Lindsay with a scholarly or community presentation about a specific topic on religion and public life through Rice's Center on Race, Religion, and Urban Life.
Contact Information
|
