MacArthur Fellow Research Articles

Something Beautiful out of the Darkness

Abstract: Originally from the Gulf Coast community of DeLisle, Mississippi, Jesmyn Ward is unapologetically steeped in a southern Black literary tradition that amplifies the complicated realities of being Black in the South. Ward is a MacArthur Fellow and two-time National Book Award winner for her novels Salvage the Bones (2011) and Sing, Unburied, Sing (2017). She writes across a variety of genres, including fiction, essays, and a memoir, Men We Reaped (2013). In an interview with Regina N. Bradley ahead of the release of her novel Let Us Descend (2023), Ward discussed the importance of the Gothic in writing about the Black South, how grief is central to her writing, and why writing helps her confront and understand Mississippi's racially turbulent history.

Impact of major awards on the subsequent work of their recipients.

To characterize the impact of major research awards on recipients' subsequent work, we studied Nobel Prize winners in Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Physics and MacArthur Fellows working in scientific fields. Using a case-crossover design, we compared scientists' citations, publications and citations-per-publication from work published in a 3-year pre-award period to their work published in a 3-year post-award period. Nobel Laureates and MacArthur Fellows received fewer citations for post- than for pre-award work. This was driven mostly by Nobel Laureates. Median decrease was 80.5 citations among Nobel Laureates (p = 0.004) and 2 among MacArthur Fellows (p = 0.857). Mid-career (42-57 years) and senior (greater than 57 years) researchers tended to earn fewer citations for post-award work. Early career researchers (less than 42 years, typically MacArthur Fellows) tended to earn more, but the difference was non-significant. MacArthur Fellows (p = 0.001) but not Nobel Laureates (p = 0.180) had significantly more post-award publications. Both populations had significantly fewer post-award citations per paper (p = 0.043 for Nobel Laureates, 0.005 for MacArthur Fellows, and 0.0004 for combined population). If major research awards indeed fail to increase (and even decrease) recipients' impact, one may need to reassess the purposes, criteria, and impacts of awards to improve the scientific enterprise.

The Hopeful “Black Birder”: Living Vicariously through Birds

AbstractNaturalists and ecologists like Charles Darwin, Rachel Carson, and John James Audubon have shaped the foundations of ecology and wildlife; their legacies have influenced the way we see, study, and interact with our natural world. While recognizing these individuals, we also must recognize that the field of ecology traditionally has not been Black and White. A South Carolina native, Joseph Drew Lanham, a Black Man, naturalist, writer, and poet, continues to change this narrative. This new MacArthur Fellow is an ornithologist and bird watcher who chooses to focus intensely on birds as beings, relating their plight to poetry and the human social condition. This is a reflection on Lanham's influence, significance, and perspectives on ecology and society.

Announcements

Announcements

Chemist and environmental engineer named 2022 MacArthur Fellows

Danna Freedman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Jenna Jambeck of the University of Georgia are among the 25 recipients of this year’s “genius grants” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Each of the 2022 MacArthur Fellows will receive $800,000 over 5 years to pursue their creative vision “with no strings attached,” according to the foundation’s website. Freedman is a synthetic inorganic chemist designing new materials for quantum information technology. She synthesizes organometallic coordination complexes with tunable electronic, magnetic, and optical properties that allow them to serve as molecular qubits , the basic unit of information storage in quantum systems such as quantum sensors. Jambeck is an environmental engineer whose research takes a global approach to addressing plastic pollution. She is developing tools to capture a holistic view of how plastic waste moves through the environment and the social factors driving pollution. Jambeck and her team

Soft, biocompatible materials and skin-like electronics as wearable devices: an interview with John A. Rogers.

Recent advances in active materials, micro-fabrication techniques, ultra-miniaturized design approaches and hybrid device layouts form the foundations for emerging classes of unusual systems that can capture physiological signals from the human body in a physically imperceptible fashion at nearly any anatomical location, external on the skin or internal on vital organ systems. Of particular interest with these technologies are their thin geometries, flexible/stretchable physical properties and unique form factors, to enable conformal and gentle contacts with soft, curved and dynamic surfaces of living tissues. Commercial embodiments of skin-integrated devices with clinical-grade monitoring capabilities are just now becoming widely available not only in developed countries but also in the most resource-constrained areas of the globe. A specific example is in skin-like-sometimes referred to as 'epidermal'-wireless electronics for continuous monitoring of essential markers of physiological health status, with accuracy and reliability comparable to that of expensive, wired-based systems currently used with patients in intensive care units, but cost-effectively and applicable in any setting-in hospitals, health clinics, work environments or in the home. These technologies have the potential to revolutionize diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for the care of patients. NSR spoke to one of the scientific leaders in this field-a 2009 MacArthur Fellow, the winner of the 2022 US National Academy of Sciences James Prize in Science and Technology Integration and one of the few individuals in history to be elected to all three US National Academies, namely the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Science and the National Academy of Medicine, Professor John A. Rogers, the Director of the Querrey-Simpson Institute of Bioelectronics at Northwestern University on the recent advancements and the prospects of soft, biocompatible electronic systems and skin-like wearable devices.

Human Events and Whited Sepulchres

Human Events and Whited Sepulchres Virginia Scharff (bio) Annette Gordon-Reed, On Juneteenth. New York: Liveright Publishing Company, 2021. 140 pp. Images, books and articles consulted. $15.95. In 1988, when my son Sam was three, Chevron Oil transferred my geologist husband from Denver, Colorado to Houston, Texas. We moved to a nice townhouse complex on the west side of the city, interim home to Oil Patch nomads from all over the world. Families from Nigeria and the Netherlands, Indonesia and the Emirates, Louisiana and Colorado gathered around the pool in the abundant hot weather, and mingled at holiday parties thrown by the remarkably hospitable women managing the complex. During the Houston rodeo, the managers turned the rental office into an Old West saloon and dressed in cowgirl gear, complete with a serve-yourself bar open throughout business hours. It was the friendliest and most diverse place I have ever lived. We had some trouble finding daycare for Sam. We eventually settled on The Memorial School of the Oaks, a nearby place with a name that sounded like a funeral parlor, but which we were assured was among the best preschools in the city. One day, when I picked Sam up and drove him home from school, he was bubbling over with joy. "We had history lessons today!" he told me, excited to share knowledge he knew I would value, aware (so early!) that I was a historian and spent my days reading and writing at my desk, surrounded by piles of files and books. "Great!" I replied. "What did you learn?" "We learned about George Washington, Mom! Did you know he wrote the Declaration of Independence?" This brought me up short; I admit, I went there. "Well actually, Sam," I lectured, "Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence." This did not faze him. "And we also learned about the heroes of the Alamo!" he enthused. Dreading the answer, I asked, "And what did you learn about them?" He stood very straight, put his hand over his heart, and spoke in a deep voice with a perfect Texas accent I had never before heard issue from his little mouth. "Brave men fought and died!" he intoned. Welcome to Texas. [End Page 110] I tell this story to suggest that Americans—Texans included—have always been a diverse and complex lot. We care about our nation's history. But in the wake of the violence perpetrated by Donald Trump and his followers on the far right, this time feels different, though not unprecedented. Battles over American history have always mattered, and occasionally (as in the era of the Civil War) grown vicious, even violent. In recent months, local school boards have been overrun by threatening White mobs, incited and organized on Facebook. Red-faced activists howl about "critical race theory," a shorthand term for teaching anything that acknowledges our systematically racist past, present, and potentially, future. Reactionary governors like Texas's Greg Abbott rail against the New York Times's 1619 Project and stoke cultural fires. State legislatures (including Texas's) are passing laws mandating social studies standards so byzantine that principals and teachers cannot be faulted for simply wanting to…give up. Why teach history when everyone is so angry, when every lesson presents a political minefield, when "parents' rights" are used to justify open season on educators? Never have historians had to be more courageous, more measured, or more deft in approaching subjects we thought were settled matters. The bravest among us would argue that this is precisely the time to step up and communicate the truth of our history to as big an audience as possible. Such interventions might stir opposition, but then again, they might just make a difference. Enter Annette Gordon-Reed, MacArthur fellow, Pulitzer Prize winner, National Book Award winner, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Gordon-Reed, the most prominent Jefferson scholar in the world today, has been recognized for her deep and illuminating scholarship on the entwined histories of the Jefferson and Hemings families. That body of work, beginning with Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings: An American Controversy (1997) drew on her skills as an attorney and law professor to...

Contributors

Contributors

A Conversation About Landscapes and Preservation as Justice

From the conservation of sites of enslavement, freedman villages, segregated cities, or memorials of remembrance like cemeteries and parks, African Americans have and continue to shape our shared American landscape. This article captures a dynamic conversation between landscape designer, MacArthur Fellow, and public artist Walter Hood and Brent Leggs, executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. They discuss the importance of preserving Black landscapes that make visible African American struggle and achievement.

2021 MacArthur Fellows

Four molecular scientists are among this year’s 25 MacArthur Fellows, announced Sept. 28. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation presents the $625,000 awards, often called “genius grants,” to “extraordinarily talented and creative individuals as an investment in their potential,” according to the organization. Trevor Bedford, a computational virologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, uses statistical and computational methods to study the evolution of viruses including Ebola, influenza, and SARS-CoV2 in order to track their transmission. He codeveloped an open-source platform called Nextstrain, which uses genomic data to surveil the evolution of SARS-CoV-2, and is expanding it for use with other viral pathogens. “It’s been a trying and tragic 20 months for the world, but the scientific response to the pandemic has been unparalleled. I’m proud to have been able to play a role,” Bedford says in a statement from the research center. Biological physicist Ibrahim Cissé

2021 MacArthur Fellows include four molecular scientists

2021 MacArthur Fellows include four molecular scientists

SWRM 2021

The American Chemical Society’s Central Texas Section will host the Southwest Regional Meeting (SWRM) Oct. 31–Nov. 3 at the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center, which is located on the University of Texas at Austin campus. The theme is “Chemical Innovations for Global Challenges.” Meeting attendees can enjoy Texas barbecue, breakfast tacos, live music, and exciting chemistry. Details can be found at swrm.org . Technical program. SWRM 2021 is primarily an in-person meeting with select virtual offerings. More than 630 abstracts have been submitted, approximately 60 half-day sessions are planned, and 250 posters will be presented. One of the highlights of the meeting will be a keynote talk by MacArthur Fellow Livia Eberlin late Monday afternoon. The ACS Division of Small Chemical Businesses will present “The Entrepreneur’s Tool-Kit,” including resources, best practices, and true stories. “Metal Organic Frameworks” will explore the recent advances in structures built from biologically derived materials. “Main

Notes on Contributors

Notes on Contributors

Colloquy: Shadow Culture Narratives: Race, Gender, and American Music Historiography

Colloquy: Shadow Culture Narratives: Race, Gender, and American Music Historiography

Paul Dauenhauer and Mohammad Seyedsayamdost named 2020 MacArthur Fellows

Paul Dauenhauer of the University of Minnesota and Mohammad R. Seyedsayamdost of Princeton University are among the 21 winners of this year’s “genius grants” from the John D. and Catherine T. MacAr...

Paul Dauenhauer and Mohammad Seyedsayamdost named 2020 MacArthur Fellows

Paul Dauenhauer and Mohammad Seyedsayamdost named 2020 MacArthur Fellows

Who dis ... new phone: Considering engaged intergenerational storytelling: partnership, participation and pandemic

ABSTRACT This essay takes as its starting point a creative aging project in partnership with the Mesa Arts Center’s, Art in Mind Program; TimeSlips (founded by MacArthur Fellow Ann Basting); and a Projects in Community-Based Theatre graduate course at Arizona State University within the Theatre for Youth and Community MFA and PhD programs. This non-memory-based storytelling collaboration focused on elders living with memory loss and/or dementia and centered a core theatre for youth value — all humans deserve to participate in creative and cultural life no matter their age, neuro-cognitive or physical abilities. A parallel focus of the collaboration was the belief that such creative engagements also allow elder-care systems and families to benefit from participating with their residents and loved-ones — impacting adaptive and expressive creativity, emotional connections, and joyful participation in imaginative life.

MacArthur Fellows, 1981-2018: Gender, Race and Educational Attainment

This study examines the backgrounds of the winners of the MacArthur Fellowship grants from 1981 to 2018, from the conceptual framework of the term “genius”. The study finds that of the 1014 Fellows, Whites account for over eight out of every ten; minorities account for almost 20%; men account for almost 63%; White men account for 51.3%; Blacks account for 12.5%; Asians account for 5.9%; and Native Americans account for 1.2 percent. Of 965 terminal or highest degrees earned by 928 Fellows, 540 (56%) are doctorates, with the Ph.D. accounting for 514 (53.3%). White men earned the majority of all degrees (50.8%). Harvard University awarded the highest number of degrees, 119: Yale University, 61; University of California, Berkeley, 51; Columbia University, 44; and Princeton University, 41. All eight Ivy league institutions awarded 306 (31.7%) degrees to 300 (32.3%) Fellows. The 2020 U.S. News and World Report Top 25 institutions combined awarded 522 degrees (54.1%) to 514 Fellows (55.5%). There is a link among earned doctoral degrees, foreign-born males, and the overall gender gap in the study.

Dirty Data: Content Moderation, Regulatory Outsourcing, and The Cleaners

Longtime FQ Editorial Board member and 2018 MacArthur Fellow Lisa Parks charts the shift in critical focus from the potential of social media platforms to unite people around progressive causes to the need for “content moderation,” the practice of cleaning up digital pollution. Parks centers her analysis on The Cleaners (2018), Moritz Riesewieck and Hans Block's provocative documentary that delves into the lives and worlds of commercial content moderators at an unnamed company in the Philippines. The film's account of these digital-labor conditions prompts Parks' critical reflection on a series of issues: the delegation of U.S. media regulation to globally outsourced workers, the problematic trope of “cleaning,” the business of historical sanitization, and the black-boxing of infrastructural information.

Contributors

Contributors