AUTUMN 2019
WICKED
PURDUE POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE Bringing Viable Alternatives to Wicked Problems
FEATURE STORY
CONNECTED AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES
Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of Autonomous Transportation
INTRODUCING NEW PPRI DIRECTOR, STACEY CONNAUGHTON PLUS
PURDUE PEACE PROJECT JOINS PURDUE POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
"BREAKING THROUGH" OUTCOMES
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PURDUE POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
CONTENTS
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03 Director's Message 06 Breaking Through: Updates and Outcomes 10 Feature Story: Connected and Autonomous Vehicles
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14 Movements, Markets, and Transnational Networks 16 Ethics, Technology, and the Future of War and Security Symposium 20 Purdue Peace Project 22 PPRI Staff and Policy Fellows
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DESIGN & EDITING TEAM Krista O. Kelley Kate Mitsch L. Allison Roberts
16 12 VISIT US ONLINE purdue.edu/dp/ppri facebook.com/PurduePolicy twitter.com/PurduePPRI linkedin.com/in/PurduePPRI
A MESSAGE FROM PPRI DIRECTOR
STACEY CONNAUGHTON
Welcome to Wicked, our effort to share our most recent thinking about solutions to wicked problems. When technology and society are so inextricably intertwined, and central to every global challenge, we need research teams with expertise in both technological and social dimensions—and we have them, here at Purdue. Stacey Connaughton, Ph.D. Director of PPRI Associate Professor of Communications
I have just begun my tenure as PPRI Director in July and find that I am very fortunate to be surrounded by a team of dedicated professionals and a supportive group of administrators, faculty, and staff in Discovery Park. I am committed to bringing transdisciplinary research to bear on some of the world’s most pressing problems and using evidence from that research to help inform sound policy at the local, state, national, and global levels. Throughout my career, I have sought out the opportunity to work with and learn from professionals in government, military, business, non-governmental organizations, and higher education. PPRI and Discovery Park share these commitments, and I am honored to now be a part of this mission. We here at PPRI have been working to develop a 5-year Strategic Vision and have built our strategic areas of focus around those of Discovery Park and the strengths of Purdue’s research. Our strategic areas of focus are: (a) defense, security, and space; (b) health, wellbeing, and the future of work; and (c) sustainability, development, and peacebuilding. Here at PPRI, we are excited to forge new collaborations across the university and beyond. We look forward to highlighting the work of our collaborators, connecting Purdue to policy arenas locally, statewide, nationally, and globally. We are dedicated to activating existing networks in the public and private sectors and to cultivating new relationships. We are committed to bridging the policy and academic worlds in ways that can help better the human condition. It is an exciting time to be a part of Purdue University, Discovery Park, and PPRI!
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Th in e Th Li
FACING WICKED PROBLEMS Mission The Purdue Policy Research Institute (PPRI) catalyzes and leverages extant policy-relevant transdisciplinary research among members of the Purdue research community, facilitates enduring connections among local and global actors, and generates impact on policymaking and beyond. We are guided by the principle that policy development must consider the interdependencies among technological, economic, ethical, and social factors.
Vision Together with collaborators in academia and the public and private sectors, PPRI inspires the development of non-partisan policies that solve pressing global challenges.
Bringing viable alternatives to WICKED problems 4 | WICKED
FACING WICKED PROBLEMS Wicked problems
are complex issues that involve a myriad of facets, calling on an array of fields of expertise, and are extremely difficult to solve. These grand challenges are exactly what PPRI aims to face and provide viable alternatives. Of particular interest to PRRI are those grand challenges that fall into the strategic areas of focus at Discovery Park. PPRI’s holistic approach is necessary to help the world face wicked problems. Drawing from Purdue’s strengths in the STEM, humanities, and social science disciplines, PPRI builds and strengthens interdisciplinary teams. Zeroing in on what matters most to stakeholders, ideally in the beginning of a project, is key to getting at the heart of all the parts of complex issues and aiming research questions at uncovering the facts that inform policy to make real impact. PPRI offers a variety of options to achieve multiple levels of communication in a range of ways and opportunities for experts, stakeholders, and policymakers to connect. The next few pages discuss some of them.
AREAS OF FOCUS
DEFENSE, SECURITY + SPACE
SUSTAINABILITY, DEVELOPMENT + PEACEBUILDING
HEALTH, WELL-BEING + THE FUTURE OF WORK
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BREAKING THROUGH: DEVELOPING MULTIDISCIPLINARY SOLUTIONS TO GLOBAL GRAND CHALLENGES Written by L. Allison Roberts and Soraida Garcia
Policies for Progress was the capstone event held at Purdue in May 2019 for the Breaking Through: Developing Multidisciplinary Solutions to Global Grand Challenges research project funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Experts from the four multidisciplinary teams shared their findings and results of their groundbreaking work on the Breaking Through research project. Stakeholders (policy makers, practitioners, and more) who were integrated into these projects discussed the successes, benefits, as well as challenges in partnering with academia in the event. Regional universities, policy centers, and others interested in solving global grand challenges were invited to join us for discussion, networking, and idea generation.
Policies for Progress Featured Speakers (left to right): Andrea Galinski, Steven Koller, Robbin Shoemaker, and Ansgar Koene
Keynote Address A Policy Agenda for a 21st Century Economy Grounded in Morality, Justice and Inclusion Professor Darrick Hamilton
Executive Director of the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University
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The final year of the Mellon grant was very productive for our research teams! BIG DATA ETHICS The Big Data Ethics team held a stakeholder and collaborator workshop to “develop and conduct a series of workshops on Future Algorithms & Ethics for game and app developers” with MAVEN, a national non-profit organization for LGBTQ+ youth. The Future Algorithms & Ethicsworkshops were held in Austin, San Francisco, and New York City. The PI, Dr. Chris Clifton, contributed to several policy-making discussions, notably for the U.S. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the European Union.
FROM GLOBAL TO LOCAL TO GLOBAL: ATTAINING LONG RUN SUSTAINABILITY IN US
The From Global to Local to Global: Attaining Long Run Sustainability in US Agricultureteam connected with U.S. stakeholders by hosting two on-campus workshops, where Joseph Fargione of the Nature Conservancy presented, as well as a larger event at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., which included international guests. The team also has a website, Global to Local Analysis of Systems Sustainability (GLASS), mygeohub.org/groups/glass, which accesses their research, activities, and their three policy briefs.
GLOBAL TEMPERATURE GOALS TO AVOID CLIMATE TIPPING POINTS: A SERIOUS GAME TO SUPPORT SERIOUS DECISIONS The Global Temperature Goals to Avoid Climate Tipping Points: A Serious Game to Support Serious Decisionsteam worked with their externals stakeholders by gathering data via surveys, interviews as well as negotiation observation, serious game design and testing, and running the game with United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change participants in Bonn, Germany. The game workshops were run with the assistance of the German Development Institute (DIE). The team participated in the Conference of Parties (COP) 23 and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) 48, leading to the Principal Investigator’s, Dr. Manjana Milkoreit, appearance on National Public Radio (NPR). This team also hosted Dr. Andrew Light, a former US negotiation delegate during the Obama Administration, at Purdue for a special lecture.
DECISION SUPPORT FOR FLOOD RISK MITIGATION: AUTOMATED DATA COLLECTION AND VISUALIZATION TOOLSTEAM The Decision Support for Flood Risk Mitigation: Automated Data Collection and Visualization Toolsteam continued working on developing automated data collection tools and interactive decision support systems. They also developed a prototype of the web app, which was tested in Louisiana with their partners, the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority (CPRA), government employees, academic experts, and NonGovernmental Organizations. Software developers from the US Geologic Survey met with the team in order to assist with the research on flooding risks.
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Engaging Communication for High Impact Research: Models for Organizing Interdisciplinary Research Teams Part of the Breaking Through philosophy was to incorporate strategic modes of effective communication. Therefore, we developed models that integrate engagement with external stakeholders from the start to strengthen the development of innovative research and create broader impact with policymakers and the public. Early involvement with stakeholders, and building robust relationships between researchers and communities of interest, can dramatically improve public impact and relevance of scientific research. Much of science communication follows a marketing model for dissemination of results rather than an engagement model, offering techniques to attract audiences to a completed research project, rather than outlining strategies for early engagement at the individual researcher level.
Engagement Communication Models On-going Contextual Knowledge Throughout, Mulitple Groups Stakeholders as Research Subjects Midstream Consultation Public Service Model Lifelong Engagement
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COMMUNICATION
Even the most innovative models of science communication- focusing on social media, the arts, or game playing- often treat scientific results as a product to be sold rather than a process in which to participate. Also, in those bodies of scholarship that focus on engagement, it is difficult for individual researchers to find models at the micro-level.
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Scholarship tends to focus at the macro-level of administrative policy or university-wide supports and enabling structures. We offer a template for an engagement model of science communication that emphasizes relationship-building and early connections with communities of interest, at the stage of problem formation and question development. We provide several concrete examples of interdisciplinary research on grand challenges to illustrate how models for science on different places in the continuum work.
Breaking Through Outcomes New software development New data sets 10+ journal articles 20+ presentations and lectures New faculty position created Commissioned research Game design competition finalist
New courses at Purdue Workshops and a Hack-a-thon On-line web resources Pop-up installation International policy documents Policy Briefs Book chapters
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FEATURE STORY
Examining the economics, design, ethics, policies and legalities necessary to enable a more connected and mobile society.
CONNECTED AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES
Connected and autonomous vehicle technology is rapidly developing and outpacing the development of regulatory mechanisms and policy. For connected and autonomous vehicles to be accepted fully by the public and deliver on their potential to increase on-road safety and enhance quality of life and well-being, the ethical, legal, and social implications of their deployment must be identified and well-understood by legislators, developers, the public, and other stakeholders.
Examining the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of a Driverless Future
In early 2018, the Purdue Policy Research Institute (PPRI) along with the Howard Baker Forum hosted a roundtable in Washington, DC during which some of the nation’s leading academic, industry, and legislative experts discussed emergent ethical, legal, and social implications regarding the development, implementation, and maturation of connected and autonomous vehicles in the United States market. At this roundtable, four key areas for further inquiry were selected: 1. Cybersecurity, Privacy, and Infrastructure Considerations, 2. Human Takeover and Safety, 3. Ethics in Algorithms, and 4. Workforce Impacts. To delineate the current understanding of ethical, legal, and social issues surrounding connected and autonomous vehicles and identify policy implications and recommendations, PPRI hosted a series of workshops in each of these four areas. The workshops included presentations by U.S.-based experts as well as breakout sessions to further explore the topics with workshop participants.
Written by Dr. Dustin J. Souders and Dr. Rosalee Clawson
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FEATURE STORY Workshop 1: Cybersecurity, Privacy, + Infrastructure Considerations Connectivity between vehicles, infrastructure, and other objects or road users has the potential to improve road safety, but its arrival will raise issues of security, cybersecurity, and data privacy. The Cybersecurity, Privacy, and Infrastructure Considerations workshop explored the interplay of these issues. The panelists included Dr. Darcy Bullock, Dr. Ryan Jenkins, and Dr. Steven Shladover, and the panel was moderated by Joel Rasmus, Managing Director of the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security.
key takeaways: GPS and in-vehicle networking systems are vulnerable to hacking in modern cars, yet there are few known instances of malicious hacking. It is hard to know how much cybersecurity will need to differ as vehicles become increasingly connected and automated. Connected infrastructure cybersecurity could be a concern, as Federal Highway Administration studies have shown that road workers that install roadside equipment often do not change the passwords from their defaults, making the equipment vulnerable to hacking. The addition of vehicle and infrastructure connectivity increases the cyberattack surface but might also provide additional information to check for abnormal behavior within the traffic system. Connected and autonomous vehicles will generate massive amounts of data about their usage and their users. The ownership, usage, and protection of this data are points of concern. Greater transparency regarding data collection is necessary, as well as better public understanding of how much personal data is collected daily.
Workshop 2: Ethics in Algorithms The computers that drive connected and autonomous vehicles will to some extent rely upon algorithms to make potentially life-or-death decisions while driving. The Ethics in Algorithms workshop explored what types of choices humans might find acceptable and issues surrounding machine learning’s ability to make them. The panelists included- Dr. Jean-Francois, Dr. Chris Clifton, Dr. Ryan Jenkins.
important points:
When given the chance to make life and death decisions for a self-driving car, people generally tend to spare human lives over other animals, the young over the old, and the many over the few. These decisions were also found to vary from region to region, suggesting that ethics can be subject to local cultural norms and biases. With that said, we should not design human biases and/or desires in to connected and autonomous vehicle algorithms—we should aspire to design something better. Artificial intelligence is still developing, and not currently at the point where it can reliably make split-second, life or death decisions based on fine-grained criteria that a human driver might make. Machine learning operates as a black box, and it is difficult to discern exactly how inputs produce results. This sometimes leads to incorrect decisions that might be obvious to a person, and in a connected and autonomous vehicle context, could seriously undermine safety or system confidence. Bad actors with basic knowledge of how a certain machine learning algorithm works might be able to trick that algorithm into misclassifying objects such as street signs. This suggests that layers of redundancy might be needed. N O M A D11 I C| WICKED | 24
FEATURE STORY Workshop 3: Human Takeover + Safety
PANELISTS Dr. Jean-Francois Bonnefon
Behavioral Scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab expert: moral preferences for self driving cars
Dr. Ryan Jenkins
Until connected and autonomous vehicles are perfected, the human driver will still have an indispensable role to play in assuring safety. The Human Takeover and Safety workshop focused on issues surrounding human use of automated driving systems and factors affecting a driver’s ability to resume control of an automated vehicle. Panelists included Dr. John D. Lee, Dr. Brandon Pitts, Dr. Chris Yeomans: With the increasing role of automation in the driving task, the active role of the human driver is changing to a more supervisory role. Individuals tend to over-trust lower levels of vehicle automation leading to overreliance and potential safety consequences in the short-term as these systems become more prevalent. The loss of driver control associated with highly-automated vehicles could lead individuals to under trust capable automated driving systems. Training and education can help calibrate appropriate levels of trust in automated driving systems, but between-manufacturer differences in similar lower-level automation systems complicate wholly generalizable training.
Associate Professor, Philosophy at California Polytechnic State University expert: ethics and emerging technologies
“If cars can’t be tested in every environment in which we expect them to operate, perhaps they shouldn’t operate until we are sure they can do so effectively.” ~ Dr. Ryan Jenkins
Dr. John D. Lee
Emerson Electric Quality & Productivity Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison expert: human factors and automation
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More information about the project: purdue.edu/discoverypark/ppri/catv
FEATURE STORY “Unions might need a 21st Century update in which they focus more on retraining workers.” ~ Dr. Maya Rockeymoore Cummings
Workshop 4: Workforce Impacts The emergence of connected and autonomous vehicles will undoubtedly have effects on labor markets and the economy. The Workforce Impacts workshop focused on what jobs might be affected by connected and autonomous vehicles, what groups might be disproportionately affected, and how best to prepare for the new workforce for high-tech jobs that are created. Panelists included Dr. Barrett Caldwell, Dr. Shelia Cotten, Dr. Tyler Reeb, Dr. Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, and their conclusions were: Historically, the introduction of technology has led to increases in societal productivity in the aggregate (e.g., farming in the early 20thcentury), but this aggregation overlooks localized losses sustained by individuals who were negatively affected by the changing technological landscape. Increasing adoption of connected and autonomous vehicles will lead to new job creation. These jobs will require cross-functional and multidisciplinary skillsets, and due to the strong demand for machine learning and AI-related expertise, highly-skilled positions might be challenging to fill. There will be opportunities for novel partnerships among industry, government agencies, and academia to ensure an adequate supply of appropriately-trained workers. Driving jobs are well-paying blue-collar jobs, and drivers often have lower levels of education than non-driving professionals. Furthermore, many people of color (specifically Blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans) are overrepresented in driving occupations. These workers could be adversely affected by a rapid onset of vehicle automation.
PANELISTS Dr. Steven Shladover
Research Engineer at University of California Berkeley Partners for Advanced Transportation Technology (PATH) expert: automated transportation systems
Dr. Maya Rockeymoore Cummings
President and CEO at Global Policy Solutions expert: health, social insurance, income security, education, women’s issues
Dr. Chris Yeomans
Professor of Philosophy at Purdue University expert: ethics
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MOVEMENTS, MARKETS AND TRANSNATIONAL NETWORKS The School of Women and Gender Studies at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda Written by Dr. Summer Forester and Dr. Laurel Weldon
Since 2017, scholars at PPRI have analyzed the relationship between women’s movements and women’s economic empowerment around the world. The project, “Movements, Markets, and Transnational Networks,” is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is the first systematic global analysis of the determinants of women’s economic rights, particularly with regards to land access, financial inclusion, and equality in employment laws and practices. The PPRI team updated and expanded a database of feminist mobilization in 126 countries from 1975 -2015. The new database offers extensive coverage of the global south, especially Africa, the first database to offer such coverage. 14 | WICKED
2019 Fieldwork photos from Arusha, Tanzania PHOTO CREDITS: SUMMER FORESTER
Also funded in part by the American Jewish World Service
As shown in the map below, feminist movements are present in nearly every country included in our database by 2015. As a comparison, only 40% of the countries in the database had feminist movements in 1975. This development is important because autonomous feminist mobilization is critical for reducing inequality in political and economic spheres in general. Specifically, there is a clear link between feminist advocacy and laws on women’s economic rights.
In addition to examining women’s movements and economic empowerment through quantitative analyses, PPRI team members traveled to Jordan, Morocco, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Chile, and Mexico to understand how feminist activists and organizations can improve the economic status of women in these countries. We found that feminist movements teach entrepreneurs how to create sustainable business plans, pressure governments to adopt equitable economic policies, and help women become financially independent so that they can escape violent family situations. 15 | WICKED
ETHICS, TECHNOLOGY, AND
05.14.2019
Keynote Speakers The Honorable Dan Coats (top) Paul Scharre (bottom) 16 | WICKED
as part of purdue university's 150th anniversary ideas festival, Discovery Park and Purdue policy research institute hosted a symposium on Ethics, Technology, and the Future of War and Security. A diverse group of experts from academia, industry, and policymaking convened to discuss the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in military systems, the ethics of its use in war, and its impact on the balance of power in world affairs. Written by PPRI staff and Cameron Rasmus
THE FUTURE OF WAR AND SECURITY Keynote speakers included Paul Scharre (former U.S. Army Ranger and author of Army of None), Peter W. Singer (leading security strategist), Robert Work (former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense), Dan Coats (former U.S. Director of National Intelligence), and Heather Roff (AI ethics scholar). Three panel discussions explored the ethical, legal, and social implications of emerging technologies on the future of war and security.
The first panel highlighted the ethical questions of “push button warfare.” A host of ethical and security issues arise with the prospect of machine autonomy in the planning, command, and control systems of the battlespace. International rules of war do not currently accommodate the use of AI in killing humans. Panelists agreed that we must make a multi-disciplinary effort to develop and agree on the “morality” of AI on the battlefront. Developers must build this “morality” into the technology as they create it. Panel 2 discussed the restrictions we might use to govern AI decision making in warfare. Full human-like morals are difficult, if not impossible, to code into machines. For that matter, ethical standards vary between nations, cultures, and individuals, making it difficult to define the moral sense with which we should imbue AI. Nevertheless, all panelists agree that the human aspect of semi-autonomous weapons is key to safety and laws. All concur that AI should focus on diminishing non-combatant casualties, rather than enhancing offensive capabilities. Instead of full autonomy, the DoD should focus on semi-autonomous machines that can be implemented with human control. P.W. Singer asserts that humans should retain control with respect to geographic and temporal boundary. Humans should not allow long-term activation of AI systems, and there should be a shutoff switch or timeframe for their use.
Pictured: Dr. Heather Roff (top); Dr. Peter W. Singer (middle); The Honorable Robert Work (bottom)
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ETHICS, TECHNOLOGY, AND Panel 1 Sharon Weinberger, Joe Pekny, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Robert Latiff, Don Howard, Jennifer Erickson, Tim Schultz
Panel 2 Dan DeLaurentis, P.W. Singer, Heather Roff, Sharif Calfee, Ronald Arkin
Panel 3 Thomas P.M. Barnett, Michael Klare, Swati Srivastava, Candace Rondeaux, Ambassador Ron Lehman II, Kyle Haynes
The third panel focused on global implications and perspectives on the use of AI in warfare. Thomas Barnett argued that the competition between states (e.g. Russia, China) to develop AI systems is good as it forces the U.S. to advance the research and development of AI technology. However, the race to develop the technology is outpacing the considerations of ethics and morals in the use of the machines. States could act on the fear of an opponent’s use of AI, thereby causing a larger conflict that may have been prevented by not using or testing such weapons in the first place. In this scenario, the use of AI may inadvertently lead to escalation of conflict and state on state war. Conversely, the use of AI may not necessarily lead to war between major states as most conflicts in the present are not major interstate conflicts but limited, small wars fought by proxies and paramilitaries. AI could be used to deter conflict escalation and maintain peace if weapon vs. weapon warfare gives states more time to find a diplomatic solution, saving human lives before they reach the battlefield.
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David Montgomery Minerva David Reingold Dean, College of Liberal Arts
purdue.edu/discoverypark/ethics-war/index.php
THE FUTURE OF WAR AND SECURITY In conjunction with the symposium, Purdue Policy Research Institute conducted a composition contest for graduate students on the question,
“What IF AI waged war?”
Jessica Eise, Purdue University, Communication “The Fatal Flaw” (creative writing piece) Kevin Schieman, University of Notre Dame, Philosophy “Killer Robots: Our ethics are not the problem” (essay) Muriel Eaton, Purdue University, Medicinal Chemistry & Molecular Pharmacology “A Taste of Hope” (fictional podcast)
Pictured (left to right): Kevin Schieman, Dr. Rosalee Clawson, Muriel Eaton, The Honorable Dan Coats, Jessica Eise
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PURDUE Written by Purdue Peace Project Staff
In 2018, the Purdue Policy Research Institute became the host institute for the Purdue Peace Project (PPP), a university-based political violence prevention initiative that does peacebuilding work in areas threatened by such violence. It conducts engaged research to prevent political violence and advance knowledge about such violence at the local, community level. The program is directed by Stacey Connaughton (Director of Purdue Policy Research Institute and Associate Professor in The Brian Lamb School of Communication) with the assistance of Elis Vllasi (Associate Director of PPP), and graduate research assistants, Jessica Eise, Meghana Rawat, and Tiwaladeoluwa Adekunle, along with numerous past graduate and undergraduate students. PPP has engaged in peacebuilding initiatives in Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, and El Salvador.
With the leadership of country directors and volunteers in West Africa, PPP has convened everyday citizens to help them address immediate threats of violence in their communities. PPP is committed to peacebuilding through its data-driven and locally-led approach. In this approach, the people involved in, and most affected by, violent conflict work together to create and enact their own solutions to prevent, reduce, and/or transform the conflict, with the support they desire from outsiders. PPP relies on evidence-based results to prevent political violence and seeks to impact the practice of peacebuilding in addition to scholastic research. It fosters local solutions to conflict, as data and experience have shown that: 1) local citizens can design, lead, and implement actions to prevent escalation of disputes in their communities into armed conflict; 2) dialogue can lead to effective action toward preventing violence; and 3) peacebuilding efforts stand the best chance of being effective if they originate from individuals local to the conflict.
Since its founding in 2012, PPP, with the generous financial support of Milton Lauenstein and others, has supported a total of 16 locally-led peacebuilding initiatives that have addressed issues arising from: election related violence (Ghana and Liberia); intra-/inter-ethnic divisions (Ghana); land disputes (Ghana and Nigeria); chieftaincy disputes (Ghana); tensions around natural resources (Liberia and El Salvador); Ebola (Liberia); and other issues.
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PEACE PROJECT PPP’s methodology for selecting its projects is systemic, consultative, and grounded in data from a variety of sources. Prospective projects are identified by PPP team members who monitor reputable early warning sign databases for the likelihood of political violence, and country directors who are in contact with local citizens in target countries. Once a possible project is identified, team members engage in desk reviews and informal conversations with local citizens to learn about the local context, ascertain if the PPP approach may be appropriate, and see if there is interest among local citizens in collaboration. Before a project begins, the PPP Director and country directors travel to potential communities and meet with local parties to build a working rapport, learn first-hand about the issues and the context of disputes, and gauge the readiness of locals to work with PPP. Subsequently, the PPP team gathers and assesses data from multiple sources (local and international), and consults with country directors and donors to assess its involvement and effectiveness in peacebuilding projects. Finally, PPP will not undertake a project if a local community is not open to collaboration; is unable to have a measurable impact on violence prevention; or if there is a risk to the safety of PPP and local staff. Purdue Peace Project’s work has resulted in decreased levels of violence, increased cooperation between former foes, and greater peace and stability in local communities. Moreover, research that has resulted from its peacebuilding activities has led to numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, conference presentations, professional reports, and lectures. Also, PPP's work and findings have been covered by various local and international media outlets.
The Peacebuilding Idea Challenge
Kiran Sirah Sangh, president of International Storytelling Center and winner of the first Peacebuilding Idea Challenge, receives his award from Dr. Stacey Connaughton, Purdue Peace Project Director.
PPP together with the Alliance for Peacebuilding cosponsored The Peacebuilding Idea Challenge, a competition funded by Milt Lauenstein to encourage innovative ideas on peacebuilding. More than 20 proposals from across the globe were submitted. A review committee comprised of members of academia, NGO representatives and others, upon reviewing the detailed proposals (based on the potential to reduce armed conflict, the likelihood of the idea’s wide use, and the novelty and ambitiousness of the idea) announced on May 10 the winner of this competition: The International Storytelling Center, for their video game “Europa.” The prize carried a monetary value $10,000 in recognition of the idea. 21 | WICKED
PPRI PEOPLE
TOGETHER WE CAN DO MORE
Photos Credit: Brian Powell
PPRI is a research community led by faculty fellows and affiliates and also includes staff, post-doctoral fellows, graduate, and undergraduate students.
PPRI Director Dr. Stacey Connaughton Stacey L. Connaughton (Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2002) is an Associate Professor at the Brian Lamb School of Communication at Purdue University. Her research examines leadership and identification in geographically distributed contexts, particularly as these issues relate to virtual teams/organizations, political parties, and peacebuilding. Dr. Connaughton also serves as Director of the Purdue Peace Project, an externally funded initiative that seeks to reduce, and enhance what is known about how to reduce, the likelihood of political violence in West Africa.
PPRI Operations Manager Krista O. Kelley Krista O. Kelley has nearly two decades of experience in office administration in the airline industry, property management, and in academia. At Purdue University, she served in the Graduate School’s Office of the Dean, and in the Office of the Provost in Faculty Affairs. Krista was also part of the steering committee which began the Clerical and Administrative Assistant Mentoring Program (CAAMP) at Purdue, and served on the CAAMP leadership team with a focus on technology. She has presented and served on panel discussions with CAAMP and mentored a handful of Purdue support staff members. 22 | WICKED
PPRI STAFF L. Allison Roberts, M.A., Bement Senior Policy Fellow L. Allison Roberts is a Purdue University graduate in Political Science and History. She is currently a Sociology Ph.D. candidate at the University of Portsmouth, UK, researching life experiences after trauma. Her Ph.D. research is on the military and veteran community but she also has a National Health Service (NHS England) project. Prior to PPRI, Allison worked with on the interdisciplinary Diversity and Inclusion Research Project, the Center for Research on Diversity and Inclusion, on the collaborative multiinstitutional INSuRE project (Information Security Research and Education), and at the Military Family Research Institute. Allison was also a Postgraduate Visiting Scholar at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom and served as the Deputy Administrator's intern at NASA Headquarters.
Dustin Souders, Ph.D., PPRI-CCAT Postdoctoral Autonomous Vehicle Policy Fellow Dr. Dustin J. Souders is a researcher working in the area of human factors, aging, and transportation safety. He received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Florida State University, and under the tutelage of Dr. Neil Charness, continued there to earn his master’s and doctoral degrees in cognitive psychology. He has worked as a graduate researcher for the Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE) Lab, the Aging Drivers and Pedestrians (ADaPts) project, and the Center for Accessibility and Safety for an Aging Population (ASAP) University Transportation Center.
Elis Vllasi, Ph.D., PPRI Postdoctoral Fellow, Associate Director of the Purdue Peace Project Dr. Elis Vllasi serves as PPRI Postdoctoral Fellow, Associate Director of the Purdue Peace Project, and PPRI's Scholars Strategy Network Fellow, supporting Indiana SSN chapter activities, helping our chapter thrive by expanding its capacity and bringing his practical experience and knowledge to chapter leadership. Vllasi's research is in international relations, including transnational ethnic conflicts, third-party military interventions, hybrid warfare, nationbuilding, and democratization
Kate Mitsch, Administrative Assistant Kate Mitsch earned her B.A. in Spanish from the University of Southern Indiana. After graduation she worked as a field recruiter for the Indiana Migrant Education Program and as a bilingual specialist for Marion Community Schools. She most recently served as secretary and Hispanic ministry coordinator for a local church before joining Purdue in an administrative role at the Honors College in 2017. Kate joined PPRI in 2018.
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PPRI has a Faculty Fellowship Program for exceptional faculty who have an interest in and demonstrate potential for interdisciplinary, policy relevant, high-impact research.
PPRI FACULTY POLICY FELLOW 2018-2019
Professor Konstantina "Nadia" Gkritza Schools of Civil Engineering and Agricultural and Biological Engineering Dr. Gkritza has over 10 years of experience in the area of economic analysis of transportation investments and modeling, transportation and energy interdependencies, highway safety and sustainability. She has successfully led several federally-, state- or industry- funded projects/programs, representing more than $6.6 million in awards. She has documented her research outcomes through several peerreviewed outlets with 41 published manuscripts, over 100 conference and technical presentations, 18 technical reports, and four book chapters. Dr. Gkritza is the co-Chair of the Transportation Research (TRB) Committee on Transportation and Economic Development; and a member of the TRB Committee on Freight Transportation Economics and Regulation. Dr. Gkritza teaches courses on transportation engineering, economic analysis of transportation investments, and transportation data analysis.
Some of Dr. Gkritza's initiatives and achievements as PPRI Fellow Presentation Purdue Road School: PPRI's work on ethical, legal, and social implications of connected and autonomous vehicles Promotion Professor, August 2019 Published article What have we learned? A review of stated preference and choice studies on autonomous vehicles. Projects Autonomous Vehicle’s Impacts on Energy Use and GHG Emissions Public Acceptance and Socio-Economic Analysis of Shared Autonomous Vehicles: Implications for Policy and Planning Active Travel Behavior and Ridesharing: Implications for Shared Autonomous Vehicles
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UNDERGRADUATE POLICY FELLOWS 2018-2019 This highly interdisciplinary team is working alongside PPRI to engage with and research solutions for wicked problems pressing our local and global community. Undergraduate Policy Fellows contribute to various projects and research throughout the academic year.
PPRI Staff with 2018-2019 Undergraduate Student Policy Fellows
PAUL DAWLEY
ROSHINI MUDUNURU
Civil Engineering
Neurology & Physiology and Nutrition Science
CHRISTINA DANTAM
ALEX MULLENIX
Behavioral Neuroscience and Political Science
Political Science
CLARA KOCH
PAIGE RUDIN
Political Science and Economics
Multidisciplinary Engineering
PPRI UNDERGRADUATE POLICY FELLOWSHIP The PPRI Undergraduate Policy Fellowship is an excellent opportunity for top students interested in the interdisciplinary study of policy.
The Director aims to assemble a diverse, collaborative, and inclusive team whose members meet the following criteria:
1
enrolled in an undergraduate degree program at the Purdue West Lafayette campus
2
have completed the coursework for their freshman and sophomore years
3
have a GPA of at least 3.33
To apply, students must send the following to ppri@purdue.edu with “UG Policy Fellow Application” in the subject line:
1 2 3
copy of your most recent transcript resume
4
copy of a paper you have written in a course related to the subject
5
the name and email address of a Purdue professor who is willing to act as a reference for you
statement describing your interest in interdisciplinary policy research (maximum one page)
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EXAMPLES OF EXCELLENCE PPRI PEOPLE DOING FANTASTIC THINGS PPRI Staff Dr. Stacey Connaughton, along with Jessica Berns, released a new book entitled, Locally Led Peacebuilding: Global Case Studies, through Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Dr. Dustin Souders, PPRI Postdoctoral Fellow, presented the "Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of Connected and Automated Vehicle Deployment: Findings from Four Workshops" at the 2019 Automated Vehicle Symposium. Krista O. Kelley, Operations Manager, received Purdue University 2018 Office of the Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships "Above and Beyond Award." Soraida Garcia, former Breaking Through Graduate Assistant, won the 2019 International Science of Team Science Conference Community Awards for Outstanding Poster, entitled "Engagement Models of Science Communication: Working Tools for Team Researchers at a Micro Level." L. Allison Roberts, Bement Senior Policy Fellow, presented a poster at the 2018 Forces in Mind Trust Research Centre Conference, in Westminster, London, England entitled, "Life after a Traumatic Injury: Embodiment and Identity of UK Ex Service Personnel." She also presented a paper, "Insights of Life and Identity after a Military Injury" at the 2018 European International Studies Association's Pan-European Conference on International Relations in Prague.
Dr. Dustin Souders
Above: Suresh Garimella presents "Above and Beyond" award to Krista O. Kelley
Soraida Garcia
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PPRI AFFILIATED FACULTY 2019 UPDATES
ZHAO MA
GERALD SHIVELY
LAURA ZANOTTI
Dr. Zhao Ma was awarded the 2019 Faculty Leadership Academy for Interdisciplinary Research (FLAIR) Fellow. Purdue University Office of the Executive Vice President for Research and Partnerships. Dr. Gerald Shively was named associate dean and director of the College of Agriculture's International Programs in Agriculture.
Dr. Laura Zanotti joined Discovery Park's Center for the Environment as the Associate Director in January of 2019. Dr. Zanotti also received the Purdue University Faculty Scholar Award.
Faculty Leadership Committee Dr. Rosalee Clawson, the 2018-2019 Interim Director of the Purdue Policy Research Institute and Professor of Political Science, is serving as the President of Pi Sigma Alpha from 2018 to 2020. Dr. Wendy Kline is a 2019-2020 U.S. Fulbright Scholar in the United Kingdom. Dr Kline will be hosted by the University of Birmingham, researching “The ‘LSD Block’ and the Therapeutic Alliance: The Rise and Fall of Psychedelic Medicine in the UK.” Dr. Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth received the following awards at Purdue University: the Lu Ann Aday Award, the Engagement Fellow Award, the Faculty Engagement Award, and the Horizons Faculty Mentor Champion Award. Dr. MacDermid Wadsworth also received the Felix Berardo Scholarship Award for Mentoring from the National Council on Family Relations. Dr. Suzanne Nielson, Dr. Leigh Raymond, Dr. Gerald Shively, and Dr. Wally Tyner were inducted in to the Book of Great Teachers, a permanent display of faculty members, past and present, who have devoted their lives to excellence in teaching and scholarship. Dr. Wally Tyner was named a 2019 Agricultural and Applied Economics Association Fellow.
Faculty Policy Fellow Dr. Mangala Subramaniam published a new book, Contesting Water Rights: Local, State, and Global Struggles, through Palgrave Macmillan. 27 | WICKED
AUTUMN 2019
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PURDUE POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE Bringing Viable Alternatives to Wicked Problems