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Extended Evolutionary Synthesis: A review of the latest scientific research

September 1, 2022

This review—intended for curious readers, reporters, researchers, and teachers—is a road map to navigate rapidly moving terrain. To understand the direction of emerging research today, we need to ask: What happened to evolutionary biology during the 20th century and what did it leave out? Why is the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis seeking a more inclusive approach to evolutionary theorizing? And finally, what does a comprehensive evolutionary theory look like?The review proceeds in three parts: examining the genetic turn of evolutionary theory since Darwin (Part 1); sampling multiple, independent calls for an alternative outlook (Part 2); and finally, taking a close look at the emerging structure and outcomes of an Extended Evolutionary Synthesis research program (Part 3).

L'Arche Project Impact Reports

November 1, 2021

During 2020 and 2021, six L'Arche communities from across the United States participated in an evaluation capacity building experience called Project Impact, facilitated by the team at Dialogues In Action. Project Impact is a participatory, empowerment approach to evaluation. The approach is a self-generated, reflexive practice grounded in curiosity. The first cohort of three communities (Greater Washington D.C., Jacksonville, and Spokane) during 2020 and the second cohort of three communities (Boston North, Cleveland, and Tahoma) during 2021 gathered teams from their communities to engage in the project. Each of the six communities implemented a mixed-methods self-study of the impact of L'Arche in the lives of its members.The initial phase of the project was focused on developing the ideas of intention. This included the formulation of an impact framework including impacts, indicators, and principles of change. The second phase of the project was focused on designing data collection methodologies and implementing both a qualitative approach using in-depth interviews and a quantitative approach using an outcomes survey. The third phase of the project involved the application of the findings from the data for responses and strategies going forward.After each community implemented their own self-studies, the team leaders convened to consider the intersection of their learning in meta-themes, those insights that are shared among the six communities as a sample of the L'Arche communities throughout the United States. The combined report is presented in this chapter and is followed by reports from each individual community

Globally, Social Hostilities Related to Religion Decline in 2019, While Government Restrictions Remain at Highest Levels

September 30, 2021

In this report on violence and harassment against religious groups in 2019, Pew's researchers used a fine-tuned methodology to rank religious restrictions in 198 countries and territories, finding that 43 countries had "high" or "very high" levels of social hostilities towards members of various religions — down from 53 countries in 2018 and 65 countries in 2012. Much of this movement is accounted for by a decrease in the number of countries experiencing religion-related terrorism. In 2019, 49 countries experienced at least one such terrorist act, down from a high of 82 countries in 2014.The survey found that the decrease in the prevalence of the social hostilities was not matched by a similar decline in government restrictions on religion, including official laws, policies and actions ranging from bans on conversion to restrictions on religious attire. The total number of countries with "high" or "very high" levels of such restrictions in 2019 increased slightly to 29% of the countries surveyed. In total, 180 countries had at least one instance of government religious harassment, up from 175 countries in 2018.

Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation

June 29, 2021

More than 70 years after India became free from colonial rule, Indians generally feel their country has lived up to one of its post-independence ideals: a society where followers of many religions can live and practice freely.India's massive population is diverse as well as devout. Not only do most of the world's Hindus, Jains and Sikhs live in India, but it also is home to one of the world's largest Muslim populations and to millions of Christians and Buddhists.A major new Pew Research Center survey of religion across India, based on nearly 30,000 face-to-face interviews of adults conducted in 17 languages between late 2019 and early 2020 (before the COVID-19 pandemic), finds that Indians of all these religious backgrounds overwhelmingly say they are very free to practice their faiths.

Global Philanthropy Tracker 2020

October 22, 2020

The Global Philanthropy Tracker (GPT) details the magnitude of cross-border philanthropic contributions globally. By capturing contributions made by individual and institutional donors to support charitable causes across national borders, this report aims to offer a more complete picture of global philanthropic flows. The 2020 GPT provides an updated estimate of the amount of cross-border philanthropy that occurred in 2018 or the most recent year for which data are available. It further compares cross-border philanthropy to three other cross-border resource flows: official development assistance (ODA), remittances, and private capital investment.

Future-Mindedness

February 1, 2019

What do you expect to be doing in five seconds? Five months? Five decades? Thinking about the future is a form of mental time travel at which humans are uniquely skilled. Psychologists call it prospection or future-mindedness, and some have argued it offers an invaluable framework for understanding topics ranging from perception, cognition, imagination, and memory to free will and consciousness itself. 

The Science of Generosity

January 1, 2018

People demonstrate generosity in myriad ways, from gifts of time and money to everyday acts of kindness toward loved ones—and even to deeds that involve substantial self-sacrifice, like donating a kidney to a stranger. But we are often nowhere near as generous as we could (or even aspire to) be. In short: although we have the capacity to be generous, we don't always act generously.What are the biological, psychological, and social factors that encourage people to give time, money, and assistance? What effects does such generous behavior have on their well-being? What accounts for differences in individual levels of generosity—and what methods might encourage individuals to give more? Are there evidence-based strategies for cultivating greater degrees of generosity? Such questions have given rise to numerous studies, the results of which are described in a new report commissioned by the John Templeton Foundation. The document provides a high-altitude overview of more than 350 studies and meta-studies published in nearly 200 refereed publications between 1971 and 2017.

Differences in Collaboration Patterns across Discipline, Career Stage, and Gender

November 4, 2016

Collaboration plays an increasingly important role in promoting research productivity and impact. What remains unclear is whether female and male researchers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematical (STEM) disciplines differ in their collaboration propensity. Here, we report on an empirical analysis of the complete publication records of 3,980 faculty members in six STEM disciplines at select U.S. research universities. We find that female faculty have significantly fewer distinct co-authors over their careers than males, but that this difference can be fully accounted for by females' lower publication rate and shorter career lengths. Next, we find that female scientists have a lower probability of repeating previous co-authors than males, an intriguing result because prior research shows that teams involving new collaborations produce work with higher impact. Finally, we find evidence for gender segregation in some sub-disciplines in molecular biology, in particular in genomics where we find female faculty to be clearly under-represented.

Index of Philanthropic Freedom 2015

June 15, 2015

The Index of Philanthropic Freedom 2015 is the first analysis of philanthropic freedom across the world. By examining barriers and incentives for individuals and organizations to donate money and time to social causes, CGP has measured, ranked, and compared countries on their ease of giving. The research is a major step in identifying the public policy actions to encourage private giving which, in turn, can increase generosity.

Does Immigration Impact Institutions?

May 6, 2014

This paper empirically examines how immigration impacts a nation's policies and institutions and finds no evidence of negative and some evidence of positive impacts in institutional quality as a result of immigration.

Eagle Scouts: Merit Beyond the Badge

April 10, 2012

Compares Eagle Scouts with other Scouts and non-Scouts in the areas of health and recreation, connectedness to family and community, service and leadership, environmental stewardship, goal orientation, planning and preparedness, and character.

The Great Recession and Marriage

February 7, 2011

Presents survey results on how unemployment and financial stress during the recession have affected 18- to 45-year-olds' commitment to marriage. Examines marital quality and risk of divorce by education, religious-service attendance, and financial stress.