Issue 12 (June 13)

The most recent Why Social Science? post comes from three participants from this year’s Social Science Advocacy Day who reflected upon their experiences and the importance of advocating for the social sciences. Read on for more.

As previously reported, the White House and House Republican leadership agreed to a budget deal late last month that would keep the U.S. from defaulting on its debt, at least until after the 2024 elections. The agreement, passed by Congress as the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (H.R. 3746), suspends the federal debt ceiling until January 2025. However, as Republicans have been demanding, the suspension comes with stiff caps on discretionary spending for the next two years. In effect, the caps are likely to result in flat funding for federal research agencies in fiscal year (FY) 2024, with perhaps a few exceptions for agencies of priority to Congress. More will be known as the House and Senate move to consider their FY 2024 appropriations bills. Several bills are beginning to move in the House, although none of the bills are primarily responsible for funding science agencies. 

CQ is reporting that House Appropriations Committee Chair Kay Granger (R-TX) presented her subcommittee funding allocations—known as 302(b)—to the Republican conference this week. These numbers dictate how much discretionary funding can be spent in each of the 12 appropriations bills. In response to the demands of the Freedom Caucus, the FY 2024 allocations would cut spending by $119 billion below the total included in budget deal discussed above, bringing nondefense discretionary (NDD) funding back to FY 2022 levels. Defense spending would increase. The allocations all but guarantee that deep spending cuts will be taken in the House versions of the FY 2024 bills. However, the Democrat-controlled Senate is expected to take a very different approach and work to keep most programs whole in FY 2024. 

Additional details are expected over the next few weeks. Watch for COSSA’s ongoing coverage of FY 2024 funding legislation.

The Coalition for National Science Funding (CNSF) and the Committee for Education Funding (CEF) are co-hosting a virtual briefing titled “The National Imperative to Develop STEM Talent: Why the Investment in Education Matters.” The briefing will feature an expert panel focused on how the Department of Education and the National Science Foundation can support the STEM pipeline. Panelists include Dr. André M. Green, Chair of the Department of Leadership and Teacher Education at the University of South Alabama, and Mr. Billy Mawhiney, Executive Director of the South Dakota Afterschool Network. The virtual briefing will take place on June 21 at 1:00 pm ET. Participants can register here.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is inviting nominations for the 2024 Philip Hauge Abelson Prize, which recognizes outstanding contributions to the U.S. scientific community through research, policy, and/or civil service. The recipient will receive a monetary prize of $5,000, a commemorative plaque, complimentary registration to the AAAS Annual Meeting, a complimentary one-year AAAS membership, and reimbursement for reasonable travel expenses to attend the AAAS Annual Meeting to receive the prize. The Prize will be presented at the 2023 AAAS Annual Meeting.

The Abelson Prize has been given to Anthony Fauci, Margaret Hamburg, and Sekazi Mtingwa, among others. Submit a nomination for an individual by June 30, 2023 through the nomination portal.

On July 20, the Population Association of America (PAA) and the Association of Population Center (APC), will host a Birthday Bash and in-person discussion for the final cohort of the Baby Boom generation, who turn 65 this year. The event will hold an enlightening talk over cake and ice cream addressing this significant demographic shift, and its resulting nationwide implications in policy and health debates.

The panel of distinguished experts will include Dr. Emily Agree of Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Linda Jacobsen from the Population Reference Bureau, Dr. Lisa Berkman of Harvard University, and Dr. I-Fen Lin from Bowling Green State University. They will share their research and insights on the many challenges and opportunities that this aging generation presents policymakers, particularly focusing on Social Security, Medicare, and the responsibility families and communities bear in caring for the health, safety, and well-being of their elder relatives and neighbors.

This event will offer a space to explore and address these issues, fostering an informed conversation about the future of our society as it meets the needs of our aging population.

RSVP to secure your spot for this discussion. 

Sage and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford University announced Elizabeth Anderson and Alondra Nelson as the winners of the 2023 Sage-CASBS Award. Sage and CASBS are both COSSA members.

The Award recognizes accomplishments in the behavioral and social sciences that push the boundaries of our understanding of social issues and highlights the role of the social and behavioral sciences in enhancing public discourse and good governance.

Elizabeth Anderson is a renowned philosopher specializing in moral, social, and political philosophy; feminist theory; social epistemology; and the philosophy of economics and social sciences. Anderson currently serves as the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, the John Dewey Distinguished University Professor of Philosophy and Women’s Studies, and the Max Shaye Professor of Public Philosophy at the University of Michigan.

Alondra Nelson is a sociologist and recent Deputy Director for Science and Society at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Most of her work has explored ways in which science and technology intertwine with issues concerning equity, power, and inclusion and their effects for marginalized communities. While at OSTP, Nelson led efforts on federally funded research accessibility, scientific integrity, and on a bill of rights for protecting privacy, enhancing transparency, and promoting equity in the use of artificial intelligence technologies. Nelson currently serves as the Harold F. Linder Chair and Professor of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey and is also a distinguished senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

The work from both Nelson and Anderson illuminate public understanding and advance national discourse on how systems of power and social structures enable inequalities and impact marginalized communities.

In addition to a cash prize, Anderson and Nelson will participate in an in-person award event on November 16, 2023, at CASBS. The event will be free and open to the public with registration, and will be livestreamed. CASBS will announce event details later this year.

The official announcement of the winners can be found on the CASBS website.