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Kirkland Kimberly Jenkins Robinson Melissa Thomas-Hunt Pam Cipriano Paul Becker Tim Layton (-) David Leblang (-) Benjamin Converse Facet People - News UVA Humanitarian Collaborative School Engineering Social Innovation @ UVA Facet UVA Partner - News Research and Commentary Accolades Racial Justice and Equity Facet News Type - News Feb 20, 2025 Finding a Seat at the Interdisciplinary Research Table UVA Batten hosted the “Annual Behavioral Science Across Grounds Conference” earlier this month, bringing some of the brightest minds of UVA’s research community to Garrett Hall to exchange ideas, interests, and insights. Associate professor Ben Converse gave the keynote. Learn more Feb 01, 2024 New Research: Sharing "Eco-Innovations" Can Ease Climate Despair Climate despair is emerging as a psychosocial threat. Ben Converse, associate professor of public policy and psychology at the Batten School, and other UVA researchers have found a potential source of hope that is underutilized. Learn more Jan 26, 2023 When Less is More: How Harnessing the Power of Subtraction Can Add to Life There’s a lot of thought that goes into adding things to our routines, our closets, our lives. But how much thought goes into subtracting things? Not enough, according to three University of Virginia professors. Read in UVA Today Apr 05, 2022 Rural poverty, climate change, and family migration from Guatemala International and Global Affairs Global Politics & International Relations International Development David Leblang, Director of the Batten School’s Global Policy Center, along with co-authors, assesses the root causes of migration from Guatemala. Learn more Jan 31, 2022 Batten's Lipscomb Receives UVA's Prestigious Public Impact-Focused Research Award Social Entrepreneurship Batten professor Molly Lipscomb was honored with the university's Public Impact-Focused Research Award for her work examining the impact of bringing public services to low-income households in countries where services are needed. Learn more Aug 27, 2021 Leblang: How resettling Afghan refugees might help Afghanistan’s future Humanitarian Policy International and Global Affairs In an article for The Washington Post, Batten's David Leblang and co-author Margaret Peters explain how migrants help their home countries by building trade ties and by sending back both cash and political knowledge. Read in The Washington Post Apr 16, 2021 We instinctively add on new features and fixes. Why don’t we subtract instead? Social Psychology Across a series of studies published this month in the journal Nature, Batten’s Gabrielle Adams, Benjamin Converse and co-authors demonstrated that people tend to overlook the option to subtract parts when asked to change or improve something. In an op-ed for The Washington Post, they explore why ‘less is more’ is a hard insight to act on. Read in The Washington Post Apr 14, 2021 Why People Forget that Less is Often More Social Psychology Why, when solving problems, do people prefer adding things to getting rid of them? In an article for The Economist, Batten’s Gabrielle Adams and Benjamin Converse explain their research on subtractive improvements. Read in The Economist Apr 07, 2021 Why Our Brains Miss Opportunities to Improve through Subtraction Social Psychology Leadership In a new paper featured on the cover of Nature, Batten’s Gabrielle Adams, Benjamin Converse and co-authors explain why people systematically overlook subtractive improvements. Learn more Apr 02, 2021 Climate, Violence, and Honduran Migration to the United States Migration International and Global Affairs Migration from Honduras to the U.S. has been growing for years. New research by Batten's David Leblang, director of the Global Policy Center, and Duke University's Sarah Bermeo suggests the movement is a result of persistent violence coupled with food insecurity linked to climate change. Leblang and Bermeo wrote about their findings in a blog for Brookings. Read in Brookings Feb 23, 2021 Here's Who Biden Might Pick for OMB Director as Neera Tanden's Confirmation Looks Unlikely Political Science The Biden administration is heading back to square one as the chances for a Neera Tanden confirmation, the president's initial pick for director of the Office of Management and Budget, seems increasingly unlikely to gain enough Senate votes. Batten’s David Leblang spoke to Newsweek about potential candidates under consideration to take Tanden's place. READ IN NEWSWEEK Jan 29, 2021 Batten Faculty and Students Elevate UVA's Virtual January Term Offerings Education Leadership Batten Professor David Leblang's "Pandemics Beyond the Headlines: COVID-19" and Professor Gabrielle Adams' "Leadership in Athletics" were among the standout virtual course offerings from UVA this January. Contributions from Batten's Center for Leadership Simulation and Gaming and Batten student Terrell Jana (BA '21) brought an experiential lens to some of today’s critical issues, preparing students to meet future challenges. READ IN UVA TODAY Pagination Current page 1 Page 2 Next page Next › Stay Up To Date with the Latest Batten News and Events Subscribe
Feb 20, 2025 Finding a Seat at the Interdisciplinary Research Table UVA Batten hosted the “Annual Behavioral Science Across Grounds Conference” earlier this month, bringing some of the brightest minds of UVA’s research community to Garrett Hall to exchange ideas, interests, and insights. Associate professor Ben Converse gave the keynote. Learn more
Feb 01, 2024 New Research: Sharing "Eco-Innovations" Can Ease Climate Despair Climate despair is emerging as a psychosocial threat. Ben Converse, associate professor of public policy and psychology at the Batten School, and other UVA researchers have found a potential source of hope that is underutilized. Learn more
Jan 26, 2023 When Less is More: How Harnessing the Power of Subtraction Can Add to Life There’s a lot of thought that goes into adding things to our routines, our closets, our lives. But how much thought goes into subtracting things? Not enough, according to three University of Virginia professors. Read in UVA Today
Apr 05, 2022 Rural poverty, climate change, and family migration from Guatemala International and Global Affairs Global Politics & International Relations International Development David Leblang, Director of the Batten School’s Global Policy Center, along with co-authors, assesses the root causes of migration from Guatemala. Learn more
Jan 31, 2022 Batten's Lipscomb Receives UVA's Prestigious Public Impact-Focused Research Award Social Entrepreneurship Batten professor Molly Lipscomb was honored with the university's Public Impact-Focused Research Award for her work examining the impact of bringing public services to low-income households in countries where services are needed. Learn more
Aug 27, 2021 Leblang: How resettling Afghan refugees might help Afghanistan’s future Humanitarian Policy International and Global Affairs In an article for The Washington Post, Batten's David Leblang and co-author Margaret Peters explain how migrants help their home countries by building trade ties and by sending back both cash and political knowledge. Read in The Washington Post
Apr 16, 2021 We instinctively add on new features and fixes. Why don’t we subtract instead? Social Psychology Across a series of studies published this month in the journal Nature, Batten’s Gabrielle Adams, Benjamin Converse and co-authors demonstrated that people tend to overlook the option to subtract parts when asked to change or improve something. In an op-ed for The Washington Post, they explore why ‘less is more’ is a hard insight to act on. Read in The Washington Post
Apr 14, 2021 Why People Forget that Less is Often More Social Psychology Why, when solving problems, do people prefer adding things to getting rid of them? In an article for The Economist, Batten’s Gabrielle Adams and Benjamin Converse explain their research on subtractive improvements. Read in The Economist
Apr 07, 2021 Why Our Brains Miss Opportunities to Improve through Subtraction Social Psychology Leadership In a new paper featured on the cover of Nature, Batten’s Gabrielle Adams, Benjamin Converse and co-authors explain why people systematically overlook subtractive improvements. Learn more
Apr 02, 2021 Climate, Violence, and Honduran Migration to the United States Migration International and Global Affairs Migration from Honduras to the U.S. has been growing for years. New research by Batten's David Leblang, director of the Global Policy Center, and Duke University's Sarah Bermeo suggests the movement is a result of persistent violence coupled with food insecurity linked to climate change. Leblang and Bermeo wrote about their findings in a blog for Brookings. Read in Brookings
Feb 23, 2021 Here's Who Biden Might Pick for OMB Director as Neera Tanden's Confirmation Looks Unlikely Political Science The Biden administration is heading back to square one as the chances for a Neera Tanden confirmation, the president's initial pick for director of the Office of Management and Budget, seems increasingly unlikely to gain enough Senate votes. Batten’s David Leblang spoke to Newsweek about potential candidates under consideration to take Tanden's place. READ IN NEWSWEEK
Jan 29, 2021 Batten Faculty and Students Elevate UVA's Virtual January Term Offerings Education Leadership Batten Professor David Leblang's "Pandemics Beyond the Headlines: COVID-19" and Professor Gabrielle Adams' "Leadership in Athletics" were among the standout virtual course offerings from UVA this January. Contributions from Batten's Center for Leadership Simulation and Gaming and Batten student Terrell Jana (BA '21) brought an experiential lens to some of today’s critical issues, preparing students to meet future challenges. READ IN UVA TODAY