About News News Subscribe Social Psychology Domestic Policy & Politics Education Leadership Racial Justice and Equity Social Entrepreneurship Facet Area of Focus - News Ian H. Solomon Craig Volden Brian N. Williams Christine Mahoney Benjamin Castleman Kirsten Gelsdorf Gerald Warburg Gabrielle Adams Philip Potter Daphna Bassok Jay Shimshack Lucy Bassett John Holbein Andrew S. Pennock David Leblang Allan Stam Raymond C. Scheppach Sarah Turner Sophie Trawalter Christopher J. Ruhm Timothy L. Davis Bala Mulloth Sebastian Tello Trillo Eileen Chou Jeanine Braithwaite Jennifer Lawless Jill Rockwell Todd S. Sechser Alexander Bick James H. Wyckoff Paul S. Martin Peter Johannessen Steve Hiss Daniel W. Player Laura Toscano Michael D. Williams Noah Myung William Shobe Brooke Lehmann Harry Harding James R. Detert Jazmin Brown-Iannuzzi Jeff Chidester Kyle S. H. Dobson Larry Terry Margaret Foster Riley Molly Lipscomb Abigail Scholer Adam Leive Allison Atteberry Andrew Simon Brad Carson Derek Wu Frederick P. Hitz Galen Fountain Gerald Higginbotham Isaac Mbiti Michele Claibourn Sally Hudson Tim Layton Xiao Wang Adam Roux Amanda Crombie Andy Ortiz Ashley Jardina Brendan J. Boler Brooke Ray Charles J. Rush Charles J. Rush Diane Biesecker George Foresman Jieun Pai Justin H. Kirkland Kimberly Jenkins Robinson Melissa Thomas-Hunt Pam Cipriano Paul Becker Tim Layton (-) Benjamin Converse (-) Gerard Robinson Facet People - News School Engineering Social Innovation @ UVA Facet UVA Partner - News Research and Commentary Accolades Faculty In Action Racial Justice and Equity Facet News Type - News Mar 27, 2025 UVA Students Visit Norway to Learn Better Approaches to Incarceration Twenty UVA students and staff traveled to Norway over spring break for an immersive study abroad experience to learn about alternative systems for incarceration. It was part of the UVA Batten course, LPPS 5670: Education in the U.S. and International Prison Systems. Learn more 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 13, 2024 Advocating for a Better Justice System in America Education Racial Justice and Equity Domestic Policy & Politics Gerard Robinson, who joined the Batten School in the fall of 2023 as a professor of practice in public policy and law, has an understanding of America’s penal systems that is historical, encyclopedic, peppered with factual evidence and flavored with his own philosophical musings. 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 Nov 10, 2023 A Second Chance: The Promise of the Prison-to-Education Pipeline Gerard Robinson, Batten professor of practice, engaged a rapt audience at Batten Hour on the inextricable dynamics of education and incarceration in the U.S. Learn more Sep 22, 2023 Guest Column | Back to School is More Than Back to Partying Each fall, 21,000 UVA students return to Grounds, meaning longer lines at restaurants, more traffic, etc -- but it also means the return of an annual tradition in UVA's spirt of service. Batten professor of practice Gerard Robinson pens a lovely tribute in the Daily Progress to the students who volunteer with area nonprofits. 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 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 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. 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Mar 27, 2025 UVA Students Visit Norway to Learn Better Approaches to Incarceration Twenty UVA students and staff traveled to Norway over spring break for an immersive study abroad experience to learn about alternative systems for incarceration. It was part of the UVA Batten course, LPPS 5670: Education in the U.S. and International Prison Systems. Learn more
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 13, 2024 Advocating for a Better Justice System in America Education Racial Justice and Equity Domestic Policy & Politics Gerard Robinson, who joined the Batten School in the fall of 2023 as a professor of practice in public policy and law, has an understanding of America’s penal systems that is historical, encyclopedic, peppered with factual evidence and flavored with his own philosophical musings. 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
Nov 10, 2023 A Second Chance: The Promise of the Prison-to-Education Pipeline Gerard Robinson, Batten professor of practice, engaged a rapt audience at Batten Hour on the inextricable dynamics of education and incarceration in the U.S. Learn more
Sep 22, 2023 Guest Column | Back to School is More Than Back to Partying Each fall, 21,000 UVA students return to Grounds, meaning longer lines at restaurants, more traffic, etc -- but it also means the return of an annual tradition in UVA's spirt of service. Batten professor of practice Gerard Robinson pens a lovely tribute in the Daily Progress to the students who volunteer with area nonprofits. 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
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
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