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Kirkland Kimberly Jenkins Robinson Melissa Thomas-Hunt Pam Cipriano Paul Becker Tim Layton (-) Benjamin Converse (-) Alexander Bick Facet People - News School Engineering Social Innovation @ UVA Facet UVA Partner - News Research and Commentary Accolades Faculty In Action Facet News Type - News Apr 21, 2025 Bick Moderates Panel on Presidential Uses of Economic Power UVA Batten associate professor Alex Bick — an expert on national security policy and international affairs — served as a moderator for a panel discussion at the Miller Center’s 2025 William and Carol Stevenson Conference titled “The Future of American Financial and Economic Statecraft.” The conference examined how the Trump administration, as well as future presidencies, might use the levers of economic power. 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 Dec 04, 2024 Class Simulation Puts Students at the Center of a Tense Global Drama A natural disaster in Taiwan quickly escalates into an international crisis, bringing the world to the brink of war. This was the scenario given by Associate Professor Alexander Bick to his class, “Strategic Decision-Making" — one example of the experiential learning opportunities offered to our students to prepare them to tackle the world’s most pressing problems. Learn more Teaching Is About Engaging Students Batten Associate Professor Alex Bick took part in UVA's Center for Teaching Excellence Course Design Institute. Bick and fellow participant Alicia Frantz share some of their highlights from this program on learning-focused course design. Learn more Aug 15, 2024 Why the War in Ukraine Matters National Security Global Politics & International Relations Professor Alex Bick had a bird's-eye view of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2021 as a White House adviser at the time. He joined our faculty last year and this fall, he's teaching a new course that traces the evolution of the war to examine core problems in national security, foreign policy, and strategic decision making. Learn more Mar 29, 2024 History as a Leadership Hack The lessons of history have been ever-present throughout Alex Bick's 20-year career in international affairs and national security, including roles at The Carter Center and in the Obama and Biden administrations. He joined the Batten faculty this semester as associate professor of practice in public policy. 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 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 Stay Up To Date with the Latest Batten News and Events Subscribe
Apr 21, 2025 Bick Moderates Panel on Presidential Uses of Economic Power UVA Batten associate professor Alex Bick — an expert on national security policy and international affairs — served as a moderator for a panel discussion at the Miller Center’s 2025 William and Carol Stevenson Conference titled “The Future of American Financial and Economic Statecraft.” The conference examined how the Trump administration, as well as future presidencies, might use the levers of economic power. 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
Dec 04, 2024 Class Simulation Puts Students at the Center of a Tense Global Drama A natural disaster in Taiwan quickly escalates into an international crisis, bringing the world to the brink of war. This was the scenario given by Associate Professor Alexander Bick to his class, “Strategic Decision-Making" — one example of the experiential learning opportunities offered to our students to prepare them to tackle the world’s most pressing problems. Learn more
Teaching Is About Engaging Students Batten Associate Professor Alex Bick took part in UVA's Center for Teaching Excellence Course Design Institute. Bick and fellow participant Alicia Frantz share some of their highlights from this program on learning-focused course design. Learn more
Aug 15, 2024 Why the War in Ukraine Matters National Security Global Politics & International Relations Professor Alex Bick had a bird's-eye view of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2021 as a White House adviser at the time. He joined our faculty last year and this fall, he's teaching a new course that traces the evolution of the war to examine core problems in national security, foreign policy, and strategic decision making. Learn more
Mar 29, 2024 History as a Leadership Hack The lessons of history have been ever-present throughout Alex Bick's 20-year career in international affairs and national security, including roles at The Carter Center and in the Obama and Biden administrations. He joined the Batten faculty this semester as associate professor of practice in public policy. 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
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