Center News

Happy Holidays from the Center

December 14, 2020
Gif of snowing falling on Columbia's College Walk

Happy holidays from all of us at the Center for Science and Society! Whether you’re winding down from a remote or on-campus academic semester or preparing for the new year, we wish you a safe and wonderful holiday season.

Due Before the Holidays: Seed Grants

Have a research or programming idea involving science and society? Don't forget to submit a proposal for the Center’s 2021 Seed Grant Applications. Apply by December 15. Proposals are especially welcomed from undergraduate and graduate students at Columbia, Teachers College, and Barnard College.

The Presidential Scholars in Society and Neuroscience program is supporting Seed Grants for Interdisciplinary Projects in Society and Neuroscience with a special focus in 2021 on society, neuroscience, and equity. Grants of up to $50,000 are available. Letters of Inquiry are due December 21. Columbia and Barnard Faculty and select non-faculty are eligible.

Holiday COVID Resources

While the holidays are normally a time for celebration with family and friends, it’s important to adhere to the CDC’s guidelines for staying safe and reducing the spread of COVID-19, including limiting the size of gatherings, postponing travel plans, and wearing a mask.

For the protection of yourself and others this holiday season, several institutions have put together COVID-19 decision-making tools and apps:

  • MyCOVIDRisk App (Brown University): Plug in your plans (from swimming at the beach to visiting a salon) and the app will estimate your COVID-19 risk.
  • COVID-19 Visit Risk Decision Aid (National Institute on Ageing): Planning on visiting relatives this holiday season? This quiz helps users understand the risks and offers tips for minimizing exposure.

These tools and many more are available on our COVID-19 Science and Society Resources page, along with K-12 and higher education resources, citizen science projects, and other educational activities.

Holiday Science and Society

Still waiting for snow this winter, or want to bring a little science into your holiday decorations? Check out the activities below.

If you are looking to learn something new, use this list of the best science books in 2020 (from The Guardian) as a guide or visit Mashable’s ranking of the top science podcasts. Or celebrate with one of the latest publications from the Center’s faculty and scholars:

  • Former Presidential Scholar in Society and Neuroscience Ann-Sophie Barwich published her first book! Smellosophy: What the Nose Tells the Mind asks a deceptively simple question: what does the nose tell the brain and how does the brain understand it?
  • Professor Samuel K. Roberts co-hosted Black Lives: In the Era of COVID 19. This nine-episode podcast series interviews scholars, healthcare workers, nonprofit professionals, and city employees about the impact of COVID-19 on Black lives in New York City and beyond. 
  • The Making and Knowing Project published its digital critical edition, Secrets of Craft and Nature in Renaissance France. See science come to life as you scroll through a 16th-century artisan manuscript and the 21st-century recreations made by students in the laboratory. 
  • Illustrations by former Presidential Scholar Matteo Farinella were included in Bill Nye’s Great Big World of Science! This new book introduces kids to science through humor, colorful graphics, and at-home experiments. 

As always, you can visit our video library or our COVID-19 Science and Society Resources page for more!