Institute for Advanced Study

A Letter from the Director

Throughout my career, some of the most meaningful questions I have pursued have taken me beyond my own discipline. Working with people who brought new expertise and different ways of understanding the world changed both the questions we asked and how we answered them. Those experiences taught me that every discipline illuminates something others cannot fully see.

The delight I find in learning from others is what drew me to Indiana University’s Institute for Advanced Study (IUIAS).

Universities bring together people who ask different kinds of questions. Some seek to better understand the natural world. Others ask what it means to be human, how societies flourish, or how we can shape the future. IUIAS is where different ways of understanding the world come together.

As I begin serving as Director, my goal is to build on the Institute's remarkable strengths. I want IUIAS to be a place where scholars feel welcome to ask ambitious questions, learn from one another, and discover collaborators they might never have met otherwise. I hope more people across campus come to see IUIAS as a place where they belong.

If you find joy in learning from people whose expertise differs from your own, I hope you will join us—attend an event, participate in a working group, visit the Institute, or simply come by and start a conversation.

I look forward to learning from you.

Shahzeen Attari
Director
Indiana University Institute for Advanced Study