As Co-director of the Global Development And Environment Institute (G-DAE)
at Tufts University, I would like to describe a program in which we have a
job opening, to begin in early January, 1995. We hope to elicit interest
and applications from interdisc iplinary-minded economists. Applications
will be considered throughout December; however, if you know of someone
who might be interested, I suggest that you respond as quickly as
possible.
The project, "Frontier Issues in Economic Thought", is founded on the
premise that there is a growing nucleus of scholars who believe that the
future of the social sciences must include a strong move toward
interdisciplinary team work. On the one hand, w e encounter ever growing
scale and complexity among the human problems which the social sciences
are designed to address. On the other hand, expansion of the knowledge
which could, conceivably, be used in addressing these problems invites
ever more minut e specialization as the only way for a single individual
to be master of all the information in a single (ever more narrowly
defined) area. Only by developing creative new models for
interdisciplinary social science teamwork can we take advantage of all the
information needed to deal with problems of growing complexity.
The "Frontiers" project is designed to address this need by supplying a
means for scholars from a variety of disciplines - including, but not
limited to economics - to get an overview of the thinking in areas with
which they may not be familiar. The book s it will produce - on the
subjects of (1) "A Survey of Ecological Economics"; (2) "The Consumer
Society"; (3) "Human Welfare - definitions and assessments"; (4)
"Sustainable Development"; (5) "Meaningful Work"; and (6) "Economic
Power" - are, as far as we know, a genuinely new kind of publication. Each volume
will each
consist of SUMMARIES - about 2-3 book pages long - of approximately 100
articles that have been selected as the ones that best define and advance
the particular field.
As an example, Volume 1, "A Survey of Ecological Economics", is now
complete (it will be published in June by Island Press). It contains
seven sections, dealing with such matters as "Theoretical Frameworks and
Techniques", "Energy and Resource Flow Analy sis", "Ethical/Social
Issues", etc. Each section contains an introductory essay by one of the
editors of the book, followed by 12-15 summaries of articles. These
summaries are considerably longer and more thoughtful than the traditional
abstract; they a re intended to provide a good understanding of the
principle arguments (at least those related to the topic of the volume) in
each article, and to inform the reader about the thinking in the area.
The position now open is for a Research Analyst to work as co-editor on
Volumes 2 and 3 - "The Consumer Society" and "Human Welfare: Definitions
and Assessments". The job will involve the following activities: -- Read
widely in these areas, to select the most significant writings that move
forward the frontiers of understanding about these topics. -- Write
12-1500 word summaries of the articles or chapters thus selected. --
Write introductory essays for different sections of the collections of
summaries.
The position is defined as 3/4ths time. An applicant should have at least
a Master's degree in economics, along with strong interdisciplinary
understanding and interests. The essential qualities for this position
are good judgment, ability to read and u nderstand complex arguments, and
strong writing skills. Some familiarity with the topics of the two books
will be helpful.
APPLICATION PROCESS: Applicants are requested to apply, with 2 copies of
a curriculum vitae and a sample essay (which may be on any social sciences
subject, preferably about 3-5 pages in length) to: Corita Johnson, Tufts
University Human Resources Depart ment, 169 Holland St., Somerville MA
02144. Interviews will take place in December and, if necessary, in
January. Applications must be received no later than Dec. 23. For
additional information, telephone 617 628-5000 x 5467, and ask for Kevin
Gallaghe r.
