Institute for Humane Studies
Encyclopedia
The Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) is a classical liberal non-profit organization
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 whose stated mission is “to support the achievement of a freer society by discovering and facilitating the development of talented students, scholars, and other intellectuals who share an interest in liberty and in advancing the principles and practice of freedom.”

In 2011, IHS awarded over $750,000 in scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students. IHS also runs weekend and week-long seminars for hundreds of students each year. In addition to its educational programs, IHS provides various forms of career assistance, including paid internships, to students and recent graduates pursuing careers in academia, journalism, and public policy.

History

The Institute for Humane Studies was founded in 1961 in Menlo Park, California
Menlo Park, California
Menlo Park, California is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; Atherton, North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City...

 by F. A. "Baldy" Harper
F. A. Harper
Dr. Floyd Arthur Harper , better known as F. A. Harper or "Baldy" Harper, was an American academic, economist and writer best known for founding the Institute for Humane Studies in 1961. -Early life:...

. Harper had previously been a professor of marketing at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

. IHS was originally housed in Harper's garage.

Harper had previously been involved with the William Volker Fund
William Volker Fund
The William Volker Fund was a charitable foundation established in 1932 by Kansas City, Missouri, businessman and home-furnishings mogul William Volker. Volker founded the fund with the purposes of aiding the needy, reforming Kansas City’s health care and educational systems, and combating the...

 and the Foundation for Economic Education
Foundation for Economic Education
The Foundation for Economic Education is one of the oldest free-market organizations established in the United States to study and advance the freedom philosophy. Murray Rothbard recognizes FEE for creating a "crucial open center" that he credits with launching the movement...

.

Leonard Liggio
Leonard Liggio
Leonard Liggio is a classical liberal author, research professor of law at George Mason University, and executive vice president of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation in Fairfax, Virginia, USA.-Present positions:...

, who is currently a Distinguished Senior Scholar at IHS, was also involved in the Institute's early days. Liggio provided editorial direction for Literature of Liberty: A Review of Contemporary Liberal Thought, a periodical published by the Cato Institute
Cato Institute
The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane, who remains president and CEO, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the conglomerate Koch Industries, Inc., the largest privately held...

 from 1978-1979 and by IHS from 1980-1982.

IHS moved to Fairfax, Virginia
Fairfax, Virginia
The City of Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City is nevertheless the county seat....

 in 1985 and began an association with George Mason University
George Mason University
George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...

. The Institute is currently located in Arlington, Virginia, in the George Mason University School of Law
George Mason University School of Law
George Mason University School of Law is the law school of George Mason University, a state university in Virginia, United States...

. IHS's sister organization is the Mercatus Center
Mercatus Center
The Mercatus Center at George Mason University in the United States is a non-profit market-oriented research, education, and outreach think tank affiliated with the Koch family. It works with policy experts, lobbyists, and government officials to connect academic learning and real-world practice...

.

Economist and commentator Walter E. Williams
Walter E. Williams
Walter E. Williams, is an American economist, commentator, and academic. He is the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University, as well as a syndicated columnist and author known for his libertarian views.- Early life and education :Williams family during childhood...

 and public choice theorist James M. Buchanan
James M. Buchanan
James McGill Buchanan, Jr. is an American economist known for his work on public choice theory, for which he received the 1986 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Buchanan's work initiated research on how politicians' self-interest and non-economic forces affect government economic policy...

 have been involved with IHS.

Organization

In 2010, IHS had just over $7 million in revenue. IHS has received funding from a number of foundations, including the Sarah Scaife Foundation
Sarah Scaife Foundation
The Sarah Scaife Foundation is one of the American Scaife Foundations. It is controlled by Richard Mellon Scaife. The foundation does not award grants to individuals. It concentrates its efforts towards causes focused on public policy at a national and international level...

, the Koch Family Foundations
Koch Family Foundations
Koch Family Foundations is the informal name for a group of charities in the United States of America associated with the family of Fred C. Koch. The most prominent of these are the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and the David H. Koch Charitable Foundation, created by two of Fred C...

, and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.

The current president of IHS is Marty Zupan
Marty Zupan
-Biography:Marty Zupan received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Psychology from the State University of New York at Fredonia.In 1975, she joined Reason as a book review editor, became associate editor in 1978, and served through the 1980s as managing editor and editor-in-chief, leaving in 1989...

, formerly editor of Reason magazine.

The chair of its board of directors is Charles G. Koch
Charles G. Koch
Charles de Ganahl Koch is co-owner, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries Inc., the second-largest privately held company by revenue in the United States according to a 2010 Forbes survey...

. The other members of the board of directors are John Blundell
John Blundell (economist)
John Blundell is the former Director General and Ralph Harris Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs. Blundell has been involved in the creation and development of numerous free-market think tanks.-Biography:...

, Richard H. Fink
Richard H. Fink
Richard H. Fink is an American businessman and academic. He is an executive vice president of Koch Industries, the second largest privately held company in the U.S.-Education and academic career:...

, Jerome Fullinwider, Timothy Otis Browne, Tyler Cowen
Tyler Cowen
Tyler Cowen is an American economist, academic, and writer. He occupies the Holbert C. Harris Chair of economics as a professor at George Mason University and is co-author, with Alex Tabarrok, of the popular economics blog Marginal Revolution...

, Art Pope
Art Pope
James Arthur "Art" Pope is a North Carolina political figure, businessman, attorney and philanthropist. He is CEO and Board Chairman of Variety Wholesalers, Inc and President and Chairman of the John William Pope Foundation....

, David Humphreys, Eric O'Keefe
Eric O'Keefe (political activist)
Eric O’Keefe is the chairman and CEO of the Sam Adams Alliance and co-founder and co-chairman of the Alliance for Self-Governance...

, Todd Zywicki
Todd Zywicki
Todd J. Zywicki is George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law, teaching in the areas of bankruptcy and contracts, where he has taught since 1998. He taught previously at the Mississippi College School of Law, where he held a faculty position from...

, William Sumner, Kristina Kendall, and Craig Johnson.

Seminars

Each summer, IHS runs a series of 12 free, week-long summer seminars for university students from around the world. Seminars are interdisciplinary and include lectures on history, economics, philosophy, law, and political science. Seminar themes include the value of property rights, limited government, peace, natural rights, free trade, individual autonomy, and the morality of free enterprise. There are introductory and advanced seminars, as well as seminars geared toward students planning careers in public policy, academia, and journalism.

IHS also runs weekend on-campus seminars during the academic year.

IHS and Liberty Fund
Liberty Fund
Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established and headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. It is dedicated to the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals...

 co-sponsor the Advanced Topics in Liberty program, which is an invitation-only, discussion-based weekend conference series.

For graduate students pursuing academic careers, IHS sponsors invitation-only Career Development Seminars designed to help students "land a job in academia, gain tenure, and contribute to the academic and intellectual conversation."

Internships

Each summer, IHS runs the Charles G. Koch
Charles G. Koch
Charles de Ganahl Koch is co-owner, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Koch Industries Inc., the second-largest privately held company by revenue in the United States according to a 2010 Forbes survey...

 Summer Fellow Program. The program runs for 10 weeks, and includes a paid public policy internship with two career and policy seminars. Fellows are placed at one of 80 partner think tanks and policy organizations across the United States.

IHS also runs a year-round journalism internship program that places aspiring journalists who support individual liberty, free markets, and peace at media companies and non-profit newsrooms.

Scholarships

Through its Humane Studies Fellowship program, IHS awards scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students embarking on "liberty-advancing careers in ideas." In 2011, IHS awarded over $750,000 to 195 students.

Each summer, through the Summer Graduate Research Fellowship, IHS gives $5,000 stipends to young academics "to refine and complete a publishable scholarly article or thesis chapter that engages ideas within the classical liberal tradition."

Online projects

In 2010, IHS launched LearnLiberty.org, a website providing educational videos on libertarian
Libertarian
Libertarian may refer to:*A proponent of libertarianism, a political philosophy that upholds individual liberty, especially freedom of expression and action*A member of a libertarian political party; including:**Libertarian Party...

 ideas. The site's stated goals are “to provide a starting point for conversations on important questions: What is the nature of man and society? What are the best ways to organize human society? What is the proper role for government?” Notable guest lecturers featured on LearnLiberty include David Schmidtz
David Schmidtz
David Schmidtz is Kendrick Professor of Philosophy and joint Professor of Economics at the University of Arizona. He grew up in Saskatchewan, Canada, and earned his PhD at Arizona under the direction of Joel Feinberg and Allen Buchanan and taught at Yale and Bowling Green State University before...

 of the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...

 and Jeffrey Miron
Jeffrey Miron
Jeffrey Alan Miron is an American economist. He served as the chairman of the Department of Economics at Boston University from 1992 to 1998, and currently teaches at Harvard University, serving as a Senior Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Harvard's Economics Department.Miron is an...

 of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

.

IHS maintains Kosmos, a networking website for classical liberal academics. The site's goal is to "provide career advice and intellectual resources for liberty advancing academics." The term "kosmos" comes from Friedrich Hayek's
Friedrich Hayek
Friedrich August Hayek CH , born in Austria-Hungary as Friedrich August von Hayek, was an economist and philosopher best known for his defense of classical liberalism and free-market capitalism against socialist and collectivist thought...

 use of the term in Law, Legislation and Liberty
Law, Legislation and Liberty
Law, Legislation and Liberty is the 1973 magnum opus in three volumes by Nobel laureate economist and political philosopher Friedrich Hayek. In it, Hayek further develops the philosophical principles he discussed earlier in The Road to Serfdom, The Constitution of Liberty, and other writings...

.

IHS also operates Politopia.com, an educational interactive website based on the Nolan Chart
Nolan Chart
The Nolan Chart is a political diagram popularized by the American libertarian David Nolan. He reasoned that virtually all human political action can be divided into two general categories: economic and personal...

. Through a series of questions, the website places participants on a four-sided political map. Its purpose is to help individuals conceptualize their own political views.

Alum award

Each year, IHS awards an alumnus of its programs with the Charles G. Koch Outstanding IHS Alum Award. The award is given in recognition of "significant contributions to advancing liberty." Past award winners include libertarian legal theorist and law professor Randy Barnett
Randy Barnett
Randy E. Barnett is a lawyer, a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches constitutional law and contracts, and a legal theorist in the United States...

; Kris Mauren, co-founder of the Acton Institute; law professor Todd Zywicki
Todd Zywicki
Todd J. Zywicki is George Mason University Foundation Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law, teaching in the areas of bankruptcy and contracts, where he has taught since 1998. He taught previously at the Mississippi College School of Law, where he held a faculty position from...

; Kristina Kendall, executive producer for John Stossel
John Stossel
John F. Stossel is an American consumer reporter, investigative journalist, author and libertarian columnist. In October 2009 Stossel left his long time home on ABC News to join the Fox Business Channel and Fox News Channel, both owned and operated by News Corp...

; political science professor John Tomasi; Scott Bullock
Scott Bullock
Scott G. Bullock is a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice a public interest law firm in Arlington, Virginia founded in 1991 by Chip Mellor and Clint Bolick. He was lead counsel for Susette Kelo in the landmark case, Kelo v...

, senior attorney at the Institute for Justice
Institute for Justice
The Institute for Justice is a 501 non-profit libertarian public interest law firm in the United States. Its mission is to provide pro bono legal advice and representation, litigating strategically to pursue its goal of a rule of law under which individuals can control their destinies as free and...

; economist Peter Boettke
Peter Boettke
Peter J. Boettke is an American economist of the Austrian School.-Early life and education:Boettke was born in Rahway, New Jersey to Fred and Elinor Boettke and remained there until he moved to Pennsylvania to attend Thiel College in Greenville and later Grove City College. He became interested in...

; John Hood, president of the John Locke Foundation
John Locke Foundation
The John Locke Foundation is a free market think tank in North Carolina started in 1990. Its mission statement says the "John Locke Foundation employs research, journalism, and outreach programs to transform government through competition, innovation, personal freedom, and personal responsibility...

; and David Schmidtz
David Schmidtz
David Schmidtz is Kendrick Professor of Philosophy and joint Professor of Economics at the University of Arizona. He grew up in Saskatchewan, Canada, and earned his PhD at Arizona under the direction of Joel Feinberg and Allen Buchanan and taught at Yale and Bowling Green State University before...

, a professor of philosophy and economics.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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