Is wisdom a superpower or some kind of mythical ideal? Or, is it a practical, relevant, vital virtue, crucial to the functioning of individuals, organizations and societies?
Is wisdom attainable and teachable—even a suitable subject for a new academic field? If so, could the University of Chicago become a center of excellence for the study of wisdom?
These are some of the myriad questions the Chicago Wisdom Project will explore during the next three years thanks, in part, to a $5 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation, which supports discovery in fields that engage life’s biggest questions.
Launched in May, the Chicago Wisdom Project builds on the recently completed, four-year Defining Wisdom Project (also funded by the Templeton Foundation) that supported 23 research projects around the world by up-and-coming investigators in diverse fields, including psychology, neurobiology, medicine, philosophy and the classics. Although none of these researchers were affiliated with the University of Chicago, the University administered the Defining Wisdom Project and took the occasion to build an interdisciplinary cadre of faculty interested in taking wisdom research to the next level.
“Some of us who were involved in the Defining Wisdom Project decided to continue to help develop this burgeoning field and to try build here at the University of Chicago a center for the science of wisdom,” says Howard Nusbaum, professor and chair of the Department of Psychology and co-principal investigator of the Chicago Wisdom Project.
Arete, a research development program led by the Office of the Vice President for Research and National Laboratories, has been instrumental in developing the new Project and securing funds for it, he adds. “Members of Arete have been a source of inspiration and ideas. They have suggested practical solutions to functional and operational challenges. And they have helped write about and communicate our complex, sometimes esoteric subject matter.”
Broad approach
The Chicago Wisdom Project has four components that will engage researchers across campus.
- Six research studies led by professors of psychology, psychiatry, economics, religion and music from the University of Chicago and other institutions that will delve into the role of wisdom in medicine, language, financial trading, mind-body interactions, negotiating, decision making and problem solving, among other areas.
- The Chicago Wisdom Forum, a series of meetings and discussions to explore problems and issues related to wisdom that arise in medicine, law, business and politics.
- The creation of an undergraduate curriculum and textbook for the teaching of wisdom.
- The possible development of a center of excellence for the study of wisdom at the University of Chicago.
Together with recent research on virtue and philanthropy at the University of Chicago, this continuing work on wisdom “could make and the University something of a hub for interdisciplinary thought about qualities that are central to being human, and yet extremely difficult to define and measure,” says Elspeth Carruthers, research strategist at Arete. “Concentrated academic leadership at the University will shepherd development of wisdom science, and new research generated by this Project will enrich the emerging intellectual foundation of wisdom science.”
The University is a rich source of potential collaborators in this field, Nusbaum agrees. “We look forward to engaging and interacting with a host of students and faculty in this Project.”
By Greg Borzo
