Creative Conversations, Barry Prize Winners 2025
Below is our series of conversations with 2025 Barry Prize winners on the joys and challenges of contemporary academic life.
Barry Prize Winner Richard Binzel
Dr. Binzel was interviewed by Santiago Schnell of Dartmouth. They discuss how space exploration taps into a deep root in human nature, why scientists have an obligation to discover more about our universe, and the importance of nature and truth for the university’s mission.
Transcript of this conversation coming soon.
Barry Prize Winner Janet Box-Steffensmeier
Dr. Box-Steffensmeier was interviewed by Brandice Canes-Wrone of Stanford University. They discuss how better social science methods help citizens make sense of their world, why interdisciplinary curiosity is growing among students, and the encouraging growth of better practices like replication, data sharing and hypothesis registration
Transcript of this conversation coming soon.
Barry Prize Winner Sylvester James Gates, Jr.
Dr. Gates was interviewed by Academy Executive Director Greg Forster. They discuss the inherent tension between employment preparation and the life of the mind, the value of rediscovering ancient ideas about the purpose of education, and how the development of scientific theory drives technological innovation.
Transcript of this conversation coming soon.
Barry Prize Winner Anthony Grafton
Dr. Grafton was interviewed by Carlos Eire of Yale University. They discuss why history matters for everything from politics to the arts, how the radical contraction of humanities study threatens our future knowledge base, and why the character of the university community matters more than its official mission statement.
Transcript of this conversation coming soon.
Barry Prize Winner Danielle Allen
Dr. Allen was interviewed by Academy Executive Director Greg Forster. They discuss how the university can cultivate truth-seeking qualities in students, why theory needs practice as much as practice needs theory, and the hunger for deeper inquiry that she sees in today’s students as they become increasingly alarmed about what social media is doing to them.
Transcript of this conversation coming soon.
Barry Prize Winner Leon Kass
Dr. Kass was interviewed by Academy Executive Director Greg Forster. They discuss how classic texts are both the source of and the greatest critics of our wisdom traditions, why the word “question” comes from the same root as the word “quest,” and what has surprised him about both growing old and growing young as an educator.
Transcript of this conversation coming soon.
Barry Prize Winner David Relman
Dr. Relman was interviewed by Academy Executive Director Greg Forster. They discuss how the behavior of microbes is both like and unlike the behavior of people, why different schools need to pursue the mission of the university in different ways, and how a pedagogy of lifelong learning and citizenship holds the mission of the university together.
Transcript of this conversation coming soon.
Barry Prize Winner Joseph Weiler
Dr. Weiler was interviewed by Mary Ann Glendon of Harvard University. They discuss why real courage means risking the disapproval of your own “reference group,” why scholars should take journalistic and popular discourse seriously, and why we must have the humility to leave our megaphones outside the classroom.
Transcript of this conversation coming soon.