Centers & Institutes

From championing religious freedom to dissecting regulatory policy to investing in the next generation of leaders, Columbian College research centers and institutes enable scholars to explore and advance ideas and issues across an array of disciplines.

Humanities

Gilbert Cisneros, BA ’94, spoke with students from the Caminos al Futuro program on the terrace of the City View Room overlooking the Washington Monument. (Photo: Marcelo Gonzales)

Whether their focus is to secure historical legacies or to prepare the next generation of global leaders, the centers and institutes at Columbian College are home to a humanities tradition that emphasizes understanding and interpreting the human world.

Sciences

From developing life-saving treatments to unlocking the mysteries of subatomic structures to delving deep into the human brain, Columbian College science institutes are addressing some of the most pressing issues of our time. Advancing the work of world-class researchers—biologists, chemists, physicists, mathematicians—our scholarly centers are at the forefront of scientific discovery.

Anthropology research — In the microscopy suite at the Hard Tissue Research Lab in the Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, a PhD student examines slides of chimpanzee femur tissue.

Social Sciences

IDDP Lecture — Technology experts spoke at the Panel on Digital Discourse hosted by the Institute for Data, Democracy and Politics.

At Columbian College, social scientists study the origins of humans, how we have evolved, the way we interact and how we move forward. Scholars at our institutes and research centers—encompassing disciplines as far-reaching as anthropology, economics, political science, psychology and sociology—are shedding light on human evolution over millennia and understanding how to improve people’s lives into the 21st century and beyond.

Making an Impact Across Disciplines

Since its founding in 2015, the Cisneros Institute has built communities, spearheaded scholarship and made students’ dreams come true with financial, academic and social support.

Geologists collected sediment samples at Namorotukunan to determine the age of the archaeological site.

New research led by David Braun, core faculty at the Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, reveals how early humans crafted stone tools during environmental upheaval.

Professor Tara Sinclair from the Center for Economic Research sat down with Dean Paul Wahlbeck to discuss her economic forecast for the future based on the data she has collected post-pandemic.