Signature Research Initiatives
The SRI program mobilizes university-wide research efforts that require a holistic, cross-disciplinary approach. SRIs are designed to be short-term initiatives enabling faculty researchers to develop sustainable collaborations within and outside of the university and driving the initiative toward a self-sustaining portfolio of outcomes.
Questions about the program? Please e-mail trac@american.edu for more information.
Request for Proposals
2025-2026 SRI Cohort 2:
Research Informed Civic Engagement
Society’s grand challenges require grand action. As a community of changemakers, American University is committed to addressing society’s challenges through civic engagement that is informed by research and scholarly inquiry. This request for proposals launches the Signature Research Initiative (SRI) Program RICE Cohort selection process. The SRI RICE Cohort projects will align with President Alger’s commitment to advancing Research Informed Civic Engagement (RICE) and research translation for societal impact, the focus of our National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Translating Research into Action Center (TRAC), housed in the AU Office of Research as the newest university-wide center. Preliminary Proposals are due October 30, 2024 by 5 PM Eastern.
For additional information and frequently asked questions, please visit the Request for Proposals page. Virtual Information Sessions and Office Hours are scheduled via Zoom throughout the selection process. Please visit the Request for Proposals page for details and registration links.
2022-2024 Signature Research Initiatives Cohort 1
- Elevate Reputation – SRIs strengthen AU’s research enterprise by harnessing the collective strength of our existing research entities, academic programs, investigators, and partners and targeting their work toward specific societal challenges.
- Grow External Sponsorship – SRIs enhance our ability to pursue and secure large, sponsored research grants from an expanded collection of sponsors, as well as significantly grow philanthropic support for our research-based initiatives.
- Accelerate Impact – SRIs strengthen opportunities for impact within our university community by increasing opportunities for collaborative research and student engagement, while strengthening our global community through targeted research-based interventions that address complex societal challenges.
Unmasking Antisemitism
Led by Dr. Jeff Gill, School of Public Affairs; Dr. Nathalie Japkowicz, College of Arts and Sciences; and Professor Wendy Melillo, School of Communication.
This project studies coded antisemitic hate speech and trope evolution with the goal of developing machine-learning detection and monitoring tools. With the ubiquity of the internet and social media, technology has increased the speed at which language evolves. Propaganda in the form of hate speech now travels the world at such a dizzying pace that it is beyond the ability of social media platforms or governments to effectively monitor and control. Harmful words unfold, take on new meanings in both direct and coded ways, quickly inciting hatred in the minds of those only too willing to believe them because they reinforce and justify preexisting prejudicial views. Starting from a collection of seed words known to be antisemitic, data are scraped off barely moderated extremist social media platforms and analyzed. New antisemitic terms and tropes are then identified. The spread of this coded extremist language to the general population is then tracked through survey experiments, and scrutiny of mainstream media content. Software tools are designed to automatically track coded language evolution and trope trends over time. The project’s faculty members believe that the model for the dataset, surveys and software tools can later be adopted to track hate speech directed at other frequently attacked groups in American society.Ìý
Changing Aid
Understanding and Transforming aid in Violent, Insecure, and Crisis-affected Environments
Led by Dr. Susanna Campbell, School of International Service; Dr. Lauren Carruth, School of International Service; Dr. Ernesto Castañeda-Tinoco, College of Arts and Sciences; and Dr. Joseph Young, School of Public Affairs and School of International Service.
The Changing Aid SRI graduated in June 2024 and established the Humanitarian Policy and Practice Graduate Certificate program at AU School of International Service.
The international aid industry employs hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. and developed countries and benefits millions of people around the world. This industry is charged with improving lives and livelihoods; saving lives in the midst of humanitarian emergencies; and securing the human rights of people displaced by violence, climate change, and geopolitical disputes. At the same time, governments, citizens, and civil society actors are calling on the international aid industry to become more evidence-driven, equitable, sustainable, and accountable to and representative of the people it serves. This SRI aims to establish American University as a hub of scholarship, training, and policy-relevant debate on the changing nature of international aid and how international aid actors can be more effective.
By building multi-disciplinary research collaborations on international aid, this hub will produce cutting-edge research that addresses the multiple dimensions of the aid challenge. By offering education and training for the aid industry in the DC-area and internationally, as well as for AU students, the hub will translate this cross-disciplinary research into courses that facilitate better and more accountable aid. By organizing public events with diverse policymakers, practitioners, and scholars to discuss pressing issues facing international aid, refugee resettlement, and irregular migration, the hub will offer aid actors crucial space for critical reflection and build AU’s reputation as a center for policy-engaged research and training on international aid and migration.
ITP
Inclusive Technology Policy
Led by Ms. Fiona M. Alexander, School of International Service; Dr. Derrick L. Cogburn, School of International Service and Kogod School of Business; Mr. Gary Corn, Washington College of Law; Dr. Nanette S. Levinson, School of International Service; and Dr. Sasha Cohen O’Connell, School of Public Affairs.
The Inclusive Technology Policy SRI graduated in June 2024 into an initiative of AU’s Shahal M. Khan Cyber and Economic Security Institute.
The Inclusive Tech Policy (ITP) focuses on advancing inclusivity in global technology policy by lifting underrepresented voices. Technological innovation forms the foundation of modern society. It underpins our collective ability to address global challenges ranging from the environment and health care to human rights and national security. The policies that guide the design, development and use of technology determine, to a large extent, the role that these innovations play in society. As such, technology policies, and the policymakers who shape them, are powerful arbiters of future human welfare.
AU community members influence global technology policy through research, workforce development, policy engagement, and community building activities designed to advance inclusive technology policy, strengthen global leadership, and achieve a more socially equitable technology infrastructure.
