UVA faculty Cristina Richieri Griffin and Kirsten Gelsdorf have secured a National Endowment for the Arts Big Read grant for “Poe at UVA,” marking the bicentennial of Edgar Allan Poe’s time on Grounds. The cross-disciplinary initiative uses Poe’s legacy to spark reading culture through exhibitions, book clubs, lectures and community events across Charlottesville.
Data analysis and artificial intelligence offer new ways to inform public policy, but using those tools effectively requires context and careful analysis.
UVA cybersecurity expert Daniel Graham examines the privacy risks of Flock license plate readers, explaining how connected camera networks enable warrantless mass surveillance. He compares safeguards used for cell-site data under Carpenter v. United States, discusses real misuse cases, and outlines what technical fixes and policy changes could make these systems trustworthy.
UVA philosopher Justin Bernstein questions whether Mill’s harm principle truly justifies vaccine mandates, especially when herd immunity limits an individual’s impact on others. In a new paper, he argues justice-based reasoning—weighing competing entitlements rather than direct harm—may offer a stronger philosophical foundation for mandates covering diseases like measles and COVID-19.
UVA economist W. Ben McCartney explains what 25 years of mortgage data reveal about borrowing, home prices and the risks facing today’s buyers.
As AI adoption accelerates, alignment concerns aren’t limited to frontier labs like Anthropic and OpenAI. Darden faculty argue every organization deploying AI agents must address alignment internally, using stakeholder theory, broad employee involvement, clear purpose, aligned incentives and psychological safety to guide responsible, human-centered AI integration into workplace decisions now.
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The National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology visited UVA for a day exploring the university’s work in biotechnology, AI, data science, and research security. Led by alumna Caitlin Frazer, the visit included tours, student discussions, and sessions highlighting UVA’s role in advancing national security priorities and innovation.
Christine Mahoney, professor at UVA’s Batten School, presented research from her book Banking on Belonging at a Nairobi conference hosted by the World Bank and UNHCR. Her work reframes refugees as entrepreneurs and investors rather than burdens, introducing a Refugee Lens Investing framework that demonstrates how economic inclusion benefits both displaced populations and host communities.
Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket are booming, letting people bet on everything from elections to reality TV winners. In this episode of Good Disruption, Yael and Mike talk with economist Robin Hanson about how these markets work, who shapes them, and the risks around gambling, insider trading, and incentives.
UVA Batten faculty Ben Goehring and Craig Volden earn national recognition for innovative state governance research. Goehring’s award-winning dissertation examines public sector employee turnover using state personnel data, while Volden’s Center for Effective Lawmaking introduces the first effectiveness scores for state legislators, advancing data-driven policy solutions and ethical leadership.