We asked the CASBS Fellows of 2014-15 which of the former in habitants of their studies (the Ghosts listed outside each room) they would most like to speak with. Their responses follow:
Kyle Bagwell, Donald L. Lucas Professor in Economics, Stanford University.
“One of my ghosts is Bob Gibbons, who is a CASBS fellow this year as well. It has been wonderful to have the opportunity to speak regularly with Bob this year. Other ghosts include several current colleagues, a co-author and a former classmate in graduate school. I have learned a lot from all of them!”
Ivano Caponigro, Linguistics, University of California at San Diego.
“I chose my study (#47) because it was Solomon Feferman's study in 1995-96. He was Richard Montague's fellow in graduate school (And Montague is the scholar I'm writing a biography of). The two of them stayed in touch and worked together after they graduated. Sol and his wife Anita supported my project of a biography of Montague from the very beginning, the two of them having written a great biography of Sol's and Montague's advisor, the Polish logician Alfred Tarski. This quarter I have organized a seminar on Montague at Stanford with Sol. I see him several times a week and when I don't, I imagine talking to him in our "shared" study. He's 86 with a beautiful mind that keeps making me feel ashamed of mine.”
Joshua Dienstag, Professor of Political Science and Law, UCLA.
“I’m pretty sure Arthur Koestler would have made for an interesting dinner companion. He spoke so many languages, wrote so many books and believed so many things over the course of his amazing life - it would have been hard to have a boring conversation with him.”
Mary L. Dudziak, Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law, Emory University.
“The ghost in my study (#11) who I would most like to meet is May Brodbeck. She was a philosopher of science, and was a female leader in higher education at a time when women were scarce. Her legacy includes not only her scholarship, but also pioneering feminist programs. A dear friend holds a chair that is named for her. I love the fact that she is not listed as deceased on the "ghosts" list, but instead still at the University of Iowa, where she continues to be warmly remembered.”
Richard A. Leo, Hamill Family Chair in Law and Social Psychology, Professor of Law and Dean's Circle Scholar, University of San Francisco.
“Thomas Sowell is probably the ghost I would most like to meet. He writes a book a year on different topics and publishes numerous op-eds, so there'd be plenty to talk about!”
Kent Lightfoot, Anthropology, University of California at Berkeley.
“Of all the ghosts in my study, I would love to talk with Sherwood Washburn, a very prominent biological anthropologist at UC Berkeley in the late 1950s through 1970s. I would be delighted to talk with him about the field of anthropology in the post World War II days and about life at UC Berkeley.”