| Founder(s) | F.A. "Baldy" Harper[1] |
|---|---|
| Type | Educational foundation IRS exemption status: 501(c)(3)[1] |
| Tax ID No. | 941623852[2] |
| Founded | 1961[1] |
| Location | Arlington, Virginia [2] |
| Key people | President Marty Zupan[2] |
| Area served | United States |
| Focus | Civil society, civic engagement and social entrepreneurship[2][3] |
| Mission | Peace, prosperity, and social harmony from a greater understanding of human affairs [2][3] |
| Method | Research and education[2][3] |
| Revenue | $6,977,345 (2010)[2] |
| Website | theihs.org |
The Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) is a classical liberal non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to support the achievement of a freer society by discovering and facilitating the development of talented, productive students, scholars, and other intellectuals who share an interest in liberty and who demonstrate the potential to help change the current climate of opinion to one more congenial to the principles and practice of freedom."[2][4]
Over the years, IHS has awarded millions of dollars in scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students.[5][6][7][8][9] IHS offers seminars for hundreds of students each year.[10][11] In addition to its educational programs, IHS provides various forms of career assistance, including paid internships, to students and recent graduates pursuing careers in academia, journalism, and public policy.[12][9]
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The Institute for Humane Studies was founded in 1961 in Menlo Park, California by F. A. "Baldy" Harper.[1][13] Harper founded IHS in order to "set up an institute devoted to research and education in the conviction that greater understanding of human affairs and freedom would foster peace, prosperity, and social harmony." [14][2][3] Before founding IHS, Harper was a professor of marketing at Cornell University and was involved with the William Volker Fund and the Foundation for Economic Education.[15][3][16] IHS was originally housed in Harper's garage.[16][17][9] Harper initially served as the secretary and treasurer of IHS. He became the Institute's president in 1966, a position he held until his death in 1973. [18][19]
Leonard Liggio, who is currently a Distinguished Senior Scholar at IHS, was also involved in the Institute's early days. Liggio provided editorial direction for Literature of Liberty: A Review of Contemporary Liberal Thought, a periodical published by the Cato Institute from 1978-1979 and by IHS from 1980-1982.[20][16][9]
IHS moved to Fairfax, Virginia in 1985 and began an association with George Mason University.[13] The Institute is currently located in Arlington, Virginia, in the George Mason University School of Law.[13] IHS's sister organization is the Mercatus Center.[21][22]
The current president of IHS is Marty Zupan, formerly editor of Reason magazine.[23]The chair of its board of directors is Charles G. Koch.[24] The other members of the board of directors are John Blundell, Richard H. Fink, Jerome Fullinwider, Timothy Otis Browne, Tyler Cowen, Art Pope, David Humphreys, Eric O'Keefe, Todd Zywicki, William Sumner, Kristina Kendall, and Craig Johnson.[25] In 2010, IHS had just over $7 million in revenue.[25] IHS has received funding from a number of foundations, including the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the Koch Family Foundations, and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation.[26][13]
Each summer, IHS runs a series of 12 free, week-long summer seminars for university students from around the world. Seminars are interdisciplinary and include lectures on history, economics, philosophy, law, and political science. Seminar themes include the value of property rights, limited government, peace, natural rights, free trade, individual autonomy, and the morality of free enterprise. There are introductory and advanced seminars, as well as seminars geared toward students planning careers in public policy, academia, and journalism.[27][13] IHS also runs weekend on-campus seminars during the academic year.[13] IHS and Liberty Fund co-sponsor the Advanced Topics in Liberty program, which is an invitation-only, discussion-based weekend conference series.[28] For graduate students pursuing academic careers, IHS sponsors invitation-only Career Development Seminars designed to help students "land a job in academia, gain tenure, and contribute to the academic and intellectual conversation."[13]
Each summer, IHS runs the Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program. The program runs for 10 weeks, and includes a paid public policy internship with two career and policy seminars. Fellows are placed at one of 80 partner think tanks and policy organizations across the United States.[13][8][29] IHS also runs a year-round journalism internship program that places aspiring journalists who support individual liberty, free markets, and peace at media companies and non-profit newsrooms.[10]
Through its Humane Studies Fellowship program, IHS awards scholarships to undergraduate and graduate students embarking on "liberty-advancing careers in ideas."[5] [6] [7] [8] Each summer, through the Summer Graduate Research Fellowship, IHS gives $5,000 stipends to young academics "to refine and complete a publishable scholarly article or thesis chapter that engages ideas within the classical liberal tradition."[5] [6] [7] [8]
In 2010, IHS launched LearnLiberty.org, a website providing educational videos on libertarian ideas.[30][31] The site's stated goals are “to provide a starting point for conversations on important questions: What is the nature of man and society? What are the best ways to organize human society? What is the proper role for government?” Notable guest lecturers featured on LearnLiberty include David Schmidtz of the University of Arizona and Jeffrey Miron of Harvard University.[32]
IHS maintains Kosmos, a networking website for classical liberal academics. The site's goal is to "provide career advice and intellectual resources for liberty advancing academics." The term "kosmos" comes from Friedrich Hayek's use of the term in Law, Legislation and Liberty.[33]
IHS also operates Politopia.com, an educational interactive website based on the Nolan Chart.[34] Through a series of questions, the website places participants on a four-sided political map. Its purpose is to help individuals conceptualize their own political views.[34]
Each year, IHS awards an alumnus of its programs with the Charles G. Koch Outstanding IHS Alum Award. The award is given in recognition of "significant contributions to advancing liberty."[35] Past award winners include libertarian legal theorist and law professor Randy Barnett; Kris Mauren, co-founder of the Acton Institute; law professor Todd Zywicki; Kristina Kendall, executive producer for John Stossel; political science professor John Tomasi; Scott Bullock, senior attorney at the Institute for Justice; economist Peter Boettke; John Hood, president of the John Locke Foundation; and David Schmidtz, a professor of philosophy and economics.[36][35][37]
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