Arie Kruglanski, a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Psychology, will join a Bellagio Center alumni list that includes greats like Ruth Bader Ginsberg and Maya Angelou

University of Maryland Distinguished University Professor Arie Kruglanski has been invited to participate in The Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center Residency Program, a monthlong residency program in Bellagio, Italy that has welcomed more than 5,000 artists, policymakers, scholars, authors, practitioners, scientists, Nobel Laureates, and McArthur genius awardees hailing from countries all over the world. 

As a Bellagio Center resident, Kruglanski will spend four weeks living and working alongside 14 other leading artists, scholars, and nonprofit leaders in an effort to jointly develop potential solutions to the world’s greatest challenges. The Center welcomes about 120 new residents each year, who come to the Center for one month in groups of 15.

“This is a unique opportunity and I feel extremely privileged for having been invited,” said Kruglanski, a Department of Psychology (PSYC) faculty member whose research interests have centered on how people form judgments, beliefs, impressions, and attitudes, and how that impacts their interpersonal relations, their interaction in groups, and their feelings about various "out groups." Kruglanski has developed multiple theories related to that work, including a “lay epistemics” theory on how individuals, both scientists and lay persons  come to form their attitudes, opinions, beliefs, impressions, and stereotypes on various issues.

Kruglanski’s work has been cited more than 70,000 times, and featured in major news outlets such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Huffington Post. He has shared his expertise on a number of pressing issues, including on the psychological drivers of shooters, world leaders like Vladimir Putin, and—in his role with the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism—terrorists. 

“Arie's lifetime of work has addressed fundamental questions of social cognition and its applications to real-world problems, including such timely topics as violent extremism and political activism,” said Michael Dougherty, PSYC professor and chair. “His work embodies our college's mission to ‘Be the Solution,’ and he could not be more deserving of this opportunity.”

Kruglanski has also authored numerous books, including The Three Pillars of Radicalization: Needs, Narratives and Networks (co-authored with Jocelyn J. Bélanger, and Rohan Gunaratna); The Radical’s Journey: How German Neo Nazis Voyaged to the Edge and Back (co-authored with David Webber and Daniel Koehler); The Motivated Mind; The Psychology of Closed Mindedness; Lay Epistemics and Human Knowledge; and most recently, Uncertain: How to Turn Your Biggest Fear into Your Greatest Power.

During his four weeks at the Bellagio Center, Kruglanski plans to spend time working on his next book on the human motive to matter, Questing Significance.

“I have discovered this to be a major social motivation that affects all of us as individuals, and that also spawns social movements that chart the history of the world, and determine the destiny of nations,” explained Kruglanski. 

Kruglanski says that he is “excited” about working on his book, and spending time exchanging ideas with his fellow 2024 Bellagio Center program participants.

"The Rockefeller Foundation only asks the world's top minds to attend its Bellagio Center, and Arie Kruglanski is most definitely that," said BSOS Dean Susan Rivera. "The College of Behavioral and Social Sciences is so proud to have Arie among its faculty, and joins him in celebrating this milestone achievement. Congratulations, Arie; we cannot wait to see what thoughtful insights you share with the world next."

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