PRISE had its originations in the Spring of 2020 at a key inflection point in the United States when the devastating health, economic, and educational impacts of the novel coronavirus were laid bare. The inequitable impact of both the virus and policy responses to the virus based on race, socio-economic status, immigration status, and indigeneity began to come into focus for many Americans. This moment was also characterized by rising anti-Asian sentiment as well as outrage about a series of deadly encounters between Black citizens at the hands of police officers, leading to new awareness and conversations about the continuing role of race and racism in contemporary society. Since this time, these concerns and many efforts to address them, have fallen prey to a palpable political divide in our nation that is itself a barrier to the resolution of these and other societal issues.
We believe the vast societal issues require a social science that can speak to these complex forces that give rise to them with unbiased evidence that can bring people together in the service of creating a more equitable and just nation. PRISE was launched to answer this call.
We aim to produce, curate, and disseminate behavioral science that can facilitate the bending of the arc of the moral universe towards justice.