Humanities and the Arts

The arts—from visual arts and literature to performing arts such as music, drama, and dance—provide benefits that extend beyond individual enjoyment and personal enrichment, to include exposure to new perspectives, sharpened learning skills among young people, expanded capacity for empathy, and stronger social bonds in communities. RAND studies have shown that the many benefits of arts education and involvement can be sustained and enhanced by strengthening public appreciation of humanities and the arts.

  • A still from a powerful animated video created by RAND artists-in-residence Juan Delcan and Valentina Izaguirre, known as V+J, to show how Russian propaganda spreads—and how it can influence its audience by entertaining, confusing, and overwhelming them.

    Project

    Russia's Propaganda Model

    RAND artists-in-residence Juan Delcan and Valentina Izaguirre, known as V+J, created a powerful animated video to show how Russian propaganda spreads—and how it can influence its audience by entertaining, confusing, and overwhelming them.

    May 24, 2022

  • A still frame from a short film created by artist-in-residence V+J. The video summarizes RAND’s 2021 paper on geoengineering as a tool to address global warming.

    Project

    The Risks of Geoengineering

    Geoengineering—the intentional manipulation of the climate—could help curb global warming, but it could also have world-altering consequences. In a new animated video, RAND artists-in-residence Juan Delcan and Valentina Izaguirre take a lighthearted look at this serious issue.

    Apr 27, 2022

  • RAND Weekly Recap

    Blog

    Insights on Russia's War in Ukraine, Global Citizenship, Vaccination Equity: RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on Russia's war on Ukraine, medication treatment for patients with opioid use disorder, promoting global citizenship in America, and more.

    Mar 25, 2022

  • Portrait of artist team V+J.

    Content

    V+J: RAND Artist in Residence

    Juan Delcan and Valentina Izaguirre, known as V+J, are an artist team based in Los Angeles, CA. They use live action, animation, and 3D techniques as mediums to create films; they also create paintings and sculpture.

    Mar 23, 2022

  • A still frame from a visual story created by V+J. The animation uses a “perpetual zoom” technique to immerse viewers in RAND research about vaccination equity, art by V+J

    Project

    Promoting Vaccination Equity

    RAND's analysis of the Equity-First Vaccination Initiative inspired Juan Delcan and Valentina Izaguirre, the artist team known as V+J, to create a unique visual story about how to support equitable access to COVID-19 information and vaccinations.

    Mar 23, 2022

  • Periodical

    Periodical

    RAND Review: March-April 2022

    The cover story describes a yearlong study of a group of military veterans experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles. Other features examine the global digital skills gap and the magnitude and sources of disagreement among gun policy experts.

    Mar 10, 2022

  • Illustrated graph shows how Costa Rica could reach net-zero emissions by 2050 under its National Decarbonization Plan. Achieving net-zero emissions is estimated to create a net economic benefit of $40.9 billion, visualization by Gabrielle Mérite

    Project

    Costa Rica's Carbon-Neutral Future

    In her final piece for RAND Art + Data, Gabrielle Mérite brings one country's vision for a carbon-neutral future to life. Her designs are based on RAND research that analyzed the potential outcomes of Costa Rica's National Decarbonization Plan.

    Feb 23, 2022

  • RAND Weekly Recap

    Blog

    Preventing Civilian Casualties, Drinking During the Pandemic, Vaccination Equity: RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on reforming the Pentagon's policies on civilian casualties, checking in on school principals' well-being, alcohol use in the COVID-19 era, and more.

    Jan 28, 2022

  • RAND Weekly Recap

    Blog

    U.S.-Russia Diplomacy, Citizen Science, America's Blood Supply: RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on U.S.-Russia diplomacy in the context of the Ukraine crisis, the value of citizen science, strengthening the America's blood supply, and more.

    Jan 21, 2022

  • Gabrielle Mérite's visual essay features words and phrases used in RAND's report, Violent Extremism in America, to describe radicalization and deradicalization.

    Content

    Describing (De)Radicalization

    RAND artist-in-residence Gabrielle Mérite has created visual essays that show the personal experiences of individuals involved with violent extremism. These essays are based on interviews that RAND researchers conducted to learn more about what leads people to join—and later leave—extremist groups.

    Jan 18, 2022

  • A sound sculpture called Click::RAND by Paul Dunham on a background of RAND's report, A Million Random Digits, photo courtesy of Paul Dunham

    Blog

    What Sounds Do a Million Random Digits Make?

    The title of RAND's 1955 classic, A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates, doesn't exactly dance off the page. But Paul Dunham, a sound artist in New Zealand, thought the work could make its own kind of music.

    Jan 5, 2022

  • Portrait of Information Designer Gabrielle Mérite

    Content

    Gabrielle Mérite: RAND Artist in Residence

    Gabrielle Mérite is an information designer specializing in empathetic data visualizations for truth-seeking, ethically driven organizations. As a RAND artist-in-residence, her work pushed creative boundaries and shaped new perspectives of important issues.

    Dec 14, 2021

  • Photographic data visualization by Gabrielle Mérite representing the prices of brand-name drugs with real money on a blue background. For the same pill, the U.S cost is $10 while Germany and Canada’s cost would be $3.50, Japan's $3.25, the UK's $3.00 and Mexico's $2.75.

    Project

    Comparing International Prescription Drug Prices

    Prescription drug prices in the United States average 2.56 times those in 32 other nations. In a new animation, information designer Gabrielle Mérite illustrates this subject that may seem distant from American consumers but has a concrete impact on their health and finances.

    Dec 14, 2021

  • A collage depicting the different voices, people, and generations that shape a community, illustration by Jonathan Key/Morcos Key

    Project

    What Does a Portrait of Community Stress Look Like?

    Just as it does in the human body, stress can build in a community over time, making it harder to respond to future traumas and crises. Design studio Morcos Key created a powerful animation that depicts community stress—and what can be done to overcome it.

    Nov 22, 2021

  • Two people embrace while sitting on a rocky shoreline and looking across the horizon, Antelias, Lebanon, May 2009, photo by Wael Morcos

    Project

    Crossing the Digital Divide: How Refugees Use Mobile Technology

    Morcos Key's second visualization for RAND Art + Data explores how millions of refugees around the world rely on technology—particularly mobile phones—for survival, to connect to the past, and for a chance at a better future.

    Oct 13, 2021

  • An illustration visualizing a new 21st century workforce development system, artwork by Morcos Key

    Project

    A 21st-Century Workforce Development System

    Design studio Morcos Key created an animated illustration that envisions how America's workforce development system could be transformed to better support 21st-century workers, employers, and educators.

    Sep 22, 2021

  • Portrait of Morcos Key

    Content

    Morcos Key: RAND Artists in Residence

    Morcos Key is the Brooklyn-based design studio of Jon(athan) Key and Wael Morcos. Their mission is to tell stories by creating visual systems that demonstrate how thoughtful conversation and formal expression make for impactful design.

    Sep 22, 2021

  • Periodical

    Periodical

    RAND Review: September-October 2021

    The cover story highlights strategies to mitigate homegrown terrorism and ideologically inspired violence in the U.S. A second feature describes Costa Rica's ambitious decarbonization plan and its implications for nations around the world.

    Sep 7, 2021

  • RAND Weekly Recap

    Blog

    U.S. Failure in Afghanistan, Critical Race Theory Bans, Income Inequality: RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on how early mistakes led to America's failure in Afghanistan, the potential effects of critical race theory bans, an art installation that breaks down RAND data on income inequality, and more.

    Sep 3, 2021

  • An art installation showing income inequality in the United States from 1975 to 2018, artwork by Giorgia Lupi

    Project

    Connecting the Dots on Income Inequality

    Based on RAND data, a physical installation created by information designer Giorgia Lupi shows income inequality in the United States over the last four decades. The sculpture also evokes the deeper societal ideas and meanings behind these numbers.

    Aug 31, 2021

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