This project centers around interviews with professional and/or personal acquaintances of Elinor and Vincent Ostrom. Every interview explores a unique relationship with the Ostroms and the continuing impact of the Ostrom Workshop at Indiana University. Elinor (Lin) and Vincent Ostrom founded the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis in 1973.The Ostrom Workshop has been the catalyst for worldwide collaboration in the field of public policy and environmental issues. "Coming Together" is an interdisciplinary exploration of the legacy and impact of Elinor (Lin) and Vincent Ostrom. Major topics include; academia, "the commons", cross-disciplinary collaboration, Elinor Ostrom's Nobel Prize, the Ostrom Workshop, political science, political theory, and the Workshop on the Ostrom Workshop (WOW) conference. The project was created to assist in the dissertation research of Sara Catherine Clark, who was a doctoral candidate within the School of Education, pursing a Ph.D. in History, Philosophy, and Policy in Education, at Indiana University Bloomington. Sara Catherine Clark's dissertation was completed in 2019 and is cited as follows: Clark, S. C. (2019). Elinor ostrom: A biography of interdisciplinary life.
Dr. Paul Dragos Aligica is a professor in the Economics Department in Politics and Economics at Mercatus Center at George Mason University. Dragos Aligica first met Elinor and Vincent Ostrom at the Workshop but was familiar with their work before arriving there. He discusses the way academic institutions work and the way the Ostroms didn't conform to those rules. Later he discusses collaborating with the Ostroms through the Ostrom Workshop. Dragos Aligica also recalls Elinor Ostrom as a teacher and her humor. He goes on to discuss how the Ostroms intellectual lineage will be looked at in the future. The interview concludes with talk about the Workshop on the Ostrom Workshop (WOW) Conference and a more in-depth talk about the Ostrom Workshop.
Brett Frischmann is a law professor at Villanova University. Frischmann met Elinor Ostrom in Chicago where she gave a guest lecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He reflects how Elinor Ostrom influenced his research and her strengths as a mentor. He then discusses how Ostrom's work with the commons and methodologies will be looked at in the future. As an affiliate faculty member of the Ostrom Workshop, Frischmann is able to discuss his vision for the Ostrom Workshop going forward.
In this interview Meinzen-Dick discusses her relationship with Elinor (Lin) Ostrom and how they met, through the International Food Policy Research Institute and the International Association for Study of the Commons (IASC). She goes on to discuss collaboration through the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CIGAR), avoiding hagiography, the IASC conferences, the Ostrom Workshop, and Elinor Ostrom's influence as a role model for women faculty.