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.
Julie England is an adjunct instructor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University Bloomington. England discusses her work on databases that began with the common-pool resources (CPR) database and evolved with new projects in the Ostrom Workshop. She also discusses the technological changes in the Ostrom Workshop, the creation of the Center for the Study of Institutions, Populations and Environmental Change, and the Workshop on the Workshop Conference. The interview then discusses the Ostroms on a personal level including Manitoulin Island and the Ostrom Workshop after the Ostroms.