An NDSU professor is playing a major role in a new online magazine that focuses on human progress and flourishing. The project is a collaboration of the Archbridge Institute and Clay Routledge, professor of management and faculty scholar at the Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth.
Routledge serves as editor for the new web-based publication titled Profectus that features thoughtful essays and interviews on improving the human condition.
“There is a lot of negativity, pessimism and division in our society right now. And many media outlets are part of the problem because they promote outrage, fear and conflict,” Routledge said. “We want to promote a more positive, hopeful and solution-focused approach – one that recognizes our ability as humans to come together, create, innovate and persevere in the face of adversity in order to solve problems and build a better tomorrow. We want to create a space for that kind of analysis and discussion.”
The first issue features a wide range of writers and topics, including an interview with Miami mayor Francis X. Suarez. Routledge also contributed an article, “Rediscovering the Bonds We Share.”
“In keeping with the overall theme of the magazine, we will continue to interview policymakers who are finding innovative ways to improve their communities, but also highlight those in the private sector, like business leaders and entrepreneurs, who have taken on big challenges and are finding new and interesting ways to solve problems. There also are social entrepreneurs doing great work on-the-ground changing lives in a positive way that deserve attention. We plan to interview people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, expertise and ideas.”
Routledge said readers will range from academics and policy researchers to people interested in positive change in their communities.
“Our magazine focuses on a wide range of issues and connects to many different disciplines such as economics, business, entrepreneurship, engineering, psychology, sociology, medicine, history, political science and public policy,” he said. “Our magazine features the work of scholars and scientists, but it is not an academic journal. All of our articles should be accessible to interested readers, regardless of their background or familiarity with a particular topic. We also have very cool custom art for each article we publish.”
Routledge, who joined NDSU in 2007, is a noted psychological scientist, writer, consultant, public speaker, and professor. He studies basic psychological needs and how those needs influence and are influenced by family, social and community bonds, economics, work and cultural worldviews. Much of his research focuses on the need for meaning in life.
He has published more than 100 scholarly papers, co-edited three books on existential psychology and written the books “Nostalgia: A Psychological Resource” and “Supernatural: death, Meaning, and the Power of the Invisible World.”
Routledge’s work has been featured in many major media outlets, and he has written articles for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Scientific American, National Review, Entrepreneur and Harvard Business Review. He was the lead writer for the TED-Ed lesson “Why Do We Feel Nostalgia?” He also is a senior research fellow at the Archbridge Institute.
Routledge earned his bachelor’s degree at Missouri Southern State University and his master’s degree and doctorate at the University of Missouri in Columbia.
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