Frequently Asked Questions

The Center on Modernity in Transition (COMIT) is an independent research institute. Grounded in the principle of human oneness, we develop new frameworks for understanding the world through scholarship, publication, and intellectual community, working alongside, but independent of, the university.

Rather than running a set of separate programs, COMIT is organized around a single, ongoing inquiry into what the oneness of humankind means and what follows from it. We return to foundational questions over time, reason from first principles, and test emerging ideas across fields. Our public conversations, workshops, PhD academies, and publications are the places where that one conversation unfolds and draws in new participants. See how it fits together.

We mean that humanity is, in a fundamental sense, a single people: not despite our differences, but alongside them. Our About page explains the idea more fully and how it shapes our research.

No. COMIT is an independent nonprofit. We collaborate closely with universities and institutes, including New York University's Institute for Public Knowledge and Duke University's Center for International Development, on events, research, and programs.

Yes. All of our public conversations and speaker series are open to the public and free to attend. Workshops and symposia are small, intensive gatherings, and participation is usually by invitation.

Many of them. Depending on the event, you'll find a recording, a published transcript, or a summary. Browse the full archive on our Public Conversations page.

Subscribe to our newsletter, which announces new conversations, gatherings, and publications. You can also follow us on LinkedIn, YouTube, and X.

Pivot Press is COMIT's publishing imprint. Its volumes grow out of sustained collaborative inquiry, bringing scholars, practitioners, and engaged communities into dialogue. Explore its books and essays at pivotpress.org.

Yes. All Pivot Press publications are freely available as open-access PDFs under Creative Commons licensing. Carefully designed print editions are also available for those who want them.

Pivot Press doesn't accept standalone manuscript proposals. Its essays and volumes grow out of the ongoing conversation at the heart of COMIT: ideas developed in our speaker series, workshops, and sustained scholarly relationships take durable form in print, and our publications feed back into that conversation. If you have an idea you'd like to explore with us, we'd welcome hearing from you at info@pivotpress.org.

Most people first join through our public conversations, which are open to everyone. Emerging scholars can take part through our PhD academies and fellowships. If your own work engages these questions, we'd be glad to hear from you.

Use the contact form on our homepage or write to us at info@comitresearch.org. We read every message.