News
Don’t Know Much About Charter Schools
Some two decades into the grand national experiment with charter schools, how much do we really know about them? Not all that much. And not nearly as much as we easily could, say researchers from the UC San Diego Division of Social Sciences. Writing in the journal Science, Julian Betts of Economics and UC President Emeritus Richard Atkinson say the best studies reflect only the best schools and must be boosted with “value-added” approaches for all the rest. read more...
All not Fine in ‘America’s Finest City’
Steve Erie of Urban Studies/Political Science and doctoral student Vlad Kogan gave a talk at the Libraries about their book, coauthored with alumnus Scott MacKenzie, “Paradise Plundered: Fiscal Crisis and Governance Failures in San Diego.” UCSD-TV was there to record. read more...
Two Social Scientists Among 2011 AAAS Fellows
Carol Padden of Communication and Dena Plemmons of Anthropology have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the nation’s largest scientific organization. read more...
Uniquely Human
Katerina Semendeferi of Anthropology is one of the leading researchers discussing uniquely human features of the brain as part of UCSD-TV’s series on the Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny, or CARTA. read more...
Is America Exceptional?
A CNN.com op-ed by David Lake of Political Science, arguing that liberals and conservatives believe the U.S. is exceptional for very different reasons, has generated a tremendous amount of online conversation. read more...
Recent Grads Co-Found GiveYourGap.org
Kimberly Ang and Amber Rackliffe – 2011 graduates from the divisions of Arts & Humanities and Social Sciences, respectively – have won the Founders’ Celebration “What R U Doing?” video contest. Their piece is about an online resource Ang and Rackliffe cofounded to help young people explore opportunities for social good across the globe, GiveYourGap.org. read more...
Funny Finding: Men Win Humor Test (by a Hair)
Men are funnier than women, but only just barely and mostly to other men. So says a study out of Psychology by alumna and post-doc Laura Mickes and professor Nicholas Christenfeld. Using a version of The New Yorker cartoon caption contest, the researchers find the gender stereotype is upheld partly by memory bias. read more...
Making a Difference in the Lives of Girls and Women
Gerry Mackie of Political Science, co-director of the Center on Global Justice, has been studying and advising the NGO Tostan since 1998. The New York Times covered Tostan’s successes and Mackie’s contribution to the effort in a front-page story on the mass abandonment of female genital cutting in Senegal. read more...
Colbert Spoils the Nation
Inspired by research out of Social Sciences’ Psychology Department, Colbert does a five-minute segment on how Americans can break out of their national blues – and reveals the “granddaddy of all spoilers.” more...
Step Up in Status: Education Studies Now Department
After nearly 40 years as a thriving academic program, Education Studies is now officially a department in the Division of Social Sciences. Amanda Datnow is founding chair. read more...
Events
Supper Club Presents “Paradise Plundered: Fiscal Crisis and Governance Failures in San Diego”
Wednesday, February 1, 2012, 5:30 PM
UC San Diego Faculty Club
Featuring Steve Erie
Professor of Political Science,
Director of the Urban Studies and Planning Program, UC San Diego
with Vladimir Kogan and Scott A. MacKenzie