“Design is not about making something look pretty. It’s about making the world work better. I mean everything, from your cellphone to health care to education to our impact on the environment. That’s what we’re focused on." -- Don Norman, founding chair of Cogntive Science at UC San Diego and a former Apple VP, on returning to campus to head the university's Design Lab. The lab is a campus-wide initiative bringing together numerous disciplines to explore design and shape its future. Read more in this U-T feature.
News Archive
2022
3 Reasons Local Climate Activism Is More Powerful Than People Realize
“Group action targeted at local decision-makers is a time-honored tradition – and I believe necessary in the current political environment for action on climate change,” writes Adam Aron of Psychology in The Conversation. The piece, which draws on research Aron did for his new book, “The Climate Crisis,” was picked up by Salon and other outlets.
VoxDev’s Most-Read Article
Prashant Bharadwaj of Economics is co-author, along with a Stanford colleague, of VoxDev’s most-read article, “Drawing the Line: The Short- and Long-term Consequences of Partitioning India.”
Health Care Off the Books
If people living in the United States don’t have access to health care, what do they do when they get sick? That’s one of the fundamental questions that Danielle Raudenbush of Sociology has been working to answer, first by conducting fieldwork with low-income African Americans in a public housing development and now with Mexican immigrants in San Diego. “I think until we really understand the roots of health inequality, until we really understand how people are getting care, or are not getting care, or the informal strategies they’re using, we won’t be able to effectively address these problems.”
9 Ways to Be a Better Conversationalist
People consistently underestimate how much other people like them, a phenomenon social psychologists have dubbed “the liking gap.” Research also shows that we underestimate how much others think of us after a conversation. “Many people spend a lot of time evaluating themselves or thinking about what other people will think of them. In general, this interferes with connecting with others,” says Gail Heyman of Psychology in Popular Science.
Tackling Sexual Harassment Could Bring Sizeable Economic Dividends
“Five years after the MeToo movement gripped the world, the problem of sexual harassment continues to dog the economics profession,” reports the Economist. The story cites research by UC San Diego economist Gordon Dahl and Matthew Knepper of the University of Georgia showing that workers’ fears of being unemployed may help drive underreporting. Dahl and Knepper’s study also shows the way to possible solutions: They find that before unemployment benefits were cut in North Carolina in 2013, workers were more likely to report harassment.
A World Gone Mad: Schizophrenia and a Journey Through California’s Failed Mental Health System
“The great failure of public policy over the last 50 years is how we discharged people from mental hospitals with no replacement,” Andrew Scull of Sociology told the Los Angeles Times. The in-depth feature quotes not only Scull, who has for decades been studying the history of mental illness and its treatment, but also UC San Diego sociologist Neil Gong, whose in-progress book examines inequality in mental health care.
Only One Safe Parking Lot for Homeless People in San Diego Accepts RVs
A story in the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that in 2022, the San Diego City Council agreed to fund 24-hour service at a safe parking lot in Mission Valley after the release of a study by the Homelessness Hub/Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Among the findings in the two-year study was that RV owners strongly wanted a parking lot where they could stay around the clock.
A Legacy of Support for UC San Diego Students
Retired lecturer Peter Galderisi, and his wife, Holly Gottschalk Galderisi, have designated support to internships for undergraduate students in the Krinsk-Houston Law and Politics Initiative within the Department of Political Science, as well as to scholarships for women scholar-athletes.
Partisan Gap on Trust in U.S. Elections Has Grown Even Wider, Survey Finds
While Democrats and independents reported greater confidence in election accuracy and integrity after the 2022 midterms, Republican confidence did not increase – widening the partisan gap. This is one of the key findings of a national survey from the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research at UC San Diego, led by political scientist Thad Kousser. A more hopeful finding, with important implications for solutions: Real-world public information efforts to assure voters of election safeguards create an uptick in confidence across the political spectrum. The research was featured in The San Diego Union-Tribune and on KPBS Midday Edition.
Voting Boost
Election research pioneered by political scientist Zoltan Hajnal, co-director of the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research, is not only having a real-world impact in California but is starting to take root beyond the state. In the 2022 midterms, voters approved measures requiring that municipal elections be held on the same day as state or national races – a move that is expected to significantly boost turnout and broaden the electorate. The story was also distributed by the University of California.
Curse Words Around the World Have Something in Common (We Swear)
Ben Bergen of Cognitive Science comments on a study about curse words worldwide in a New York Times piece. “What this paper finds for the first time is that taboo words across languages, unrelated to each other, may pattern similarly,” Bergen says.
How Big a Comeback Did Ticket Splitting Make This Year?
Gary Jacobson of Political Science provided his expert opinion in a Governing piece that discusses an increase in ticket splitting in this year’s elections. Separately, research by Jacobson was referenced in a Bloomberg analysis of the midterms that ran in the Washington Post and, looking ahead to 2024, Jacobson spoke with New York Times columnist Tom Edsall about fractures in the Republican party and the possible effects of former President Donald Trump’s bid for the presidency.
Signing Science Series: Carol Padden
Dean of the School of Social Sciences, a doctoral alumna of Linguistics, and professor in Communication Carol Padden is featured in an hour-long video part of the Signing Science series from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The interview is conducted by Ben Bergen of Cognitive Science, who also serves as one of the school’s associate deans. The entire series can be viewed online at Rochester Institute of Technology.
Econometer: Should Businesses Pause Advertising on Twitter?
Twitter has had a rough time under Elon Musk’s new ownership, and some large companies have stopped advertising on the platform, citing a rise in hate speech and misinformation. James Hamilton of Economics comments on the matter as a member of the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Econometer panel, stating “I’m deeply troubled by the fragmentation of America into isolated groups who won’t talk with or listen to each other. … The suggested boycott of Twitter is not about hate speech. It’s a coordinated effort by those in power to bring Elon Musk down.” The piece also appeared in the Kansas City Star. Another Econometer article asked whether U.S. viewership of the World Cup might exceed the Super Bowl in 2026 and Hamilton says he doesn’t think so.
A Deep Look into Mental Health
Bonnie Kaiser of Anthropology and Global Health was a featured guest speaker in this virtual panel examining multiple aspects of mental health. If you missed the live event, a UCTV YouTube video is now available.
Archaeologists Devise a Better Clock for Biblical Times
The New York Times reports that new research harnesses information from 20 international scholars to map out a geomagnetic data set of 21 layers of historical destruction across 17 sites in the Holy Land in an attempt to check the historical authenticity of Old Testament accounts of conflicts. With this new data set, we can narrow things down to a decadal level,” said Tom Levy of Anthropology, who was not involved with the study. “That is super important when trying to connect ancient historical events to the archaeological record.”
As More GOP Governors Race to Ban TikTok on State Devices, a Federal Ban Looms
Thad Kousser of Political Science provided his expertise to NPR as the U.S. Senate considered banning TikTok on federal devices: “A central tenet of what unites Republicans now,” Kousser said, “ is taking a strong stance [and] standing up to China.”
Opinion: Those Who Say Ukraine Should Negotiate with Russia Don’t Understand How Putin Sees the War
“Every day, commentators assert that it is time for Ukraine to negotiate with Russia, to give diplomacy a chance,” writes war-termination expert Branislav Slantchev of Political Science in the San Diego Union-Tribune. “But these calls for concessions are premised on misunderstanding how the war might look to Putin and those around him. The domestic, international and military actions of the Kremlin indicate that Putin believes Russia can win this war, and that he is hunkering down for a protracted conflict.”
California Team Awarded Federal Grant to Uncover Pandemic Impact on PreK-12 Students
The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences has awarded a $3 million grant to a research team led by the Public Policy Institute of California, UC Berkeley School of Education, UC San Diego and California Department of Education to conduct a three-year study of pandemic recovery and equitable outcomes across 1,000 PreK-12 districts in the state. Co-PI Julian Betts of Economics and the San Diego Education Research Alliance (SanDERA) said: “Our contribution at UC San Diego will be to test which types of student support programs are making the biggest difference in helping students get back on track.”
Two Gifts Help Establish San Diego’s First Large-Scale, University-Based Resource on Homelessness
UC San Diego has launched the region’s first large-scale, university-based research and data hub focused exclusively on homelessness, thanks to campus friends Phyllis and Dan Epstein and Hanna and Mark Gleiberman. Each couple has donated $1 million to the university to establish the Homelessness Hub, which will serve as a non-partisan hub for research, education, policy and action on homelessness in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning. “It’s not research for research’s sake,” said USP’s Mirle Rabinowitz-Bussell in the San Diego Union-Tribune. “Our questions aren’t driven by the research team, but conversations with different community partners who say, ‘We’ve got a program. How is it working? How can it work better?” The launch of the Homelessness Hub was also covered by KPBS, La Jolla Light, Del Mar Times and more. Rabinowitz-Bussell is co-director of the endeavor with Leslie Lewis, also of USP. The Homelessness Hub received early seed-funding support from the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research at UC San Diego.
Political Scientist LaGina Gause Probes the Power of Protest
A new book by LaGina Gause of Political Science makes a novel argument: Protests by marginalized groups are more likely to spur change, despite the obstacles and backlash they often face when voicing grievances. Gause sat down to discuss her research with San Diego Union-Tribune columnist Lisa Deaderick at a public event in North Park, put together by the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research, with the Black Studies Project and others. You can read more in this ThisWeek story (also linked above), as well as in this Union-Tribune story, when Deaderick and Gause later revisited their conversation.
Small Acts of Gratitude Go a Long Way
Any season is a good season to be grateful, and even small acts of gratitude can go a long way to helping us feel better. Michael McCullough of Psychology discusses the positive effect on psychological well-being in a Thanksgiving special on KPBS Midday Edition.
2022 Outstanding Native Triton
Political Science doctoral student Alex Zhao, a member of the Navajo Nation, is this year’s Outstanding Native Triton. Zhao, who is conducting research on Indigenous American politics,was selected for the honor by demonstrating leadership and commitment to the Native American community at the university. In this UC San Diego Today story, Zhao’s contributions are celebrated by Elena Hood, director of UC San Diego’s Intertribal Resource Center Director and a doctoral alumna of Education Studies.
A Deep Look into Mental Health: Campus, Community & Around the World
Bonnie Kaiser of Anthropology and Global Health was a featured panelist in the “Deep Look” public speaker series, discussing her work to identify and address disparities in global mental health care. The webinar was covered by La Jolla Light, noting that Kaiser spoke about the different ways people around the globe experience and conceptualize mental health and how important it is to match treatment to those experiences.
Eight UC San Diego Researchers Among ‘1,000 Best Female Scientists in the World’
Terry Jernigan and Marta Kutas of Cognitive Science are among eight scientists at UC San Diego – and just 11 in all of San Diego, as reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune – to be selected in this first-ever ranking by Research.com. The analytics platform based its choices on the productivity, impact and contribution of the scholars, as well as their awards and achievements.
In the UC Strike, Professors Can’t Keep Up With Grading. Students Will Suffer
Lilly Irani of Communication published an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times addressing the strike by 48,000 academic workers across UC campuses. Irani elaborates on the daily struggle she has witnessed, stating that TAs will often take on multiple jobs in order to pay rent, thus prolonging the length of their PhD programs. In addition to the well-being of the TAs, Irani is also concerned for her undergraduate students. “The teaching assistants connect the material to students' aspirations and struggles. The teaching assistants are the ones who figure out how to engage students or notice when they fall through the cracks.”
Latinos Who Use Spanish-language Social Media Get More Misinformation
A study by researchers at UC San Diego and the Center for Social Media at NYU finds that “Latino people use social media differently than do White Americans. What’s more, Latino people who rely on Spanish-language social media are more likely to believe misinformation about election issues and are more likely to rely on social media for information about the coronavirus.” The researchers, including Marisa Abrajano of Political Science and Political Science Ph.D. student Marianna Garcia, described their work in a Washington Post “Monkey Cage” analysis.
The Turnout Story Emerging From The 2022 Midterm Elections
Political scientist Zoltan Hajnal, co-director of the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research, spoke with KPBS Midday Edition about voter turnout and representation.
What Does It Take to Reawaken a Native Language?
“Home to over 200 tribes and tribal communities speaking over 80 distinct languages, California is both a biocultural diversity hotspot and the epicenter of a linguistic crisis,” reports PBS station KCET. Yet there are numerous notable successes to reawaken Native languages and tribes are contesting the extinction stereotype. “One of the main things we've been pushing for,” explained Linguistics doctoral candidate Ray Huaute (Chumash/Cahuilla), “is to eliminate the use of the E-word (extinction), the D-word (dead) or the M-word (moribund), as if the language was a dying patient. We prefer to use the terms ‘sleeping language’ or ‘resting language.’”
Control of Congress Matters. But Which Party Now Runs Your State Might Matter More
“Where you live now increasingly determines what policies you live under,” Thad Kousser of Political Science told NPR. With gridlock at the federal level, governors and state legislatures shape daily life in the United States by making policy on guns, abortion,education and the environment. Kousser spoke with numerous outlets throughout the election season, including, among many others, the Associated Press, the San Diego Union-Tribune and NBC San Diego. With KPBS, Kousser discussed “How San Diego's Political Map Shifted From Red to Blue and What Comes Next.”
2022 UC San Diego Veteran of the Year
Carlos Martinez, information technology support supervisor in the School of Social Sciences, is UC San Diego Veteran of the Year. In total, Martinez, who is also a UC San Diego alum, has served the university for a combined 15 years. “As someone who has come from a poor, first-generation college graduate, Latino-Asian-Black background – and to overcome everything that I've kind of had to deal with – this nomination is an honor,” said Martinez.
Why 2022 May Bring a New Peak of Political Instability
Speaking with CNN ahead of the election, Gary Jacobson of Political Science said: “I don’t see either side getting a durable advantage. They are highly polarized parties, and they are very closely balanced overall.” Jacobson also spoke with USA Today.
Twelve New Faculty to Be Hired to Design Just Futures
School of Social Sciences’ departments where faculty will be hired in conjunction with the Design Lab are: Communication, Political Science, and Urban Studies and Planning. The story about the hiring initiative quotes Design Lab Director Mai Nguyen, who has an academic appointment in Urban Studies and Planning, AVC FEDI Vic Ferreira of Psychology and Teresa Ambo of Education Studies; it also mentions Keolu Fox of Anthropology and Muir Provost Wayne Yang of Ethnic Studies.
Reversing Losses in Learning After Covid
Karthik Muralidharan of Economics writes in the Hindustan Times (linked above) about his working paper investigating COVID-19 learning loss and recovery in India. Muralidharan elaborates on the different avenues to reverse the loss, such as keeping schools open and advocating for after-school programs that can aid marginalized students. The research was also featured in The Hindu.
How Well Are Pandemic Learning Recovery Tactics Working? UC San Diego Will Help Lead 3-Year Study
How have California’s 1,000 school districts been spending their COVID-19 recovery funds and how successful are they in curbing the loss of learning from the pandemic? UC San Diego, the Public Policy Institute of California, UC Berkeley School of Education, and the state Department of Education assembled a team of researchers to answer these questions, including co-PI Julian Betts of Economics. The federally funded project is featured in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
UC San Diego Grads Make an Ugly Christmas Sweater on a Massive Scale
Economics and Psychology alum Evan Mendelsohn and Nick Morton (Biology and Chemistry alum) “met when they were students at UC San Diego,” writes local columnist Diane Bell. “They since have followed their dream of creating what they believe to be the world’s largest ugly Christmas sweater as a big way to celebrate the 10th year of their iconic business, Tipsy Elves.” The company’s motto, or “manifesto,” Bell reports both in the La Jolla Light and the Union-Tribune, is to “make the most outrageous clothes known to mankind in order to make your life more fun.”
Origin Story
UC San Diego has always been at the forefront of leading-edge research and innovation in the sciences, but not many know it is also a fertile ground for storytellers, especially in the speculative fiction realm. In the Fall 2022 issue of UC San Diego Magazine, Psychology alumna and speculative fiction author Sarina Dahlan of Psychology explores this phenomenon through interviews with sci-fi and speculative fiction writers who also are UC San Diego alumni.
ICYMI: Tom Wong Day
The City of San Diego declared July 11, 2022 to be “Tom Wong Day.” And on Oct.17, the County did the same. Tom Wong of Political Science and the U.S. Immigration Policy Center was celebrated in both declarations for his impactful work on immigration.
California Team Awarded Federal Grant to Uncover Pandemic Impact on PreK-12 Students
The U.S. Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences has awarded a $3 million grant to a research team led by the Public Policy Institute of California, UC Berkeley School of Education, UC San Diego and California Department of Education to conduct a three-year study of pandemic recovery and equitable outcomes across 1,000 PreK-12 districts in the state. Co-PI Julian Betts of Economics and the San Diego Education Research Alliance (SanDERA) said: “Our contribution at UC San Diego will be to test which types of student support programs are making the biggest difference in helping students get back on track.”
Math to Make a Difference
A myth-busting Q&A with Economics Department Chair Julie Cullen about the field and its future.
Will Young Voters Save Democrats in the Midterm Elections?
In a normal year – one that simply followed the average of the 19 midterms since the end of World War II – the party in the White House would be expected to lose around 45 House seats, based on a widely used formula developed by Gary Jacobson of Political Science, the Los Angeles Times reports. But this hasn’t been a normal year. One big uncertainty is how many young voters will cast ballots. Separately, a New York Times column by Thomas Edsall, “The Left-Right Divide Might Help Democrats Avoid a Total Wipeout,” also cites Jacobson and his timely essay, “The 2022 U.S. Midterm Election: A Conventional Referendum or Something Different?”
What Happens When Politicians Meet TikTok?
“Proving that no form of escapism is a safe refuge from the people who want your vote in November, politicians are invading TikTok,” writes Thad Kousser in an opinion piece for The Hill, in which he argues that this particular social-media medium has a number of worrying features that provide a “schematic for a perpetual motion machine of disinformation.”
Can Biden Save Democracy One US Factory Job at a Time?
President Joe Biden is betting on what he has called a “historic manufacturing boom” to spread prosperity across the country, renew the middle class and rebuild pride in the nation itself. This Associated Press story, picked up by US News among many other outlets, cites research by J. Lawrence Broz of Political Science, which showed that populist support was strongest in communities that endured long-term economic and social decline. But, Broz said, “it is unlikely that recent efforts to reshore manufacturing jobs will produce the intended effects, either economically or politically.”
Kroner Center for Financial Research Established to Strengthen and Protect Retiree Investments
Economics alumnus Kenneth Kroner and his wife, Jennifer, have pledged $5 million to establish the Kroner Center for Financial Research. The center, housed at the Rady School of Management in collaboration with the School of Social Sciences, is co-directed by Michael Melvin of the Rady School and Graham Elliott of Economics. It is the only research center of its kind – linking major asset owners around the world with the academic economics and finance community – to address relevant investing questions that ultimately affect the living standards for retirees around the globe.
UC San Diego Launches Two Projects on the Impact of Climate Change on Coastlines and People
Leading a $1.6 million project focused on Puerto Rico is Isabel Rivera-Collazo of Anthropology and Scripps Oceanography. Her lab will collaborate with the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras as part of a $20 million National Science Foundation grant administered by the Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas, “Rising Voices, Changing Coastlines.” Through the Rising Voices initiative, Rivera-Collazo, a Native of Puerto Rico, will explore social justice and ecosystem restoration issues that sea-level rise and climate change have imposed upon Native residents and Indigenous communities. The project will mesh elements of multiple sciences along with traditional ways of being and traditional knowledge.
Sacheen Littlefeather and the Question of Native Identity
Andrew Jolivette of Ethnic Studies weighed in with the New York Times on the controversy stirred by research from Jacqueline Keeler, a citizen of Navajo Nation, disputing the late Sacheen Littlefeather’s claims that her father was White Mountain Apache and Yaqui. Keeler’s work to expose what she calls “pretendians,” critics say, casts a cloud of suspicion over all Indigenous people. It suggests that “Native people need to create a system where they have to prove who they say they are,” said Jolivette, who directs Native American and Indigenous Studies at UC San Diego and describes himself as Creole of Opelousa, Atakapa Ishak, French, African, Irish, Italian and Spanish descent. “Why do American Indians have to do that and not other people?”
The Diamond ‘Slow Street’ in Pacific Beach Is a Success. Closing it Would Be a Mistake.
Katie Crist of Urban Studies and Planning published an opinion piece in The San Diego Union-Tribune featuring the urban design concept of “slow streets” that San Diego experimented with at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Slow streets divert non-residential vehicle traffic and provide a place for people to walk, bike or roll. Diamond Street in Pacific Beach is the only slow street that remains today, and the city’s commitment to retaining it is uncertain. Crist's research shows that removing the slow street would be a mistake – both for people’s health and the health of our environment.
Meet Your New Student Government Leaders
Political Science undergraduate student Sky Yang and Ph.D. student Giulia Corno are taking on important new roles this year as they lead organizations on campus that seek to give students a voice of their own and improve their well-being. Yang is the president of Associated Students, and he strives for transparency and engagement with students. Corno is president of the Graduate and Professional Student Association, and she is working on drawing attention to important issues among graduate students, such as living and housing costs.
DACA Is Slowly Dying Unless Congress Steps In to Save It
TIME reports that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program may be reaching the end of its slow demise. “We are at a point now,” said Tom Wong of Political Science and U.S. Immigration Policy Center, “where unless there’s a legislative solution to provide permanent protections for DACA recipients, many will likely lose what they have built over the last decade.” The Los Angeles Times, meanwhile, sought out Wong’s expertise on a story about “red-baiting” campaign mailers sent to Vietnamese Americans in Orange County.
Racial and Gender Disparities in Publishing Start Early for Doctors and Scientists
Among approximately 30,000 medical school graduates who matriculated from accredited U.S. medical schools between 2014 and 2016, white men had higher publication rates than white women and both men and women from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, reports a Science Careers article. “No more students should be going through this situation,” said Anita Raj of Education Studies and Medicine, director of the Center on Gender Equity and Health. “We need to figure out now how to make sure that [students] have equitable research opportunities and ability to publish.”
What Is Even Left of the Voting Rights Act?
Recent efforts to update the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act have failed, and research suggests that strict voter ID laws passed over the last decade may reduce turnout in more racially diverse areas. CNN talked to political scientist Zoltan Hajnal, co-director of the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research, who has studied the effect of voter ID laws and argues that voter turnout alone does not tell the story of access to voting.
Democrats Hoping Biden Can Provide West Coast Election Boost
While Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom easily survived a recall election, voters in the rural north and agricultural inland largely opposed Newsom, and such anger with Democrats could be a driving force in this upcoming election. “Just as the nation is divided into red, blue and purple states, we have those same internal divisions in California,” Thad Kousser of Political Science told the Associated Press. The AP story enjoyed wide pickup, including US News. Separately, Kousser also spoke with Marketplace about a bill making it easier for farm workers to unionize, to the Los Angeles Times about Orange County Coast voters who “fume about gas prices but fear for climate’s future,” and again to the Los Angeles Times about propositions 26 and 27 that would legalize sports betting in the state, among many other outlets on many other topics.
How Latest Strikes Show Putin Will Stick With Russia’s Hawks on Ukraine War
The Hill sought out the expertise of Branislav Slantchev of Political Science, who studies conflict and is blogging about the Russia-Ukraine war.
Can California Fix Its High-Priced Gasoline Problem?
Our state has particularly high gas prices, says James Hamilton of Economics as a member of the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Econometer panel, in part because California lacks interstate oil and gasoline pipelines: “Sacramento should stop discouraging investment in energy infrastructure.”
The Era of Quiet Quitting Is Already Over
Business Insider reports that workers are again terrified of getting laid off and speaks with Mary Blair-Loy of Sociology, who “has spent her career documenting what she calls the ‘work devotion schema.’”
Political Moderates Are Having Their Moment
About 4 in 10 Americans identify as moderates, but both Republicans and Democrats have been pushing to mobilize committed members of their party and have paid little attention to persuading swing voters. Seth Hill of Political Science co-authored a study featured in the Los Angeles Times that addresses the importance of moderate voters in American elections. According to Hill’s research, many swing voters are neither inconsistent nor uninterested in politics, rather they’re “ambivalent centrists” – voters who are “confronted by two party coalitions that each express views that are more extreme on some issues than the moderates would prefer.”'
How the War in Ukraine Might End
The New Yorker recently spoke to a number of war-termination theorists, including Branislav Slantchev of Political Science, to see what their perspectives could tell us about the war in Ukraine. “In a terrifying blog post,” the New Yorker writes, Slantchev outlines how and why Putin might make a nuclear strike. After reading the New Yorker piece linked above and what Slantchev had to say to the reporter, you can also read “Endgame” post.
Remote Work Drove Over 60% of House-Price Surge, Fed Study Finds
“The shift to working from home drove more than half of the increase in house and rent prices during the pandemic and will likely drive up costs and inflation going forward as the shift becomes permanent,” writes Bloomberg news, according to research co-authored by Johannes Wieland of Economics and a colleague from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. The research also caught the attention of New York Times’ columnist Paul Krugman.
California Approves a Wave of Aggressive New Climate Measures
The world’s fifth-largest economy has embarked on “its most aggressive effort yet to confront climate change, after lawmakers passed a flurry of bills designed to cut emissions and speed away from fossil fuels,” the New York Times reports, portraying these also as a political victory for Calif. Governor Gavin Newsom. Thad Kousser of Political Science weighed in.
Econ Alum, Mongabay Founder Wins Heinz Award
Economics alumnus Rhett Ayers Butler ’99, founder and CEO of the environmental news platform Mongabay, has won the 2022 Heinz Award for the Environment. The nonprofit Mongabay produces original reporting on conservation and the environment in 10 languages with more than 800 correspondents in some 70 countries.
Annual Convocation Inspires New Tritons to Embrace Their Curiosity
The New Student Welcome Convocation ceremony on RIMAC Field welcomed first-year and transfer students into UC San Diego’s scholarly community with Angela Booker of Communication as the event’s keynote speaker. Booker shared her vibrant sense of humor and wisdom with the audience, in part through the story of her yellow hat, encouraging students to embrace this new chapter in their lives and prioritize their well-being during their time on campus. “While you’re here, it’s okay to grieve the things you let go,” Booker said. “Releasing them lets you step bravely into this beautiful period in your life where who you are and who you are becoming can make the most important things happen for you, for our community, and for society.”
More Stress, Fewer Coping Resources for Latina Mothers Post-Trump
The sociopolitical climate in the United States has taken its toll on the mental health of Latina mothers, according to new research co-authored by Amy Non of Anthropology and published in PLOS ONE. “Latinx Americans have been historically disadvantaged on many fronts, including access to quality education, job security and healthcare, making them particularly vulnerable to stressors that can lead to poor mental health,” Non said. “Our findings indicate that in a more hostile political landscape their well-being is even more threatened.” Newsweek was among the outlets reporting on the study.
Federal Interest Rate Hike on Consumers
Marc Muendler of Economics speaks with San Diego’s NBC station.
Transforming Education for Holistic Student Development
In a Brookings Institution blog post, Amanda Datnow of Education Studies helps summarize a report that she and her co-authors put together for Brookings on the urgent need “to build and rebuild academically focused education systems into humanistic education systems that also support the social, emotional, moral, and civic development of students.” The report, “Transforming education for holistic student development: Learning from education system (re)building around the world,” focuses on the journeys of seven different education systems “as they make the whole child the center of their work.”
Violence Is Common and Increasing in Pandemic-Era California
According to the latest annual report from the California Study on Violence Experiences across the Lifespan (CalVEX), the nation’s only multi-year statewide assessment of violent experiences, violence is on the rise in California, with significant increases observed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Anita Raj of Education Studies and the School of Medicine is the principal investigator. She says: “Current violence prevention efforts are clearly woefully inadequate and often ignore the gendered nature of violence, its intersections with other socioeconomic vulnerabilities and its disproportionate effects on marginalized populations.”
Karthik Muralidharan Examines the Indian State
The Seen and the Unseen, a “deep dive interview” podcast by influential Indian journalist Amit Varma, features Karthik Muralidharan of Economics.
Students Should Learn About the Human Impact of War
Thinking about news coverage of the war in Ukraine, former history teacher and current Education Studies doctoral student Marco Chacón published an opinion piece in Ed Source arguing it’s important to reform K-12 history curricula to include the devastating wartime stories of individuals. “Few students will need to recite dates, presidents or military strategies as adults, but most will cross paths with people displaced by violence, and others from invading countries. They will elect officials who promote and oppose wars and refugee-related legislation,” Chacón writes.
Max Planck-Humboldt Research Award for Studies on Censorship and Disinformation
Margaret “Molly” Roberts of Political Science has been selected for the 2022 Max Planck-Humboldt Research Award. In announcing the competitive award, which supports collaboration with German universities, the award committee noted Roberts’ pioneering work and the central question of her research: “How is it that individual authoritarian regimes and criminals can effectively spread fake news on the Internet and manipulate the public?” Roberts will carry out her project, analyzing “the opaque moderation procedures of social media platforms,” with colleagues at the Technical University of Munich and the University of Konstanz.
What Are Animals Thinking?
National Geographic magazine’s cover story features the work of Federico Rossano of Cognitive Science and his Comparative Cognition Lab. (Note: Link is for subscribers.)
Address STEM Inequality by Reconceiving Merit
“Academic scientists value scientific excellence and believe they can judge it accurately. Yet women, people of color and LGBTQ+ scientists, who are just as productive as their white heterosexual male peers, are routinely marginalized and devalued,” write Mary Blair-Loy of Sociology and doctoral alum Erin Cech in their article for Times Higher Education. Their recently published book, “Misconceiving Merit,” addresses two schemas that “anchor sexism, racism and heteronormativity in academic STEM,” and in their piece for THE Campus, the co-authors propose four strategies for solutions.
San Diego Citizens Wrest Control of Surveillance Tech Away From Police
Community-led efforts to address potential civil liberties violations, spurred by the deployment of more 3,000 police cameras across the city, paid off when the San Diego City Council voted unanimously to stop police from making any future decisions about surveillance unilaterally. Under a new ordinance, the city will assemble a privacy advisory board comprised of community leaders and technology experts to determine the impact of surveillance products and policies on San Diegans’ civil liberties. Lilly Irani of Communication, who is a member of the TRUST SD Coalition that backed the ordinance, told Gizmodo the group researched ordinances in other cities such as Seattle and Oakland in an effort to devise a broader regulatory scheme that incorporated community approval.
In Kansans’ Landslide Turnout for Abortion Rights, a Glimpse of Post-Dobbs Politics
“When the Supreme Court overturned federal protections for abortion rights in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in June, that didn’t end the debate. It rolled a political grenade into every statehouse across the nation, writes Thad Kousser of Political Science in the Los Angeles Times. In his opinion piece, Kousser dives into the world of “post-Dobbs politics,” focusing on states’ political actions, increasing tensions amongst political parties, and what this means for our future elections.
We’re Afraid to Talk About Sex. This UCSD Professor Says We Shouldn’t Be
The San Diego Union-Tribune sat down for a Q&A with Janna Dickenson of Psychology. “I envision a world – or, at least, a campus – where accessing scientific information about sexuality is easy, and that’s why I started the SWAG Lab,” she said, referring to the Sexual Well-being and Gender Lab that she leads at UC San Diego.
As California Strengthens Abortion Protections, SoCal Leader Proposes ‘Sanctuary City' For the Unborn
California is one step closer to becoming a sanctuary state for abortion access, but a Temecula councilwoman is drawing attention for proposing an abortion ban within city limits. Speaking with NBC7, Thad Kousser of Political Science said a city doesn't have the power to override state law. Kousser made numerous other media appearances, on a variety of different political matters. These included: speaking with the Los Angeles Times about politicians trying to connect with young voters on TikTok; with KPBS on how student loan forgiveness might help Biden with some voters; and with the Bay Area News Group about a poll showing that most Californians oppose a Biden second term.
The Man Who Did the Math on America’s Partisan Divisions
Samuel Popkin of Political Science spoke with the New York Times about his sometime collaborator, the late Howard Rosenthal, who helped develop a formula to give Congressional votes a partisan score and helped explain the rise of Donald Trump and Trumpism: “Howard was the person who started pointing out that the median income of a white man in America hasn’t increased against inflation since the late 1960s. Nobody wants to say that.”
Is the Border More Secure Under Biden Than Trump? What We Know
A wide-ranging piece in Newsweek discussing the partisan claims about migrant crossing and what the (flawed) government data show quotes Wayne Cornelius of Political Science extensively, including with this: “the differences from the Obama and Trump years to Biden are not that striking.”
Underlying Energy Market Conditions Could Signal Pain for Consumers This Winter and Beyond
In the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European Union (EU) has attempted to cut itself off from natural gas imports from Russia. A Fox Business exploration of what that might mean not only internationally but nationally turned to James Hamilton of Economics for some insights.
In Memoriam: Victor Magagna, Associate Professor of Political Science
We are saddened to share that longtime faculty member Victor Valentine Magagna of Political Science – who dedicated himself to teaching thousands of students over the course of three decades at UC San Diego – passed away Aug. 3, 2022.
This Hawaiian Geneticist Works to Empower Indigenous Peoples
National Geographic profiles Keolu Fox of Anthropology. Fox, who says it’s critical for “historically vulnerable communities to be in control of their information,” has co-founded the Indigenous Futures Institute and the Native BioData Consortium.
Making Sense: How Sound Becomes Hearing
Psychologist Diana Deutsch is featured in an “Unexplainable” podcast from Vox Media that has now won the Online Journalism Award: 2022 Excellence in Audio Digital Storytelling.
‘Gonzo Governance: The Media Logic of Donald Trump’
Sociology doctoral alum David L. Altheide ’74, who recently retired from teaching in the School of Social Transformation at Arizona State University for 37 years, has a forthcoming book that “offers a new interpretation of presidential power that shifts focus to the media dynamics that surrounded Donald Trump.”
Anaheim’s ‘Little Arabia’ Neighborhood Is Finally Official
A poll conducted in 2021 by political scientist Tom Wong’s U.S. Immigration Policy Center in collaboration with the Arab American Civic Council found that 58% of registered Anaheim voters supported designating Little Arabia.
New Grant Program to Help Aspiring School Counselors
The new California state budget includes $184 million to pay for the teaching grants and other efforts to recruit more counselors and mental health clinicians. Amy Bintliff of Education Studies told KPBS’s “Midday Edition” program that the need for counselors in California is great. “One in 300 California youth have lost a parent or direct caregiver to COVID-19. That's higher in California than nationally,” Bintliff said. “So, we're a state that's full of grieving children. And schools don't necessarily have the resources at hand to work through all of that without having quality counselors.”
This Is Why Disability Advocates Say It’s Not OK to Use ‘Spazz’ in Lyrics
“Both Beyoncé and Lizzo have been called out recently for using the ableist term 'spazz' on album tracks. And, to their credit, both women reacted quickly to the backlash,” writes Billboard magazine. “In both cases, the apparent intention was to refer to someone who appears to be out of control/not able to control their actions, employing it as colloquial slang.” David Serlin of Communication commented: “When I first read about it, I attributed it less to cruelty or somehow more to their cluelessness about the power and stigma of the word,” Serlin said. And while that’s not an excuse to use a potentially offensive word, Serlin distinguishes it from people who deliberately use language to stigmatize and hurt people.
Sian Beilock Is First Woman Named President of Dartmouth College
In Dartmouth College’s 252-year history, Cognitive Science alum Sian Beilock will be the first woman to assume its presidency. Beilock, 46, who will start at Dartmouth July 2023 and is currently president of Barnard College in New York, explained to The Washington Post that her multiple identities are all “front and center” in her work: “President, mother, researcher – they all contribute to one’s ability to lead. I really embrace them all.” Beilock’s accomplishments are also featured in the San Francisco Gate, among many other outlets.
The 8 Economists Who Decide If the U.S. Is in a Recession
While famous politicians and pundits are already publicly arguing about it, the official pronouncement of whether the U.S. economy is in a recession will be made by a “little-known group of economists selected by the National Bureau of Economic Research called the ‘Business Cycle Dating Committee,’ which stubbornly takes its time and tries to wall itself off from political interference or attempts to spin its findings,” reports The Washington Post. “The eight economists on the committee,” the story continues, “are among the most respected in their field,” and include Valerie Ramey of UC San Diego’s Department of Economics.
The Channels of Student Activism: How the Left and Right Are Winning (and Losing) in Campus Politics Today‘
The Next Big Idea Club – a virtual subscription book club co-founded by Malcolm Gladwell and other well-known public intellectuals so as to have “a better way to discover and interact with today’s great writers and thinkers” – features Amy Binder of Sociology and doctoral alum Jeffrey Kidder, now at Northern Illinois University. On the Next Big Idea, Binder and Kidder share five key insights from their new book, one of which is this: “We need renewed dedication to productive civic engagement within the academy.”
NSF Awards $1M to Multi-Disciplinary Team to Plan Pandemic Prevention Hub
A multi-campus, multi-disciplinary team led by scientists at UC San Diego has been awarded $1 million from the National Science Foundation to plan a new center to prevent and rapidly contain disease outbreaks and their negative effects on health, the economy and society. The team includes Anita Raj of Medicine and Education Studies.
People Who Live in Their Cars See 24-Hour Parking as Long Overdue
The San Diego City Council unanimously agreed to fund 24-hour operations at an 86-space parking lot in Mission Valley for people living in vehicles, thanks in part to research led by Mirle Rabinowitz Bussell and Leslie Lewis, co-directors of the Homelessness Hub in Urban Studies and Planning. Sociology doctoral candidate Stacey Livingstone, who worked on the research to evaluate the city’s Safe Parking Program operated by Jewish Family Service, was present for the vote. Livingstone, the Union-Tribune reports, “told council members that 180 people were interviewed in the study, and it was resoundingly clear that a 24-hour safe parking lot was desired.” Learn more about how the research contributed to Mayor Todd Gloria’s decision to expand the Safe Parking Program and about the recent establishment of the Homelessness Hub with generous gifts from the Epsteins and the Gleibermans.
2021-22 Exemplary Staff Employee of the Year Award Recipients
Two staff members from Linguistics are among the university’s most exemplary employees: Christina Knerr Frink, the department’s chief administrative officer, and Jeffrey Lau, academic human resources analyst. Big congrats to Christina and Jeffrey – and to the department as a whole! No other academic unit has two winners of this competitive award, and Linguistics only has six staff in total. Read more about the winners on the department’s news page.
Science Inequity Rooted in ‘Moralized’ Worship of ‘Hard Work’
Times Higher Education reports on a new book by sociologist Mary Blair-Loy, co-authored with doctoral alum Erin Cech, now at the University of Michigan. A decade-long study of scientists’ output and attitudes, “Misconceiving Merit“ shows why structural tactics to tackle gender and race inequalities in the sciences continue to fail. A key discovery according to Blair-Loy, the THE reports, “is that many scientific leaders truly believe that hard work will win out in the end – even though the reality is clearly at odds with that.”
Ventura County Proposes Steep Increases in Bond Requirements for Oil and Gas Operators
An in-depth story on efforts to mitigate the financial and environmental impacts of abandoned oil and gas wells that haven’t been properly plugged or decommissioned cites a 2018 California Council on Science and Technology report led by Judson Boomhower of Economics. “When you start digging in to just what it is going to cost to eventually take care of that problem,” Boomhower says, “the numbers get big pretty quickly.”
''Language Is Incredible’
You can now watch the video of the “2022 Legacy Lecture” delivered by Will Styler of Linguistics in which he explains why language may just be the most complicated and amazing thing any of us will ever do. A “Legacy Lecture” responds to the prompt “If this were the last lecture you ever gave, what would you want to share with the world?”
Why Overturning Roe Will Unleash a Legal Storm for the Supreme Court
Harry Litman of Political Science, in an opinion piece for the New York Times: “While laying waste to 50 years of abortion jurisprudence, the Supreme Court – or at least four of the five members of the new hard-right majority – took pains to reassure the country that it had executed an isolated hit on an ‘egregiously wrong’ precedent that would not reverberate in other areas of constitutional law. But the court will not fully control whether and when it will have to confront demands for similarly breathtaking changes. In fact, the justices’ agenda will be driven primarily by the political ferment in red states that are racing to capitalize on one of the most conservative blocs of five justices in at least 100 years. And that in turn means that overturning Roe v. Wade will not take the issue of abortion out of the courts but rather intensify the battle there.”
Let’s Not Pretend We’re Keeping Our Promises on Asylum
Wealthy nations are experimenting with “quasi-legal methods to repel asylum seekers,” subverting the spirit of international law, writes Megan Stack, contributing opinion writer for the New York Times – with the United States turning back migrants for the past two years on “the pretext of the pandemic and a rarely used health ordinance known as Title 42.” David FitzGerald of Sociology, co-director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, spoke with Stack: “These policies are very much a race to the bottom,” FitzGerald said. “The governments are all keenly aware of what other governments are doing to keep out asylum seekers. They copy each other. They’re clearly inspired by each other.”
This May Be Democrats’ Only Chance to Blunt a Red Wave in November
“The tightening correlation between voters’ attitudes toward a president and their support for U.S. House, Senate and even gubernatorial candidates from [the same] party” threatens Democrats as Joe Biden’s ratings continue to drop, writes CNN political analyst Ronald Brownstein in his Fault Lines column, turning to Gary Jacobson of Political Science for his expertise. There’s “a growing tendency of voters to treat congressional elections in particular as parliamentary contests,” Jacobson said, “that are less a choice between individuals than between which party they want to control the majority and set the agenda.”
2022 Dissertation Year Fellowship Award Recipients
Social Sciences doctoral students Andrew Matschiner of Education Studies, Pamela Riviere of Cognitive Science and Melanie West of Ethnic Studies are among those selected for the UC President’s Dissertation Year Fellowship. Congrats to all three!
California’s Newsom Goes to Washington; 2024 Chatter Follows
As Governor Newsom headed to the nation’s capital to receive an award on behalf of his home state, the Associated Press predicted there would be speculation about his presidential ambitions. Thad Kousser of Political Science weighed in with “This is Gavin Newsom building his national brand for whatever opportunities might come up in the future.” The AP story ran in numerous outlets, including NBC 7 San Diego, San Francisco Gate, Chron, WTOP News, The Denver Post, The Hamilton Spectator, Toronto Star and CBS Los Angeles. Separately if relatedly, Kousser was also quoted by CalMatters columnist Dan Walters in a commentary picked up by Yahoo News, Napa Valley Register and The Hanford Sentinel.
US, Allies Aim to Cap Russian Oil Prices to Hinder Invasion
James Hamilton of Economics says that garnering the participation of China and India will be key to enforcing any price cap plan. “It’s an international diplomatic challenge on how you get people to agree. It’s one thing if you get the U.S. to stop buying oil, but if India and China continue to buy” at elevated prices, “there’s no impact on Russian revenues,” Hamilton told the AP in a story that ran around the world, including in U.S. News, CTV News, Global News Online, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, The Denver Post, Daily Herald, News Tribune, among others.
Is San Diego on the Right Track With its New Wage Theft Proposal?
San Diego is considering a proposal that would mandate those applying for building permits to complete detailed paperwork on their workers. James Hamilton of Economics weighs in on the matter as a member of the San Diego Union-Tribune “Econometer” panel, stating that this proposal would slow down the construction of housing units that San Diego desperately needs.
Meet the Authors’ Webinar
The July 2022 installment of a webinar series from the Linguistics Society of America featured Linguistics graduate student Tory Sampson and faculty member Rachel Mayberry, authors of “An Emerging SELF: The Copula Cycle in American Sign Language.” Sampson and Mayberry’s work documents the emergence of the copula – a word meaning to be (e.g., is, was, are, were) – in ASL, something that has been overlooked in previous linguistic analyses. Here’s video of the webinar.
14 New Latinx Studies Faculty to be Hired at UC San Diego
The Latinx Cluster Hire Initiative, supported by a $500,000 grant awarded through UC’s Advancing Faculty Diversity Program, aims to increase faculty diversity, spur innovative research and infuse culture into the curriculum. There are currently seven ladder-rank faculty searches underway at UC San Diego, including within the School of Social Sciences’ departments of Urban Studies and Planning, Ethnic Studies and Anthropology.
Supporting the “Grandmother Hypothesis”
Humans are one of the only species known to live well past menopause. According to the “grandmother hypothesis,” this is because older women provide important support in raising human infants and children, who require more care than the young of other species. A new paper co-authored by Pascal Gagneux of Anthropology and the School of Medicine, supports the hypothesis by tracking the evolution of a gene variant that supports cognitive health in older humans.
Mitigating Bias Through Rubrics
Inside Higher Ed reports on a case study to investigate faculty hiring rubrics, led by Mary Blair-Loy of Sociology with colleagues at the Jacobs School of Engineering. The research, detailed in a Science ‘Policy Forum’ paper, shows that while the hiring rubrics – also called criterion checklists or evaluation tools – helped mitigate some gender bias as on STEM department made its hiring decisions, a lot of bias still persisted.
Turning Point USA Donations Surged During the Pandemic
“Ten anonymous donors helped boost the organization’s revenue in the 2020 fiscal year,” writes NBC News, “helping it expand its focus on culture war activism and become a political powerhouse.” The in-depth story quotes sociologist Amy Binder.
Research Evaluations Are Narrowing the British Social Sciences
Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra of Sociology writes in the Times Higher Education Supplement about the evidence detailed in his new book, “The Quantified Scholar,” showing that “slowly but surely, UK [social science] disciplines have been moved in the direction of greater intellectual homogeneity.” And this is not a good thing, he explains, as “study after study demonstrates that serendipity and diversity are critical for innovation and the advancement of knowledge. Homogeneity constrains our imaginations and our ability to find solutions to collective problems.”
Why Billionaires Like MacKenzie Scott and Jack Dorsey Are Donating Millions to This Nonprofit That Gives Cash to the Poor
Forbes presents an extensive story on the nonprofit GiveDirectly, co-founded by Paul Niehaus of Economics.
Campus Raises $3.05 Billion as Campaign for UC San Diego Concludes
UC San Diego is the nation’s youngest university to reach a multibillion-dollar fundraising campaign thanks to gifts of all sizes from more than 163,000 donors. The campus success story, “Changing the World Through Philanthropy,” includes such significant donations to the School of Social Sciences as gifts from Phyllis and Dan Epstein and Hanna and Mark Gleiberman to establish the Homelessness Hub and ongoing support from Jerri-Ann and Gary E. Jacobs for K-12 education and graduate fellowships. Thousands of people gave to support Social Sciences’ student career preparation and community-driven programs addressing housing, health and racial inequality, diversifying the tech industry, and police accountability, among many impact areas.
Authors Discuss Book on Science and Definitions of Merit
“Science is a meritocracy. The merit of scientists’ ideas matters much more than whether a scientist is Black or white, a man or a woman, and is gay or straight. Right? Not so fast,” writes Inside Higher Ed in prefacing correspondence with Mary Blair-Loy of Sociology and doctoral alum Erin Cech, now at the University of Michigan, about their new book, “Misconceiving Merit.” The book studies more than 500 STEM professors at a top research university to show how cultural ideas of merit nonetheless produce unfair and unequal outcomes for professors who are women, people of color and/or LGBTQ. Read more in Blair-Loy’s “Tweetorial“ on the book. Relatedly, Blair-Loy and colleagues at the Jacobs School of Engineering show in a Science “Policy Forum” paper how bias in hiring women engineering professors persists even when a well-intentioned group uses a method considered a best practice.
Marco Werman of the ‘The World’ to Host Public Radio Program from UC San Diego
The host of the international news program “The World“ from GBH and PRX, Marco Werman, will serve as the university’s first Journalist in Residence and will host the public radio show from a new broadcast studio in the Department of Communication built as part of its “Democracy Lab” initiative. In making the announcement, Communication Chair Brian Goldfarb said, in part: “Our collaboration with ‘The World’ comes at an exciting and critical time. Communication is inextricably tethered to questions of democracy, diversity, and justice.” The Union-Tribune, the Times of San Diego and others reported on the news.
Short Group Quizzes Go a Long Way to Building a Class Community
Sociologist Michel Estefan implements fresh teaching techniques to ensure an education that’s genuinely inclusive and student-centered. These techniques needn’t be whiz-bang or complicated to be effective. And students have noticed. Sociology Chair Amy Binder remarks that not only are Estefan’s classes wait-listed but also that “he’s brought in new courses that students really appreciate – the sociology of social justice, for example, and another on race and racism in the United States.”
Commentary: Foreign Policy on Ukraine Shows West’s Arrogance
“It makes no sense for Western pundits, from nations that are not fighting, to debate whether the war should continue,” writes Erik Gartzke of Political Science in an opinion piece published by News Tribune. “It is not up to officials in the West whether Ukraine continues to resist Russian aggression or whether President Vladimir Putin persists or pulls the plug on his ill-conceived military campaign. The West has quite carefully, and consciously, absented its armies from Ukraine’s battlefields. … With a policy of restraint comes the obligation not to engage in hubris (or timidity) by proxy.”
Dogs With Something to Say Press Buttons for Words in UCSD Cognition Study
KPBS features what scientists at UC San Diego are calling the biggest community science project ever done on animal communication. Dogs use soundboards, whose buttons they press with a paw or a nose, to communicate human words, thoughts – maybe even sentences. The project is led by Federico Rossano of Cognitive Science. He said the goal of studying cognition in animals is to understand what is uniquely human and what kind of thinking is shared with other creatures.
New Prenatal Genetic Screens Pose Underappreciated Ethical Dilemmas
Writing in Scientific American, Daniel Navon of Sociology considers “the myriad dilemmas unleashed” by cutting-edge prenatal screening technologies such as NIPT (or NIPS) and PGT. With often hard-to-interpret results, the tests raise ethical issues, says Navon, “that do not fit neatly into futuristic discussions of ‘designer babies’ or entrenched debates about abortion,” but we as a society must grapple with them nonetheless.
California Survey Finds Hot-Button Issues May Spark Voter Turnout in November
Despite low turnout in the June primary elections, the national political battle over the issue of abortion could spur greater voter participation in November, according to a survey experiment run by the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research at UC San Diego, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune. The center’s latest survey [PDF] – “Looking Ahead to November: How Will Reproductive Rights, Crime Rates and Top Two Dynamics Shape California’s General Election?” – was covered by several different outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, which focused on how California is likely to remain blue even if a red wave sweeps the nation later this year. The report’s lead author, Yankelovich Center Co-Director Thad Kousser of Political Science joined KPBS “Midday Edition” to discuss how, if voter turnout remains low, California voters will skew older and wealthier than the state’s demographics.
Appointment of Victor Ferreira as AVC-FEDI
Victor Ferreira of Psychology has been appointed associate vice chancellor for Faculty Equity, Diversion, and Inclusion. Ferreira will work in partnership with the director of the Center for Faculty, Diversity and Inclusion and collaborate numerous units across campus to provide academic leadership and direction in advancing the university’s goal of achieving and sustaining equity, diversity, and inclusion for all faculty at UC San Diego.
2022 Distinguished Teaching Awards
Kudos to Abigail Andrews of Sociology and to graduate student Ethan Hurwitz of Psychology, who are among this year’s recipients of the Academic Senate awards for distinguished teaching.
Did the Federal Reserve Make the Right Call Increasing Interest Rates?
To try and slow inflation, the Federal Reserve has approved the largest interest-rate increase since 1994. “It will be very hard at this point to bring inflation down without causing a recession,” said James Hamilton as a member of the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Econometer panel. “The Fed will likely be forced to keep raising rates through the end of the year, and that could slow economic growth significantly.”
Mayor Gloria Announces Funding to Operate Safe Parking Lot 24 Hours
In announcing a proposed expansion to the city’s Safe Parking Program, operated under contract by Jewish Family Service of San Diego, the San Diego mayor’s office shared research on the effectiveness of the program [PDF], conducted by faculty and students in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning. “Our research showed that [safe parking] is a critical tool in our collective toolbox for addressing homelessness in San Diego,” said Mirle Rabinowitz-Bussell, co-director of the new Homelessness Hub at UC San Diego and a co-author of the cited report. Leslie Lewis, also co-director and co-author, added: “We are pleased that our report findings could contribute to the mayor’s decision to increase the hours of the Safe Parking Program. Research is made meaningful through its policy, practice and human impacts.” KPBS reported the news following a unanimous vote by the city council to approve the expansion.
Three Years After a Referendum in Which Colombians Rejected an Agreement with FARC, the Pact Signed by Santos Faces Difficulties
Alexander Fattal of Communication was quoted in a recent story about the Columbian election in prominent Brazilian outlet G1 Globo.
Humans Didn’t Evolve to Count so Numbers Remain a Challenge
Rafael Núñez of Cognitive Science is featured on KPBS for his research on numbers vs. inexact discrimination of quantities. “We are a species that has been around for 250,000 years and numbers have not been around that long,” Núñez explains.
Event Celebrates $1M Gift in Cyber-Archaeology from Philanthropist Norma Kershaw
The Qualcomm Institute held a celebratory showcase of cyber-archaeology research made possible in part by the generosity of the late Norma Kershaw and led by Thomas Levy of Anthropology, director of the QI’s Center for Cyber-Archaeology and Sustainability. The Union-Tribune reported on the bequest, noting that Levy, who also holds a chair endowed by Kershaw, is “especially interested in examining how the culture, climate and environment of the eastern Mediterranean have changed over the past 10,000 years.”
Should The U.S. Impose a Windfall Tax on Oil and Gas Companies?
Oil and gas companies in the United Kingdom will be taxed an additional 25% on their profits to fund a new benefits package that will aid low-income households. In the San Diego Union-Tribune, James Hamilton of Economics expresses his concern regarding a similar conversation among economists in the U.S.: “If “windfall” taxes are imposed on oil producers, the U.S. will produce significantly less oil. That would mean higher prices for U.S. consumers and make it harder for the world to get by without Russian production,” Hamilton said.
California Election: Who Will Newsom, Bonta, Padilla Face in November?
Republican State Sen. Brian Dahle is soon to face Governor Newsom, but will he be able to compete with the state’s most powerful Democrat, who has already defeated a recall effort? Thad Kousser of Political Science weighed in on the matter with the Bay Area News Group, stating “The governor won this race last September.” In addition to East Bay Times, the article also ran in Mercury News, The Santa Cruz Sentinel and Marin Independent Journal. Kousser also weighed in with the Coast News Group as a fraud lawsuit against Oceanside Councilman Chris Rodriguez headed to jury trial.
In Memoriam: Founding Chair of Linguistics, Leonard D. Newmark
We deeply regret to share that Professor Emeritus Leonard D. Newmark, founding chair of the UC San Diego Department of Linguistics – who came to the nascent university in 1963 and helped build the campus in innumerable ways – has died. After years of challenges with Parkinson’s disease and dementia, Newmark died from COVID-19 on May 2, 2022. He was 93.
Class of 2022 Shining Stars
Among the inspiring students featured in this end-of-year story is Kayla Monnette of Cognitive Science, president of the UC San Diego Student Foundation, a student-run nonprofit philanthropic organization. Monnette, who is graduating with Provost Honors and a 3.9 major GPA, failed her first major-related class. She attributes her ultimate success to the “beautiful support system” she found in the Student Foundation’s community of peers and alumni mentors who lifted her up and believed in her even when she didn’t – or couldn’t – believe in herself.
It Starts from Within
Preparing to congratulate 7,000 of his peers on graduation, Commencement 2022 student speaker Lucas Anthony Lima of Political Science “draws inspiration from the lessons he has instilled in his little brother,” shared a ThisWeek@UCSanDiego feature story. “The most important of these,” the story continued, “is believing in yourself, especially when the road gets rocky. As someone who has faced persistent immigration barriers and made the courageous decision to embrace his transgender identity, Lima knows firsthand how persistence and self-love can help overcome any obstacle.” To read more about this year’s graduation celebrations, including Lima’s speech, check out this All Campus Commencement story. The story also notes a crowd-pleasing performance of the national anthem by Psychology student Arisa Namioka and includes reflections by Shimika Basuray of Cognitive Science on the emotions of graduating.
Class of 2022 Outstanding Grads
Another end-of-year piece features Salad Omar of Economics. A first-generation college student who transferred to UC San Diego in 2020, Omar was encouraged to pursue higher education by his mother, who never learned to read or write. “I came to the United States in 2017 as a refugee; I didn’t know how to take the bus or use a GPS,” Omar said, remembering. “Seeing a blind man go to work every day and visiting him gave me the hope I needed to know that I can overcome every challenge as I become someone who helps my family.”
Take 10 With a Triton: Alumnus Jose Perez Shares Why His Heart Belongs to Triton Transit
Urban Studies and Planning alum Jose Perez ‘05 has a special relationship with Triton Transit that dates back almost two decades. He started as a shuttle driver when still a student and met his wife while both were driving buses on campus – and he’s now returned as general manager. Passionate about inclusivity, sustainability and leadership, Perez is energized by recent efforts to secure federal funding for the Voigt Electric Mobility Hub and looks forward to contributing to the university’s sustainability efforts.
UCSD Professor Tom Wong Wins National Civil Rights Award
For his work on immigrant rights, including research cited in a number of prominent court cases, the American Civil Liberties Union has honored Tom Wong of Political Science with its Presidential Award. “I have never imagined myself as an academic who writes books and articles that only a handful of other academics read,” Wong told the San Diego Union-Tribune, which covered the award. “I have always seen my job as a professor as a platform to have broader impact.” The ACLU award is presented biennially to academics “for outstanding contributions to civil liberties.”
Elected to the Academy
Ana Celia Zentella of Ethnic Studies, one of the world’s leading researchers on multilingualism, linguistic diversity and language intolerance, has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest and most esteemed honorary societies. Zentella’s approach is one she calls “anthro-political linguistics.”
He’s Studied Mental Illness for 50 Years. Here Are All the Things We’re Doing Wrong
The Los Angeles Times ran an extended interview with Andrew Scull of Sociology, “a singular authority on more than 200 years of the medical profession’s tangled relationship with mental illness,” about his new book, “Desperate Remedies: Psychiatry’s Turbulent Quest to Cure Mental Illness.” Scull, the L.A. Times noted, is “especially critical of the last 20 years when research narrowed its focus onto possible biological factors for mental illness. The lack of concern with the social and psychological dimensions of mental disturbance, he argues, has precipitated inequities in treatment and led to the consignment of the mentally ill to the streets and jails of this country.” Scull also joined KPBS Midday Edition for an interview.
Leading From the S
tern
Urban Studies and Planning undergraduate student Bailey Kim, who is majoring in real estate and development, is recognized for her hard work in two competitive arenas – rowing and real estate. She is a coxswain for UC San Diego men’s rowing and is also a part of the university’s NAIOP real estate development competition team.
Forcing Homeless People Into Treatment Can Backfire. What About a Firm Nudge?
Neil Gong of Sociology published an op-ed in The Washington Post on the intertwined crises of homelessness and mental illness. “In March,” write Gong and coauthor, “California Governor Gavin Newsom proposed tackling the problem with a sweeping new plan involving something called Care Courts that could push people with psychosis into treatment. The Care Courts, if implemented with sensitivity and robust resources, could actually be a step forward. But for that to happen, each side will have to acknowledge some hard truths. The hard truth that advocates of forced treatment ought to concede is that coercion often backfires.” The piece was reprinted by SFGate.
The ‘Great Reshuffling’ Played a Big Part in Pushing Home Prices Higher
CNN explores the connections between social changes brought about by the COVID pandemic and their role in the U.S. housing market with Johannes Wieland of Economics. In a working paper for the National Bureau of Economic Research, Wieland and a coauthor from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco show that the shift to working from home played a bigger role than previously thought. “We were pretty shocked remote work had this impact, once we saw the estimates,” Wieland said. “We thought about how people moving to different locations would be important. And it is. But it is the people who are remaining in a metro area – the people who need more space at home if they work at home -- that is really pushing up prices. That is the majority of the story.”
Under Pressure
Sociologist Mary Blair-Loy says the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed gender inequities for working parents, but “new attention to these problems means we can begin to address them.”
Focus on Preventing Sexual and Domestic Violence
“Prevention of sexual and domestic violence is fundamentally important to strengthening our communities and state as part of how we contend with the COVID-19 pandemic and its harmful lingering effects. Why? Because prevention efforts have multifold benefits beyond just reducing incidents of violence now. They also help stop the cycle of intergenerational violence.” – Anita Raj of Education Studies and the School of Medicine, in an opinion piece for The San Diego Union-Tribune on the need for ongoing rather than one-time funding of violence prevention.
Family Stories
Tritons recount what it means to be a family – the ancestry, the history, the traditions and the importance of preserving stories for future generations. This Triton Magazine story features profiles of alumni Nyssa P. Chopra ’07 of Political Science, Joel Poremba ’89 of Political Science and Michael Genhart ‘84 of Psychology, among others.
Abortion Opinion Leak Unprecedented But Not a Supreme Court First
“More distrust” of the high court is likely now that the leak of a draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade was released, experts tell NBC News. “Basically what we're facing right now is totally unprecedented, and it’s going to have political repercussions that are pretty severe,” said Peter Irons of Political Science.
Will San Diego County’s Population Continue to Decline?
Within the last year, San Diego decreased in population by 11,183 residents. And there is debate among analysts about what might be driving residents out of the city. James Hamilton of Economics provided his expert opinion to the San Diego Union-Tribune: “The high cost of living – and in particular housing – is a big factor. I don’t see San Diego’s housing problem being solved soon, which is why I think the exodus could well continue.”
Meet the Candidates in the 49th Congressional Battleground District
The 49th Congressional district has been redrawn based on the last census and now spans from Del Mar to Dana Point. The new boundaries make the 49th a swing district: 36% of the voters are registered Democrats, 33.6% are registered Republicans and the rest are independents. “That’s now going to be the battleground district for San Diego that I think you’re going to see Republicans contesting and Democrats putting a lot of resources into,” Thad Kousser of Political Science said to NBC7.
Four Candidates Compete for Open Seat in 80th Assembly District
There are a lot of twists and turns to contest in the recently redrawn 80th Assembly district, which includes most of South Bay, Chula Vista, National City, Imperial Beach and Otay Mesa. Political scientist Thad Kousser weighed in on the matter in the San Diego Union-Tribune. “It’s leaving voters to have two elections for two different candidates, for two different 80th assembly districts,” Kousser said. “If many voters are confused by this, they should be.”
Do E-Scooter Companies in San Diego Need Additional Regulation?
James Hamilton of Economics says “yes”: “We want to encourage alternatives to cars but need to ensure public safety. It should be as easy to report riders who pose a danger as it is to rent a scooter.” The Union-Tribune Q&A with experts was picked up by Government Technology and others.
A Decade Ago, California Adopted a Strange Top-Two Primary System. How’s It Working Out?
Proposition 14 created the “top-two primary” a decade ago, and it has since been tested in five, soon to be six, elections. Some reformers, writes Los Angeles Times columnist Nicholas Goldberg, are now suggesting that the system, which was originally meant to subvert political gridlock in California, be expanded to other states in an effort to combat the nation’s growing political polarization. Thad Kousser of Political Science expressed his skepticism: “...it hasn’t changed who voters have elected or the type of candidate they’ve elected. It hasn’t been a silver bullet to end the march toward partisan polarization.” The column also ran in The Mercury News.
Like Sisters
Lifelong friends and alums Audrey Natal ’89 of Economics and Susan Balch ’87 of Urban Studies and Planning have a bond that is literally bound by blood, as Audrey donated a kidney to her dear friend Susan, despite the hundreds of miles physically separating them.
Judge Orders Government to Continue Migrant Expulsions on Border
The Biden administration was blocked by a federal judge from lifting Title 42, a sweeping pandemic-related health order that has been preventing thousands of asylum seekers at the border from entering the U.S. since March 2020. Wayne Cornelius of Political Science, director emeritus of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, said to the New York Times: “The Biden administration is probably breathing a sigh of relief because they weren’t ready for the rule to be lifted.” In addition to this piece, Cornelius was also quoted in a New York Times story written before the judge’s decision.
Is East Village Green Worth the Cost?
The total cost of San Diego’s East Village Green is now $79.6 million, and some are starting to wonder if the investment will pay off. James Hamilton of Economics weighs in as part of the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Econometer panel of experts, stating that the project’s price tag is troubling, especially in light of other issues: “We have more pressing priorities such as addressing the many homeless in San Diego.”
Undergraduate Research Gives Rise to Doctoral Dreams
A ThisWeek@UCSanDiego feature story celebrating a milestone moment for the McNair Program includes a profile of Psychology student Angela Chapman. The McNair Program helps prepare underrepresented students for enrollment in Ph.D. programs. Chapman, who has been researching neurophysiological biomarkers in the brain among patients with schizophrenia, aspires to earn a doctorate in clinical psychology specializing in neuropsychology.
Lifting Up Youth Voices
The winners of the #USvsHate Spring 2022 youth messaging contest are in! A national project of UC San Diego CREATE and Education Studies’ Mica Pollock, #USvsHate received entries from across the country, from elementary school to college. In their messages, young people tackled issues ranging from censorship to women’s rights to environmental injustice, with passion and clarity.
2022 Chancellor’s Dissertation Medal Recipients
Kudos to Lauren Nippoldt of Anthropology! Nippoldt and the other recipients of this prestigious campus award are recognized for outstanding doctoral research.
11th Annual UC San Diego Powwow
Check out this slideshow on the annual event to celebrate the traditions of Native American people and their culture on campus. This year’s event included a presentation of the inaugural “Wise Elder Changemaker” Award from the Life Course Scholars program, by Leslie Lewis of Urban Studies and Planning, to Randy Edmonds, founder of the Indian Human Resource Center, San Diego.
Americans See Afghan and Ukrainian Refugees Very Differently. Why?
Writing in the Washington Post’s “Monkey Cage” blog, Claire Adida of Political Science and colleagues describe their recent survey experiment showing striking differences between how Americans view Afghan and Ukrainian refugees, with a lot more positive sentiment for Ukrainians. The research echoes the group’s earlier work comparing attitudes toward Christian vs. Muslim refugees from Syria. However, that isn’t to say nothing can be done. The research also suggests solutions: To help refugees integrate, Adida’s group and other researchers say, “it’s important to encourage empathy toward refugees and emphasize the host community’s commonalities with them.”
Is Vladimir Putin Sunk?
Coauthored by Michael McCullough of Psychology, this opinion piece in The Hill debunks the “madman theory” and suggests instead that Russian President Vladimir Putin is suffering from something “much more mundane and commonplace” – namely confirmation bias and the sunk-cost dilemma.
California’s Wildfire Building Codes Make Newer Homes Less Likely to Burn
Marketplace features the research of economist Judson Boomhower on the protective effects of wildfire building codes, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. “These codes have really clear benefits in terms of improving the probability that a home will survive a wildfire,” Boomhower said. Remarkably, Boomhower’s research shows that the codes not only help newly constructed buildings to not catch flame but also older neighboring homes built pre-code. The Wall Street Journal cited the research in its story “Neighbors Take the Fight Against Fire Threats to the Next Level.”
V
. Ramey = No. 1
Economist Valerie Ramey has been ranked the top female economist based on publications over the last 10 years by RePEc, a go-to resource in the field of Economics. RePEc, or Research Papers in Economics, is a collaborative effort of hundreds of volunteers in 102 countries to enhance the dissemination of research in economics.
Two Factors May Keep Putin’s Finger Off the Nuclear Button
Erik Gartzke of Political Science, founding director of the Center for Peace and Security Studies at UC San Diego, published a piece in Business Insider (linked above) discussing the war in Ukraine and what factors may keep nuclear warfare at bay. Gartzke also published an essay in The Conversation about cyberattacks on Ukraine, which was republished by Buffalo News, ZME Science, and more. From the start of the crisis, Gartzke has been lending his expertise to numerous print and broadcast outlets, including CBS8 and Defense One, among many others.
President Biden Announces Key Nominees
Political Science alum Jaime Lizárraga has been nominated for Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission. “Throughout his 31-year public service career, Lizárraga has advised Congressional leaders and heads of executive agencies on policy and legislative strategy,” the White House announcement reads. Lizárraga’s nomination was featured in the Bloomberg and Reuters newswires, as well as on Politico.
NSF Early CAREER Award
Kudos to Sherice Clarke of Education Studies, who has been selected by the National Science Foundation for a prestigious and highly competitive Early CAREER Award. Clarke’s project, “Designing teacher professional development to leverage the brilliance of learners of color,” is a five-year research-practice partnership in collaboration with a school district that serves a 75% minoritized student body. The project starts with this premise: “Students of color must have access to robust and meaningful opportunities to learn science in classrooms that center their assets and humanity.”
William T. Grant Scholars Class of 2027
Theresa Stewart-Ambo of Education Studies is one of five early-career researchers selected for the William T. Grant Scholars Class of 2027. The program “supports the professional development of promising researchers in the social, behavioral and health sciences who have received their terminal degrees within the past seven years.” Stewart-Ambo’s five-year research project will explore the relationship between the educational outcomes of American Indian youth and Native nation-building and how higher education can fortify Indigenous futures.
Indigenous Futures Institute Receives Grant from Lumina Foundation
An innovative, interdisciplinary community-action research incubator at UC San Diego is now further empowered to continue its work in educational, scientific and environmental co-design with Indigenous peoples. The Indigenous Futures Institute (IFI) has received a $400,000 grant from Lumina Foundation’s Racial Justice and Equity Fund. Theresa Stewart Ambo (Tongva/Luiseño) of Education Studies co-founded the IFI with Keolu Fox (Kānaka Maoli) of Anthropology and Wayne Yang of Ethnic Studies, who is also provost of Muir.
UC San Diego Honors 2022 Integrity Champions
This year’s integrity champions include Jade d’Alpoim Guedes of Anthropology and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, who came forward with evidence of sexual harassment by a Harvard professor. “Our community of trust depends on the integrity of everyone,” said Guedes. “A ‘leaky pipeline’ has forced generations of women and minoritized communities to leave academia because there are too few inroads to remove racial, gender and sexual violence perpetrators. We can only change this when we end the culture of silence that allows perpetrators to operate. My story is one of ending this culture of silence.”
Linguistics Undergrad Wins Boren Scholarship
Bridget Egan, a Linguistics and Machine Learning double major at UC San Diego, has won a Boren Scholarship for 2022-23, a prestigious award from the U.S. Department of Defense. The scholarship provides up to $25,000 to support a U.S. student who wants to study abroad for a year, with special emphasis on learning or improving their knowledge of a foreign language.
African Refugees See Racial Bias as US Welcomes Ukrainians
Tom Wong of Political Science, founding director of the U.S. Immigration Policy Center, weighed in with VOA News: “The U.S. has responded without hesitation by extending humanitarian protections to predominantly white and European refugees,” Wong said. “All the while, predominantly people of color from Africa, the Middle East, and Asia continue to languish.”
The Resilience of State and Local Government Budgets in the Pandemic
Jeffrey Clemens of Economics recently published an Econofact memo describing his research on the unexpected stability of state and local governments’ budgets during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Predictions from the pandemic’s early days were dire. By the spring of 2021, however, many states were awash with surplus cash,” Clemens writes. Read on for Clemens’ analysis of why and what this means going forward.
Brain Scans May Reveal a Lot About Mental Illness, But Not Until Studies Get Bigger
To really get insights into intelligence or anxiety and depression, NPR reports, brain scan studies may require thousands of scans. The ABCD Study, the National Institutes of Health study on adolescent brain development, for example, has enrolled more than 11,000 young people. The study’s large size is, in part, an effort to address the problems found in smaller studies, said one of the study’s principal investigators, Terry Jernigan of Cognitive Science. But it’s not enough to be big. Studies must also be more diverse than they typically have been, Jernigan said: "You want to know to what extent your observations are generalizable to all the groups in our society.”
Here Are the 28 Andrew Carnegie Fellows for 2022
Forbes: The Carnegie Corporation of New York announced the 2022 class of Andrew Carnegie Fellows. Among the new fellows is Judson Boomhower of Economics. Boomhower’s project, “Learning about Climate Risk and Adaptation from Catastrophic Wildfires,” will document lessons for successful adaptation. More on the Carnegie website.
With ARPA Funds, Newfane Considers Infrastructure Improvements
Newfane, Vt. is set on getting the best bang for their buck with $400,936 from ARPA funds. In the Brattleboro (Vt) Reformer, Juli Beth Hinds of Urban Studies and Planning weighs in on the potential infrastructure upgrade of a new wastewater system for the town. “...the good news is that we really do have a bigger suite of solutions and financing options than we did even five, six years ago,” Hinds said.
Katzin Prize Recipients 2022
Round 2: Coryna Ogunseitan of Anthropology and Zaiyao Zhang of Psychology are among the prospective doctoral students that have been selected for the prestigious Katzin Prize, which is reserved for “a select group of scholars, demonstrating outstanding talent and promise.”
First ‘Wise Elder Changemaker’ Awards Celebrate San Diegans Age 65+
Born out of a desire to highlight the life work and current accomplishments of San Diegans 65 years and older “who have had a significant impact on people, land, communities and movements for change across our region,” the inaugural awards recognize change-making work that ranges from food justice to housing advocacy, from the arts to gender and racial equity, to community healing. Nominations for the award were solicited and then selected by students in the Life Course Scholars Program. Now in its seventh year, the LCS program is co-directed by Anthropology doctoral alum and Urban Studies and Planning continuing lecturer Leslie Lewis. The program brings together UC San Diego students with elders in the region for project-based learning in order to design communities that are accessible and friendly to all ages.
Soaring Energy Costs Fuel Fastest Inflation in 40 Years: 3 Essential Reads
A round-up of “essential reads” by The Conversation includes a piece by Economics doctoral candidate Jacob Orchard on how Americans with the lowest incomes are being hit much harder by inflation than the richest Americans. This gap is explained by something known as inflation inequality: The poorest spend a lot more of their incomes on energy and food, which are the categories climbing the most right now.
Videos Now Available of 2021 Revelle Medal Winners
Dick Attiyeh of Economics and Wayne A. Cornelius of Political Science were each honored with a 2021 Revelle Medal, which recognizes sustained, distinguished and extraordinary service to the campus. You can now watch the videos celebrating Attiyeh and Cornelius on YouTube.
Did Biden Make the Right Call Extending the Student Loan Payment Moratorium?
The Biden administration has extended a moratorium on student loan payments through August in an effort to aid households in stretching their budgets. However, economists have criticized the extension because of its potential to add to the already rising inflation. James Hamilton of Economics responds to the situation in the San Diego Union-Tribune, stating “We need to change to an honest accounting system that’s fully funded with tax dollars. But getting there requires political compromise and courage, which are lacking in Washington, D.C., these days. So for now, extending the moratorium will have to do.”
COVID: Have We Reached the End For Vaccine Mandates?
Policymakers aren’t junking mandates entirely but they certainly don’t seem to be as popular as they had been earlier. Thad Kousser of Political Science weighs in on the matter with the Bay Area News Group. “The political will for mandates is directly proportional to caseloads and hospitalization,” Kousser said. “Maybe this simply isn’t the time to push them.” The story was picked up by Mercury News, Press-Telegram, Redlands Daily Facts and The Press-Enterprise.
Spanish Language Disinformation Crisis (video)
The San Diego Public Library, together with the National Association of HIspanic Journalists, is addressing the Spanish language disinformation crisis with a series of “Fact o Ficción” panels in local libraries. The featured panelists, in addition to journalists from Univision, CBS8 and more, include UC San Diego’s Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra of Sociology.
Meet the 2022 Alumni Award Honorees
Alumni Jamie Montgomery ’81 of Political Science, Liliana Pao ’99 of Psychology and Political Science, as well as School of Global Policy and Strategy, Tanya A. Menendez ’09 of Sociology and Pauline L. Nuth ’13 of Economics and Biology are among eight individuals who will be honored at the 43rd Annual Alumni Awards this year. The awards celebrate the distinguished work and personal accomplishments of extraordinary alums “who are innovating new possibilities around the globe.”
CWUR: UC San Diego Among Top 10 Public Universities in U.S.
The university is once again ranked one of the top 10 public universities in the country, according to the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR). In these annual rankings, the campus placed No. 8 among public U.S. universities and No. 22 among all universities nationwide.
Supreme Court Hears ‘Remain in Mexico’ Repeal Case
Ahead of a Supreme Court hearing to repeal the "Migrant Protection Protocols" (MPP), the Trump-era policy better known as “Remain in Mexico,” ABC News cited a 2019 UC San Diego report of more than 600 asylum seekers subjected to the MPP program, which found about a quarter of them reported receiving violent threats, about half of which resulted in physical violence, beatings and robbery. The report was led by Tom Wong of Political Science and the U.S. Immigration Policy Center.
The Trump Baby Bump Among Republicans After the 2016 Election
Research suggests that Republicans’ increased economic optimism during the Trump presidency may have motivated them to have more children, compared to Democrats. The study, to be published by American Economic Review: Insights, is co-authored by Gordon Dahl of Economics, with William Mullins of the Rady School and Runjing Lu, a doctoral alum of Economics now at the University of Alberta. It is the first study to establish a link between a presidential election and the birth rates of politically aligned groups, documenting a partisan shift that amounts to between 1 and 2% of the national birth rate. That’s a seismic shift, “equivalent to changes in birth rates that occur after economic shocks or in response to policies designed to affect birth rates,” Dahl said. Covering the study were KPBS and many others, including this CBS8 news segment in which Dahl, Mullins and Lu were able to appear together.
Kavli Foundation Donates $5M to UC San Diego Brain and Cognition Research
Matching funds from The Kavli Foundation, paired with private gifts from generous donors, support the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind, which was co-founded by the late Social Sciences Dean Jeff Elman of Cognitive Science. The story includes mention of KIBM-supported research by Tim Gentner of Psychology, being conducted in partnership with a Jacobs Engineering colleague, as well as the establishment of the Elman Chancellor’s Endowed Chair in Cognitive Science, and more.
Educate to Indoctrinate: Education Systems Were First Designed to Suppress Dissent
New research by Agustina Paglayan of Political Science and the School of Global Policy and Strategy explores the origins of state-funded schools across 40 different countries. Public primary schools were created by states to reinforce obedience among the masses and maintain social order, rather than serve as a tool for upward social mobility, suggests the study published in American Political Science Review. “The key prediction of the research,” Paglayan said, “is that when there are periods of internal conflict, states will introduce education reform that is designed to indoctrinate people to accept the status quo.”
Oil And Gas Prices Are ‘a Drag on the Economy’ But Won't Trigger Recession: Expert
James Hamilton of Economics joined Yahoo Finance Live to “discuss how rising oil and gas prices amid COVID-19 lockdowns in China and the Russia-Ukraine war could affect the U.S. economy.”
Why It's So Difficult to Assess Pandemic Risks Right Now
It can be difficult to translate small risks around COVID-19 into behavioral changes, experts say. The decisions we make – Will I fly to that wedding? Should I eat at an indoor restaurant? – tend to be yes-or-no choices, not behaviors we can modify by, say, 10 percent, Craig McKenzie of Psychology said to the New York Times. So we’re all searching for a threshold at which we can stop adjusting our behaviors to avoid COVID, he said. And some people may already feel they have reached that place.
Protesters Shouldn’t Have to Pay a High Price for Lawmakers to Care
LaGina Gause of Political Science published an op-ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune on the subject of her new book, “The Advantage of Disadvantage,” addressing why “costly protests” – which involve protestors suffering physical harm, monetary losses or other losses – are more effective in gaining legislative support. Gause elaborates on why Black people are both more likely to experience the costs of protest and see legislative support for their efforts.
Mayor Gloria Honors Influential 'Women of Distinction' in San Diego
San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and the City Council recognized, for the first time, 10 San Diego Women of Distinction. Fonna Forman of Political Science and the Center on Global Justice was recognized for her impressive accomplishments and her passion for her work on climate justice, equitable urban development and border ethics. “These highly accomplished leaders,” Mayor Gloria said, “have helped move our city forward and make it better for all of us.” The honor was covered by the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The Misuse of Race in The Search For Disease-Causing Alleles
Amy Non of Anthropology co-authored a commentary in the Lancet highlighting “how theories and beliefs about a biological meaning of race have engendered dangerous misconceptions with implications for disease treatment, research and policy.”
U.S. News Names UC San Diego Graduate Programs Among Top in Nation
The campus is now ranked No. 1 for doctoral students studying behavioral neuroscience, up three places since it was last ranked in 2017. According to the 2023 Best Graduate Schools rankings from U.S. News & World Report, other fields in the Social Sciences also earning top-20 spots in the nation are: econometrics (7), psychology (12), public finance (14), development economics (11), economics (14), labor economics (17), microeconomics (18) and macroeconomics (18).
Styler to Give 2022 Legacy Lecture
A campus-wide vote of students has chosen Will Styler of Linguistics to give the 2022 UC San Diego Legacy Lecture, a recognition awarded by the UCSD Scholars Society to “influential and amazing professors.” The selected professor is then given this prompt for their talk: “If this were your last lecture, what would you want to share with everyone?” Learn more about Styler and stay tuned for the event details in Spring Quarter.
How to Turn Your Climate Anxiety Into Climate Activism
Megan Phelps, program coordinator at San Diego 350’s 'Youth4Climate' and staff research associate in the UC San Diego Climate Psychology and Action Lab, joined KPBS’ Midday Edition to talk about how to become a climate activist. The lab – which is focused on moving people from skepticism to belief and from belief to action – is headed by Adam Aron of Psychology.
The Long-Term Impact of COVID-19 on the Future Careers of Women in STEM
The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine convened experts and leaders for a virtual workshop March 23-24, 2022 to inform a national research agenda that ensures academic and federal institutions are prepared to monitor and mitigate the long-term negative impacts of the pandemic on the STEM careers of women – especially women of color. Mary Blair-Loy of Sociology was one of the featured speakers. You can view a video of the workshop at the link above.
Datnow to Present 2022 Distinguished AERA Lecture
Amanda Datnow of Education Studies will be one of two major speakers at the American Educational Research Association’s annual meeting. Scheduled for April 21-26, the meeting “is the largest annual gathering of scholars in the education research field and is a showcase for groundbreaking, innovative work in a diverse array of subject areas.” Datnow’s lecture will be given on-site at the meeting (this year in San Diego) and also live-streamed on the virtual platform.
El Centro Names Oliva as New Mayor
Political Science alum Tomás Oliva ’07 has been elected the new mayor of El Centro. “There is a part of me that feels I don’t deserve it. This stems from the fact that my parents were immigrants from Mexico. We were a family without means and wealth,” Mayor Oliva told the Desert Review. “And yet, there is a part of that, that says, ‘This is supposed to be where I should be. And I worked hard for it.’”
U.S. and Allies Move to Further Isolate Russia From Global Economy
The Biden Administration took another stab at Russia’s economy by joining Europe and other allies in stripping Russia of permanent normal trade relations. The New York Times reports on computational analysis by Marc Muendler of Economics and a colleague at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland showing that if G-7 countries imposed a 35-percent tariff, Russia would suffer a loss of over $13 billion.
2022 Cognitive Science Society Fellow
Rafael Núñez of Cognitive Science has been elected a fellow of the Cognitive Science Society for his outstanding research and impact on the cognitive science community. Núñez “investigates embodied cognition, conceptual systems, and abstraction using multidisciplinary methods that range from psycholinguistic experiments to gesture studies and field research with isolated indigenous groups.”
While Red States Debate CRT, Illinois Looks at Curriculum Transparency
A Chalkbeat article about how Republican-backed “transparency” bills could prevent students from learning curricula that address race, gender, sexuality and religion quotes Agustina Paglayan of Political Science: “It’s not just about observing what’s happening in the classroom and giving parents more information, but also about controlling teachers.”
Chancellor’s Scholarship and Fellowship Challenge Exceeds Goal for Students
An additional $15.6 million is now fueling scholarships and fellowships at UC San Diego. Among those giving students the gift of opportunity were Economics alumnus Gary E. Jacobs ’79, and his wife, Jerri-Ann, who grew their support of the Jerri-Ann and Gary E. Jacobs Endowed Fellowship Fund in Social Sciences. This campus story also features fellowship recipient, Communication graduate student Marwa Abdalla. Abdalla’s research emphasizes anti-Black and anti-Muslim racism, Islamic and Muslim media representation, and how legacies of imperialism and Orientalism continue to inform conservative and progressive politics. Undergraduate student Patrick Buenaventura ’25 of Economics is featured as well, as a recipient of a Chancellor’s Associates Scholarship.
In-Depth: Study Says Russia Is Faking its COVID Death Toll
A new analysis of Russia’s COVID death toll proves almost certain that the country has been undercounting its COVID fatalities. Daniel Hallin of Communication weighs in on the subject with ABC10 News. “The legitimacy of Putin’s rule depends on showing himself to be in control and able to handle any problem on his own. So whenever you have a problem that starts to get out of control, the strategy is to cover that up,” Hallin said.
Here’s How State Lawmakers Want to Help Californians Facing High Gas Prices
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the sanctions that followed, have spiked gas prices, combined with the fact that demand for oil has ramped up from pandemic lows faster than supply. As the U.S. turns away from Russian oil, there’s a fundamental reality that we’ll have to make do with less fuel, said James Hamilton of Economics in the San Jose Mercury News. And when it comes to gas prices, Hamilton doesn’t think good news is right around the corner. “I think they’re headed up before they come down.”
California Gas Tax Holiday Would Split Benefits Between Consumers, Oil Companies
Mark Jacobsen of Economics said California drivers would likely see an even smaller share of the savings from a gas tax holiday. California has higher gasoline purity standards than neighboring states, and there are not as many oil refineries able to produce gas that can be sold here. It would be more difficult for gas producers to flood the state with a new supply, Jacobsen said, meaning that any drop in gas prices would be much less than $0.51 per gallon.
Inflation vs. Recession: The Fed Is Walking a Tightrope
With inflation at a 40-year high, some economists believe the Federal Reserve will go too far in raising interest rates, contributing to an oncoming recession. James Hamilton of Economics spoke on the matter in an interview with The New York Times, stating that at current oil price and supply levels, the effects of the Russian war “are fairly manageable for the American economy.” Hamilton was also quoted and his research on oil shocks and the prospects of a recession were cited in a Yahoo Finance story and a New York Times opinion article, as well as yet another Times piece on the roiling of financial markets.
Gas Prices: Renting a Tesla is Cheaper For This Uber Driver Than Fueling His Jeep
In response to the skyrocketing gas prices, rideshare driver Al Gaines has parked his Jeep Cherokee and pays $400 a week to drive a Tesla instead. James Hamilton of Economics weighs in on the matter in the San Diego Union-Tribune, emphasizing the difficulties people face as they’re forced to spend twice as much on gas than they used to.
California’s Unemployment Rate Drops to 5.4%
California’s employment growth in February brings the state even closer to returning to pre-pandemic unemployment rates. Jeffrey Clemens of Economics speaks on the subject in an interview with Courthouse News Service, stating “The rapid decline in Omicron cases is a clear leading factor behind the February numbers.”
Are Black Voters Really Leaving the Democratic Party?
“Electoral capture is real,” reports The Bulwark, citing research from 1998 co-authored by John Skrentny of Sociology.
Kudos to the First Round of Katzin Fellows!
Three of five doctoral students selected so far for the prestigious Katzin Fellowship for prospective Ph.D. students are from the Social Sciences: Matt Lukacz of Communication, Ifsha Zehra of Communication and Samantha Almonacid of Political Science.
A Heart So Full, Her Chipped Teeth Were an Afterthought
Ethnic Studies alum Alexander Fernandez is featured in a New York Times “Vows” piece, showcasing his and Kyra Friedell’s love story. The two literally bumped into each other at a bar in San Francisco, and you could say that their relationship has been chipper ever since.
College Education Can Change the Lives of Formerly Incarcerated People. It Changed Mine.
Beto Vasquez, academic coordinator with CREATE (the Center for Research on Educational Equity, Assessment & Teaching Excellence) published an opinion essay in the San Diego Union-Tribune: “Formerly incarcerated individuals will continue to be our neighbors when they are released. As such, it is in our best interest to support them with meaningful opportunities that will allow for upward mobility and positive change.”
Preserving Cultural Heritage in the Digital Age
Subtitled “Sending Out an S.O.S.,” a new book co-edited by Tom Levy of Anthropology “provides readers with a non-technical overview of how archaeologists and other stakeholders are increasingly turning to digital methods to mitigate some of the threats to at-risk cultural heritage.”
Graduate Students Honored for Inclusive Mentorship
Ethnic Studies doctoral candidate Rochelle McFee, one of five students being inducted into the prestigious Bouchet Graduate Honor Society, is a “force to be reckoned with.” To call her impressive is an understatement, with more than a decade of work towards ending violence and oppression. McFee currently studies “the ways Black girls, Black women, and queer-identified people are codified in the Jamaican legal system and social normativity as violable.”
Impact of Russia's Invasion of Ukraine
Yahoo Finance runs ABC10 conversation with Erik Gartzke of Political Science on the timing and impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
UC San Diego Celebrates 20th Annual Black History Month
February 2022 marked UC San Diego’s 20th annual Black History Month celebration. Throughout the month, the important contributions of Black students, staff and faculty were recognized and the entire UC San Diego community was invited to join in a series of events that centered on the theme of “Black Health and Wellness.” This campus story highlights and thanks UC San Diego medical pioneers and community healers who are making a difference in the health and wellness of others through their work – including Danielle Raudenbush of Sociology.
Pandemic Communication in Times of Populism
Daniel Hallin of Communication is part of a research project that was recently granted a T-AP Recovery, Renewal and Resilience in a Post-Pandemic World award. Hallin and team are focusing on pandemic communication in the US, Brazil, Poland and Serbia, and their research “will inform recommendations aimed at building more resilient media organizations that are better equipped to withstand the challenges of future pandemics in divided societies.”
Mexico City Gave Ivermectin to Thousands of Covid Patients. Officials Face an Ethics Backlash.
As COVID-19 rampaged through Mexico City, local officials made the decision to provide medical kits containing ivermectin to Covid patients. Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra of Sociology wrote a widely shared Twitter thread assailing Mexico City’s work, reports the Washington Post, comparing the distribution of the drug without proof of its effectiveness to the Tuskegee syphilis study on Black men in the 1930s-70s. Pardo-Guerra was also cited in the Washington Post Global Opinions, The Boston Globe, Toronto Star, KGTV and others, and he authored a piece in Nexos.
Critical Race Theory Thrust into Spotlight by Misinformation
From September 2020 onward, the vast majority of national news stories about critical race theory came from national conservative news sources, with mainstream news sources and liberal news sources falling behind, according to recent research from UCLA and UC San Diego. The research found there were more than seven stories from conservative news sources for every one from a national liberal media source. The study, coauthored by Mica Pollock of Education Studies, was also covered by CNN and others.
What If TV Isn’t Bad for Us?
Gordon Dahl of Economics is featured in a “Freakonomics, M.D.” podcast where he speaks about his research from 2009 on the surprising correlation between consuming violent media and a decrease (not increase) in acts of violent crime.
FAICP: College of Fellows of AICP
Kudos to Sue Peerson of Urban Studies and Planning, who has been elected by peers to the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) College of Fellows for her dedicated work in the field of planning and the positive transformation of communities that Peerson has served. The award is the professional organization’s highest honor, and fellows are celebrated for achieving “excellence in professional practice, teaching and mentoring, research, and community service and leadership.” The 2022 class will be inducted into the College of Fellows at the National Planning Conference in San Diego on May 1, 2022.
Indian Americans on List of “100 Most Influential Academics in Government”
Karthik Muralidharan of Economics is featured in India West for his inclusion on Apolitical’s list of the 100 most influential academics in government. Muralidharan is celebrated for “research covering development, public, and labor economics, focusing on enhancing the efficacy of government expenditure in the social sector, such as education, health, and social protection programs.”
2022 Humboldt Professorship
Angela Yu of Cognitive Science has been selected for the Alexander von Humboldt Professorship for Artificial Intelligence. Yu’s research is focused on the complexities of facial recognition and how the mind processes faces.
2022 RHSU Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings
Mica Pollock of Education Studies and CREATE has once again been recognized in Education Week as one of the most publicly influential university-based scholars – scholars who “do the most to shape educational practice and policy.” Being one of the 200 celebrated on the RHSU Edu-Scholar list is an accomplishment in itself, as more than 20,000 scholars in the United States qualify.
Grow Your Goals with a Staff Scholarship
Like so many others, staff member Amanda Corona found herself dealing with unexpected financial constraints due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. A UC San Diego alumna, she was working in the Division of Social Sciences as director of alumni engagement when she decided to pursue her doctorate of education in the joint program offered by UC San Diego’s Education Studies with Cal State San Marcos. “As a first-generation Latinx student, I understand the distinction between surviving and thriving in higher education,” said Corona, now director of development in Social Sciences. “My personal experiences give me insight into the need to create supportive, culturally competent climates for students to thrive.” She didn’t want to give up on her dream and successfully sought out a staff scholarship.
Heart to Heart: Seven Couples Share Their UC San Diego Love Stories
Alumni Samantha Bell ’21 and Trevor Tilston ’20 of Political Science, Maria Walker and Anthony Ostia ’20 of Cognitive Science, and Crystal and Jordan King ’17 of Education Studies and Communication share how their love blossomed on campus, and how much it’s grown since.
CARTA Maps Humanity's Distinctive Evolution
The Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny, a collaboration led by UC San Diego and the Salk Institute, has been for more than 20 years seeking answers to where we came from, and what makes us uniquely human. “In short, anthropogeny is concerned with what made us such a strange ape,” says current CARTA associate director Pascal Gagneux of Anthropology and Pathology, “It’s both fascinating and humbling that we don’t have answers to some of the most basic questions about ourselves and how we differ from our closest evolutionary cousins.” Learn more about CARTA history in the story linked above and also check out its long-running public symposium series, hosted by UCSD-TV, which has now been viewed more than 40 million times.
Omicron Slammed California's Workforce. Was There Another Way?
“There probably weren’t many steps that governments could have taken in real-time in an effort to significantly blunt the [Omicron] wave,” weighed in Jeffrey Clemens of Economics with CalMatters: The story was picked up by KPBS, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Capital Public Radio and many more.
Ukrainian-Americans in San Diego React to Rising Tension at Ukrainian Border
Erik Gartzke of Political Science and the Center for Peace and Security Studies at UC San Diego weighed in with ABC 10 ahead of the invasion of Ukraine, saying that Russia’s President Putin wants to prevent NATO from making Ukraine an ally.
Preserving Legacy
How the Black Student Union influenced Moorisha Bey-Taylor ’08 of Economics to choose UC San Diego and impacted her career thereafter as an intellectual property lawyer.
I
nsurrectionist Chic Is a 'Serious Growth Sector,' Analysts Say
David Pederson of Anthropology was interviewed in Newsweek about this past year’s attack on the Capitol on January 6. “It's a wish for recognition, to be heard, based on the notion that they are less heard than they want to be," said Pederson, who is also currently writing a book that treats the Capitol riots as a “conjuncture of historical tendencies that flow directly through San Diego and Southern California.”
Inflation Inequality: Poorest Americans Are Hit Hardest by Soaring Prices on Necessities
Economics graduate student Jacob Orchard in The Conversation: The fastest rate of inflation in 40 years is hurting families across the U.S. who are seeing ever-higher prices for everything from meat and potatoes to housing and gasoline. But behind the headline number that’s been widely reported is something that often gets overlooked: Inflation affects different households in different ways – and sometimes hurts those with the least, the most.
California to Pay for Wildfire Retrofits up to $40,000 per Home, Starting with Rural San Diego
The San Diego Union-Tribune and the Los Angeles Times covered research by Judson Boomhower of Economics showing in an NBER working paper how wildfire building codes matter – in a big way. A home built according to California’s upgraded wildfire building codes is about 15 percentage points, or 40%, less likely to be destroyed in a wildfire than a pre-code home experiencing identical exposure. Remarkably, building a home to modern codes also improves the survival odds of neighboring homes. The New York Times cites the study, and Vox’s “The Weeds” podcast (starting around the 57-minute mark) features Boomhower’s study in-depth.
Progressive Working Families Party Lands in California, and Is Targeting Moderate Democrats
“In order for a third party to show strength, you have to weaken a (major) party by costing it elections,” says Thad Kousser of Political Science in the San Francisco Chronicle.
With the 2nd Year of a Projected Budget Surplus, Should California Consider Cutting Taxes?
James Hamilton of Economics provided his expert opinion in the San Diego Union-Tribune on the best use of California’s expected budget surplus. “The cyclicality of California’s revenue sources leads to huge shortfalls when the economy turns down and surpluses when the stock market picks up. When times are good, we should use the surplus for one-time items that will help us weather the next downturn,” stated Hamilton. The Kansas City Star also ran the story.
Biden Hones in on Local Projects After Legislative Failures
Thad Kousser of Political Science spoke about Biden’s strategy to connect himself with local politicians, such as mayors. They are “the most moderate and popular political figures in our country right now,” Kousser told the Washington Examiner. “They are a rare exception to the polarization of American politics.”
Information Disorder
A Washington Post Live discussion about the threat of disinformation in today’s political atmosphere, included content from the Omidyar Network and Political Science alumna Wafa Ben-Hassine, who leads the firm’s efforts related to encrypted messaging platforms and the nature of safe and private online messaging spaces.
Satellites Make It Harder for Countries to Launch Surprise Attacks. That’s in Ukraine’s Favor.
A piece in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog by Erik Gartzke of Political Science and UC San Diego’s Center for Peace and Security Studies.
If Russia Invades Ukraine, What Happens Next?
David A. Lake of Political Science writes in the Washington Post Monkey Cage blog.
Culture Keeper
Protecting and honoring the indigenous history of campus land with Anthropology alumna Eva Trujillo ’20.
Tunnel Vision
Exploring the legendary allure of our campus utility tunnels with alumni Jeff Palitz ’94 of Psychology, Josh Schoenwald ’00 of Cognitive Science, Barbara Denz ’69 of Literature, and Amber Schnaider ’01, Med ’02 of Mathematics and Physics and the Teacher Education Program.
I
nstitute for Advanced Study
Christo Sims of Communication won a prestigious fellowship to join the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. The IAS, founded in 1930, invites its visiting scholars, or “members,” to freely determine their academic trajectory in an effort to promote academic freedom worldwide in the areas of mathematics, natural science, historical studies, and social science. Sims' book-in-progress, writes the IAS website, “examines how corporations, cities, and states are materially reconfiguring themselves in response to climate catastrophe.”
The Bellagio Center Residency ProgramJanis Jenkins and Thomas Csordas of Anthropology were awarded with a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center residency for their demonstration of professional contributions to their field and their alignment with the beliefs of the Rockefeller Foundation, which works to promote the well-being of humanity, particularly through issues that have a direct impact on the lives of socially and economically disadvantaged populations around the world. They’ve now completed the four-week residency at the Rockefeller Foundation’s renowned Bellagio Center in Italy.
TRITON 5
Economics and History alum Erik Jepsen ’10 shares his perspective as a campus photographer in this Triton Magazine feature: “I love visual storytelling and inspiring people through my photographs. I always aim to capture emotion and pass that on to others.”
2021
2021 - Social Sciences' Year in Stories
Throughout a tough pandemic year, social scientists continued to serve as mentors and public intellectuals, path-makers and problem solvers. And while 2021 was by no means a typical year (nor the year before it either), the motivations and aspirations of the people who make up the division stayed true: Our faculty and staff, our students and alumni continued to engage with community in meaningful ways, and they continued to do work that both advances knowledge and supports the social good.
Social scientists made progress with their research, and they served throughout the year as public intellectuals – providing insights, context and possible solutions to our society’s problems. There were many milestones met, and multiple efforts that made a difference. Along the way, there were also some much-needed moments of good news and good fun.
2020
The ‘Shecession’ of 2020
Titan Alon of Economics shows how the pandemic-caused recession is impacting women more. Alon and colleagues also discuss the consequences of this unprecedented situation.
The Marshmallow Test Revisited
Children will wait longer for a treat to impress others, shows research from the lab of Gail Heyman. The study revisits the classic psychology experiment and reports that part of what may be at work is that children care more deeply than previously known what authority figures think of them.
COVID-19 Opens a Partisan Gap on Voting by Mail
A study in PNAS by UC’s New Electorate Project – including Thad Kousser, Seth Hill and doctoral candidate Mackenzie Lockhart – documents a growing divide on preferences for absentee ballots.
Social Sciences' Commitment to Action on Racial Injustice and Social Inequality
We stand in solidarity with all people seeking justice in this country and with the Black faculty, staff, students and alumni for whom this struggle is lifelong.
Why Are Some Journalists Afraid of ‘Moral Clarity’?
New Yorker columnist Masha Gessen makes reference to Communication prof Daniel Hallin’s coinage “legitimate controversy,” a sphere of subjects which media outlets deem suitable to amplify, versus the sphere of “deviance,” those they won’t even acknowledge. What’s in those spheres is changing as journalists struggle with “What should be the guiding principle in news coverage – objectivity or morality clarity?”
Early College High Grad Paola Mendoza Started on Pathway to College at 14
The Daily Pilot from the Los Angeles Times features incoming Sociology student Paola Mendoza. The paper reports Mendoza will start at UC San Diego in the fall as a sophomore. Mendoza – whose goal is preparing for med school and who “wants to learn more about social inequity as it relates to health and wellness” – credits her stellar academic successes to her parents, who emigrated from Mexico 20 years ago and worked hard to give their three daughters better opportunities.
2020 Dissertation Year Fellowship Award Recipients
Three doctoral students in Anthropology have won! Kudos to Samantha Streuli on the Fletcher Jones Fellowship, one of the University of California’s most sought-after fellowships, and to Elizabeth Clausing and Belinda Ramirez on the UC President’s Dissertation Year Fellowship.
New Open-Access Book Casts Climate Change as a Public Health Crisis
Contributors to the text, co-edited by UC San Diego researchers and published by Springer Nature, range from Nobel Prize laureates to Pope Francis and include Fonna Forman of Political Science and the Center on Global Justice. The open-access book is titled “Health of People, Health of Planet and Our Responsibility.”
Three Things Lockdowns Have Exposed About Working and Parenting
Mary Blair-Loy of Sociology told the New York Times’ Upshot: The expectation that work “deserves single-minded devotion has long been a fiction. This fiction has now been laid bare.”
Harry Zhu Puts Senior Home Visits on Hold, Delivers Face Masks Instead
Harry Zhu, a Political Science major and a member of the UC San Diego men’s rowing team, has made monthly visits to senior homes since 2011. When COVID-19 forced him to cancel, he found another way to serve the seniors: delivering face masks.
A Blueprint to Finance Higher Public Spending
A column by Karthik Muralidharan of Economics in the Hindustan Times outlines four key principles of public finance for the Indian government to consider as it addresses the COVID-19 pandemic.
Multidimensional Aspects of Adolescent Well-being
Amy Bintliff of Education Studies writes in Psychology Today about some tools for talking to teens.
Coverage of Anti-Lockdown Protests in San Diego Is Ignoring One Glaring Fact
“The fact that these protests draw overwhelmingly white groups is significant and will remain so even after all beaches, parks and businesses have reopened,” writes Education Studies doctoral student Andrew Matschiner in this opinion piece published by the San Diego Union-Tribune.
What College Seniors Are Losing in Their Last Semester Because of COVID-19
Marketplace spoke with seniors Melissa Yue of Psychology and Lynn Cohen of Cognitive Science/Psychology. Yue, who earned her degree in three years, said: “In this last quarter, I was planning on actually spending a lot more time with friends, [and] doing college, social life things before graduating. I’m just feeling like I’m losing a lot of things.” Cohen spoke about her family’s disappointment that in-person Commencement ceremonies are being postponed and said she’s now worried about finding a job.
UCSD Students Build Archive of Untold Stories, Impact of COVID-19 on Marginalized Communities
An important and inspiring course collaboration between Ethnic Studies and History, taught by Yến Lê Espiritu, Luis Alvarez and Simeon Man.
The Case for Commandeering Hotel Rooms
Neil Gong of Sociology, who is due to start his UC San Diego appointment in person in 2021, co-authored a piece in CalMatters arguing that San Francisco has a model to house the homeless during the COVID-19 pandemic that can scale up elsewhere – and should be scaled up: Secure hotel beds for the homeless to prevent the need for beds in hospitals. “This is an industry and public health win-win, and time is of the essence.”
2020 Integrity Champion
Isabel Rivera-Collazo of Anthropology and Scripps Institution of Oceanography has been selected as a recipient of the university’s Integrity Award for 2020. She will be celebrated at a ceremony in 2021. Rivera-Collazo is also a recipient of a 2020 Climate Adaptation Leadership Award from the Climate Science Alliance network, recognizing her for “demonstrating exemplary leadership” and “working collaboratively to advance climate resilience projects and partnerships.” She was to deliver a plenary address and receive the award at the 2020 San Diego Climate Summit, which has been postponed due to COVID-19.
2020 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship Doctoral student Michael Obiri-Yeboah of Linguistics has been awarded a Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship. Obiri-Yeboah, who is advised by Sharon Rose, is documenting his own endangered language, Gua, spoken in Ghana.
Social Media in a Time of COVID Contagion
The spread of health misinformation particularly in times of crisis may cost or save human lives. Alan Daly and Sara Moukarzel of Education Studies are among co-authors of this open-access paper in the journal Maternal & Child Nutrition tracking Twitter activity related to #breastfeeding and #COVID19. The researchers were encouraged to find that the vast majority of tweets reflected current scientific guidance, updates from researchers about ongoing COVID-19 studies, as well as community engagement and breastfeeding advocacy to support clinicians and families. But about 6% of the tweets contained scientifically unfounded recommendations and or promotion for commercial use.
#USvsHate @ UC San Diego
#USvsHate, led originally by UC San Diego’s CREATE and now a national project of Teaching Tolerance of the Southern Poverty Law Center, seeks to “insist publicly that all people are equally valuable” by inviting students to create public anti-hate messages in any media for school communities. #USvsHate@UCSanDiego is the country’s first campus-wide higher education version of the effort, championed here by Mariko Cavey of Education Studies and Human Developmental Sciences, Mica Pollock and Minh Mai of CREATE, and Edwina Welch of the Cross-Cultural Center. All undergraduate and graduate students are invited to participate. Message submissions due June 10. Learn more at link above!
Bad News on the Economy
The economy is in a nosedive, writes James Hamilton of Economics in an “Econbrowser” blog post.
Almost a Third of Young People Have Lost Their Jobs So Far
As measures to slow the coronavirus pandemic lead to layoffs, people ages 18 to 34 are being disproportionately affected. “It’s natural that as we learn more, it’ll become clear that there are substantial costs for young people, even if the risks are, in fact, much greater for the elderly,” said Jeffrey Clemens of Economics to Kaiser Health News, in a story reprinted by VICE, Yahoo News and many more. Clemens’ expertise was also sought out by, among others, CalMatters on the nation’s mask shortage and Calif. Governor Gavin Newsom’s alliance of corporations and nonprofits to leverage California’s massive buying power, as well as on how California’s economy is in uncharted waters due to coronavirus.
The American Philosophical Society Welcomes New Members for 2020
Anthropology alumna Alondra Nelson ‘93, president of the Social Science Research Council, has been elected to the American Philosophical Society, which honors extraordinary accomplishments in all fields.
K
ansas Educators Worry What Five Months Away from Classrooms Will Do to Schoolkids
The usual “summer slide” may pale in comparison to the “COVID slide,” reports Kansas NPR affiliate KMUW. “There will definitely be [learning] loss,” said Alison Wishard Guerra of Education Studies, “and there is a potential for even greater loss when they come back if schools don’t carefully understand how traumatic experiences impact learning.”
Why Trump’s Shadow Over the Race for Senate Control Is So Long
All signals indicate that “this will be another election in which what people think about Trump determines almost everybody’s vote,” said Gary Jacobson of Political Science to CNN. “Elections are much more nationalized and partisan.”
Putting a Price on the Protective Power of Wetlands
In coastal communities prone to hurricanes and tropical storms, people typically turn to engineered solutions for protection: levees, sea walls and the like. But a natural buffer in the form of wetlands may be the more cost-effective solution, according to new research by Richard Carson of Economics and recent doctoral alumna Fanglin Sun, now a researcher at Amazon.
Could COVID-19 Speed up Gentrification in Certain Neighborhoods?
Isaac Martin of Urban Studies and Planning tells the Union-Tribune that he senses gentrification has been put on pause during the pandemic -- but “the question of whether [it] will come roaring back once the economy comes back is a good one.”
2020 Pat Wall Medal
V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology was selected to deliver the British Pain Society’s Pat Wall Lecture at its annual meeting and receive the associated medal, made to a “distinguished and outstanding basic scientist.” (The meeting has been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
2020 ACLS Fellow
Kudos to Shelley Streeby of Ethnic Studies and Literature who has been selected as a 2020 fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) to work on a book titled “Speculative Archives: Hidden Histories and Ecologies of Science Fiction World-Making.”
2020 Mellon/ACLS Scholars and Society Fellow
Congrats to Roshanak Kheshti of Ethnic Studies on being selected as a 2020 Mellon/ACLS Scholar and Society Fellow. Kheshti will work on performance ethnography workshops at the William Grant Still Arts Center in Los Angeles.
Data Study Questions Motives Behind Trump Immigration Policies During Pandemic
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports on analysis by Tom Wong of Political Science and the U.S. Immigration Policy Center, who says “Altogether, the data suggest that changes being made to immigration and asylum policies in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic may have less to do with ensuring our public health than furthering the administration’s efforts to restrict immigration.”
Dan Hallin of Communication, Alison Wishard Guerra of Education Studies and Karen Dobkins of Psychology are among the scholars weighing in with the San Diego Union-Tribune on what might await us on the other side of the pandemic.
Halting Immigration: Trump’s Latest Try to Deflect Virus Mismanagement
Opinion piece in the Globe Post by Wayne Cornelius of Political Science and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies. The Globe Post also published an earlier piece arguing “ICE Needs to Stand Down – For Everyone’s Good.”
Evans to Serve on National Academies Committee
John Evans of Sociology and the Institute for Practical Ethics has been invited to serve as a member of the Committee on Ethical, Legal and Regulatory Issues Associated with Neural Chimeras and Organoids: an ad-hoc committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
Explainer: What is ‘Flattening the Curve?’ And Why Are We ‘Socially Distancing?’
Appearing on KPBS TV and radio, Bonnie Kaiser of Anthropology and Global Health and Jeff Clemens of Economics help the public understand the importance of stay-home measures. Be sure to check out the video, too.
Does Vote-by-Mail Favor Democrats? No.
There is no evidence to back up the argument from the right that all-mail elections favor Democrats, writes the New York Times, quoting Thad Kousser of Political Science on the experience in California, where voting by mail was historically seen as especially helpful to older people and rural voters, who are more likely to be Republican. “Democrats and Republicans alike appreciate this option,” Kousser said.
How the Coronavirus Pandemic May Influence 2020 Elections
Thad Kousser of Political Science and Michael Smolens of the Union-Tribune discuss with KPBS Midday Edition how COVID-19 might reshape voting in November.
Republicans Successfully Politicized Ebola. Can They Do it Again in 2020?
A non-partisan think tank called The Niskanen Center features a discussion with Claire Adida of Political Science, along with Johns Hopkins’ Filipe Campante, on linking infectious disease to fear of immigration and winning elections as a result.
Politics Clouding Public’s Views on Coronavirus, Experts Say
KPBS speaks with Dan Hallin of Communication and Bonnie Kaiser of Anthropology and Global Health.
Online Civic Design Challenge to Help San Diego Address COVID-19
Human-centered design can help San Diego address the pandemic and put our city on course to be more sustainable, too. That’s the basic premise of the 2020 edition of the city-wide design challenge from UC San Diego’s Design Lab called “Design for San Diego,” or D4SD for short. The initiative, which invites the community to think through problems and create solutions together, is led by Steven Dow of Cognitive Science.
Scholars v. COVID-19 Racism
Speaking with Inside Higher Ed, Sam Museus of Education Studies said he expects to see a spike in research related to discrimination against Asian Americans and has himself begun analyzing discourse about the virus in the media and social media. There’s a lot of focus on the present moment and not a lot of coverage of the larger context, he said, “that there’s a long history of physical illnesses being weaponized against communities of color in our society and used as a way to spark fear and animosity toward immigrant populations in order to advance political agendas.”
Faculty Partnerships with HBCUs Help Underrepresented Students Access Graduate School
UC San Diego is strengthening its relationship with historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to help undergraduates from all backgrounds envision an advanced degree in their future. With the support of the UC-HBCU Initiative, administered by the UC Office of the President, the university has been awarded faculty grants to host summer research programs with the eventual aim of increasing the enrollment of historically underrepresented groups in UC San Diego graduate programs. Claire Adida and David Lake of Political Science are among the grant recipients.
Experts Share How to Keep Kids Healthy, Learning During Coronavirus School Closures
The Union-Tribune includes advice from Alison Wishard Guerra of Education Studies and Gedeon Deak of Cognitive Science. Separately, Susan Yonezawa of CREATE says in this video, “Your Child Will Be Fine.”
Coping with Coronavirus Stress
The COVID-19 pandemic is stressful. Emotions are running high, and we are all coming to terms with many aspects of an ever-changing situation. Amidst all the uncertainty about the coronavirus, it is more important than ever to protect our mental health. The ThisWeek feature story linked above offers some wellness tips and resources for our community, with thoughts from social scientists, including Alison Wishard Guerra of Education Studies and Karen Dobkins of Psychology. Also, the division’s own Center for Global Mental Health, directed by Janis Jenkins of Anthropology and Psychiatry, has created a compilation of wellness resources you might find useful, as well as a compilation of observations on the pandemic called “Lived Experiences.”
Running Low on Toilet Paper? Here Are Your Options
The Union-Tribune gets some multicultural perspective and advice from Nancy Postero and Saiba Varma of Anthropology. (Funny: The story also recommends subscribing to the Union-Tribune, as that’s likely to be a cheaper back-up option than buying TP on eBay.)
Closing the Gap: UC San Diego Recognized as Standout in Expanding Access to Low-Income Students
UC San Diego is among 30 universities in the nation that have teamed up with the American Talent Initiative (ATI) to push to expand opportunity for low-income students. The university added 1,642 Pell Grant students over the last three years, more than any other institution that is part of ATI.
An Incomplete Victory
As we celebrate the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment, it is important to remember that it did not provide all women immediate access to the polls. Sara Clarke Kaplan of Ethnic Studies illuminates the significant, and often unsung, contributions of black women suffragists to secure the right to vote for all citizens.
Klobuchar’s Hot Dish and Warren’s Heart-Shaped Cakes Soothe Our Unfounded Fear of Women in Office
Pundits are saying that the presidential candidates who are women are trotting out recipes in order to be relatable. “But,” writes doctoral alumna Stacy J. Williams of Sociology in a Washington Post op-ed, “the centuries-long history of women using cooking in politics shows us that something more is going on. When female activists and candidates pick up the mixing spoon, they are fighting America’s knee-jerk reaction to women who step up and run for office.”
Training the Next Generation to Address ‘A Changing Planet’
Seventh College will welcome its first class of students this fall with Kate Antonovics of Economics at the helm as its inaugural provost. Seventh College’s theme of “A Changing Planet” is designed to prepare students to confront a broad range of pressing global issues including the climate crisis, mass migration, and rapid cultural and technological change. “Many of these issues will have the greatest impact on young people, who are deeply worried about the future of the planet,” Antonovics said. “I am excited to engage students in the theme, not just to understand these issues but to help craft solutions.”
Top Colleges in the West for Student Outcomes
Six of the top 10 colleges in the West for student outcomes are public schools, including five from the University of California system. UC San Diego was ranked No. 8 in the West in the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings.
‘Community Station’ Opens at U.S.-Mexico Border
A mixed-use project almost 20 years in the making is now a real place that both people and some powerful ideas can call home. It includes a UC San Diego “community station” blocks from the U.S.-Mexico Border where the university and a local nonprofit can collaborate on addressing pressing social needs. The community-station initiative is co-directed by Fonna Forman of Political Science with Teddy Cruz of Visual Arts.
Does the U.S. Need More legal Immigration?
The question was posed by the San Diego Union-Tribune. James Hamilton of Economics answers, “Yes. When immigrants are highly skilled and hard-working they help make all of us more productive. The taxes they pay are critical for keeping Social Security and Medicare funded. Foreign-born scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs are very important for helping America remain a world leader in technology and innovation. But America let in low-skilled immigrants at a faster pace than the economy could absorb, which depressed wages for the lowest-paying jobs.”
US National Academies Launches Search for Evidence-Based Programs to Support Scientist Parents
At a workshop convened by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and covered by Nature, Mary Blair-Loy of Sociology said: “There is a labor shortage in many STEM fields, and concerns that we need more people and a diverse workforce. At the same time, almost half of women are leaving.” Blair-Loy was also quoted in a subsequent Nature piece about the U.S. National Institutes of Health launching supplementary grants for researchers with family commitments.
Burbidge Visiting Professor Uses Physics of Mayonnaise to Develop Electronic Skin
French researcher Annie Colin is working with UC San Diego scientists on developing electronic skin in pursuit of different applications. One of her campus collaborators is Eva Wittenberg of Linguistics. Together they are running a series of technical tests and pilot studies to see whether a novel pressure-sensitive pen that makes use of this electronic skin can become a useful tool in psycholinguistic research.
Bernie Sanders Dominates the Field in California
According to a poll commissioned by KQED, Sen. Bernie Sanders is the one to beat in Tuesday's presidential primary in California. Thad Kousser of Political Science says Sanders is benefiting from his statewide run four years ago. “He's got a set of ground troops all over California," said Kousser. “And I think that name recognition and the roots that he has put down politically in the state explain why he's California's clear front runner today.”
The Winning 2018 Democratic Playbook: Avoid Talking About ‘Medicare for All’
“There are many factors that led to Democratic victories in the crucial swing states of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin in 2018, and it’s always hard to isolate any single cause. But the successful Democrats all talked about healthcare — with a focus on fixing the Affordable Care Act and reinforcing Medicare.” – Seth Hill of Political Science, writing in an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times.
The Speech-to-Song Illusion
Writing in Psychology Today, music psychologist Diana Deutsch discusses why it might be that the spoken phrase “sometimes behaves so strangely” can morph perceptually from speech to song through the simple process of repetition.
In the Trump Era, Campus Conservative Groups Are Fighting One Another
From the Young Republicans to the “Groypers,” college conservatives keep edging further and more provocatively to the right, write Amy Binder of Sociology and doctoral alum Jeffrey Kidder, now at Northern Illinois University, in a Washington Post Monkey Cage blog post.
‘Parentese,’ Not Traditional Baby Talk, Boosts a Baby's Language Development
CNN.com features the recent research of Linguistics doctoral alum Naja Ferjan Ramirez, now at the University of Washington: “True baby talk, which a new study shows can boost infant brain and speech development, is actually proper adult speech, just delivered in a different cadence.”
San Diego State Hires First Tribal Liaison
San Diego State University has hired its first tribal liaison to focus on better serving and increasing its Native American student population. Jacob Alvarado Waipuk, a San Pasqual Reservation resident and Kumeyaay Nation member, is an SDSU grad and is currently pursuing his doctorate in educational leadership offered jointly by UC San Diego and Cal State San Marcos. In his role as the university's tribal liaison, Waipuk will work with the local tribes to recruit students and make sure they feel welcomed on campus.
Genetic Researchers Work to Overcome Suspicion Among Indigenous Groups
The latest project of genome scientist Keolu Fox of Anthropology is on the island of Moorea, in French Polynesia, reports the Washington Post. It stems from long conversations with locals. Fox discovered that islanders wanted to know whether high rates of thyroid cancer and leukemia were connected to nuclear testing that was done there by the French government years ago.
Campus Focuses on Impact of Triton Women in Leadership
Turn off the critical voice in your head. Feel the fear and do it anyway. Remember that you belong in the room. These were just some of the valuable insights shared by speakers at UC San Diego’s inaugural Triton Women Who Lead Forum, including alumna Marianne Cooper, lead researcher for “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead.”
Stepping Up to the Plate to Support Students
Alumnus Gary Jacobs and his wife, Jerri-Ann, believe that education provides a path to upward social mobility. They gave UC San Diego $2 million to fund scholarships for scholar-athletes, and graduate fellowships in the Division of Social Sciences. The Union-Tribune reported on the gift as well.
UC San Diego Receives $1.3M from Koret Foundation to Support Marine Archaeology Research
The three-year gift will support scientific collaboration between the Scripps Center for Marine Archaeology (SCMA) and the University of Haifa in Israel. SCMA is co-directed by Tom Levy of Anthropology.
Passion Drives True Tritons to Service
The True Triton awards celebrate dedicated alumni who serve UC San Diego as volunteer champions. The 2020 True Triton honorees include Sheri Jamieson ’73 of Anthropology and Leo Spiegel ’83 of Economics.
We Can Improve the Way We Talk
Psychology professor Gail Heyman discusses simple steps we can take to have better conversations with friends, family – or anyone, really.
Will Impeachment Hurt the Economy?
The San Diego Union-Tribune posed the question to 12 local experts and received a resounding, unanimous “no.” James Hamilton of Economics had this to add to his “no”: “It has been totally clear for a long time that the House was going to vote to impeach and the Senate was going to acquit. The press has treated this as a great drama while everyone else (including Congress and the president) have gone about their regular business. I cannot imagine that many people or businesses will do anything different after the vote.”
Alum Ken Kroner Gives $1M to Align Academic Research with Financial Decision Making
What is the optimal investment strategy if people live beyond 100, yet retire at 65-70? How will diversity and inclusion affect a company’s performance? Should investments in global warming and renewable energy funds be ramped up for pension funds? For the first time at UC San Diego, academia will collaborate with the asset management industry to find answers to these and other financial questions. The Kroner Family Foundation, directed by alumnus Ken Kroner and his wife, Jennifer, has launched the Pacific Center for Asset Management (PCAM) with a $1 million lead gift to provide unbiased, in-depth research to assist in financial decision making. Fox5 covered the news.
When School Needs a Volunteer, Guess Who Gets the Call? Not My Husband
Boston Globe: Participation in school life still tends to default to mothers, perpetuating a volunteering gender gap rooted in the days when most women stayed at home. “Often for mothers, but not fathers, there’s a cultural expectation to devote oneself to family in an undivided, emotionally intensive way,” explains sociologist Mary Blair-Loy, director of UC San Diego’s Center for Research on Gender in STEMM.
2019-20 Hellman Fellows
Congrats to all the new fellows, including Lara Rangel of Cognitive Science and Saiba Varma of Anthropology! The Hellman Fellowship program is designed to provide financial support and encouragement to young faculty in the core disciplines who show capacity for great distinction in their research and creative activities.
Who Is Wendy Carlos, and Why Is a UCSD Professor Writing about Her Groundbreaking Music?
The San Diego Union-Tribune features Roshanak Kheshti of Ethnic Studies on the publication of her latest book, “Wendy Carlos’s Switched-On Bach.” The book explores the significance of gender in the success of the highest selling classical music recording of all time, “Switched-On Bach,” performed by Wendy Carlos on a Moog synthesizer and released under her birth name, Walter Carlos, in 1968.
Meet the Divisions’ New Faculty
We have 27 new colleagues joining the division this year! Meet them virtually at the link above.
High Tech High Educator Tapped for a Top Education Award
Sarah Fine, who prepares teachers at High Tech High’s Graduate School of Education and also teaches in our Department of Education Studies, has co-won the 2020 Grawemeyer Award, a national $100,000 award for creative thinking in education.
Big Tech’s Unfair Immigration Advantage
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, John Skrentny of Sociology and the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research and Michael Roach of Cornell argue from the findings of their recent study on start-ups and U.S. visa policy: “If Congress wants to help technology startups compete with giants like Amazon, Google and Microsoft, it should change America’s immigration laws. Our research suggests that visa policy is often an obstacle to startups seeking to hire foreign graduates with specialized scientific and technical skills.” Learn more about how “Visa Concerns Deter Foreign-Born PhDs from Working in Startups.” The study was also covered by the Los Angeles Times, the Union-Tribune, the Sacramento Bee, Inside Higher Ed and others.
Scientists Race to Document Puerto Rico's Coastal Heritage
The Associated Press features a project led by environmental archaeologist Isabel Rivera-Collazo of Anthropology and Scripps Oceanography: “A group of U.S.-based scientists is rushing to document indigenous sites along Puerto Rico’s coast dating back a couple of thousand years before rising sea levels linked to climate change destroy a large chunk of the island’s heritage that is still being discovered.” The AP story was picked up the New York Times, Voice of America, as well as both of the major newspapers in Puerto Rico, Primera Hora and El Nuevo Dia.
What Would Happen If We Randomly Gave $1,000 to Poor Families? Now We Know
The Washington Post reports on “a sprawling, first-of-its-kind study that ought to put to bed some enduring myths about the effects of giving cash directly to the very poor in rural Africa.” The experiment, in a nutshell: Randomly pick more than 10,000 poor families in one of the world’s poorest places. Give them $1,000 each – no strings attached. Then see what happens. The findings in a nutshell: Benefits extended far beyond the immediate recipients. Every $1 handed out generated $2.60 in additional spending or income. The study – co-authored by Paul Niehaus of Economics and implemented by a nonprofit he co-founded, GiveDirectly – was also covered by the Economist, NPR and Vox, among others. The World Economic Forum highlighted it in both a blog post and a short video.
A Language for All
Teens in Argentina are leading the charge to eliminate gender in language, writes the Washington Post, citing work by Lera Boroditsky of Cognitive Science that shows gendered language can shape the way we think, even about objects, let alone humans. Boroditsky also made appearances in Science, with an editorial on “Language and the Brain,” and on the BBC’s World Service, in a conversation about “How Language Defines Us as Women.”
The Democratic Party Has Moved Left – But So Has the U.S.
Lane Kenworthy of Sociology explains in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog how and why the Democratic Party has become more aligned with center-left parties in other rich democracies (where before the party’s positions were more like those of center-right parties elsewhere). In a second post, Kenworthy argues that “The Nation’s Liberal Shift Is Likely to Continue.”
Graduate students Tricia Light of Scripps Oceanography and Luke Stroth of Anthropology write in an opinion piece in the San Diego Union-Tribune: “The University of California has made headlines for ambitious sustainability goals, but if the failure of UC San Diego to meet its impending 2020 zero-waste deadline is any indication, these goals are nothing but hot air.”
Tougher U.S. Asylum Policy Follows in Europe’s Footsteps
“There’s this race to the bottom around the world, and governments are looking to each other and trying to figure out what’s the harshest policy they can get away with,” David FitzGerald of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies tells the Associated Press. Fitzgerald also spoke with Vice about the “the worldwide war on asylum seekers” and with the BBC about the enduring appeal and complicated history of border walls.
A Year in, Gavin Newsom Is Still Fighting Trump. Is He Doing Enough to Govern California?
Some critics contend that California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s first year in office has been diluted by his feud with President Trump, resulting in lack of progress on big state issues. “He ran as a leader of the Trump resistance, and he’s been all-in there and gets full marks,” Thad Kousser of Political Science told USA Today. “So, the next step will be to really get a coherent policy agenda set and implemented.”
How Andrew Yang Can and Should Advance Racial Understanding
In a co-authored opinion piece appearing in the San Francisco Chronicle, Neil Gong of Sociology, who is due to start his UC San Diego appointment in person in 2021, writes that presidential candidate Andrew Yang has “a tremendous opportunity to change the racial narrative, broaden his base and reshape perceptions of Asian Americans.” Though the candidate has so far mostly avoided race, he “should lean into it.”
State of the Planet: Al Gore Talks Climate at Salk
Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore talked about “Solving Our Climate Crisis” on Dec. 3 in La Jolla to an audience of 200 science and biotech VIPs. The event was presented by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and was moderated by UC San Diego’s executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, Elizabeth Simmons. After he “name-checked” many of the luminaries present, including Tom Levy of Anthropology who helped co-organize the evening, Gore went on to outline the crisis and what we can, and must, do about it.
WTF? Slurs Offend Young Adults More than Swearing
Benjamin Bergen of Cognitive Science writes in The Conversation that four-letter words have lost some of their impact and that what youth now consider profane has changed. Bergen’s work was also featured on Vermont Public Radio’s But Why podcast “for curious kids”: “Why Are Some Words ‘Bad’?”
Don’t Assume the Supreme Court Will Give Trump a Resounding Victory
Harry Litman of Political Science responds to the news that the nation’s highest court has agreed to review three separate rulings on subpoenas pertaining to the president’s financial records. Writing as a contributing columnist for the Washington Post, Litman predicts an “announcement of basic doctrine that is bullish on executive power but that still leaves Trump with a probable losing hand going forward.”
Her Illness Was Misdiagnosed as Madness – Now She Takes on Madness in Medicine
A New York Times’ story on Susannah Cahalan’s book “The Great Pretender” quotes Andrew Scull of Sociology on the paper at the book’s center, Stanford psychologist David Rosenhan’s landmark 1973 study that questioned psychiatrists’ ability to diagnose mental illness: “It was a bombshell.” Cahalan’s book throws the study into doubt. Meanwhile, Scull’s own new book, “Psychiatry and its Discontents,” was reviewed in Nature as a top new science book.
If ‘Pain Is an Opinion,’ There Are Ways to Change Your Mind
The New York Times’ Upshot blog considers how what many of us believe about pain is wrong: It doesn’t stem from “a single, fixable source” nor is it communicated by “pain nerves.” It’s actually in the brain. Or, as V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology once put it, “pain is an opinion.”
Duncan Hunter’s Guilty Plea Will Widen an Already Open Race for the 50th District
With Rep. Duncan Hunter seemingly off the next 50th Congressional District ballot, experts say the Republican Party has boosted its chances of retaining the seat come November. “This gives the Republicans a much stronger chance of holding on to a critical seat,” UC San Diego political scientist Thad Kousser said. “They lose the advantage of incumbency and name-brand, but getting away from the scandal and the soap opera this has become will allow the party to focus on issues that are popular to voters in this district.”
UCSD Professor Tom Wong Announces Bid for 53rd Congressional District
Tom Wong of Political Science has announced his candidacy for the state’s 53rd Congressional District seat, joining a slew of candidates running to succeed Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego, reported City News Service and the San Diego Union-Tribune. UPDATE: Wong withdrew from the race January 2020.
Local Increases in Immigrants Didn’t Drive Voters to Trump
Did Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign benefit from voters’ fears of immigrants in communities experiencing greater demographic change? New research shows the answer is “no,” a finding that contradicts the conventional wisdom and which surprised even the political scientists who conducted the study. Published in PNAS, the study was co-authored by Seth Hill of Political Science with colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania and Yale. Check out the Economist’s take on the research.
How We Can Honor Veterans by Serving Active-Duty Families
"'Families serve, too.' You hear this a lot in military communities. So this and every Veterans Day, I’m not only honoring the service and sacrifice of our country’s many living veterans, but also reflecting on the sacrifices made by their families – especially the kids,” writes Alison Black of Education Studies in the Union-Tribune.
UC San Diego Announces Recipients of Chancellor’s and Revelle Medals
Kudos! Ann Craig of Political Science is this year’s recipient of the Revelle Medal, which celebrates the contributions of current and former faculty to UC San Diego.
DACA Isn’t ‘the Sweeping Magic Wand of Access that Higher Education Made It Seem to Be’
Political Science student Caroline Siegel Singh writes in the Hechinger Report: “With DACA’s existence in limbo, higher education’s dependency on DACA to make college more accessible to undocumented students is problematic. More can – and must –be done to make college financially accessible for this population, especially as experts speculate that the coming Supreme Court decision may be grim.”
House Speaker Pelosi Hosts Campaign Ethics Forum in Oceanside
House speaker Nancy Pelosi joined Congressman Mike Levin for a community discussion on campaign finance and ethics reform, NBC 7 reported, in an event moderated by Thad Kousser of Political Science. Check out this video clip where Pelosi says: "And didn't our professor do a good job?"
How Does Age Affect Your Ability to Learn a Second Language?
Linguistics graduate student September Cowley is blogging for Chatterbug, a language-learning app that provides private, online, one-on-one lessons with a native-speaking tutors. The piece linked above was her first post for the outfit. Here’s another: “The Role of Conversation Practice in Second Language Learning.”
Degrees Designed to Make a Difference
College students want to make a difference, and they want good jobs. These are not mutually exclusive ambitions, and UC San Diego continues to create degree programs that speak to students’ concerns about pressing social issues and employability, too. There are new majors, and new concentrations in existing majors, that address: issues of equity and diversity; the climate crisis; and human health and changing demographics. The story features new offerings from Anthropology, Education Studies and Human Developmental Sciences, as well as the division’s new minor in Computational Social Science.
The Climate Crisis Needs Attention from Cognitive Scientists
“To prevent the devastating consequences of anthropogenic global heating, immediate collective action is needed to reduce fossil fuel emissions,” writes Adam Aron of Psychology in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences. “Cognitive scientists are in a special position to facilitate collective action,” he says, “by researching the factors underlying belief and action, and by teaching students how to think about the biggest problem of their lives.”
Homegrown Campaign to Combat Hate on National Stage
It’s a simple premise with a powerful effect: Help young people use their voices to speak up for justice and equity – then amplify the messages they make. That’s the basic idea behind #USvsHate, a messaging project germinated at UC San Diego and grown in local schools, now branching out nationally as part of Teaching Tolerance, a program of the nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center dedicated to anti-bias education. Mica Pollock of Education Studies and CREATE initially conceived #USvsHate in 2017. While it was Pollock’s brainchild, the campaign was developed collaboratively with Education Studies doctoral student Mariko Cavey, CREATE digital specialist Minhtuyen Mai, and educators throughout San Diego. The reach of #USvsHate was substantially expanded in the 2018-19 school year, in part through the efforts of CREATE affiliates Kim Douillard and Sarah Peterson.
Student Activism Is Often Uncivil – We Can Change That
Amy Binder of Sociology and doctoral alum Jeffrey Kidder write in the Chronicle of Higher Education on how colleges might lead students to more constructive political engagement.
2019
Rankings Lift UC San Diego to the Top
"From upward social mobility to superior patient care, UC San Diego’s prominence in national and global rankings honors our commitment to excellence," says Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. Read on for details about our stellar rankings in U.S. News & World Report, Washington Monthly and more.
Innovation and its Discontents
Political elites and technocrats in many countries believe we can innovate our way out of poverty. But can problems of development be tackled by profit-driven entrepreneurialism? Lilly Irani of Communication gives an extended interview to radio show and podcast Against the Grain about her new book, “Chasing Innovation.” The book looks at what professional design is and isn’t doing for poor people and communities in India.
UC San Diego Offers Admission to More Diverse California Residents
This year, the campus admitted 32,016 first-year and 10,829 transfer students for fall 2019 out of 118,372 applications received. There was a 7 percent increase among admitted California residents from the previous year. More importantly, newly admitted students reflect the growing diversity of our state and offer an opportunity for generations to rise – 41 percent of admitted students from California are the first in their family to attend college.
What Happens When the World’s Population Stops Growing?
Humanity has experienced population drop-offs before – the Black Death is thought to have killed about 200 million people – but this time will be different. “In the past, when the world population experienced a decline,” Tom Vogl of Economics tells the Atlantic, “it was because a lot of people died.” This coming transition, meanwhile, will be the result of people having fewer kid – a product of rising incomes and levels of education, especially for women and especially in less-wealthy countries. There’s always some uncertainty to making predictions, but Vogl said that population projections are usually “less uncertain” than other social and economic projections.
Let’s Bring Wonder Back to Education
Erica Heinzman of Education Studies calls on all of us to reimagine mathematics. Too often, "math" is a four-letter word, she writes in the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Your Say, and asks: "In addition to reading a bedtime story to your child, have you ever tried bedtime math?" Stakeholders and policymakers must strive to make math relevant, she says, and must advocate for changing the daily learning experiences of K-12 students, away from drudgery and back to wonder.
2019 Outstanding Graduates
There are dozens of outstanding graduates in the Social Sciences. This feature story recognizes two of them: Albert Lee Daniel, former Marine and a father of three who persevered to earn a degree in Political Science after suffering a stroke, and Buddy Sampson, a seasoned journalist who took a nontraditional path to majoring in Communication and aims to inspire others to achieve their dreams.
2018-19 Distinguished Teaching Awards
Kudos to Maureen Feeley and graduate student Lauren Ferry of Political Science, Joseph Hankins of Anthropology and Joel Watson of Economics, all of whom have been recognized by the Academic Senate for their teaching.
Nature Names UC San Diego 4th Best Public University for Research Output
In the Nature Index 2019 Annual Tables, the campus ranked 4th among public research universities in the United States, 9th among U.S. universities and 22nd in the world out of 500 institutions. The annual ranking is based on research published in 82 high-quality, scientific journals in 2018, and the release announcing the ranking includes a PNAS paper by Mary Blair-Loy and doctoral alumna Erin Cech of Sociology.
Powerhouse Female Economist
Well-deserved! Worth magazine recognizes Valerie Ramey of Economics as one of “16 Powerhouse Female Economists.”
Identifying Extraordinary Contributors to Work and Family Research
A new multi-disciplinary analysis of the work-family field finds that Mary Blair-Loy of Sociology is a top 10 “extraordinary contributor” in the “Landmark Contributions” category.
Say Goodbye to Your Local Precinct - Voting in California Is About to Change Dramatically
An opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times – written by Thad Kousser of Political Science, with two of his collaborators on the New Electorate Project – remarks on the passing of the neighborhood polling place and looks ahead at how the Voter’s Choice Act might affect turnout and representation in California.
‘
Alleys in Action!’ Wins APA Award
Urban Studies and Planning won the 2019 Academic Excellence Award from the San Diego chapter of the American Planning Association. Between January 2017 and February 2018, USP faculty member Sue Peerson worked with 19 undergraduate students to conduct research and create a toolkit on best practices focused on how to revitalize San Diego’s underutilized alleys. The group also held a community pop-up event to demonstrate what’s possible in this neglected public space.
Underwater Fortress Found
“Underwater archaeology is helping to transform our knowledge of the ancient world,” writes Ancient Origins. “In Israel, maritime archaeologists have discovered a 2,200-year-old Hellenistic fortress linked to biblical battles. The discovery is helping us to understand Hellenistic military fortifications and strategies and the impact of rising sea levels on ancient communities.” Tom Levy of Anthropology is part of the team making the discovery; you can also read a report about it in Haaretz (if you have a subscription).
Undergraduates Delve into Library Collections to Develop Award-Winning Research
Now in its 13th year, the Undergraduate Library Research Prize at UC San Diego recognizes the outstanding scholarly work of undergraduate students. Two of four winners for 2019 are in the Social Sciences: They are Sociology major Brett Hooke and Ruiyu Yang, who is double-majoring in Psychology and Sociology.
How Idealistic High-Tech Schools Often Fail to Help Poor Kids Get Ahead
“Overpromising,” writes Christo Sims of Communication in Zocalo Public Square, “is a recurrent feature of well-intentioned reform initiatives that center on new technologies.”
How Washington Learned to Love Debt and Deficits
“We don’t know how long the real interest rate is going to stay this low,” cautions Valerie Ramey of Economics in this Wall Street Journal story on scant political support for reining in federal debt. “It could suddenly start increasing, and the U.S. could be left in a really bad situation if it has a lot of debt to finance.”
Antony Appointed Graduate Division Dean
After an extensive national search, James Soto Antony has been appointed dean of the Graduate Division at UC San Diego, effective Sept. 1, 2019. An alumnus of UCLA, Antony currently serves on the faculty of the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University and is director of Harvard’s Higher Education Program. At UC San Diego, Antony will also hold a tenured faculty appointment in the Department of Education Studies.
Psychonomic Society Early Career Award
Timothy Brady of Psychology has been selected as a 2019 recipient of the Psychonomic Society’s Early Career Award, which recognizes significant contributions to scientific psychology early in a career. Each year, no more than four scientists are selected. Congrats, Tim!
What Kamala Harris’s Travails Tell Us About the Democrat Dilemma
“Retail politicking” – small-scale interactions with voters at local events – mean a lot in primary presidential campaigning, notes Thad Kousser of Political Science in the Financial Times. The skill may be more difficult for a California politician like Kamala Harris because the state is so large that campaigning is mostly done via TV advertising or big rallies. “In California, you never have to be a retail politician,” Kousser says. “Everyone knows her resume. No one really knows her.”
Utah’s Increase in Violence Toward Federal Employees
Citing work by Political Science Ph.D. candidate Zoe Nemerever, the Salt Lake Tribune reports: Though Utah’s demand that the federal government relinquish ownership of more than 30 million acres within its borders didn’t result in any transfer of land, it did seem to drive an increase in violence toward federal public lands employees.
It Takes a Network
#CREATEequity is not just a hashtag at the educational research and outreach center called CREATE. To raise a child with a fair shot at college, it takes more than a village – it takes a network. UC San Diego’s CREATE has been working together with our region’s educators and youth for 20 years to help build the connections that support kids’ dreams of college and career. The story features Hugh “Bud” Mehan of Sociology, Mica Pollock of Education Studies, CREATE’s Susan Yonezawa and alumna Isela Medina, who majored in Sociology with a minor in Political Science.
UCSD to Create Grand Entrance to Manage Crushing Growth, and Welcome the Public
“In one of the biggest physical and social changes in school history,” writes the San Diego Union-Tribune, “UC San Diego will create its first ‘front door,’ a grand entrance meant to appeal as much to the public as students and ease crowding on a campus where enrollment could hit 40,000 this fall.” The story quotes Scott Klemmer of Cognitive Science and the Design Lab about the new Design and Innovation building, which will allow trolley riders on the Blue Line to see faculty and students at work. “To see eyes looking at you matters,” Klemmer said. “One pair of those eyes may give you a job offer, or help finance your startup, or help buy your first product off Kickstarter, or convince you what you’re doing isn’t solving real problems. This is very energizing.”
Watermelon Drop!
Watch video of Kate Antonovics of Economics – in action as "Watermelon Royalty" – at the 2019 edition of UC San Diego’s oldest campus tradition, the Watermelon Drop. She presided over a 72-foot splat.
In a Nation Divided, Civility is Essential
Community leader Elaine Galinson will direct $5 million in grants to continue momentum of UC San Diego’s student program in partnership with National Conflict Resolution Center. A portion of the grants will also name two classrooms in the Division of Social Sciences’ Public Engagement Building.
Chancellor’s Dissertation Medal
Congratulations to Mauricio Romero of Economics and all the other winners of the UC San Diego Chancellor’s Dissertation Medal!
Forbes’ ‘30 Under 30’ for 2019
Economics alumna Linda Xie ’12, managing director of Scalar Capital, is on Forbes’ highly watched “30 Under 30” list for 2019, in the finance category.
Sonic Illusions
The Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast puts “a spotlight on the unique function of our hearing and how our backgrounds and biology affect how we process sound,” featuring an interview with Diana Deutsch of Psychology. Deutsch was also featured on the Hi-Phi Nation podcast from Slate, exploring how “sound illusions reveal that the human mind insists that it knows reality better than reality itself.”
The Fall of a Model Democracy
“Benin, in West Africa was hailed as a success story. But it shared many of the same problems as other democracies,” writes The Atlantic, in a story that quotes Claire Adida of Political Science. Adida was also quoted in a Washington Post story showing how banning immigrants’ languages can backfire.
Trump Administration Wants to Concentrate on Worker- Rather than Family-Focused Immigration
John Skrentny of Sociology and the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research addresses potential impacts of the proposal on Phoenix-area NPR affiliate KJZZ.
EEG Scans Can Detect Signs of Parkinson’s Disease
Futurity.org reports on an eNeuro paper co-authored by Bradley Voytek of Cognitive Science and Neuroscience alum Scott Cole.
UC San Diego Library to Digitize At-Risk Melanesian Audio Recordings
Communities assembling for a singsing celebration. Leaders discussing the origins of shell money. Elders narrating ship attacks and daily affairs. Young children performing village songs. These are just a few snippets of at-risk sound recordings documenting the cultures of the Pacific Islands from seven different collections within the world-renowned Tuzin Archive for Melanesian Anthropology at UC San Diego. The Tuzin Archive was founded in the early 1980s, in partnership with the library, by the late Donald F. Tuzin and Fitz John Porter Poole of Anthropology.
Report Finds California Above National Average for Sexual Harassment Rates
In the state of California, reported incidences of sexual harassment are 5 percent higher for women and 10 percent higher for men than the national average, report the authors of a joint study produced by UC San Diego’s Center for Gender Equity and Health and the nonprofit CALCAS, or the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault.The report, led by Anita Raj of Education Studies and Medicine, also finds increased risk for gay and lesbian Californians and foreign-born men.
The Democratic Party Is Being Transformed – These House Votes Show How
“The seats that Democrats took from Republicans were generally in upscale suburban districts, which are not socially conservative,” Gary Jacobson of Political Science tells CNN. “And the Democrats defending those seats in the next election would not have nearly as much to worry about (on these issues) as the generation of Democrats elected in 2006, which were generally in redder, more rural districts.”
Kashmir Group Seeks UN Probe into Torture by India Troops
The effects of torture have been “systematic, pervasive, and psychologically, physically and socially devastating” in Kashmir, Saiba Varma of Anthropology told the Associated Press. “Torture is not just a technology on the individual body, but it is a profoundly social, relational, and political technology,” she said. “In making these bodies spectacles, the state is further exerting its power, not only on those who have been tortured, but by also sending a message to those who have not been tortured, saying, ‘this could be you.’”
2019 Dr. Winston C. Doby Impact Award
Congratulations to Susan Yonezawa of CREATE! Yonezawa was selected for the UC system-wide Dr. Winston C. Doby Impact Award, which annually recognizes two UC professionals for their commitment to improving educational opportunities for California students.
From Vaccines to Kombucha at San Diego Rally for Science
UC San Diego researchers were on hand to share their work with participants attending the 2019 San Diego Rally for Science, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Scott Klemmer of Cognitive Science explained a science web portal he developed at the university called Galileo. The software helps the general public frame their question and guides them into developing experiments.
I Wrote the Book on User-Friendly Design – What I See Today Horrifies Me
The world is designed against the elderly, writes Don Norman of Cognitive Science and the Design Lab in Fast Company. Everyone needs better design, he argues. “Do not think that thoughtful design is just for the elderly, or the sick, or the disabled. In the field of design, this is called ‘inclusive design’ for a reason: It helps everyone.” Norman also wrote am Adobe Blog post on “Why I Don’t Believe in Empathic Design.
Alumni Awards Honor Exceptional Tritons
Eight distinguished members of the Triton family celebrated at the 2019 Alumni Awards Celebration include Psychology alumnus Joseph Edelman ’78, founder and CEO of life science-focused hedge fund Perceptive Advisors. Edelman is cited as a “Changemaker,” for “matching resources and expertise to underserved needs.”
The Right Way to Spread the Wealth Around
Forgiving student-loan debt could pay off for everyone, Barron’s reports, by generating additional wealth. To explain how this might work and how the logic applies to more than just student debt, Barron’s turns to a research paper on the Great Depression co-authored by Johannes Wieland of Economics.
Three Boldly Personal Visions of Black History
New Yorker film critic Richard Brody discusses “Compensation,” a film by Zeinabu Davis of Communication as part of the BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) film series “Black 90s: A Turning Point in American Cinema.” Brody also selected to focus on Davis’ “Compensation” for the magazine’s Goings On About Town.
Confusion and Anxiety Continue in Asylum Line
David FitzGerald of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies – whose new book “Refuge Beyond Reach” – looks at the history of western democracies rejecting asylum seekers, told the San Diego Union-Tribune that the problems that arise out of the wait list are a shared responsibility between the U.S. and Mexican governments. The current situation, he said, is “a really clear illustration of how the U.S. pays and pressures Mexico to do the dirty work of migration control.”
American Academy of Arts and Sciences Elects Three from UC San Diego
John Wixted of Psychology is one of three UC San Diego professors elected to the 2019 class of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the country’s most esteemed honorary societies and independent policy research centers, whose membership pans academia, business, government and public affairs. Wixted, along with UC San Diego’s Susan Ackerman Yishi Jin, will be formally inducted at an October 2019 ceremony in Cambridge, Mass.
Woodrow Wilson Foundation Names Career Enhancement Fellowships
Congrats to Hanna Garth of Anthropology! Garth was selected as a 2019 Career Enhancement Fellow by the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. During the fellowship, Garth will continue her work on food in Cuba and will also do research toward her next major project, on the food justice movement in Los Angeles.
Researchers Say There’s a Simple Way to Reduce Suicides: Increase the Minimum Wage
A Washington Post article advancing the argument that there are economic fixes to the rising rate of suicide cites, among others, a paper co-authored by Gordon Hanson of Economics and the School of Global Policy and Strategy, which finds that the death rate among men tended to rise in cities where jobs were vanishing because of competition from cheap foreign goods.
Money and Mother Nature
Those who oppose the Green New Deal argue it will damage the economy. But climate change itself is damaging to the economy, reports Finance 101. Economist Richard Carson weighs in, pointing out the effects of increased heat on mortality, productivity, agriculture and trade.
UC’s New Electorate Project Reveals Initial Impact of Voter’s Choice Act
The Voter’s Choice Act is transforming voting methods in California: the how, where and when of voting. Is it also changing who votes? The first findings from a UC project led by Thad Kousser of Political Science suggest that turnout increased for diverse groups of voters in counties adopting the electoral reforms. Kousser spoke about the research with KPBS, Capitol Weekly and Capital & Main, among other outlets.
Triton: What it Means to Rise
In 2013, activist and organizer Alicia Garza ’02, who is an alumna of Anthropology and Sociology, wrote a Facebook post that spoke volumes and sparked a movement. How #BlackLivesMatter came to be, and how she rose to what it became. This Triton Magazine feature was written by another alumna, Jenee Darden ’02 of Ethnic Studies.
Triton: What it Means to Overcome
Human rights advocate and Political Science Autumn Burris ’11 survived harrowing years of human trafficking before coming to UC San Diego. Now she helps others leave prostitution, and seeks its abolition worldwide, Triton Magazine reports.
Also in the Spring Issue of Triton
Triton magazine asked alumni about why they choose to give back. These “Alumni Stories of Support” include Q&As with Education Studies doctoral alumna LaWana Richmond ’15 and Communication alumna Tricia Thompson Simpson ’84. “Powerful Pages,” featuring books by alumni tackling current issues, includes Sarah Banet-Weiser ’89 of Communication, Oliver Kaplan ’01 of Political Science, and Jessica L. Horton ’06 of Political Science and Visual Arts. In “Protest & Progress,” alumna Annamarie Bezzerides ’91 of Sociology recalls one defining campus memory for her: protesting the Gulf War.
New Center to Address Immigration Policy Debates in Real Time
Immigration has played an integral role in American history and is sure to feature prominently in America’s future. But what should the immigration policies of our nation of immigrants be? That context and that question are driving the newly launched U.S. Immigration Policy Center at UC San Diego. Founded and headed by Tom K. Wong of Political Science, the center aims to bring data-driven research to decision makers, media and public on immigration policy debates as they happen. Wong's research has been covered by the Washington Post, Teen Vogue, and People, among many others.
Education Studies Student Selected as Bouchet Scholar
Michelle Sadrena Pledger of Education Studies is one of five UC San Diego graduate students selected for the national Bouchet Graduate Honor Society. A student advocate and a teachers’ teacher, Pledger is passionate about dance, international travel and, most importantly, she said, “ensuring that the education of tomorrow is more empathetic, equitable and effective for all students.”
DOD Announces FY2018 Minerva Research Initiative Awards
Erik Gartzke of Political Science is one of only 12 researchers nationwide to have won a Minerva Research Initiative Award, a Department of Defense program which supports basic research that focuses on topics of particular relevance to U.S. national security. Gartzke is PI on a project titled “Forecasting Crisis Dynamics with Machine Coded Data.”
UC San Diego Sustainability Awards
Referred to as a “sustainability superhero” in his nomination for the university’s Sustainability Awards, Keith Pezzoli of Communication and Urban Studies and Planning is this year’s faculty honoree.
2
019 Latina of Influence
Hispanic Lifestyle celebrates Communication alumna Sofia Salgado ‘92, executive director of MANA de San Diego, as a 2019 “Latina of Influence.” MANA de San Diego is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to empower Latinas through education, leadership development, community service and advocacy. Salgado oversees 200+ volunteers serving more than 1,000 Latinas in San Diego County.
Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute Awards Innovative Research Scholarships
More than 50 undergraduate competed for the 15 scholarship project awards for the spring academic term. “It’s impressive what a hunger our students have developed to use the newest data science tools to uncover answers to important questions,” said Bradley Voytek of Cognitive Science, who directs HDSI’s scholarship program.
Spring Brings Surge of Migrants, Stretching Border Facilities Far Beyond Capacity
“The current surge was totally predictable and the Trump administration chose not to prepare for it,” Wayne Cornelius of Political Science told the New York Times.
Top Ten Computer Science Education Research Papers of the Last 50 Years
Beth Simon of Education Studies was recognized as a key influencer in the field of computing education for her paper “A Multi-institutional Study of Peer Instruction in Introductory Computing.” The paper, co-authored with Leo Porter of the Jacobs School of Engineering and others, was selected as one of the “Top Ten Symposium Papers of All Time” by the Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education at its 50th anniversary symposium. Peer instruction, a student-centric teaching method that has been documented to improve student outcomes, moves students from the role of passive listeners to active participants in the classroom.
Three Puzzling Aspects of Barr’s Summary of the Mueller Report
Harry Litman of Political Science, a former U.S. attorney and deputy assistant attorney general, who is now also a Washington Post contributing columnist, writes: “On one of the two central topics from the Mueller report – possible obstruction of justice by President Trump – Barr’s letter leaves unanswered more principal questions than it answers.” Litman also now has a podcast series he produces called “Talking Feds.”
The Complicated Politics of Chinese Students Abroad
The rapid growth in the number of Chinese students studying abroad has created complex new political dynamics in the classroom, speakers said during a panel at the Association for Asian Studies annual meeting, Inside Higher Ed reports. “There’s tremendous amount of self-censorship, group pressure. Chinese students who maybe want to be critical of their home country find it’s not desirable to do so for social reasons or peer pressure,” said Richard Madsen of Sociology. “I think we need to be aware of ways in which we’re complicit with policing these boundaries,” Madsen said. “Those of us who need to travel from China, those of us who need financial support from China, I think oftentimes we find ourselves censoring what goes on in our classrooms as well.”
What Do Womxn Want?
Maybe not to have the word “man” in their word anymore, suggests a New York Times story on advocacy for “womyn,” “womxn” and “wimmin” in place of “women.” The story includes Lera Boroditsky of Cognitive Science, who, to illustrate what gendered language does, recounts an anecdote about Russian giraffes and German ones.
Have House Democrats Lurched Left? Not Those From Swing Seats
Ambitious proposals on health care and climate change may reveal more about the intensity than the breadth of liberal perspectives in the new House majority, Gary Jacobson of Political Science tells CNN. Proposals like those for a single-payer health care system and the Green New Deal reflect the genuinely growing demand in strongly Democratic areas, but, he argues, the “majority rests on people from centrist and Republican-leaning districts,” who cannot support these proposals “unless they are suicidal.” To the New York Times, Jacobson said that liberals still “have to be reminded that there are simply not enough liberals out there to form a majority.”
The Robots That Dementia Caregivers Want
Building robots that can help people with dementia has been a longtime goal for roboticists. Yet until now, no one has sought to survey informal caregivers, such as family members, about what characteristics and roles these robots should have. A UC San Diego team sought to address this by spending six months co-designing robots with family members, social workers, and other caregivers. The team was led by Laurel Riek of the Jacobs School of Engineering and included Cognitive Science undergraduate students Sanika Moharana and Alejandro E. Panduro. Riek is part of the Contextual Robotics Institute, a partnership between the Jacobs School and the Division of Social Sciences.
Can an Alter Ego Activate the Best You?
A KPBS report on performance coach and book author Todd Herman, who teaches people that using an alter ego can activate higher levels of achievement, cites Piotr Winkielman of Psychology. In a written statement, Winkielman said that the documented effects of “enclothed cognition” are modest. And, he said, there can be costs to adopting a different persona. The story also aired on KBPS’ TV news program Evening Edition.
Mexican Immigrants Face Threats to Civil Rights and Increased Social Hostility in the U.S. (PDF)
At the end of February in Mexico City, sociologist David FitzGerald, co-director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, and Gustavo López, graduate researcher at the School of Global Policy and Strategy, presented a CCIS report they’d co-authored with Sociology Ph.D. candidate Angela McClean to Mexico’s autonomous National Commission of Human Rights. Linked above, the report “summarizes the continuities and shifts in immigration enforcement between the presidencies of Barack Obama (2009-2016) and Donald Trump (2017-present).” The report’s focus is on assessing the extent to which the policies directly or indirectly create civil rights abuses of, and acts of social hostility toward, Mexican immigrants.” There’s also video of the presentation. Separately, FitzGerald spoke with Courthouse News about the obstacles faced by Central Americans seeking asylum in the U.S.
An Archaeology of Abundance
Most scientists have assumed that the islands of Alta and Baja California were marginal for Native habitation even before European contact. “An Archaeology of Abundance,” a book co-edited by Anthropology doctoral student Mikael Fauvelle, reevaluates this long-held belief, analyzing new lines of evidence to show that California islands were once rich in resources important to human populations.
‘Resilience Networks’ Wins Dissertation Award
Alumna Alison Black of Education Studies, who is now teaching for the department, has won this year’s AERA Division E (Counseling and Child Development) Dissertation Award for her dissertation titled “Resilience Networks: How Military-Connected Adolescents in Civilian Schools Cultivate Peer and Social Support Networks.”
Responding to Hateful Speech in Schools
“On campuses across the country and across our communities, hate-filled speech has been on the rise as students emulate divisive language in national rhetoric and policy,” writes Mica Pollock of Education Studies and CREATE in an education association blog called Inservice. “Lawyers will debate the details in each case, but educators can hang on to some basic principles as they negotiate issues around speech in schools.” These principles, Pollock writes, are: forbidding threat speech and harassment; challenging all speech that denigrates, disrespects or misrepresents “types of people”; and at the very same time treasuring free speech.
Building an Archive of San Diego History
The new Race and Oral History Project, led by historian Luis Alvarez, gives students a central role in documenting the histories of the diverse communities that make up our city, especially those who might otherwise be left out of the historical record. Yen Le Espiritu of Ethnic Studies was part of a faculty team that helped develop the innovative undergraduate course.
STEM Career v. Parenting? Sociology Study Calls for Cultural Revolution
Either work in STEM or be a parent – that seems to be the grim choice that many STEM workers are facing. Nearly half of new mothers and a quarter of new fathers leave their full-time STEM jobs after they have their first child, according to a new study co-authored by Mary Blair-Loy of Sociology and doctoral alumna Erin Cech, now at the University of Michigan. Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study was covered by Reuters, Nature, Science and Time, among others.
Econ Student and Bio Major Launch Beverage Company
The UC Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation features a Q & A with UC San Diego undergraduate students Edward Muallem of Biology and Yaniv Shemesh of Economics. The pair recently launched a beverage company called Mi Mate. Support for their idea came from The Basement, an accelerator on campus, while inspiration came while studying for a calculus exam in the library.
Waiting Game: An Extended Look at How We Queue
Why do some long lines seem to move quickly while others take forever? “A wait is a psychological state,” said Don Norman of Cognitive Science and the Design Lab, in an in-depth CNN.com piece on the science of designing better queues. “In that way, it’s a matter of design, of trying to understand the psychology of the people waiting but also their boredom and frustration. It requires a human-centered design perspective, from the points of view of both the people doing the servicing and the people waiting in line.”
‘Godfathers of AI’ Honored with Turing Award, the Nobel Prize of Computing
Did you know that Geoffrey Hinton, one of the men who won the Turing Award, did postdoctoral work at UC San Diego? He worked on our campus with Don Norman in the late 1970s – long before neural networks were accepted or fashionable.
Chronicle of Higher Ed Names UC San Diego One of Nation’s Most Generous Colleges
In a recent listing published by The Chronicle of Higher Education, UC San Diego is ranked 14th among the nation’s top 20 four-year public institutions that raised the most in private donations in the 2018 fiscal year, and in turn, gave institutional grant aid to nearly half of their students. The average amount the top 20 gave per student was about double that of four-year public institutions over all.
Chairperson Peerson
Mayor Kevin Faulconer has appointed Sue Peerson of Urban Studies and Planning as chairperson of the City of San Diego Planning Commission. Congrats, Chairperson Peerson!
Dr. Seuss Books Can Be Racist, But Students Keep Reading Them
NPR’s Code Switch cites research co-authored by Education Studies doctoral student Ramon Stephens with Katie Ishizuka of the Conscious Kid Library. The research, published recently in Research on Diversity in Youth Literature, found that only 2 percent of the human characters in Seuss’ books were people of color. And all of those characters, the co-authors say, were “depicted through racist caricatures.”
Can America Celebrate Black History Without Teaching It?
A founder of the Black Studies Project at UC San Diego, Sara Clarke Kaplan of Ethnic Studies and Critical Gender Studies appeared on KPBS’ Midday Edition to talk about the importance of black history and how Americans benefit from learning it. “If we don’t teach this material in schools,” Kaplan said, “we can’t expect people to automatically go against all of their prejudices and beliefs they’ve been taught to actually understand the real conditions of life.”
Can These Guys Prevent Divorce?
A San Diego startup has developed an app called LifeCouple to help people in relationships. Gail Heyman of Psychology – who has developed an app of her own, Beyond Small Talk, which is intended to deepen conversations with friends, family and other people in your life – has some reservations about LifeCouple (its focus on outcomes, numbers and percentages, for example), the Union-Tribune reports. But, overall, she is positive about the idea.
UC San Diego Makes a Commitment to Open Access by Signing the OA2020 Expression of Interest
The university has signed an Expression of Interest to adopt the principles of Open Access 2020, an international effort to make all scholarly publications freely and immediately available to everyone by replacing the current costly subscription-based approach with transparent, sustainable funding models. “OA is about equitable access to information and honoring our commitment to educating the people of California and the world,” said Robert Horwitz of Communication, who is chair of the UC San Diego Academic Senate. “Signing the EoI is an exciting opportunity for a leading research institution such as UC San Diego to expand access to our scholarship.”
Why Amazon’s New York U-Turn Is Good for America’s Tech Economy
Wall Street Journal technology columnist Christopher Mims cites Sociology graduate student Natalie Novick, who studies the genesis of start-up hubs in the U.S. and Europe. By abandoning plans for a NYC headquarters, Novick says, Amazon has the opportunity to go into smaller markets and build the tech hubs of the future.
Full House at First Data Analytics Camp
The China Data Lab, co-directed by Margaret “Molly” Roberts and Yiqing Xu of Political Science, hosted its first data analytics camp this year. Demand was so high for the training – designed to equip social scientists with new methods and techniques to use emerging big data – that not all could be accommodated. Next time!
Alumni Toolkit Launched in San Diego
Every K-12 school has a major untapped resource: the alumni. How might schools engage their alums to communicate with students younger than themselves? CREATE hosted an event featuring Alumni Toolkit, a new database and messaging infrastructure allowing schools to reach out to alumni for college and career presentations, mentoring, coaching and more. More than 60 local K-12 and university educators attended the launch event. Susan Yonezawa of CREATE is now heading up a pilot implementation study on the Toolkit here in San Diego.
How Harvard and Stanford Students Look Down on Other Elite Campuses
The Atlantic considers “the deeper meaning of the us-and-them boundaries drawn by attendees of highly selective colleges,” based on research by Amy Binder and graduate student Andrea Abel of Sociology. The Atlantic also cited Binder in a piece about “The Real Reasons Legacy Preferences Exist.”
National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement Taps Binder
Sociologist Amy Binder is one of the leading scholars selected to serve on the first academic advisory board of the University of California’s National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement.
2018-19 Judicial Fellow
Political Science major Brian Lee is serving as a fellow in the Judicial Fellowship Program run by Sacramento State’s Center for California Studies. Fellows work as full-time, paid staff members of the center and are placed in leadership offices at Superior Courts throughout the state or with the Judicial Council.
English Learner Students Benefit from Language Development Classes and Extra Support Teachers
A report about English learner students in San Diego and Los Angeles shows that resource teachers and language development classes help boost these students’ progress. But those supports may be harder to come by as school districts face budget constraints and cuts. Published by the Public Policy Institute of California, the report was coauthored by Julian Betts of Economics and the San Diego Education Research Alliance at UC San Diego (SanDERA), Karen Bachofer and Andrew C. Zau also of SanDERA, and Megan Hopkins of Education Studies, among others. Betts and Hopkins presented on the report in Sacramento: video.
Alum Company Wins ASIA Competition
Political Science and History alum Stanley Fu ‘03 is COO for Sense Innovation, a startup from Taiwan that uses eye-tracking technology to reinvent rehabilitation and learning for severely disabled patients and their caregivers. Sense Innovation won the Grand Prize of the 2019 Asia Social Innovation Award (ASIA), a social startup competition staged in Hong Kong and themed this year on the “Impact of Things.”
How Science Fiction Helps Readers Understand Climate Change
“Science fiction gets people thinking in a way that another report on climate change doesn’t,” Shelley Streeby of Ethnic Studies and Literature told the BBC. Streeby, who directs the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Workshop at UC San Diego, was recently selected by the University of California Multicampus Research and Programs Initiatives (MRPI) to lead the development of the Cross-UC Speculative Futures Research Group. More in “UC San Diego Researchers Receive Funding to Address Critical Issues Facing California.”
Advancing the Study of California Missions
Ross Frank of Ethnic Studies is part of another UC MRPI project. This one to advance the study of California missions.
Book Launch of ‘Undocumented Politics’ (PDF)
Abigail Andrews of Sociology and Urban Studies and Planning discussed her new book “Undocumented Politics: Place, Gender, and the Pathways of Mexican Migrants” in a book launch event at the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at UC San Diego. For two years, Andrews lived with unauthorized migrants and their families in the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico, and the barrios of Southern California. By setting the two distinct groups side by side in “Undocumented Politics,” she reveals how local laws, policing and power dynamics shape migrants’ political agency.
Researchers to Study Invisible Work of Maintaining Open Source Digital Infrastructure
Congrats, Lilly Irani and graduate student Dorothy Howard of Communication! Irani and Howard have won a Sloan and Ford Foundation grant to support a project with collaborators at the UC Berkeley Institute for Data Science (BIDS) and the University of Connecticut: "The Visible and Invisible Work of Maintaining Open Source Digital Infrastructure." The award is part of a broad initiative by Sloan and Ford that characterizes maintenance of open source digital infrastructure as an urgent social-justice issue.
Art FORM’s Top Ten of 2018
Topping the list of the past year’s highlights put together by San Diego nonprofit ArtFORM is a partnership with our own Urban Studies and Planning. Cited projects and activities include last February’s Alleys in Action community project; building a model of Adams Avenue; and exploring green infrastructure, place-making and community engagement.
IEEE Computer Society Announces 2019 Fellows
Zhuowen Tu of Cognitive Science has been named a fellow of the IEEE Computer Society. Fellowship, in “the premier organization that empowers the people who drive technology,” recognizes “unusual distinction in the profession.”
Interactive Systems for Learning Programming at Scale
Congrats, Philip Guo of Cognitive Science! Guo has won an NSF Early CAREER award to develop, deploy and evaluate two novel interactive systems that enable large groups of people to help one another learn programming online, where experts are often not available.
Tech Can Sift Through Video Evidence ... But Can It Avoid Bias?
Kelly Gates of Communication cautions on Marketplace Tech that technology can have the same biases and flaws as the people who designed it. She calls for “technically informed oversight” of algorithmic systems that search through videos for forensic evidence.
We're Getting Worse at Making New Friends. Can Tech Companies Help?
“Technology titans and fledgling startups alike – including three in San Diego – are all stepping up, each with different ideas about how to get people talking in real life again,” writes the San Diego Union-Tribune. “But can apps and new tech platforms really help our social angst?” Karen Dobkins of Psychology says that existing friendship apps have a major flaw in their design: Users create their own profiles so dishonesty can proliferate. “You edit yourself,” Dobkins said. “You present things you think other people will like, but it’s often a false representation of yourself.”
New Studies Link Facebook Addiction to Poor Health and Bad Decision Making
Kevin Lewis of Sociology says that some uses of social media are a lot like sitting in front of a slot machine. Lewis discusses with KPBS recently published studies by others that show connections between time spent on Facebook to everything from depression to poor health and decision-making.
Data Use with Purpose
Social Sciences Associate Dean Amanda Datnow of Education Studies gave a keynote address at the 2019 meeting of the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement in Norway. Her talk was titled “Data Use with Purpose: Promoting Equity and Professional Collaboration in School Improvement.” Here’s more about her work on equity and data use.
Education and Social Networks
A podcast called Masters of Data features Alan Daly of Education Studies in a half-hour conversation about how social networks – the relationships between people, meaning – affect the success of educational reforms.
The Relentlessness of Modern Parenting
A New York Times story detailing how “raising children has become significantly more time-consuming and expensive, amid a sense that opportunity has grown more elusive” cites research by Valerie Ramey and Garey Ramey of Economics.
Peddled on the Streets of Los Angeles: Ice Cream, Hot Dogs, and Fake Social Security Cards
“One of the most predictable unintended consequences of our failure to address the demand side of labor migration is to create a robust false documents industry,” said Wayne Cornelius of Political Science to the New York Times, which reports from L.A. that “a set of documents – a Social Security card and a green card – can be obtained for $80 to $200, depending on the customer’s bargaining power and the quality of the forgery.”
“In February 1992, less than three months into his first stint as the federal government’s top lawyer, Attorney General William Pelham Barr told a gathering of more than 100 law enforcement officials in San Diego that under his leadership, the U.S. Department of Justice would finally solve the looming immigration crisis at the border,” reports the Daily Beast, with “a heavily armored steel fence along the U.S.-Mexico border immediately south of San Diego, complete with lighting, motion sensors, and the addition of hundreds of Border Patrol agents.” The publication extensively quotes Wayne Cornelius of Political Science, who says that “the deterrent effect of tens of billions of dollars in investments in Barr’s approach to immigration control never materialized.” Cornelius, the Beast also writes, criticized Barr’s proposal back in 1992 as a “‘Keystone Kops’” approach to immigration enforcement, both inflammatory and ineffective.”
How the Supreme Court Might Rule If Trump Declares an Emergency for His Wall
Op-ed in the Washington Post: “If Trump chooses the emergency route, he will be launching a high-stakes legal battle whose conclusion is uncertain,” writes Harry Litman of Political Science. Litman, a former U.S. attorney and a former deputy assistant attorney general, teaches constitutional law as part of the Krinsk-Houston Law and Politics Initiative.
Obituary: Theodore Gildred, Real-Estate Developer and Former U.S. Ambassador to Argentina
Ted Gildred left his mark on San Diego in many ways, including by creating the Institute of the Americas at UC San Diego, writes the Union-Tribune. “He gave really generous gifts to the university early on, and those gifts have kept on giving,” said David FitzGerald of Sociology, who holds the Gildred Chair in U.S.-Mexican Relations. “They’ve enabled the university to attract faculty and graduate students who are able to work on U.S.-Mexico relations in a sober, empirical way that gets beyond the fireworks of media headlines.”
Archaeologists Discover the Temple of the 'Flayed Lord'
Geoffrey Braswell of Anthropology helps BBC audiences understand a recent discovery made by Mexican archaeologists: The temple of a pre-Aztec God known as the “Flayed Lord.” The traditional deity was called Xipe Totec, and priests worshipped the god wearing the skin of human sacrifices.
2019 Human Rights Fellowship Applications Now Open
The International Institute and the Human Rights Program are pleased to announce the 12th annual student competition for human rights fellowships. Successful applicants receive $5,000 for summer internships with a human rights organization of their choice. Applications are due by noon Feb. 19. Click link above for form and for instructions.
Community-Based, Human-Centered Design
“We propose a radical change in design from experts designing for people to people designing for themselves,” writes Don Norman of Cognitive Science and the Design Lab, with Eli Spencer of the lab and the School of Medicine, ahead of a talk at the 2019 World Government Summit being held in Dubai, UAE. “In the traditional approach, experts study, design, and implement solutions for the people of the world. Instead, we propose that we leverage the creativity within the communities of the world to solve their own problems.”
Launch of Norman Design Fund
The Design Lab, headed by Don Norman of Cognitive Science, has announced the Norman Design Fund. The fund, made possible by Don and Julie Norman, will provide small, rapid allocations to support student activities in human-centered design. Applications are open to all students at UC San Diego.
Nominate a Researcher for the Golden Goose Award
Stewarded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Golden Goose Award “highlights and honors examples of scientific studies or research that may have seemed obscure, sounded ‘funny,’ or for which the results were totally unforeseen at the outset, but which ultimately led, often serendipitously, to major breakthroughs that have had significant societal impact.” Nomination deadline is Jan. 21.
Jan. 17: Cog Sci Alum Cathy Pearl
Do you like talking with your machines and having them talk back? Cognitive Science alum Cathy Pearl, head of conversation design outreach at Google, is a leading expert on voice-user interfaces and is a featured speaker in the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute lecture series. Pearl’s talk begins at 11 a.m. in the SDSC Auditorium.
Now through March 21: South Asia Initiative Lecture Series
The South Asia Initiative, an independent and interdivisional effort to promote discussion and exchange about South Asia, features a series of wide-ranging talks in Winter quarter that include such social scientists as Radhika Govindarajan (Washington), Lucinda Ramberg (Cornell), Rohini Pande (Harvard), Sumandro Chattapadhyay (The Center for Internet and Society), and Lesley Jo Weaver (Oregon), as well as UC San Diego's Ruvani Fonseka and Gareth Nellis of Political Science. These are free events and all audiences are invited. Click on the link above for time and location details.
Feb. 1: Inventing Languages: A Conversation in Language Construction
Linguist Grant Goodall, who directs the Linguistics Language Program and teaches a course on constructing languages, and Linguistics alum David J. Peterson, creator of Dothraki on “Game of Thrones,” among other languages, are joined by Paul Frommer, creator of Na’vi in “Avatar,” for a conversation moderated by librarian Tamara Rhodes. From 3 to 5 p.m. in the Seuss Room at Geisel Library. You can register for the free event here. And here’s some back story, from Linguistics’ 50th anniversary celebration: “Language Crafters.”
Feb. 15-16: Workshop on the Ethics and Policy Implications of Big Data
Save the date! A workshop sponsored by the Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, the Institute for Practical Ethics and the Dean of Social Sciences will bring together social and computer scientists, other academics, activists, and practitioners interested in the ethics and policy implications of algorithms and "big data." Participants from the Division of Social Sciences include Juan Pablo Pardo-Guerra and Akos Rona-Tas of Sociology, Lilly Irani of Communication and Molly Roberts of Political Science.
2018
National City Swears in First Latina Mayor
Political Science alumna Alejandra Sotelo-Solis has fulfilled a longtime dream to become mayor of National City. At the Dec. 18 swearing-in ceremony, she became the first Latina to serve in the post. “I’m ready,” she said.
Famous UC Writers on Their Favorite Books
The year-end reading recommendations include one from Don Norman of Cognitive Science and the Design Lab. Norman – who is the author of “The Design of Everyday Things,” among other influential books – suggests Victor Papanek’s “Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change.” Read on to learn why.
Let’s Cheer Workers at Google Who Are Holding Their Bosses to Account
Staff at Google, Amazon and Microsoft are using walkouts, work slowdowns and refusals to build to hold the tech giants to their proclaimed ethics. Lilly Irani of Communication applauds them in New Scientist. Note: The link above is for subscribers. Irani has made available a similar piece, “The Good Fight,” on eScholarship.
Clean-Car Rollback Is Riddled with Errors
“The Trump administration’s official case for repealing car fuel-economy rules is riddled with calculation mistakes, indefensible assumptions, and broken computer models, according to economists, environmental groups, and a major automaker,” writes the Atlantic. The story quotes Mark Jacobsen of Economics, who recently published a paper in Science showing that the EPA and NHTSA analysis in support of rolling back fuel economy standards is deeply flawed, missing 6 million used vehicles and discounting $112 billion in benefits. Jacobsen also submitted public comment letters to NHTSA and the EPA.
San Ysidro Celebrates New Mixed-Use Project
On Dec. 13, UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla joined professors Fonna Forman of Political Science and Teddy Cruz of Visual Arts, along with Casa Familiar CEO Lisa Cuestas and the community of San Ysidro to celebrate the groundbreaking of the UCSD/CASA Community Station, a partnership between the university’s Center on Global Justice and the nonprofit Casa Familiar, reports La Prensa San Diego. The UCSD Community Stations are a network of field hubs located in three disadvantaged neighborhoods across the San Diego-Tijuana border region, where research, teaching and community engagement are conducted collaboratively with community partners.
Evaluating Battery Energy Storage for Grid Applications
A study in Nature Energy from the labs of Graham Elliott of Economics and Shirley Meng of NanoEngineering offers a combined chemistry-and-economics approach that should make it easier to identify which kinds of batteries are best suited for particular applications on the California energy grid and beyond. The researchers are developing a suite of open-source tools that they hope will be useful both in the state and elsewhere.
‘Nirbhaya Effect’ Strongest in Delhi, Vicinity
India has seen a nationwide increase in the reporting of rape after the brutal gang-rape and murder known as the “Nirbhaya case” and the subsequent revision of related laws. But the pattern is not uniform across the country, finds a study co-authored by Anita Raj of Education Studies and the School of Medicine, along with Prashant Bharadwaj of Economics and Economics graduate student Sam Krumholz. The story made the front page of a Sunday edition of the Times of India.
Scripps Center for Marine Archaeology Seeks Answers to the End of Civilizations
“The oceans are the last great frontier for archaeology on Earth,” says Tom Levy of Anthropology, who co-directs the new cross-discipline Scripps Center for Marine Archaeology. “Our goal is to study near-shore coastal environments and to see how human and natural systems are embedded together through deep time.” The center marries earth and social sciences, and this summer teams of SCMA researchers set out on expeditions to uncover secrets of ancient eastern Mediterranean societies. They brought back to San Diego a trove of evidence: information on previously undiscovered ancient shorelines swallowed by sea-level rise in a Greek bay; sediment cores containing thousands of years of human history; and remnants of a submerged port linked to the Biblical copper trade in Israel. The story includes a video and also quotes Isabel Rivera-Collazo of Anthropology and Scripps Oceanography: “If we want to understand what’s happening now with sea-level rise, we need to look at places in the past that have suffered it. Marine archaeology can help us do that.”
‘Latinos’ Is Out, ‘Latinx’ Is In at UC San Diego in Nod to Evolving Gender and Sexuality Terms
“The gender-specific terms Latino and Chicano are being selectively replaced with Latinx and Chicanx,” reports a San Diego Union-Tribune story that was also picked up by the Los Angeles Times. “Terms and practices change over time,” says Dayo Gore of Ethnic Studies and Critical Gender Studies. “It doesn’t mean it is a zero-sum game. The important thing is how we think about the changes. It gives us a chance to be open and speak.”
Losing GOP States Try to Lock in Power Before Democrats Take Over
NPR’s Steve Inskeep talks to Thad Kousser of Political Science about state legislators attempting to restrict the power of incoming governors.
What Will Happen If Congressman Duncan Hunter Is Convicted?
Duncan Hunter and his wife Margaret are facing federal felony charges for allegedly spending $250,000 of campaign money on personal expenses. A September 10, 2019 court date has been set. “Surprisingly, members of Congress can serve when they’re under trial, even after they’ve been convicted and can even serve while they’re in jail, so there’s no automatic prohibition from serving in Congress,” said Thad Kousser of Political Science on KPBS. However, Kousser said, representatives cannot vote from behind bars.
Does Prison Work?
We know surprisingly little about whether, and how, prison sentences cut crime. In a VoxEU.org podcast, Gordon Dahl of Economics discusses some of his new research on how prison sentences can work for both inmates and society.
Border Control Hasn’t Kept Determined Migrants Out and Neither Will Trump’s Wall
“Tens of thousands of field interviews have shown that more than 90 percent of undocumented migrants who try to enter the U.S. eventually succeed,” writes Wayne Cornelius of Political Science in an opinion piece for the Globe Post. Citing his own and others’ research, Cornelius says that “continued construction of physical barriers at the border will not appreciably deter people desperately trying to escape low-end poverty and violence in their hometowns.” Separately, Cornelius was quoted in stories by the New York Times and Pacific Standard on the current standoff at the border. “The longer the caravaners stay in Tijuana, the more likely they are to succumb to the temptation to cross illegally into the U.S.,” Cornelius said to the NYT.
Anthropology Graduate Student Wins Prestigious CRES Award
Maya Azarova, a doctoral candidate in Anthropology and an affiliate of the Design Lab, has won a Chancellor’s Research Excellence Scholarship to investigate the backstage of innovation. The goal of Azarova’s project is to explore how teams comprising of individuals from various disciplines create new technologies.
Gene Editing’s Slippery Slope
Was it a medical necessity to genetically engineer twin baby girls to resist HIV, as a scientist in China claims to have done – or is it more like an attempt to “improve” humankind? And who gets to define “disease,” anyway? Read on for more from John Evans of Sociology in The Conversation.
Beings Without Bodies: Contemporary Catholic Exorcism and the Discourse of Evil
Tom Csordas of Anthropology and Global Health gave the keynote address at a conference of the Giorgio Cini Foundation in Venice, Italy, dedicated to the theme “Embodying Modern Scientific Medicine and Religious/Spiritual Healing: A Comparative Perspective on Non-Voluntary Spirit Possession and Exorcism.”
Rats Make Friends with Robot Rats and Free Them from Cages
A New Scientist video on Twitter highlights research by Laleh Quinn and Andrea Chiba of Cognitive Science. The video is publicly accessible. There’s also a New Scientist article here if you’re a subscriber.
Network Newsflash
A social network analysis from the University of Toronto spotlights Tom Levy of Anthropology as the most connected scholar in Middle Eastern archaeology and the only one in the top five to be U.S.-based, too.
From Caregivers to Hospital and Surgery Assistants: The Future of Healthcare Robotics
By 2050, the number of people over age 60 will double worldwide. By 2100, it will triple. This population shift will generate dramatically increased demand for caregiving and healthcare services – demand that can’t be met by humans alone. In addition, five billion people worldwide lack access to adequate healthcare, especially surgery. These are some of the problems that experts in the field of healthcare robotics from industry and academia came together to tackle during the 2018 Contextual Robotics Institute Forum held at UC San Diego. Virginia de Sa of Cognitive Science was one of the forum’s featured speakers. (The story also includes a picture of cognitive scientist Andrea Chiba, interacting with RUBI the robot.)
10 Best Colleges for Transfer Students
UC San Diego is no. 6 on MONEY magazine’s list of top 10 schools for transfer students. California colleges, especially UC schools, dominate the list. And did you know this? The Division of Social Sciences welcomes the majority of UC San Diego’s transfer students. In Fall 2018, for example, about 40 percent of incoming transfers were social-science majors.
Record-Breaking Year at UC San Diego for Research Funding
Tom Wong of Political Science investigates immigration politics. Terry Jernigan of Cognitive Science is delving into the adolescent brain. Both researchers have won private and public support for their important work – and both are profiled in the San Diego Union-Tribune in a feature on UC San Diego's record-breaking $1.2 billion year for research funding in Fiscal 2017-18. Congrats, all around!
The Biggest Shift of the Midterms Wasn’t in Congress – It Was in the StatesIn an op-ed published by Fortune, Thad Kousser of Political Science had this to say: “Buried beneath the headlines of midterm elections that were all about blue gains in the House and the red hold over the Senate, a major story broke that has escaped much notice. In statehouses across the country, the 2018 elections brought an unequivocal shift to the left.” Kousser also wrote a short piece for the Union-Tribune, answering “How has Trump changed politics?” by saying that the central way is that he’s “made everything more visceral.” While Kousser doesn’t think politics should be dispassionate, he does “think the unbridled emotions that have been unleashed by the Trump presidency, on both sides of the aisle, are unhealthy for our democracy.”
More Election-Season Commentary: Newsom Elected Governor
In addition to writing op-eds, Kousser was highly sought after by numerous media outlets to comment on both state and national issues this election season: With the Associated Press he spoke about intra-party conflicts in a one-party state like California, and with CNBC he addressed the possible national mandate for immigration reform. He spoke with KQED about Gavin Newsom’s election as governor of California, and with USA Today about Democratic Senators who lost in battleground states because they voted against Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. He commented for KPBS on a public forum between California’s 2018 candidates for the U.S. Senate and he spoke with NBC7 on turnout and the youth vote. (Phew – and that’s not even all of Kousser’s appearances.) On NBC7, Kousser was joined by a number of politically engaged students from UC San Diego, including Brianna Brawley of Political Science and Elia Peralta of Ethnic Studies and Political Science.
What Happened in the Past When the Climate Changed
Once again, humanity might be well served to take heed from a history lesson. When crops failed and famine threatened, the peoples of ancient Asia responded by innovating. Investing in crop diversity, trade and a large public project may have helped them adapt and survive, suggests new research by Jade d’Alpoim Guedes of Anthropology and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Innovations in Planning and Public Engagement for Community Resilience
J.B. Hinds of Urban Studies and Planning is coordinating and leading a partnership effort to adapt Community Viz, a visualization software widely used by planning professionals, into a public engagement and decision-making tool. The tool, part of USP’s “spatial analytics toolkit,” is focused on storm-water runoff and flooding. It is designed to help people understand what’s happening, and why, when their neighborhoods flood and to help them make better decisions about the affected public and private spaces. The partners on this FEMA-funded project of the American Planning Association are: UC San Diego, the National Charrette Institute, Hey and Associates, and Focused Plan.
Studying Abroad Without Leaving Home
Typically, UC San Diego students travel overseas for a field school in archaeology. This summer, one group stayed in San Diego County – to analyze prehistoric sites on sovereign tribal land, in partnership with the La Posta Band of Kumeyaay Indians. Paul Goldstein of Anthropology led the field school with the tribe’s archaeologist, Bobby Bolger. The story features both of them as well as students Tanya Piña, a biological anthropology major, and David Moser, who, after retiring from the U.S. Navy, was finishing up his bachelor’s degree in anthropological archaeology.
Midterm Election Underscored America's Deep Divide
Gary Jacobson of Political Science was also in high demand during the elections. Jacobson commented in the Los Angeles Times (linked above) on the central role played by U.S. President Trump in electoral decisions nationwide even though his name was not on the ballot. He shared that view also with the New York Times, in a column by Tom Edsall headlined “The Polarizer in Chief Meets the Midterms.” Edsall also quoted Jacobson at length in an earlier piece, “Machiavelli Would Have Loved This Year’s Midterms.” The New Yorker’s Nicholas Lemann, meanwhile, sought Jacobson’s expertise for “Claire McCaskill’s Toughest Fight”: The advantage for an incumbent has fallen from eight or nine points to two or three – the lowest it has been in decades, Jacobson said ahead of the midterms, when McCaskill would go on to lose her U.S. Senate seat. Jacobson also lent his expertise to CNN (on continued sorting of the parties along demographic lines) as well as to the Washington Post and the Financial Times, among many other outlets.
2018 Revelle Medal Recipients
UC San Diego’s Revelle Medal recognizes current and former faculty members for sustained, distinguished and extraordinary service to the campus. This year’s recipients, celebrated during at Founders Celebration Nov. 15-17, are: former Chancellor Marye Anne Fox; respiratory physiologist John B. West; Robert Conn, former dean of the Jacobs School of Engineering; and Sanford (“Sandy”) Lakoff, founding chair of Political Science, who helped make the campus a powerhouse in political science education and research.
Study Reports on Government-Job Manipulation at Election Time
“Governors face every temptation to put their thumbs on the [economic] scale in the run-up to an election,” writes the Washington Post, and for a long time the behavior was assumed to be more common in developing countries. Now, doctoral student Dodge Cahan of Economics has found evidence of similar machinations in the United States, by analyzing county job numbers during 359 gubernatorial elections from 1990 to 2015. “In the quarter before an election,” the Post reports, “state government employment was up by about seven jobs per 100,000 residents and local government employment was up by 13. Both figures are too large and too persistent to be explained away as random noise in the data. They are, Cahan writes, ‘consistent with manipulation.’… A few quarters after the election, government job numbers return to normal.”
State Assessment Results: Go Low or Go High?
“Every year newspapers across the nation rush to print the results of schools' annual academic achievement on state exams” begins a blog post in Education Week. Those results can be used to “go low” and limit student opportunities or to “go high” and expand them. The piece cites research by Amanda Datnow of Education Studies showing that too often the assessments are used to limit student opportunities by, for example, “narrowing the curriculum around accountability measures” or “using assessment data to rationalize track placements.”
Exploring the Potential Role of Social Networks in Medical Education
Education Studies post-doc Sara Moukarzel – who is also executive director of the School of Medicine’s MOMI CORE (or the Larsson-Rosenquist Foundation Mother-Milk-Infant Center of Research Excellence) – published a paper with Christoforos Mamas, Melissa F. Warstadt and Alan Daly of Education Studies, along with other colleagues, that brings together the social and health sciences by examining medical students' breastfeeding education.
Planning a Global Science of Learning Network
Andrea Chiba of Cognitive Science hosted a meeting in Los Angeles with policymakers, philanthropists and scientists to plan a global science of learning network. The stated mission? “To achieve maximum worldwide benefit from science-based strategies designed to meet the learning needs of our global future and to overcome poverty’s impact on learning.” The meeting was co-sponsored by the Jacobs Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the National Public Education Support Fund.
How to Study Less and Learn More
Whether you’re in a formal class or looking to learn something new on your own, here are some tips for you. The tips are based on years of tested research in the science of learning, including by such Psychology faculty members as Hal Pashler and Tim Rickard and by doctoral graduate Steven Pan. (You can also check out this 57-second video summary.)
Keeping It Simple Wins Hacking Prize for Undergraduate Pair
Student duo Luyanda Mdanda and Hannah Peterson have developed a simple phone app for faster access to healthcare, winning the annual UC Health Hack. The app – dubbed TimER and designed to work with any mobile phone or device – helps people get quicker and more economical access to the health services they need. Mdanda is a junior majoring in Cognitive Science, while Peterson is a Data Science major. Both are students of cognitive scientist Bradley Voytek, who was recently named a faculty fellow of the Halicıoğlu Data Science Institute.
Fieldwork in a Changing Field
Now that the future researchers predicted is here, climate change is changing how science is done. Isabel Rivera-Collazo of Anthropology and Scripps Institution of Oceanography has been traveling for research to Puerto Rico’s northern coast for nearly 25 years, since her days as a college student. An environmental archaeologist, she has pursued her work operating under the maxim that archaeology doesn’t move. Now, recent events have caused her to abandon that notion. “What I’ve seen in the last two years, I’ve never seen before,” said Rivera-Collazo. “Sites are literally disappearing one day after the next.”
Will Changing How We Vote Change Who Votes?
Passed in 2016 and intended to both save money and improve voting flexibility, the California Voter’s Choice Act changes how, where and when Californians vote. The question on researchers’ and policymakers’ minds: Will the changes make for the largest and most diverse electorate yet, or will they have the opposite effect? Political scientist Thad Kousser is leading a team of researchers from five UC campuses to find out. “There are a lot of gaps in California representation along racial and ethnic lines, and along economic and educational lines,” Kousser said. “Will the new system shrink these gaps or widen them?” Stay tuned for results.
Voting With a Middle Finger
On NPR’s Hidden Brain, Marisa Abrajano of Political Science said that “the issue of immigration is one of the main factors that's driving white voters away from the Democratic Party." Abrajano is co-author, with Zoltan Hajnal, of the book “White Backlash: Immigration, Race and American Politics.”
‘Degenerate and Murderous’: California Campus Republicans’ Platform Attacks College Culture
The Chronicle of Higher Education quoted at length Amy Binder of Sociology in a story about the 2018 platform released by the California College Republicans. The document’s language is more “strident and confrontational” than what she has encountered from the “vast majority of college students.”
If You Think Campus Speech Is All Angry Confrontation, You’re Looking in the Wrong Places
“Although still in the minority, a growing contingent of students from the left, right and center is ditching tactics that lead to internecine hostility in favor of talking with one another to build empathy,” write sociologist Amy Binder and doctoral alumnus Jeffrey Kidder, now at Northern Illinois University, describing some of their recent research in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog. “BridgeUSA and Sustained Dialogue are two prime examples of campus organizations committed to confronting political polarization. We learned about BridgeUSA and Sustained Dialogue while studying campus politics at four public universities this past year.”
Cooperation and Conflict in the Virtual World (PDF)
How are cyber and other emerging technologies shaping the future of world affairs? Erik Gartzke of Political Science and the Center for Peace and Security Studies explored the question at a presentation to the North County chapter of the San Diego World Affairs Council.
Media Battle Over Redeveloping Mission Valley Stadium Site
Ahead of the November election, Seth Hill of Political Science spoke with KPBS’ Midday Edition about the advertising war over the future of Mission Valley – between backers of Measure E (SoccerCity) and Measure G (SDSU West) on the local ballot. Voters say they don’t like negative ads, Hill noted, but research suggests that negative ads are more persuasive.
Republicans Turn Kavanaugh into an Election-Year Rallying Cry
Republicans installed Brett M. Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, then they turned him into an election-year rallying cry. Peter Irons of Political Science told the Washington Post that the politicization of Kavanaugh is almost without precedent. “Hardly any Supreme Court nominees have been turned into campaign issues,” he said. “I think Kavanaugh is unique in that sense.” Irons added that increased politicization is a “very real danger” for the high court in general.
Change to Spousal Visa Could Impact San Diego’s Ability to Lure Talented Workers
John Skrentny of Sociology and the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research said he expects ending H-4 work authorization will have some economic impact in San Diego. Companies like Qualcomm use H1-B visas to find the most talented workers they can, he said, and talented people tend to marry other talented people. If spouses have trouble finding work in the United States, it won’t be difficult for these talented people to find jobs in other countries. Skrentny was also cited in the Washington Post in a piece about the 30 or so countries that, like the U.S., grant citizenship to people born in their territory. “Jus soli is law in Canada, the United States and nearly every country in South and Central America,” the Post reported and then went on to cite Skrentny based on an interview he gave several years ago to PolitiFact, wherein Skrentny theorized that birthright citizenship is strongest in the Western Hemisphere thanks to the region’s colonial history: The policy may have helped European colonists to grow their populations and overpower native ones.
Global Food Initiative Student Fellows
The University of California Global Food Initiative supports student research, projects or internships that focus on food issues. The 2018-19 class of student fellows at UC San Diego – announced by the Bioregional Center for Sustainability Science, Planning and Design headed up by Keith Pezzoli – includes Christiana (“Christy”) Schlutius, who is minoring in Education Studies and seeking to improve food security among students. Belinda Ramirez, meanwhile, a graduate student in Anthropology who was a fellow last year, will now serve as a student ambassador. She hopes to connect more UC San Diego students with sustainability and food organizations, initiatives and events on campus.
UC San Diego Welcomes Dynamic Incoming Class
Preliminary data show that of the 9,829 incoming freshman and transfer students, 37 percent are the first in their family to attend a four-year college and 40 percent come from low-income households.
Welcome Message: Know Your Value
Know and value who you are, build on your passions and use failure as an advantage. These were some of the messages delivered to about 9,000 new students at Convocation by keynote speaker Anita Raj of Education Studies and the School of Medicine.
Best Book Award
“Disruptive Fixation: School Reform and the Pitfalls of Techno-Idealism” by Christo Sims of Communication was presented with a best book award by the Communication, Information Technology, and Media Sociology (CITAMS) section of the American Sociological Association at the ASA’s 2018 meeting. CITAMS tweeted about the honor.
China Is Weaponizing Online Distraction
The Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog ran a Q&A with Margaret “Molly” Roberts of Political Science about the techniques the Chinese government is using to censor content – techniques like “friction” and “flooding,” which reroute internet users without making it obvious they’re being censored. The techniques are also described in Roberts’ new book, “Censored: Distraction and Diversion Inside China’s Great Firewall,” which was recently reviewed in the New York Review of Books.
Move a Ball With Your Mind Using This Headset
Mind control technology is easy to over-hype, says Virginia de Sa of Cognitive Science in a Quartz video story which includes work by de Sa’s lab on brain-computer interfaces. There may be a day when you can think "turn on, light" and the light will turn on, de Sa said, but that day isn't quite here yet.
Dec. 3: Suds & Science – Online Dating
Just 20 years ago, online dating was a highly stigmatized social practice that accounted for a miniscule proportion of relationships. Today, it is the third most common way that couples meet. Join UC San Diego sociologist Kevin Lewis to discuss the social science surrounding this unprecedented historical trend. Stone Brewing at Liberty Station, from 6:30 to approx. 8 p.m. Register at link above.
Nominate Outstanding Alums
Know a former student who inspires you? Nominate them! This year’s Alumni Awards will honor alums in four categories: Outstanding Alumnus/a, Changemaker, International and Emerging Leader. The nomination deadline is midnight Nov. 30. Follow the link for more details and the online nomination form.
UC San Diego Offers Real Estate, Development Program
San Diego Business Journal reports on the new real estate and development major in Urban Studies and Planning: “Demand is so strong for well-trained real estate and development professionals that UC San Diego is creating a special degree program in the field. What with climate change, a growing population, an increasing scarcity of land and a lack of affordable housing, ‘the 21st Century is going to have some challenges,’ said Mirle Rabinowitz-Bussell, the program’s academic director. ‘There’s this confluence of all these challenges as well as opportunities,’ she said. ‘We want to train the next generation of problem solvers who can help us address these very complex issues.’” The story also quotes USP’s Sue Peerson and advisory board member Mark Gleiberman, CEO of MG Properties Group.
Community Review Board on Police Practices
Patrick Anderson of Communication, Critical Gender Studies and Ethnic Studies has been appointed by the San Diego City Council and Mayor to the San Diego Community Review Board on Police Practices. The board consists of 23 members of the San Diego community who review and evaluate serious complaints brought by the public against SDPD officers; reviews all officer-involved shootings and in-custody deaths; and reviews and evaluates the administration of discipline arising from sustained complaints.
Caroline Siegel-Singh Elected UC Students Association President
Political Science major Caroline Siegel-Singh was elected president of the UC Student Association in August during the annual UCSA Student Organizing Summit. Siegel-Singh, who is also vice president of external affairs for the Associated Students of UCSD, will serve as UCSA President until August 2019.
A Way Out of the Immigration Crisis
Reihan Salam, executive editor of National Review, published an essay in the Wall Street Journal in which he cites extensively the work of Marisa Abrajano of Political Science and Zoltan Hajnal of Political Science and the School of Global Policy and Strategy in their book, “White Backlash.”
USP in the Haus
In this blog, students detail their experiences of taking a Global Seminar at the Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany this summer, led by Mirle Bussell and Sue Peerson of Urban Studies and Planning. While in Dessau, touring the Dessau Bauhaus campus, the crew also made an appearance in a Deutsche Welle video (4-minute mark and on), including on-camera interviews by students Vianney Ruvalcaba and Erik Mumm.
An Upward Social Mobility Machine: UC San Diego 2nd Best U.S. University
MONEY magazine says we're one of the best colleges for your money – and good socially, to boot: “The University of California at San Diego (No. 2) shot to the top of our rankings this year with one of the highest graduation rates in the country for a public college, plus with an impressive record for boosting low-income students into the upper middle class.” Topped only by Princeton so second in the nation in this case means best in the state!
2018’s Best Places to Raise a Family in California
In a WalletHub piece about the Golden State’s best and worst cities for families, Caren Holtzman of Education Studies gives tips on looking for quality public schools.
Our Immigrant Story
A lovely multimedia feature by the San Diego Union-Tribune includes stories from several UC San Diego people, including Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla, Tom Wong and alumna Dulce Garcia of Political Science; Olivia Graeve from Jacobs School of Engineering and composer Lei Liang of Music. Check out the all the individual videos within the full feature linked above. Here are direct links to Garcia video and Wong video.
U.N. Believes Al-Qaeda Is Growing Again
An estimated 7,000 fighters are in Yemen. NBC 7 talks to local experts, including Eli Berman of Economics.
Worried About Tariffs? Trade Blocs Are the Real Danger to the U.S. and China
David Lake of Political Science writes in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog: “China and the United States seem poised to compete for exclusive economic blocs reminiscent of the empires of old. Spoiler alert—that did not turn out well in the 1930s, when economic blocs sharply limited global trade. They are unlikely to work out better today. Is the global trading order unraveling?”
Seeking Human Generosity’s Origins in an Ape’s Gift to Another Ape
Cognitive Science post-doc Jingzhi Tan is a co-author on this study described by Carl Zimmer in the New York Times.
The Costs of Motherhood Are Rising, and Catching Women Off Guard
A New York Times story on new research (from Princeton, Yale and the National University of Singapore) showing that college-educated women in particular underestimate the demands of parenthood and the difficulties of combining working and parenting also cites earlier work by Valerie Ramey and Garey Ramey of Economics. The Rameys showed that a “Rug Rat Race” has taken hold, with college-educated moms especially investing a lot more time in child care in an effort to secure their progeny seats at a top university.
UC San Diego Announces Historic $312 Million Fundraising Year
“UC San Diego is my dream school,” said Hector Enriquez, an incoming college freshman student who plans to major in Human Development and would like to become a high school history teacher. Enriquez hoped to attend the campus since he first visited it in 7th grade, but his family would not have been able to cover the cost of his education. Thanks to the Chancellor’s Associates Scholarship, he will begin his studies on campus in September, becoming one of the many who have benefited from generous philanthropic support donated last year to the Campaign for UC San Diego. “I’m proud to be the first in my family to attend college. I want to be an example to my younger siblings,” Enriquez said. The story also quotes Economics alumnus Kenneth Kroner, who earned his doctorate from UC San Diego in 1988 and serves as chair of the Campaign Cabinet’s International Leadership Committee. “Our alumni are playing a key role in driving the future of UC San Diego,” he said. “In addition to giving, alumni are serving as evangelists to educate others about the campus and its incredible impact.” The Campaign for UC San Diego has raised $1.6 billion to date.
DACA Is Really Helping Young Immigrants. But Are They Too Afraid, Unsure to Renew?
NBC News and many other outlets reported on a new survey by Tom Wong of Political Science: Almost all DACA recipients surveyed are in school or working. Yet a majority worry about deportation on a daily basis, even with DACA status. Wong conducted the survey for the Center for American Progress (where he is a fellow), the National Immigration Law Center and United We Dream, both advocacy groups that support an extension of the DACA program until Congress addresses the issue in legislation. He surveyed 1,050 DACA recipients in 41 states and the District of Columbia in an online panel format.
PDVSA Leaves Its Argentine Gas Station Chain to Fend for Itself
Speaking with Reuters, David Mares of Political Science gives context to the news that Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA was cutting ties with its loss-making Argentine gas station operator, Petrolera del Conosur. Profitability was likely never the true goal of Venezuela’s Argentina foray, Mares said, discussing the late President Hugo Chavez’s plan to transform PDVSA from a commercial company to a domestic and international political tool.
Canadians Top the List of Visitors Overstaying Visas
For the second straight year, Canada occupied the top spot for overstays followed by Mexico, Venezuela, the United Kingdom and Colombia, according to a report from a New York think tank. “Unauthorized Europeans and Canadians have long received preferential treatment in U.S. politics and sometimes in policy,” said David FitzGerald of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies.
‘Imagine That You’re a Refugee’
That nudged people who already had positive attitudes toward refugees to send an anonymous letter to the White House; a presentation of information did not – finds a PNAS study by Claire Adida of Political Science.
Hundreds of Scholars Have Signed a Statement Defending International Institutions
David Lake of Political Science and Peter Gourevitch write in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog on the arguments for and against the international institutions President Trump criticized in his trip to Europe in July and earlier. Lake and Gourevitch led the effort to publish in the New York Times a statement by scholars of international relations, supporting the international order and the accompanying institutions formed under the leadership of the United States after 1945.
EVENTS
Oct. 3-Dec. 4: South Asia Initiative Events
From a music of South India lecture/demonstration to talks about empowering sex workers in West Bengal and about development economics in Bangladesh, the university’s independent South Asia Initiative presents its Fall Quarter events. Please visit the link for details.
Oct. 4: New York Times Panel, “Hollywood and the Artist’s Gaze on Vets”
Join C. J. Chivers, a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter and Marine Corps infantry veteran, for a discussion between former Marines and artists about the creative lens on veterans, a generation into the war on terror. UC San Diego has a limited number of free tickets available and registrants must have a UC San Diego email address to be eligible to attend. Beginning at 7 p.m. Registration details at link above
Oct. 11: Defining and Disrupting Color-Blind Racial Ideology
Counseling and educational psychologist Helen Neville of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign gives a talk subtitled “What We Can Do to Promote Greater Racial Equity.” Part of the Special Series on the Science of Human Diversity presented by the Department of Psychology in collaboration with the Division of Social Sciences and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, the talk begins at 11 a.m. in the Crick Conference Room, third floor of Mandler Hall. RSVP at link.
Nov. 1: Inside China’s Great Firewall
Molly Roberts of Political Science sheds light on how and when censorship influences the Chinese public in her book “Censored: Distraction and Diversion Inside China’s Great Firewall” and in this talk. Beginning at 4 p.m. in Rm. 3201 of the School of Global Policy and Strategy. RSVP at link above.
UC Student Regent
Congrats to Education Studies doctoral student Hayley Weddle! Weddle will serve as the 2019-20 University of California student regent, the first from UC San Diego since 1982. “I bring to this role a strong commitment to ensuring the university promotes access and affordability for all students,” Weddle said at the UC Board of Regents July meeting, which confirmed her nomination. “I’m especially passionate about promoting basic needs security across the system, as well as addressing and preventing sexual violence and harassment.” Here’s video of her full remarks, starting at approximately the 1:10 mark. More about Weddle and the position is in the UC announcement of the nomination, also linked above. Weddle will participate in all deliberations in the coming year. She will have voting privileges starting July 2019.
UC San Diego Admits 38,954 New Freshmen and Transfers
Nearly one-third of the campus’s diverse admitted class is the first in their family to attend a four-year college and almost 50 percent are from Southern California.
Region Losing Talented Employees to Housing Crisis
A disconnect exists between where jobs are expected to be and where housing can be built in San Diego. And, employer satisfaction regarding the housing supply has sunk to a new low. These are the key findings of a study from London Moeder Advisors, released by the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce. Co-author Nathan Moeder teaches in Urban Studies and Planning, in the Real Estate and Development major.
How Family Separations Mess Up Children’s Genes
“As a mother, I can feel the pain in my guts, just trying to imagine what immigrant mothers must feel when their children are torn from their arms,” writes Amy Non of Anthropology in an op-ed for the Times of San Diego. “As a scientist, I know how the trauma of maternal separation in early childhood can permanently change a child at her most fundamental level – the level of her genes, the material that makes a child who she is. These changes may even be passed on to the next generation, persisting long after this sad chapter in our country’s history is over.” Non researches how epigenetic mechanisms in childhood may contribute to social inequalities in health over the life course.
Trump Officials Link Fuel Economy Rules to Deadly Crashes – Experts Are Skeptical
Speaking with the New York Times, economist Mark Jacobsen addressed the Trump administration argument that strict fuel economy rules hurt vehicle safety by forcing automakers to produce lighter vehicles less capable of withstanding crashes. “The most important question is whether cars on the road are getting more similar in weight, or more dissimilar,” Jacobsen said. “If you’re bringing down the weight of the heaviest vehicles but not the lightest vehicles, then in the average accident, the cars will be better matched.”
How the Safety Net Can Survive Trump
Social democracy has staying power, writes Lane Kenworthy of Sociology in the July/August issue of Foreign Affairs.
Feinstein Remains Favorite in California Race Despite Snub
The Associated Press reported on Kevin de Leon’s “insider coup” to oust U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein by winning the endorsement of the state Democratic Party. It’s “the strongest signal yet of just how far to the left California’s Democratic activists have moved, how emboldened they are by their party’s dominance in the state and how much the Trump presidency has polarized our politics,” said Thad Kousser of Political Science. “But it’s only a signal about the party’s most activist core, not a sign that everyday voters are choosing a pure progressive over a pragmatist.” The AP story ran in the Washington Post and hundreds of other outlets around the nation. Separately, Kousser also spoke with the Wall Street Journal about legal challenges to Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s crackdown on “sanctuary” immigration practices.
Who Is a Democrat?
“Among the 45th president’s many achievements has been his role as muse to a new literary genre: the redneck safari.” So begins a special report in the Economist. “There have been far fewer attempts made,” it goes on, “to treat Democrats as a foreign tribe, to eat their food and understand their folkways.” That may be because the academics who do this kind of work are largely Democrats themselves. The piece cites Amy Binder of Sociology and ultimately concludes that Democratic voters are less liberal than party activists think they are.
The Story Behind the Little-Known Catholic Group Called People of Praise
When Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s name was floated as a possible nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Washington Post (linked above) and Slate sought the expertise of Tom Csordas of Anthropology and Global Health, a leading scholar on Catholic charismatic groups. Csordas said the same communal impulse that generated the hippie communes of the 1960s fueled religious groups like People of Praise at the same time.
Watch Your Mouth
NPR’s “Hidden Brain” features an interview with Lera Boroditsky of Cognitive Science, who argues that features like grammatical gender and reading direction can have a real effect on the way we think. "Language can guide you to discover something about the world that might take you longer to discover if you didn't have that information in language," she says. Borodtisky discusses studies she and other researchers have done that show language can shape people’s ideas about time, agency, and gender.
Campus Newsrooms Rethink Their Approach to Race
“In recent years, college campuses have seen controversy erupt around race and identity. For student journalists, this moment has triggered deeper questions about diversity within their own coverage,” writes the Christian Science Monitor in a story quoting alum Gabe Schneider, who majored in Political Science and Urban Studies and Planning. As a student, Schneider co-founded The Triton, an independent newspaper at UC San Diego that incorporated the Diversity Style Guide into its editorial guidelines.
Researcher and Activist in Fight for Reparations for Japanese Americans
A Los Angeles Times obituary on Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga – who uncovered key documents that proved the U.S. government had racist motives for incarcerating Japanese Americans during World War II – quotes at length Peter Irons of Political Science who was working alongside her at the time. An explosive document Herzig-Yoshinaga found, a draft report by Gen. John L. DeWitt, was instrumental in Irons’ efforts to overturn the convictions of Japanese Americans who had defied curfew and relocation orders. Irons and his work were also featured on The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC.
Trump Is Right about Collusion
“We have now gone from months of confident proclamations from President Donald Trump of ‘NO COLLUSION’ to the much meeker ‘Collusion is not a crime,’” writes Harry Litman of Political Science on CNN.com. “He’s actually right this time,” because “the word and legal concept that we should always have been using here is ‘conspiracy.’”
No, Donald Trump’s Separation of Immigrant Families Was Not Barack Obama’s Policy
PolitiFact fact-checks with David FitzGerald of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies: In Trump’s case, family separations are a feature, not a bug, of the administration’s border policies. The outlet also turned to FitzGerald when a Trump campaign manager’s tweet omitted that children detained under Obama were unaccompanied minors.
His Parents Were Deported Two Weeks Before College, Now He’s a UC San Diego Graduate
KPBS tells the moving story of just-graduated undergraduate student Leon Sanchez Reyes of Cognitive Science.
Blocked from Entering the U.S., Will Asylum-Seekers Find a Welcome Mat in Mexico?
“Mexico’s asylum program is straining, under the increasing numbers of mostly Central American migrants seeking protection there,” writes Wayne Cornelius of Political Science in an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times. “Still, the option of seeking asylum in Mexico will become increasingly attractive — or the only option — given the sharp restriction of the grounds for asylum claims in the United States.
San Diego University Professors Join Protest
Faculty from area universities signed an open letter to the Department of Homeland Security to protest the separation of immigrant children from their parents, reports the Union-Tribune. The local signatories – mostly from UC San Diego and most of these from the Division of Social Sciences – include Frances Contreras of Education Studies, Michael Calderon-Zaks of Sociology, Kelly Gates of Communication, Ross Frank of Ethnic Studies, Ana Celia Zentella of Ethnic Studies, Megan Hopkins of Education Studies, Vanesa Ribas of Sociology, and Roshanak Kheshti of Ethnic Studies. Separately, David Lake of Political Science, together with Peter Gourevitch of the School of Global Policy and Strategy, organized colleagues around the world to take out an ad in the New York Times criticizing the Trump administration’s approach to foreign policy.
Indigenous Immigrants Face Unique Challenges at the Border
In Latin America, at least 560 Indigenous languages are spoken by 780 different tribal and ethnic groups. Speakers of these languages who don’t also speak Spanish have an even harder time at the U.S. border than other migrants. John Haviland of Anthropology, who provides Tzotzil interpretation services for Homeland Security, court proceedings and medical situations, speaks with High Country News, a nonprofit media organization reporting on the American West.
UC San Diego Begins Building Largest Complex in Campus History
The Union-Tribune reports on the construction of the North Torrey Pines Living and Learning Commons. “Usually academic buildings are built by themselves, and then residence halls at a different time and somewhere else,” said Carol Padden, dean of the Division of Social Sciences, which has about 8,000 students. “But this time, academic buildings and residence halls are going up together to build a living and learning neighborhood. This is what students want — to feel that they're coming to a place that has a sense of being a community.”
Celebrating the Successes of UC San Diego’s Most Dynamic Grads
Hundreds of amazing students graduated from Social Sciences this year. This story profiles just two of them: Political Science and Urban Studies and Planning major Gabe Schneider, who co-founded independent student newspaper The Triton to give students more voice, especially underrepresented students, and Cognitive Science major Leon Sanchez Reyes, who not only persisted in earning his degree but also took care of his siblings after the deportation of their parents four years ago.
Speak Your Truth
Transgender advocate and Global Health major Lucero Camarena calls on graduates to embrace their authenticity as 2018 All Campus Commencement student speaker.
A Ladder Up
UC San Diego leads the way in helping students on the path to upward social mobility. New research shows that UC San Diego continues to perform significantly better than other four-year colleges and universities in the country when it comes to enrolling low-income students and seeing them across the graduation finish line. “Low-income youth bring crucial talent, experience and drive to universities,” says Mica Pollock of Education Studies and CREATE. “Doing the work to support low-income young people to thrive in college alongside their higher-income peers is an essential part of investing in the future of the region, state and nation. I’m proud to work at a university that prioritizes investment in the full talent pool!”
Designer DNA
Associate Dean John Evans of Sociology discusses genetic editing on Vox’s new Netflix series “Explained” – check it out. The Vox story about the show is at the link above. You can also view the episode directly on Netflix.
Constantine Panunzio Distinguished Emeriti Award
The 2017-18 Constantine Panunzio Distinguished Emeriti Award honoring emeriti professors in the University of California system has been awarded to UCLA’s Henry Ansgar Kelly and UC San Diego’s Sanford "Sandy" Lakoff. Lakoff arrived at UC San Diego in 1974 as Founding Chair of the Department of Political Science. For four decades, he has been a vital support of the department and of the campus.
UC San Diego Tops List of World’s ‘Golden Age’ Universities
For the second year in a row, the London-based Times Higher Education ranked UC San Diego the world’s number one research university founded during the “golden age” of higher education development, in the two decades between 1945 and 1967.
More Rockin’ Rankings
UC San Diego ranked third among public research universities in the United States in this year’s annual ranking of high-quality scientific research papers by the journal Nature. In the Nature Index 2018 Annual Tables, the La Jolla campus ranked 12th in the world out of 500 institutions and 6th among U.S. universities in the research results its faculty, students and staff others published in 82 high-quality journals in 2017.
A Launch Pad to a Better Life
Economics alumnus Kenny Hill renovated a dozen town homes in a struggling Atlanta neighborhood and then had an idea: What if he could help renovate people’s lives, too? That led him to co-found The Launch Pad, a non-profit that provides five homeless families with free housing for a year along with mentoring and life-skills coaching. YouTube promo video is at link above; here’s the Crazy Good Turns podcast in its entirety.
California’s Jungle Primary Sets Up Polarized Governor’s Race for November
Election reformers hoped the top-two primary system would draw out more centrist voters and more centrist candidates, writes Thad Kousser of Political Science in The Conversation. So much for hopes…? After the election, Kousser also spoke at length with NPR-affiliate KPCC on what voters can expect in November, as well as with KPBS. He also lent his expertise to the Washington Post, saying that across the country recently “red states have gotten redder and blue states have gotten bluer and the fights have been within, rather than between, the parties.”
Forty Years Later, Proposition 13 Is Proof Your Vote Matters
Prop.13 is “almost like a meteor that landed in California,” said Isaac Martin of Sociology in this extended Q&A with KPBS on the legacy of the “People’s Initiative to Limit Property Taxation.” It had, he says, “all kinds of powerful ripple effects, some far beyond the state of California. I think it reshaped American politics in ways that are quite dramatic.”
The Case for Renaming Women’s Body Parts
From fallopian tubes to the G-spot, women’s body parts have been named by – and after – men, the BBC reports. Lera Boroditsky of Cognitive Science argues for a system “that is not centered around the historical victories of men ‘discovering’ body parts.” Instead, she says, these terms should be replaced by descriptors that are useful and educational to the body’s owner.
Does the Lowest U.S. Birth Rate in Three Decades Pose a Risk to the Economy?
Answer by James Hamilton of Economics: Yes. “An aging population brings huge fiscal challenges. The current designs for Social Security, Medicare, and many public and private pensions just aren’t workable if the ratio of retirees receiving benefits to working people paying in continues to grow. The experience of Japan and Europe also tell us that it can be very hard to sustain economic growth if the workforce is no longer growing.”
The Trump Administration Is Driving Away Immigrant Entrepreneurs
Foreign-born founders start a huge number of the U.S.’s most lucrative businesses, writes the Atlantic, but new government policies are making it harder for them to stay. Sociology graduate student Natalie Novick spoke with the Atlantic on her area of expertise: global start-up ecosystems.
Getting the Most From Every Moment at the University of California San Diego
Voice of America, in one of its Learning English stories, profiles Cognitive Science undergraduate student Luyanda Mdanda. The 19-year-old South African led a very active life long before becoming an international student in the United States. He likes to keep busy. But he never thought his life could be as busy as it has been since coming to UC San Diego in 2016.
Congrats to Gabriela Caballero
Gabriela Caballero of Linguistics has been recognized with a UC San Diego Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Distinguished Teaching Award for 2017-18.
Congrats to Ed Vul
Ed Vul of Psychology has won the Psychonomic Society’s Steven Yantis Early Career Award, which recognizes “a young scientist who has made significant contributions to scientific psychology in the areas of perception and attention early in their careers.”
The Right-Wing Millennial Machine
Conservatives are building an army of fired-up young people. How? By offering them salaries. “What the right is doing is creating a cadre of potential leaders,” Amy Binder of Sociology said to the Huffington Post. “When they’re on campus they aren’t necessarily doing the bidding of donors, but they’re getting to know each other. They’re professionalizing and socializing students. I don’t see that happening on the left in the same way.”
With the World Watching, US Architects Rebuke Trumpism
CNN story on the Venice Biennale features prominently the presentation by Teddy Cruz of Visual Arts and Fonna Forman of Political Science, “MEXUS: A Geography of Interdependence.” MEXUS reimagines “the border zone not as a line, not as a jurisdictional boundary, but as a region that shares many ecologies and lots of movement back and forth on both sides – people, environmental flows, economic flows, emotional and ethnic flows,” Forman said.
County Jails Released 349 People Wanted by ICE Since ‘Sanctuary Law’ Started
The San Diego Union-Tribune takes a look at the California Values Act, or SB 54, four months after it became law. David FitzGerald of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies said the evidence “is consistent with the idea that the authorities in California are continuing to cooperate with ICE when it comes to unauthorized immigrants who have committed serious crimes inside the United States. SB 54 just made sure that the cooperation would only turn over serious offenders.”
The Role of Hunting in Anthropogeny
Hunting is considered a key human adaptation, one that influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior over time. This CARTA symposium explores the evidence on the origins of hominin hunting. If you weren’t able to attend, you can now watch the UCSD-TV program about it online.
Brain Scientists and Teachers Break the Mold of Traditional Education
Matt Doyle, assistant superintendent of Vista Unified, and Gerri Burton, CEO of New Learning Ventures, blog in Education Week about Edneuro, a multidisciplinary partnership with UC San Diego which includes Shana Cohen and Amanda Datnow of Education Studies and Terry Jernigan of Cognitive Science.
Supporting College-Level Writing Prep
UC San Diego partners are joining forces to help create a strategy for preparing high school juniors across our region for college-level writing. The partnership is between the San Diego Area Writing Project in CREATE, the Analytical Writing Program, and the Teaching + Learning Commons. The team is piloting the program at Gompers Preparatory Academy, a UC San Diego partnership school, to learn how to expand the program more broadly.
Alumnus Gives Back to Help Future Leaders
“Finances shouldn’t be a hindrance to going to UC San Diego,” said Political Science alumnus Alan Braynin, founder and CEO of Aya Healthcare. He feels so strongly about giving back and helping students at his alma mater that his company has pledged $200,000 to establish ten $5,000 UC San Diego scholarships per year over the next four years. Braynin credits his education at UC San Diego and the UC system as a whole for inspiring him to start his company, the largest privately held travel clinician staffing firm in the country. The firm currently employs over 450 people in its San Diego office alone, including dozens of UC graduates
June 25-29: San Diego Startup Week
The entrepreneurs, developers, designers, investors and community leaders featured at San Diego Startup Week will include a number of Social Sciences alumni, among them Ken Davenport of Political Science and Matt Ellis of Economics. Ellis was recently selected as a 40 Under 40 honoree. See “Triton Stories” below for more.
Live, Learn, Play: Vibrant New Neighborhood on Campus
The North Torrey Pines Living and Learning Neighborhood is a neighborhood like no other at UC San Diego – and Social Sciences’ Public Engagement Building is part of the exciting mix.
Triton Stories
The Spring 2018 issue of the Triton alumni magazine is chockablock with stories from the Social Sciences. Here they are: 40 Under 40, a feature celebrating alumni change-makers that includes nine from our division. Rescuers of the Lost Artifacts, a feature on Tom Levy of Anthropology who uses cutting-edge immersive imaging to explore archaeological sites, from the mines of King Solomon to ancient ruins lost undersea. I’m Not Distractible… I’m Curious and Creative, wherein Don Norman of Cognitive Science and the Design Lab rethinks out relationship with technology. Chime In, with Linguistics alumnus Scott Paulson giving us a tour of the carillon atop Geisel Library. Crafting Community, on how Political Science alumnus Arsalun Tafazoli has helped disrupt the San Diego dining scene. And Wave After Wave, with Economics alumnus and UC San Diego Alumni Board President Robert Brownlie sharing his experience with the university’s ever-evolving landscape.
Teaching Impacts of Technology
Much needed! Beth Simon of Education Studies has launched a Coursera specialization for K-12 teachers: “Teaching Impacts of Technology.” The specialization helps support the requirements of the California supplementary authorization to teach computer science.
Sign Here
You can whisper in American Sign Language, or you can shout. You can make poetry. And if you learn ASL later in life, you might be signing with an accent forever. In most ways, it is a language just like any other, with a complex grammar, slang, dialects, the whole shebang. But in some respects, ASL is much more than just a typical language. It’s visual and kinesthetic and is an essential component of Deaf culture in the United States, too – giving signers a special bond that non-signers may not fully understand. ASL has also been, for a long time, an important part of both research and teaching in the UC San Diego Department of Linguistics, which recently put on a two-day event celebrating Deaf culture and ASL.
A New U.S.-Mexico Border?
Teddy Cruz of Visual Arts and Fonna Forman of Political Science “don’t look at the U.S.-Mexico border as a dividing line,” reports the Los Angeles Times. “They look at it as a region – one with a shared culture, economy and environment. That vision is why they were chosen as one of seven design teams to be featured in the U.S. Pavilion’s official exhibition, ‘Dimensions of Citizenship,’ at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale.” The urbanists have mapped a new 154,000 square-mile border region they call “MEXUS,” highlighting the broader environmental issues the U.S. and Mexico face as one.
How Language Shapes the Way We Think
A fascinating TED talk by Lera Boroditsky of Cognitive Science.
You’ll Likely Be Killed by Something You’re Not Worried About
There seems to be a vast gap between the most common causes of death in the U.S., and the causes of death we hear the most about, shows an infographic making the social-media rounds. The visualization was created by a UC San Diego alumnus based on data collected by students in a data science class taught by Bradley Voytek of Cognitive Science. See the clever visualization at link above; additional backstory is in the students’ write-up.
UCSD’s Justin Koo Arguably Is Nation’s Top Student Lawyer
Political Science major Justin Koo won big at the American Mock Trial Association’s national championships for his performance as a defense attorney. “Justin was the highest-ranked All-American attorney with 27 ranks,” said one of his coxaches, Caitlin Macker. “He was tied as the top attorney in the country and first place in our [division].”
Marta Kutas Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the country’s most esteemed honorary societies and independent policy research centers, has elected three UC San Diego professors as new members, including Marta Kutas of Cognitive Science. The academy’s class of 2018 features 213 individuals in a wide range of disciplines and professions, from actor Tom Hanks to former president Barack Obama. Previous members have included George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Daniel Webster, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Mead and Martin Luther King Jr. Kutas will be inducted along with the other new members at a ceremony in October.
Asking Children One Simple Question Can Jump-Start Learning
Developmental psychologist Caren Walker is trying to find ways to help young children learn more effectively, and parents might be surprised to know that one way to do that starts with just one question: Why?
Is Amazon Evil and Am I Evil for Using It?
Lilly Irani of Communication on Gizmodo: “We need political movements that create policies, laws, and institutions that put us in charge of our technologies,” she said.
Students and Faculty Commit to Healthier World
UC Global Health Day 2018 brought “well-being warrior” Vikram Patel and 500 other champions of global health to UC San Diego. As part of his keynote speech calling for universal mental health coverage, Patel urged global health practitioners to “step out of the universities and engage communities,” engaging in particular those who are affected and young people to demand change. Janis Jenkins of Anthropology was one of the keynote commentators. Thomas Csordas of Anthropology, director of the division’s Global Health Program, opened the day-long event with Chancellor Khosla. A research poster session featured more than 120 participants, including students from the Global Health Program presenting their senior capstone projects.
Yanny or Laurel? Your Brain Hears What It Wants To
Diana Deutsch of Psychology weighs in with the Wall Street Journal on the viral audio clip. Also: Auditory illusions discovered by Deutsch were a big hit at the 5th USA Science and Engineering Festival in Washington, D.C., as part of AAAS’ Science of the Senses interactive exhibit.
2018 Clark Kerr Award
Richard Atkinson of Cognitive Science and Psychology – a UC San Diego chancellor who became UC president – has won the 2018 Clark Kerr Award, conferred by the UC Berkeley Academic Senate in recognition of service and achievements as a distinguished educator.
A Living Legend
LaGina Gause of Political Science and second-year major Hunter Miranda, who serves as executive director of the Student Organized Voter Access Committee (SOVAC), spoke to the significance of civil rights icon John Lewis, who is going to be UC San Diego’s commencement speaker. “Congressman Lewis’ leadership in Congress,” Gause said, “continues to demonstrate to his constituents that he is willing to go beyond the normal call of duty to represent the issues and concerns that are most pressing among his community.”
Does ‘Blue Mind’ Science Explain Why We Love the Ocean?
Karen Dobkins of Psychology – who is an avid swimmer and an absolute believer in the well-being the ocean can bring us and its therapeutic value – questions whether there’s as much science behind the “blue mind” idea as some people say.
Newsom Ad Shows Odd Incentives of California Top-2 Primary
Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the Democratic front-runner in the governor’s race, has said he wants to face a Republican in November and his latest ad makes it seem his preferred GOP candidate is John Cox. “This is not about winning the political argument in November,” Thad Kousser of Political Science told U.S. News & World Report. “This is about having the governor’s race be over before June 6.” Kousser also spoke with KPBS about voter registration and local voting trends.
In Virtual Reality, How Much Body Do You Need?
The New York Times consulted V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology on a study, not his own, suggesting that people’s brains will fill in missing information in virtual reality – even to the point of thinking an invisible body is their own.
Understanding and Supporting the Educational Needs of Immigrant English Learner Students
The Council of Chief State School Officers has published a report co-authored by Megan Hopkins of Education Studies that explores answers to three critical questions: Who are recently arrived immigrant English learner students in K-12 schools? What are their educational needs? And what school, district and state-level policies and practices are being implemented to support them? Ph.D. students Peter Bjorklund Jr. and Hayley Weddle served as research assistants on the project.
Deserts Into Forests
At a recent UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies event, Gary Fields of Communication argued that tree planting, forestation and cartography were used as tools of land dispossession in Palestine.
Sanctuary Cities Don’t ‘Breed Crime’ – They Encourage People to Report Crime
Writing in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog, Tom Wong of Political Science describes his most recent survey: Undocumented immigrants in San Diego County are 60.8 percent less likely to report a crime they witnessed, and 42.9 percent less likely to report being a victim of a crime – if they believe local authorities are cooperating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement on deportation raids. Other effects are equally stark. KPBS also reported on the survey. Separately, Wong was recently appointed to serve on Gov. Jerry Brown’s California Complete Count Committee, “a statewide panel of community members that will guide California’s outreach for the 2020 federal census.”
Pro- and Anti-Trump Forces Score Points on Immigration, But Both Sides Are Losing
A Steve Lopez column in the Los Angeles Times quoted Wayne Cornelius of Political Science, saying there is no correlation between sanctuary cities and crime rates. “Trump is throwing red meat to the nativist portion of his base, without seriously disrupting the economy,” Cornelius said. “It’s a political shell game. Leave the vast majority of employers alone, but terrorize their workers, families and communities.”
Mueller’s Investigation Isn’t Going to Wrap Up Soon, and Trump Is Still in Peril
That’s according to Harry Litman of Political Science, writing in the Los Angeles Times. Litman also published opinion pieces on related topics in the Washington Post, the New York Times, on CNN and on Lawfare. And he made dozens of appearances on MSNBC, CNN and FOX News.
Constantine Panunzio Distinguished Emeriti Award
The 2017-18 Constantine Panunzio Distinguished Emeriti Award honoring emeriti professors in the University of California system has been awarded to UCLA’s Henry Ansgar Kelly and UC San Diego’s Sandy Lakoff of Political Science.
Human Cell Atlas Projects Funded by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative announced the funding of 85 projects, including one led by Eran Mukamel of Cognitive Science, to develop collaborative computational tools for the Human Cell Atlas. The tools are aimed at allowing better access to the data generated and make it easier to gain biologic insights from the data.
The FCC, Sinclair and the Decline of Media Localism
Robert Horwitz of Communication shares his insights on FCC history and the deregulation of broadcasting now underway.
Anyone Can Be an Innovator
Students given incentives to innovate are just as skilled as the self-motivated, according to research co-authored by Joshua Graff Zivin of Economics and the School of Global Policy and Strategy.
The Pulse on Language
Rachel Mayberry of Linguistics was interviewed for NPR podcast The Pulse. Mayberry’s contribution – about her research on learning a first language after childhood – begins around the 40-minute mark in the episode called, simply, “Language.”
Intergenerational Effects of Disability Insurance Receipt (PDF)
The NBER Digest, from the National Bureau of Economic Research, describes a recent paper co-authored by Gordon Dahl of Economics.
Conference Celebrates Five Years of Teacher-to-Teacher Learning
Education Studies and CREATE continued to expand their regional efforts for a fifth year with a slate of innovative learning experiences headed by leading area educators at “Engaging Today’s Student: Sharing What Works.”
From Condors to Oysters, California Sea Grant Funds New Coastal Research
Why do people fish in San Diego Bay even when they know their catch may be contaminated? David Pedersen of Anthropology will be working on that question and more with Theresa Talley of Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
San Diego’s Scientists Span the Globe to Unearth New Discoveries, Solve Deepest Mysteries
“Scientists from San Diego will visit virtually every corner of the globe during the upcoming summer field research season to take up an equally broad range of questions. … UC San Diego, the nation’s fifth largest research university, is sending the most people packing with passports,” reports the Union-Tribune. That list includes Ivano Caponigro of Linguistics, Tom Levy of Anthropology and Anita Raj of Education Studies and Medicine.
UC San Diego Alumni Presents 40 Under 40
Not all heroes wear capes. From a doctor who developed the cure for Hepatitis C to an actress who is helping refugees from war-torn countries, these heroes are among 40 alumni to be honored for disrupting the status quo to build a better world. Alicia Garza of Anthropology and Sociology, who is co-founder of Black Lives Matter, and Milana Vayntrub of Communication, who works with refugees, are both featured in the story linked above. In all, nine of the 40 honorees are Social Sciences alumni, and you can read about all of them here. Alumni Weekend 2018 runs May 31 through June 3 this year.
New Majors to Help Students Tackle Big Issues
Hands-on and real-world, four new majors at UC San Diego respond to workplace trends, future demand and alumni feedback. The Division of Social Sciences is home to two of these: Business Psychology and Real Estate and Development – which are both the first of their kind in the UC system. The division is also collaborating on the new major in Data Science.
Why Deciphering Data Is Essential to Modern Living
“From Twitter feeds to the human genome, understanding data helps us understand the world around us. On the other hand, digital illiteracy can have catastrophic consequences, as identities are stolen or democracy subverted,” write Jeff Elman of Cognitive Science and Rajesh Gupta of Computer Science, co-directors of the recently launched Halicioğlu Data Science Institute at UC San Diego.
Faculty Members Celebrated for Seeing the Classroom and World Differently
Congratulations, Kate Antonovics of Economics – 2018 winner of the Chancellor’s Associates Faculty Excellence Award in undergraduate teaching! “Students lavish praise on Professor Antonovics, both for her skill as a teacher, but also for her innovation in creating new forms of classroom education,” said Social Sciences Dean Carol Padden.
New Vista Education Center Asks ‘How Can We Help Kids Learn?’
Teachers from Vista Unified School District and researchers from UC San Diego are teaming up to better understand how children learn. The project – the International Center for Educational Research and Practice, a new “virtual center” at the district – also includes the San Diego Workforce Partnership, which will help educators prepare students for jobs that may not exist yet. The Union-Tribune story quotes Alan Daly of Education Studies, who is part of the effort, on the importance of “connecting research and practice.”
UCSD Professor Nathan Fletcher Running for County Supervisor After Five Years of Teaching
Nathan Fletcher of Political Science is the subject of a profile in the Triton student newspaper, which reports that “regardless of the result of his current campaign, Fletcher intends to continue his professorship. If he wins the seat, he will try to teach at least one or two quarters per year.”
The Driverless Car Revolution Must Proceed With Caution
“Imperfect automation, continually getting better? Or distracted drivers, continually getting worse? Choose.” - Don Norman of Cognitive Science and the Design Lab, writing in the Union-Tribune.
Science of Swearing AMA
Ben Bergen of Cognitive Science braved Reddit’s Ask Me Anything to discuss his most recent book, “What the F,” about the science of swearing. Questions he answered include “What makes a word bad?” and “Is swearing harmful to children’s development?”
Can You Hear Me?
The Naked Scientists podcast ran a month of stories on the senses, including a week on hearing. Diana Deutsch of Psychology participated in the show about auditory illusions, “Sounds sometimes behave so strangely…” The show was broadcast on BBC 5 and ABC Australia.
Learning From Our Elders With a Twist (and Shout)
A “Senior Prom” at a Serving Seniors’ center in downtown San Diego – organized by students in the Life Course Scholars program for the center’s age 60-and-up crowd – is just one of a number of activities that bring together the program’s students with elders in our community for innovative learning outside the classroom. Life Course Scholars is directed out of Urban Studies and Planning by Mirle Bussell and Leslie Lewis. (Lewis is also an Anthropology alumna.) The students featured in the story are Urban Studies major Jacqueline Brinkmann, Human Biology major Jadzia Nguyen-Khoa, and Biochemistry major Jeong Hoon (John) Kim.
Best Book in Qualitative Research
“Autobiography of a Disease,” the most recent book by Patrick Andersen of Communication, Ethnic Studies, and Critical Gender Studies, has won a top award from the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry. The book blends storytelling, historiography, ethnography and memoir to explore the experience of extended life-threatening illness in contemporary U.S. hospitals.
Campus Welcomes Soda and Swine
Culinary visionary Arsalun Tafazoli, ‘06 alumnus of Political Science and Philosophy, is bringing Soda and Swine to campus: “When I was at UC San Diego, it was a good place to go and focus,” Tafazoli said. “But there weren’t many gathering spots that fostered a social college experience. Now, there’s a shift happening to support that kind of interaction, and to be part of that renaissance is a beautiful thing.” The feature story in ThisWeek also reports on the university enlisting Next Wave Commercial to attract additional innovative retail operators.
The Center Selects Next CEO
Psychology alumna Caroline 'Cara' Dessert ‘05, who also minored in Ethnic Studies and in Law and Society, has been named the next leader of San Diego’s LGBT Community Center, the nation’s second oldest center and one of its largest.
Here’s the Real Reason Teachers Are Revolting in Red States
Agustina Paglayan, incoming to Political Science, writes in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog about her recent research. Contrary to popular belief on both sides of the aisle, collective bargaining rarely leads to higher teacher salaries and more education spending, Paglayan’s research shows. “Teachers in red states are striking because of their low pay – but that is not because their labor rights are weak. The problem is they teach in states that have historically spent little on education.” Politico, Education Week, Governing, NBC News and others reported on the research.
Norwegian Experiment Shows How to Change Men’s Ideas on Gender
“New research suggests a pretty straightforward way to bust gender stereotypes: Get men and women to work closely alongside each other,” writes Quartz on a new National Bureau of Economic Research working paper co-authored by Gordon Dahl of Economics. The paper reports on the results of an experiment conducted with Norway’s military in 2014, and Stars and Stripes focused on a different takeaway from the basic-training study: that unit cohesion is unaffected by adding women. Separately, earlier research by Dahl was cited in the New York Times in a story suggesting Americans may no longer prefer sons over daughters, and he was quoted in the Union-Tribune in a story about Echo Yard, a new experimental unit at Donovan State Prison.
Making Mental Health a Global Priority
The UC Global Health Institute speaks with Vikram Patel, noted psychiatrist from Harvard Medical School, ahead of his keynote speech at UC San Diego on April 22, when the system-wide UC Global Health Day comes to our campus. The story also includes Janis Jenkins of Anthropology, director of the Center for Global Mental Health, who is serving as commentator during the event: “As a matter of social justice,” Jenkins says, “[global mental health] research, care and advocacy must be developed wherever needed. Worldwide, there are no shortages of need.”
Celebrity Cookbooks Ranked on How Many Animals Die for Each Dish
A new research paper co-authored by graduate student Ike Sharpless of Political Science with senior author Andy Lamey of Philosophy analyzes the cookbooks of 26 celebrity chefs to offer insight and guidance for consumers seeking to reduce their consumption of meat on ethical grounds.
Trump Is a Globalist. Just a Chaotic One
For this analytical piece, Quartz checked in with Erik Gartzke of Political Science and the Center for Peace and Security Studies. Gartzke also shared his expertise with the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in March, in a briefing on “Deterrence Situations (Nature of Weaponry).” And on April 21, he will give a talk hosted by the San Diego Independent Scholars in the Chancellor’s Complex on “Fighting by Bits and Bytes: What to Expect from Internet Conflict.”
Trump’s Man on Campus
A Politico Magazine feature on Charlie Kirk – founder of Turning Point USA, who has been called “a rock star among millennial conservatives” but has also been accused of racism and hatefulness – quotes Amy Binder of Sociology. Attacking university administrators is a strategy that sells, she says.
California Sanctuary Law Backlash Spreads to San Diego County
Reuters sought the expertise of political scientist Thad Kousser for a story suggesting there may be growing opposition to California Senate Bill 54, which prohibits in certain situations state and local law enforcement officials from co-operating with federal immigration authorities on the deportation of undocumented immigrants.
This Syndrome Causes People to Think Their Loved Ones Have Been Replaced by Identical Impostors
More than 20 years ago, V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology and the Center for Brain and Cognition achieved a breakthrough in understanding Capgras syndrome, after a student developed the delusion as a result of head trauma from a car accident.
Honorary Doctorate for Tom Levy
Charles University in Prague, founded in 1348, has bestowed an honorary doctoral degree on Thomas Levy of Anthropology. Local newspaper Lidové Noviny ran a feature story on the proceedings, complete with a photo of Levy in ceremonial robes.
Should Democrats Embrace the Center or Abandon It?
New York Times columnist Thomas B. Edsall mentions research by Seth Hill of Political Science showing that there has been a steady reduction of conservative voters participating in Democratic primaries: From 27 percent of Dem supporters in 1972 to 24 percent in 1992, and all the way down to 7 percent in 2012.
Trump’s One-Night Stand Turns Into a Legal Nightmare
“Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump appear to be vying for the world record for the longest one-night stand in history,” writes Harry Litman of Political Science in the New York Times. Litman has been on quite a roll: In addition to the NYT piece linked above, he has also published op-eds recently in the Washington Post (twice), the Los Angeles Times (also twice) and CNN. He was also featured in a Slate podcast.
Mark Your Court Brackets: UCSD Seeks National Title for Student Lawyers
“UCSD is two years away from NCAA Division I status, but the Tritons’ mock-trial team has been top-echelon for years, competing with the likes of five-time champ UCLA, defending titlist Virginia and other powerhouse schools,” reports Times of San Diego. Social Sciences students participating in the American Mock Trial Association’s national championships in April include: sophomore Nicole Kwan (Political Science), who is team co-captain, junior Divya Desale (Economics and International Studies), junior Justin Koo (Political Science), sophomore Noor Takidin (Political Science), sophomore Jenny Rothman (Cognitive Neuroscience), freshman Jonathan Kim (Political Science), sophomore Gabby Lipco (Political Science) and freshman Brianna Fluhrer (English/Socioeconomics).
EVENTS
April 18: What Data and Research Reveal about Sexual Assault and Harassment on Campuses
Education Studies and the Center on Gender Equity and Health present a film screening and research panel discussion for Sexual Assault Awareness Month 2018. From 4 to 6 p.m. in Medical Education/Telemedicine Bldg., Rms.141/143.
April 18: Design@Large
Kamala Visweswaran of Ethnic Studies on “The Algorithmic Turn”: In light of how hard it is to imagine a world without algorithms now, even as scandals like the one with Cambridge Analytica force a reckoning, Visweswaran poses “a counter-factual for thinking about the perils of fast knowledge in slow time.” Beginning at 4 p.m., CSE Building, Rm. 1202.
April 18: The Future of Democracy in Brazil
Former President of Brazil Dilma Rousseff, the first woman to hold the Brazilian presidency, who was impeached by the country’s National Congress in 2016 for allegedly breaking a budgetary law, comes to San Diego thanks in part to co-sponsors at UCSD, including the Division of Social Sciences, the Black Studies Project, the Department of Political Science, Latin American Studies, and the International Institute. From 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Montezuma Hall, SDSU.
April 22: UC Global Health Day 2018
The system-wide conference on global health – brought to UC San Diego by our Global Health program and showcasing the outstanding research, training and outreach taking place across the University of California – is sold out. See you at the Price Center if you managed to get tickets!
April 27: Authoritarianism Today
The International Institute, directed by Nancy Postero of Anthropology, presents a daylong conference, “Authoritarianism Today: Repertoires and Resistance,” featuring UC San Diego faculty and guests. Panel topics are: “The Diverse Forms of Authoritarianism,” “Authoritarianism and the Academy,” “Technologies and Authoritarianism” and “Cities as Sites of Struggle.” Social Sciences faculty participating include, in addition to Postero, Molly Roberts of Political Science, Erik Gartzke of Political Science and Lilly Irani of Communication. From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Institute of the Americas, Malamud Room. Please RSVP at link above.
April 28: Engaging Today’s Student: Sharing What Works
CREATE and Education Studies present the 5th annual Teaching and Learning Conference for P-16 teachers and educational leaders. From 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Pepper Canyon Hall.
May 9 and 10: Gifts from Deaf Culture
The Department of Linguistics presents a two-night event: First up is a one-man show by performer Wink on May 9, followed on May 10 by a discussion panel on American Sign Language, audism, and the diversity and richness within Deaf culture. The panel includes Social Sciences Dean and Linguistics alumna Carol Padden. The entire event will be presented in ASL with English interpretation. Atkinson Hall, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on both nights.
We Are Deeply Polarized, But…
Polarization isn’t all bad. California has the most polarized legislature in the country yet also leads the nation in passing laws that are in line with what voters want. Thad Kousser of Political Science shares this and other insights in an op-ed for the Union-Tribune.
A Campus Hub for Data Science
Former Social Sciences Dean Jeffrey Elman of Cognitive Science is co-director, with Rajesh Gupta of Computer Science and Engineering, of the new cross-disciplinary Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute at UC San Diego. “Professors Gupta and Elman are among this university’s most distinguished faculty members and administrators, and they are uniquely positioned – with input and expertise from many other departments – to make UC San Diego one of the world’s leading academic centers of excellence in the burgeoning field of data science,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “We have a long history of deciphering insights from large volumes of data, and we have been doing so since long before the term ‘data science’ was coined.” To read the story about the campus dedication: “Bill Nye Comes to Campus as ‘The Data Science Guy.’”
Collaboration to ‘Rebirth’ NZ Education
New Zealand’s Education Central features Alan Daly of Education Studies who is a Visiting Fulbright Global Scholar at the University of Auckland. Daly says he’s “tremendously optimistic” about the potential he sees in the country to solve complex educational issues: “There is vast set of resources and expertise within New Zealand. This needs to be honored and listened to – including the expertise not only sited at universities, but also the expertise that resides in the many cultural, social and intellectual assets of educators, youth, parents and communities.”
Babies Can Spot Language, Even When It’s Not Spoken
Rain Bosworth of Psychology presented on her work at AAAS, showing that babies are as primed to learn a visual language as they are a spoken one. Science magazine covered Bosworth’s presentation (linked above), as did Red Tricycle and others. Bosworth and former post-doc Adam Stone also posted this YouTube video on the lab’s eye-tracking research with babies, children and adults.
Fed Should Lean on Rate Cuts, Not QE, in Next Recession: Paper
“The Federal Reserve should focus on lowering interest rates in the face of the next recession, and avoid relying on asset purchases that are a less effective policy tool than previously thought, four top U.S. economists told a roomful of Fed officials,” Reuters reported. The economists – James Hamilton of Economics, David Greenlaw of Morgan Stanley, Ethan Harris of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Kenneth West of University of Wisconsin – were presenting their new paper at the U.S. Monetary Policy Forum. The co-authors said that while the Fed has not set an end point, it should not go too far and consider larger and looser run-off caps. Also reporting on the research or responding to it were the Wall Street Journal, CNBC and Market Watch, as well as Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Eric Rosengren and, in Money and Banking, Brandeis Professor Steve Cecchetti and NYU Professor Kim Schoenholtz.
What’s in a Face ID?
A Slate story on facial recognition technologies – from the touted new Face ID available on the iPhone X to applications by the Department of Homeland Security – referred to what Kelly Gates of Communication has dubbed the “facialization of terrorism.”
Live Video of #NationalWalkoutDay at UC San Diego
In this live video, Union-Tribune reporter Gary Robbins interviews undergraduate students Eden Allegretti, Sociology and Political Science major, and Emma Potter, Political Science with a minor in human rights, who helped organize #NationalWalkoutDay on campus.
Trump Blames Video Games for School Shootings – Here’s What Science Says
“There is no scientific evidence that confirms or disconfirms that speculation,” said Mark Appelbaum of Psychology, chair of a 2015 American Psychological Association Task Force on Violent Media, to Time magazine.
Woody Allen and Academic Freedom
“The UC San Diego Academic Senate rejected a student-led push to cut a course on the filmmaker from the curriculum over sexual abuse allegations,” reported Inside Higher Ed. The senate “supports the right to the continued teaching of this course now and in the future,” Senate Chair Farrell Ackerman of Linguistics and Vice Chair Robert Horwitz of Communication wrote. “As importantly, the senate supports and will vigorously maintain the right of all faculty to participate in the principles of academic freedom: these advance and preserve the university as a singular institution for the free exchange of ideas and debate that cannot and should not be diminished by forces that seek to restrict and canalize course content in favored directions.”
Something Wonderful Happened to These Men When a Group of Women Joined Their Team
Marketwatch: “What happens when a profession or team traditionally dominated by men suddenly sees more female colleagues? Men change their attitudes about mixed-gender productivity, gender roles and identity.” This is according to an experimental study with the Norwegian military, co-authored by Gordon Dahl of Economics. The NY Post also reported on the work.
Latina Pathways in P-20 Systems and Beyond
Frances Contreras of Education Studies spoke about the challenges and opportunities for engaging and supporting Chicanas/Latinas across the P-20 education continuum and beyond with BlogTalkRadio’s Latino Role Models & Success.
Walls! Walls! Walls! Trump’s California Trip
The OC Register takes a look at the history of physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border and of border-enforcement policies with David FitzGerald of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies.
Dear Mexico: Please Forgive Us for Donald Trump
The U.S. shares the blame with Mexico for illegal immigration because the 1986 overhaul of immigration laws gutted employer sanctions, writes a Star Ledger columnist, citing Wayne Cornelius of Political Science.
8 San Diegans Take Us Inside Their Favorite Spaces
Tom Wong of Political Science talks about his “office” at North Park’s Communal Coffee. Separately (and unrelated to coffee), Sing Tao Daily ran a feature story on Wong, while a writer of a personal essay in the Huffington Post, entitled “A Piece of Paper Is Controlling My Students’ Lives,” cited Wong’s research on DACA recipients.
Councilwoman Kicks Off National City Mayoral Campaign
National City Councilwoman Alejandra Sotelo-Solis – an alumna of Political Science who champions such issues as public safety, environmental justice and small businesses – officially kicked off her campaign and pledged to “fight hard” for the community. At UC San Diego, Sotelo-Solis serves as director of the university’s Community Law Project, a student organization that focuses on law, public policy and advocacy. The third-generation National City resident also serves as a liturgical minister at St. Anthony Catholic Church in National City. She was endorsed during her campaign kick-off event by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, state Treasurer John Chiang and the National City Firefighters Association.
March 22: Building a Stronger San Diego
Real estate alumni from SDSU, USD and UC San Diego are coming together to meet one another and build an even stronger real estate community in San Diego. The meeting is from 6 to 8 p.m. at Cushman & Wakefield Office UTC. Spread the word? And register at link.
Kaplan Lecture and Athenaeum Membership
V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology gave the Edith Kaplan Memorial Lecture at the 46th annual meeting of the International Neuropsychology Society in Washington, DC (linked above). He has also been elected a member of the Athenaeum in London – one of the oldest exclusive clubs with members “who have obtained some distinction in science, literature, or the arts.” Early known members include Michael Faraday and Charles Darwin.
Ledger Art Books Serve as Hands-On Learning Tool for Graduate Students
Lakota artist Dwayne Wilcox met with students and spoke at a public gathering hosted by the university library in connection with an exhibit of Wilcox’s contemporary ledger artwork, “Teíč’iȟ iŋla: Practicing Decolonial Love,” curated by UC San Diego graduate students enrolled in “Representing Native America,” a class taught by Ross Frank of Ethnic Studies. Wilcox was joined at the event by Frank, who also directs the Plains Indian Ledger Art project (PILA), and has been working since 1995 to digitally preserve Plains Indian ledger books under one platform to promote research and public access.
Curses! And Why They Work So Well Onstage (Sometimes)
“All things being equal, the most physiologically affecting language is profanity,” Benjamin Bergen of Cognitive Science said to the New York Times, in a theater story exploring the use of curses on stage. “Your heart rate increases, your pupils dilate, you start sweating. We call this a state of emotional arousal. Hearing the most taboo language induces this effect much more strongly than other powerful positive or negative words.”
The 50 Shades of States
A “national sorting” is underway, according to experts cited in the U.S. News & World Report, “with people moving to places that reflect their values and party IDs, further reinforcing a state or region’s political character.” Thad Kousser of Political Science, who’s working on a book about the politics of states, said that “political polarization has led states to take very different paths when they’ve had that opportunity.” And that, he said, leads Americans to think about politics and party when they are choosing a place to live, pondering, “Am I an Oregon-type person, or a Mississippi-type person?”
What the State Dept., CIA Leadership Shuffle Could Mean for U.S. Security
Thad Kousser of Political Science was an hour-long guest on the Forum, a program of Bay Area NPR affiliate KQED. Kousser also spoke with the Associated Press about sexual misconduct allegations against California state senator Tony Mendoza: The state senate’s action against Mendoza sends a message, Kousser said, that “no matter how powerful a committee chair you are, no matter if you’re in the majority caucus, the same rules apply to you.” Commentary by Kousser also appeared in an ABC News piece about California’s crowded U.S. House race; a San Francisco Chronicle story on the California Democratic party not endorsing its long-serving incumbent U.S. Sen Dianne Feinstein; and in a story in The Hill about U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris positioning herself for a White House run in 2020.
April 22: UC Global Health Day 2018
Our Global Health program and the UC Global Health Institute present an all-day event showcasing the work of global health practitioners from UC and beyond, with a keynote on global mental health by Harvard psychiatrist Vikram Patel and commentary by Janis Jenkins of Anthropology.
Education Studies Partners with Action Research Network of the Americas
The sixth annual ARNA conference, this year on “Knowledge Mobilization for Equitable and Peaceful Social Progress,” will be held at UC San Diego June 28-30, 2018. This conference welcomes diverse participants from throughout the Americas, including people involved with action research, participatory action research and practitioner research. If you are interested in attending, presenting or having your students participate at this conference, please contact mrattana@ucsd.edu in Education Studies.
Numbers Hint at Why #MeToo Took Off: The Sheer Number Who Can Say Me Too
The New York Times reports on a new national survey led by the nonprofit Stop Street Harassment. According to the survey data – analyzed by Anita Raj of Education Studies, the School of Medicine and the Center on Gender Equity and Health – 81 percent of women and 43 percent of men said they had experienced sexual harassment or assault over their lifetimes. That’s higher than most other studies and polls have suggested. The timely survey was also covered by NPR and others.
‘Alleys in Action’ Project Demonstrates What’s Possible for Neglected Public Space
Urban Studies and Planning students Vincent Page, Joyce Lee and Dmitriy Goncharuk are working hard with community partners and faculty member Sue Peerson to transform our attitudes about alleys. Instead of being places for trash, storm-water puddles and crime, alleys, they say, can help make our urban environments greener, friendlier and more connected. The team organized a pop-up event in San Diego’s Normal Heights neighborhood to demonstrate the possibilities. The Union-Tribune also covered the event.
Bill Nye the Science Guy to Help Dedicate Data Science Institute
One of the nation’s best known popularizers of science, Bill Nye the Science Guy will visit UC San Diego March 2 to help the university dedicate the new Halicioğlu Data Science Institute, co-directed by Jeff Elman of Cognitive Science, former dean of the Division of Social Sciences. The campus-wide institute will help train students to gather, analyze and apply data. Nye is speaking at an invitation-only event in the morning. In the afternoon, starting at 12:30 at the Qualcomm Institute, a faculty open house and symposium will feature a number of presentations from social scientists, including by Terry Jernigan of Cognitive Science and the Center for Human Development, Molly Roberts of Political Science and Bradley Voytek of Cognitive Science.
How Parents Can Talk to Their Kids About Using Technology Safely
In this op-ed for the Union-Tribune, Gail Heyman of Psychology offers advice both as a parent and as a development researcher. Talking with kids is key.
Students, Families and Educators Should Lead the Way on the Gun Crisis
“As a mother and daughter who spend our days in schools, we think students, families and educators should lead this effort to make legislators finally move on sensible gun control measures to promote school safety.” – Mica Pollock of Education Studies and CREATE with her middle-school daughter, Elea, in Teaching Tolerance magazine.
Vista District and UCSD in Study About Teaching
Sherice Clarke of Education Studies is co-PI on a project to understand K-12 teacher learning. Funded by the James S. McDonnell Foundation, the project is in collaboration with the Vista Unified School District and Carnegie Mellon.
Private Joke Becomes Critically Acclaimed Children’s Book
Brian Selznick and Communication’s David Serlin turn a joke they’ve shared for years into an unconventional story for young readers. “Baby Monkey, Private Eye” is not only funny it also lets Serlin take some loving digs at academia.
Comm Grad Students Selected for San Diego Film Week
Work by graduate students Nalini Asha Biggs and Caroline Collins of Communication has been selected for San Diego Film Week. “Native Like Water: We’re Still Here,” by Collins, Biggs and 23 Native youth representing more than 15 tribes from California and Hawaii, and the Biggs-directed “What’s My Line?“ will be screened on March 4 and 5, respectively.
Robert McCormick Adams Dies at 91
The Washington Post reports on the passing of longtime Anthropology adjunct Robert McCormick Adams, former secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, who sought to make “confrontation, experimentation and debate” part of the Smithsonian’s mandate. Smithsonian Magazine also carried an obituary about its one-time leader.
Trump Policy Spotlights San Diego’s Nuclear Past
According to the recently released Nuclear Posture Review, the Trump administration wants to boost the number of U.S. nuclear weapons, in particular smaller tactical nuclear weapons. To help its audience understand the historical context and possible consequences, KPBS sought the expertise of Erik Gartzke of Political Science and the Center for Peace and Security Studies.
Now We Know for Sure: The Russia Story Is Not a ‘Hoax’
“We now know without a doubt that Russians conducted a multimillion-dollar, highly sophisticated campaign to destabilize the American political system. Has there been a sharper or more serious attack on the United States since 9/11?” – Harry Litman of Political Science in a Los Angeles Times op-ed. Litman also published an opinion piece in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and made a half dozen appearances on MSNBC to talk about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation.
The Way Humans Point Isn’t as Universal as You Might Think
Cognitive Science alumnus Kensy Cooperrider worked with Rafael Nunez, also of Cognitive Science, on the work he describes in this piece for The Conversation: The pointing gesture differs by culture. Some groups of people prefer to use their noses or their lips to point rather than their fingers.
March 2: The Role of Hunting in Anthropogeny
Hunting has long been seen as a key human adaptation, thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior. Yet there is considerable uncertainty about where, when, why and how our early ancestors came to consume meat on a regular basis. The goal of this CARTA symposium – co-chaired by James Moore of Anthropology and featuring a talk by Margaret Schoeninger, also of Anthropology, along with numerous guest speakers – is to explore the evidence on the origins of hominin hunting and to set a research agenda for the future. From 1 to 5:30 p.m., Prebys Auditorium at Salk Institute or a live webcast.
How an Abundance of Democratic Candidates Could Help the G.O.P. Hold the House
California voters eliminated traditional party primaries in 2010, replacing them with the top-two system at the urging of Arnold Schwarzenegger, then the Republican governor, and other moderates. Has the change made a difference? Thad Kousser of Political Science suggested to the New York Times that so far it had not. “We haven’t seen big shifts in the legislature,” he said. “It hasn’t changed California politics radically.”
UCSD to Offer a Business Psychology Major Fall 2018
Psychology will offer a new degree this coming fall, a B.S. in business psychology, designed to train students to apply psychological principles to the workplace and to organizational challenges and opportunities. UC San Diego will be the first school in the UC system to offer the degree. “The principles and concepts behind people are so integral to so many aspects of business like working in teams, working creatively, working innovatively,” said Student Affairs Manager Rachael Lapidis of Psychology. “I think that that coupled with the data analysis skills that they’ll get both from the Psychology side and the Rady side will give them both the conceptual background and the skill background to be able to succeed in a way that’s slightly different than what you would get from a pure business major.”
UCSD to Offer Real Estate Major Starting Fall 2018
Urban Studies and Planning is now offering a minor in Real Estate and Development, reports Triton News, and starting in Fall 2018 will also offer a major. Mirle Rabinowitz-Bussell said the major and minor came about after surveying alumni and seeing that many had entered the field of real estate. “Students will learn how to plan efficiently [and] sustainably, taking into account transportation patterns, mixed use of land, innovation, equity and social justice, green infrastructure, and more,” she said in an interview with UC San Diego Sustainability. “UC San Diego is the first campus in the UC system to have a minor like this. In the next five to 10 years, we hope to be one of the [nation’s] top 10 with this minor/major.”
March 15: 28th Annual Urban Expo
Urban Studies and Planning hosts its annual showcase of posters and research exhibits from graduating seniors and community partners. Beginning with an open house at 1 p.m. in Price Center ballrooms A and B, the event runs until 6:30. Please see flyer at link for detailed schedule or visit the USP website.
March 22: Building a Stronger San Diego
Real estate alumni from SDSU, USD and UC San Diego are coming together to meet one another and build an even stronger real estate community in San Diego. The meeting is from 6 to 8 p.m. at Cushman & Wakefield Office UTC. Spread the word? And register at link.
Foreign Policy Magazine Ranks UC San Diego Among World’s Best
The magazine’s global rankings lauded UC San Diego’s undergraduate international relations program – second among public universities (11th overall). The university’s master’s program, for policy careers in international relations, was ranked first among public institutions (15th overall). And the campus’s Ph.D. program, for students pursuing an academic career in international relations, was named the best among public colleges (7th overall).
Triton Alumnae Making an Impact: Paola Avila, ’97
Paola Avila had no desire to work anywhere near politics. As an undergraduate studying Economics, her dream career was in international business. But when Avila got talked into helping with a local political campaign – just something to try while she was figuring out her next step, she assured herself – she found her passion, and it set her on a course that would take her through mayoral races and city hall to the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, where she currently serves as vice president for international business affairs.
Data Released From Adolescent Brain Development Study
The ABCD study – the largest long-term study of the developing adolescent brain in the United States –has released its first datasets to scientists worldwide: 30 terabytes of data. That’s about three times the size of the Library of Congress collection. The ABCD study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is headed by a cross-disciplinary team of social and medical scientists at UC San Diego, including Terry Jernigan of Cognitive Science and Vice Chancellor for Research Sandra Brown of Psychology and Psychiatry.
Lost in Translation: The Power of Language to Shape How We View the World
NPR’s Hidden Brain talks with Lera Boroditsky of Cognitive Science, who argues that language features like grammatical gender and reading direction can have a real effect on the way we think.
A Picture Might Be Worth More Than a Thousand Words
Even a 10-millisecond flash of an image can change people’s behavior, while similarly charged words do not, finds a study by Piotr Winkielman of Psychology.
Trump’s Obstruction of Justice Is Far More Extensive Than Nixon’s
Writing in the Washington Post, Harry Litman of Political Science: “Now that a consensus is beginning to emerge that special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has the evidence to make a compelling case of obstruction of justice against President Trump, the president’s defenders have trotted out a new defense: that obstruction on its own is a mere ‘procedural crime’ that doesn’t really count unless coupled with proof of guilt on an underlying crime. In other words, defenders view the Mueller probe as akin to the Watergate investigation without the break-in. But this view is wholly untenable.” Litman also published an op-ed in the New York Times, “Trump’s Efforts to Oust Mueller Show the ‘Cancer’ on This Presidency,” and addressed television audiences numerous times, including on MSNBC’s The Last Word and Deadline White House, among many others. One of his appearances even inspired a poem!
‘Chain Migration’ Doesn’t Work the Way Trump Tells You It Does
“The Trump administration’s immigration proposal guts provisions for family reunification that have been a core principle of U.S. immigration policy since the 19th century,” writes David FitzGerald of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies in the Hill. “To sell this radical break with American tradition, the strategy is apparently to deceive the public about the scope of the current law.” Separately, FitzGerald’s research was cited in a New York Times editorial.
The Milk Moonshot
On her Uncivilize podcast, author Jennifer Grayson speaks with Alan Daly of Education Studies and School of Medicine’s Lars Bode about breast milk, “the lifeblood that has sustained humankind for at least the past 7 million years” but a substance that is still poorly understood by scientists. Bode directs the recently launched center called MoMI CoRE and Daly is a member of its scientific advisory board. “We’ve got a lot of great science that’s taking place, but it isn’t moving its way out into the larger world,” Daly says. “What’s going on here?”
Our 100th Episode! What’s the Big Deal?
The Brains On podcast “for kids and curious adults” celebrates its 100th episode by talking with Rafael Nunez of Cognitive Science about numbers and why, for example, people love 100. Check it out – one of the interviewers is a kid.
A Peek Into the Brains of Children With Autism May Lead to Better Treatments
There are plenty of theories about how autism interferes with development of social skills. But there’s considerably less hard evidence about what’s actually going on. A new study by Leslie Carver of Psychology and doctoral alumna Katherine Stavropoulos, now at UC Riverside, offers a glimpse. Covered by the Union-Tribune, the study compares the neural activity of children with and without autism.
APA Releases New Journal Article Reporting Standards
The American Psychological Association recently put out a new set of standards for researchers seeking to publish in scholarly journals. Aimed at increasing transparency, the standards guide quantitative and qualitative research reporting and were developed by two working groups. Mark Appelbaum of Psychology led the quantitative group, producing a set of standards that focus on enhancing reproducibility.
Feb. 17: Alley Pop-Up – Take Back the Alley!
Alleys are some of our most neglected public spaces – often seen as just places for garbage, storm-water puddles and crime. But Urban Studies and Planning students Vincent Page, Joyce Lee and Dmitriy Goncharuk are working to change that. Together with their faculty advisor, Sue Peerson, they seek to transform alleys, helping to make our urban environments greener, friendlier and more connected. On Sat, Feb. 17, a pop-up event they’ve organized will showcase the possibilities in San Diego’s Normal Heights neighborhood, in an alley south of Adams Avenue between Felton and 34th. There will be music, art activities for kids, and opportunities for the community to provide input. See you there from 1 to 4 p.m.
Feb. 21: Who Are the ‘Humans’ in Human-Centered Design?
Kelly Gates of Communication considers the question in Design Lab’s speaker series, beginning with the premise that “human” is not a unified or stable category, and that its plasticity has serious implications for design. From 4 p.m. in CSE 1202.
Feb. 22: Conference for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
Tom Wong of Political Science is serving as keynote speaker at UC San Diego’s CRASSH. The all-day campus conference recognizes research done in the arts, social sciences and humanities, and seeks to inspire undergraduates who are pursuing degrees in these fields to conceive of novel and socially meaningful research projects. Register at link above. Institute of the Americas, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Lazy? John Kelly ‘Simply Misses the Mark’
According to the Washington Post, White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly suggested that some immigrants eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program failed to apply for the legal protections because they were too afraid – or “too lazy to get off their asses.” Kelly’s comment “suggests that he doesn’t fully appreciate the complexities of navigating life as an undocumented young person,” said Tom Wong of Political Science.
A Brain Implant Improved Memory, Scientists Report
Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania and Thomas Jefferson University have developed a brain implant that works like a pacemaker, sending electrical pulses to aid the brain when it is struggling to store new information, but remaining quiet when it senses that the brain is functioning well. Bradley Voytek of Cognitive Science, who is excited by the promise of the device, also told the New York Times that “eventually we’re going to have to work out the ethical and public policy questions raised by this technology.”
Military Families Bolster the Case That Obesity Is Indeed Contagious
Members of the military serve their country in myriad ways. That includes helping researchers figure out whether obesity is a contagious disease. A new study out of USC and Rand Corp., involving thousands of military families, suggests that the answer is yes. The current study is based on earlier research co-authored by James Fowler of Political Science.
UCSD Students Design ‘Game Console for Dogs’
KPBS-FM and TV: “Pretend for the moment, you’re a dog. You have nothing to do all day but eat, sleep and wait for your human to return home. Two students from UC San Diego have started a company called CleverPet that makes waiting a little less boring.” CleverPet, co-founded by Leo Trottier as a graduate student in Cognitive Science, sells a game console that dogs have to play to get their food.
March 2: The Role of Hunting in Anthropogeny
Hunting has long been seen as a key human adaptation, thought to have influenced our anatomy, physiology and behavior. Yet there is considerable uncertainty about where, when, why and how our early ancestors came to consume meat on a regular basis. The goal of this CARTA symposium – co-chaired by James Moore of Anthropology and featuring a talk by Margaret Schoeninger, also of Anthropology, along with numerous guest speakers – is to explore the evidence on the origins of hominin hunting and to set a research agenda for the future. From 1 to 5:30 p.m., Prebys Auditorium at Salk Institute or a live webcast.
ClassInSight: Insight on Teacher Learning
Sherice Clarke of Education Studies is co-PI on a project to understand K-12 teacher learning funded by the James S. McDonnell Foundation as part of its 21st Century Science Initiative. The project, “ClassInSight: Insight on Teacher Learning by Scaffolding Noticing and Reflection,” is a research-practice partnership between Vista Unified School District, UC San Diego, Carnegie Mellon University, and the Distinguished Educator Network (DEAP). It will examine how secondary science teachers engage with a technology called ClassInSight and what cognitive and motivational factors drive change in classroom communication.
Did a Study Show That Dogs Exhibit Jealousy?
Snopes.com, the popular website that separates Internet facts from fiction, checks out a meme based on work by Christine Harris of Psychology.
Billions in the Works for Area Colleges – Plus Rethinking Priorities
San Diego County’s higher education institutions are in a building mode. UC San Diego has $2 billion in current projects underway and planned. “You’re going to see all four of our universities present in more places with more programs going forward,” said Extension Dean Mary Walshok, who also has an appointment in Sociology. Walshok talked about redevelopment of the university’s medical center in Hillcrest and the UCSD Urban building under construction at Park Boulevard and Market Street.
This Land Is Our Land
“Enclosure: Palestinian Landscapes in a Historical Mirror,” by Gary Fields of Communication, lands the cover of the New York Review of Books.
Improving Senior Care Through Geriatric Emergency Department Research
Anthropology alumna Melanie McComsey, now a Design Lab postdoc, has been doing ethnographic research at different geriatric emergency departments, shadowing providers and getting a sense of their job and workflow. In addition to learning about best practices and innovations, the project sought to determine whether GEDs are an effective way to aid the aging population.
What Went Wrong in Hawaii, Human Error? Nope, Bad Design
Writing in Fast Company, Don Norman of Cognitive Science and the Design Lab examines how poorly designed software spread panic about a missile attack in Hawaii – and offers tips for avoiding such incidents in the future.
UC Campuses – Including San Diego – Rank Among Top Schools in West
The University of California system dominates in the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings of public colleges in the West, with UC San Diego among the top four.
Where in the World?
UC San Diego research ventures well beyond campus labs and lecture halls. Meet the people working around the globe and see the projects changing the world for the better. This Triton alumni magazine spread includes the work of Clark Gibson of Political Science, Gail Heyman of Psychology, Karthik Muralidharan of Economics and Anita Raj of Education Studies. Link above is to the online story.
Game Changer
Seventeen years ago, Triton magazine reports, alumnus Chris Yanov (Political Science and Spanish Literature) began a program that has since sent 1,600 inner-city kids to college and been called “a model for the nation.” What made it possible? A few failures, a good dose of grit and a love of game shows.
The World in Stories
“The young people of today – they’re fearless. They may be worried about things, but they are not afraid.” - Lakshya Datta, Economics alumnus and founder of online storytelling platform Launchora, in Triton.
Also in Triton Alumni Magazine:
Precious Little Liars – the way we praise our kids may influence their morals, according to research by Gail Heyman of Psychology; Reaching New Heights featuring Communication alumna Cherie Kephart and her memoir, “A Few Minor Adjustments,” winner of the 2017 San Diego Book Award; First Gen Success on system-wide support for first-generation students, including the stories of Frances Contreras of Education Studies, Political Science and Sociology alumnus Ricky Flahive and Brad Voytek of Cognitive Science; and a Letter from the Alumni Board President, Economics alumnus Robert Brownlie on why alumni should give back to their alma mater.
‘Dreamers’ Are Pawns in the Immigration Wars
“There was always a risk that the roughly 700,000 DACA beneficiaries would become pawns in our larger immigration policy wars,” writes Wayne Cornelius of Political Science in a Los Angeles Times op-ed. “For all his past expressions of support for the ‘Dreamers,’ President Trump appears to see protecting them mainly as a lever for extracting hardline, anti-immigration measures from Congress.” Cornelius also published a letter to the New York Times editor on the important contributions immigrants make to in-home health care and elder care.
Jan. 25: Rap on Border – A Public Conversation
Participants from Transnational Seminar I, an interdisciplinary effort between students of UC San Diego, Southwestern College and Universidad Autonoma de Baja California in Tijuana, will discuss race, gender, sexuality and life in general as residents of the borderlands. K. Wayne Yang of Ethnic Studies will moderate the conversation. MCASD Downtown, beginning at 5 p.m.
Jan. 30: Faculty Research Lecturer Award
The Academic Senate award recognizes colleagues whose research has made a significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge. Tom Levy of Anthropology is being honored this year and will give a talk on “At-Risk World Heritage and the Digital Humanities.” Faculty Club, reception begins at 2 p.m. Please RSVP to awelch@ucsd.edu.
Don’t Expect Trump to Testify Anytime Soon
Harry Litman – a former U.S. attorney and deputy assistant attorney general, who now practices law at Constantine Cannon and teaches in Political Science as part of the department’s Krinsk-Houston Law and Politics Initiative – has been helping the public parse the investigation of Trump Administration ties to Russia. In addition to the Lawfare blog post linked above, Litman published an op-ed in the L.A. Times, “Sweet words we may soon hear: ‘Mr. President, you are a target for obstruction of justice charges.’” He also appeared on MSNBC‘s “The Last Word,” the TRT World‘s “The Newsmakers,” and in many other outlets.
OC Lawyer Named Interim U.S. Attorney
Attorney General Jeff Sessions has named Nicola Hanna, an alumnus of Political Science, as interim U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, which encompasses the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. The news was reported also in the Washington Post and the L.A. Times, among many others.
Appointment of John Moore as Dean of Undergraduate Education
John Moore of Linguistics has been appointed Dean of Undergraduate Education at UC San Diego, to provide academic leadership in the development, enhancement, and delivery of undergraduate academic programs, including new interdisciplinary programs across colleges, divisions, schools, and disciplines.
Meme’s Best Friend: The Rise of ‘Doggo’
“Twitter lost its damn mind,” reports Wired, over Merriam-Webster’s year-end announcement that “doggo” was one of the dictionary’s “Words We’re Watching.” Ben Bergen of Cognitive Science helps explain the “-o” suffix.
How Your Brain Remembers What You Had for Dinner Last Night
Confirming earlier computational models, John Wixted of Psychology with Larry Squire of the School of Medicine and colleagues in Arizona and Louisiana, report in PNAS that episodic memories are encoded in the hippocampus of the human brain by distinct, sparse sets of neurons. “Scientists are interested in these issues not only because of their implications for models of memory, but also for health-related reasons,” Wixted said. “For example, degeneration in this region of the brain is responsible for memory loss in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.”
Our Capacity for Number
The Parsing Science podcast interviews cognitive scientist Rafael Nunez about his research into the human understanding of number: Did it develop through biological evolution, or through the evolution of language and culture?
Don’t Let Your Young People Sell Their Souls
An opinion piece in the San Francisco Chronicle, arguing that “we’ve created a generation of young people who talk the talk of Marx and Foucault, then walk the walk of management and finance,” cites the work of Amy Binder of Sociology and her graduate students.
Teen Helps Repair the World Through Philanthropy
Last June, a dozen San Diego philanthropists held a check-passing ceremony to deliver more than $20,000 they’d raised for mental health charities. The event sounds routine, except for the fact that the philanthropists were all members of the Jewish Teen Foundation, a philanthropic council of local high school students. Among these junior philanthropists is Josh Herz, 18, who last summer interned in cognitive scientist Gedeon Deak’s Cognitive Development Lab.
Confronting Political Intimidation and Public Bullying
Premiering on UCSD-TV on Feb. 2: Literature professor emeritus Roddey Reid speaks about his new short book, “Confronting Political Intimidation and Public Bullying: A Citizen’s Handbook for the Trump Era and Beyond,” with Akos Rona-Tas of Sociology.
How Donald Trump’s First Year in Office Has Sparked California’s Resistance
“California has been a political island for a decade,” says Thad Kousser of Political Science. “Trump is expanding that gulf – his brand is so toxic for Republicans in California that it’s hard for any of them to escape his shadow.”
Feb. 7: Winter Quarterly Conversations in Global Health – The Opioid Epidemic
The Global Health Program brings together experts to discuss the opioid epidemic locally and globally. Great Hall, beginning at 3 p.m.
Feb. 22: Conference for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
Tom Wong of Political Science is serving as keynote speaker at UC San Diego’s CRASSH. The all-day campus conference recognizes research done in the arts, social sciences and humanities, and seeks to inspire undergraduates who are pursuing degrees in these fields to conceive of novel and socially meaningful research projects. Applications for student presentations (posters and performances) are now being accepted. Attendee and volunteer registration is also open. Institute of the Americas, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Registration is required.
Liberia’s Big School Experiment
Seeking to improve the availability and quality of its public education, the West African nation of Liberia set out on a controversial experiment: It asked a range of non-government organizations to run some of its state schools. The nonprofit Center for Global Development in D.C. and UC San Diego graduate students Mauricio Romero and Wayne Sandholtz of Economics are helping to evaluate the impacts of the experiment. Students in “Partnership Schools” seem to be making significant gains over those in government-run schools, according to this write-up on BBC News, but there are some caveats.
Why Words Matter
Scientific American asked Lera Boroditsky of Cognitive Science if it’s a big deal that the Trump administration recently instructed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to avoid certain terms –”science-based,” “transgender” and “fetus,” among them. “Words have power,” Boroditsky said in this extended Q&A. “We can drastically change someone’s perspective by how we choose to talk about and frame something.”
NSF’s Best of 2017
The National Science Foundation’s Science360 news service picked as its best video of the year one that features the work of Rain Bosworth of Psychology. Bosworth and colleagues are investigating perception and cognition in both deaf and hearing babies.
Jan. 19: Social Sciences and the Social Good (PDF)
A tribute to the late Daniel Yankelovich, 1924-2017, the luncheon event will feature remarks from UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla, Hilary Pennington of the Ford Foundation and Will Friedman of Public Agenda, as well as Social Sciences Dean Carol Padden, former deans Paul Drake and Jeff Elman, and John Skrentny, director of the division’s Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research. The event begins at 11:30 in the Faculty Club. Please RSVP to mlapthorn@ucsd.edu.
The 9 Most Important Scientific Studies for Parents of 2017
Compiled by parenting website Fatherly and reported in the Huffington Post, the list includes a study by Gail Heyman of Psychology. The study suggests it’s possible to reduce implicit racial bias in young children by teaching them to distinguish among faces of a different race.
The Science of Parenting
A free online class by David Barner of Linguistics and Psychology starts up again Jan. 23. Offered on the edX platform, the course teaches how to be a better parent – and a better consumer of parenting advice.
High Temperatures Are Already Sending Refugees to Europe
A study published in Science suggests a link between crop-harming weather and asylum applications to the European Union. Claire Adida of Political Science commends the work.
Low Level Air Pollution Costs the Economy Billions of Dollars in Lost Productivity
Air pollution delivers subtle effects that can have lasting negative impacts on our brain function, suggests a new policy paper by Joshua Graff Zivin of Economics and the School of Global Policy and Strategy. At pollution levels well below current regulatory standards in the United States, Graff Zivin says they’ve found impacts of air pollution on agricultural, manufacturing, and call center work productivity.
2018 Miller Prize Winner
A paper by Yiqing Xu of Political Science has been selected for the 2018 Miller Prize as the best work appearing in the journal Political Analysis in 2017. The award citation reads, in part, that his “estimator is widely applicable and provides a unique contribution that highlights how political methodology can contribute to exporting methodological advances to other disciplines.” The winning paper is linked above.
The Year San Diego Unified Established Itself as the Agency Most Hostile to Transparency
In a blistering piece about SDUSD, Voice of San Diego cites research on the district’s graduation rate by Julian Betts of Economics and SanDERA.
Design at Large
Several of the division’s faculty members are featured in the Design Lab’s “Design at Large” speaker series this winter. First up, on Jan. 10 at 4 p.m., is Jeff Elman of Cognitive Science. Elman’s talk is titled “Designing for Change: The Challenge of Institutional Aging (And Success)”; details here. Morana Alac of Communication will speak Feb. 7 and Kelly Gates, also of Communication, will speak Feb. 21.
BISTalk Radio Interview with Don Norman (MP3)
Don Norman of Cognitive Science speaks with BISTalk Radio on ESPN1700 about founding and directing the Design Lab at UC San Diego.
Confronting Political Intimidation and Public Bullying
Premiering on UCSD-TV on Feb. 2: Literature professor emeritus Roddey Reid speaks about his new short book, “Confronting Political Intimidation and Public Bullying: A Citizen’s Handbook for the Trump Era and Beyond,” with Akos Rona-Tas of Sociology. The program is presented by the Division of Social Sciences, Division of Arts and Humanities and the Department of Literature. You can watch it online at the link above.
How Trump Became ‘the White Affirmative Action President’
“It’s odd that Trump’s Justice Department is going after affirmative action while Trump is putting all of these people in positions of power and influence who are clearly not qualified for their positions,” said John Skrentny of Sociology and the Yankelovich Center to CNN.
New Year’s Resolution Help: NPR Seeks Your Alternatives to Swearing
All Things Considered checks in with Ben Bergen of Cognitive Science on cursing, the brain and one radio reporter’s attempt to cut back on using words that are bleep-worthy.
2017
War GamesCarnegie Reporter tells the amazing story of the VelHam Project, co-led by Mike Cole of Communication. It showcases the power of people-to-people diplomacy and the ability of the imagination to overcome threats to humankind. It demonstrates how social scientists used new computer technologies to foster US-Soviet relations during the height of the Cold War, with children relating to each other on the emerging Internet and doing for peace what grown-ups at first failed to do. Read on for a history lesson that, with any luck, might help inform our future.
How Republicans Learned to Sell Tax Cuts for the Rich
The Republican tax strategy has roots in the American populist tradition, writes Isaac Martin of Sociology in a timely op-ed in the New York Times, a strategy first used to help the rich instead of the poor by millionaire Andrew Mellon. Opponents of the current tax bill should reclaim their own populist roots, Martin argues: “It will not be hard. The tax bill pays for corporate tax cuts by increasing individual income taxes on poor and middle-class Americans in the long run. That tax increase will make people hopping mad. Another wave of economic populism is coming, and people who favor progressive taxation should not retreat to the seminar room.”
Creating a Well-Tuned Orchestra in Your Head
KPBS’s “What Learning Looks Like” series features a Center for Human Development project led by John Iversen, a five-year study on the brains of children who play music in the San Diego Youth Symphony’s Community Opus after-school program. “Even when you’re just listening to music,” Iversen said, “your brain is not just sort of passively recording what comes in. It’s actually actively engaging with the sound.” Iversen is in the beginning stages of analyzing the project’s data, but early findings suggest playing music is linked to stronger language development. The CHD is headed by Terry Jernigan of Cognitive Science.
Shaming People About Their Lifestyle Habits Does Nothing to Improve Their Health
Religions and reality TV shows may turn to shame to get results but evoking the feeling in a medical setting can be harmful, suggests this piece in The Conversation, citing 2014 research by Christine Harris of Psychology.
How Two Friends Turned Ugly Christmas Sweaters into a Clothing Phenomenon
Economics alumnus Evan Mendelsohn and his UC San Diego buddy Nick Morton are featured in this story about their irreverent and hugely successful apparel brand, Tipsy Elves.
Tapping Real Science for San Diego Classrooms
Researchers and local high school teachers are working together to co-develop new inquiry-based science lessons, thanks to an Office of Naval Research grant to CREATE and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The grant, a part of the CREATE STEM Success Initiative, “was only one of two grants awarded to education [by the ONR] and the only one that directly works to improve K-12 education specifically,” said Susan Yonezawa of CREATE, the grant’s principal investigator.
Safeguarding Democracy
To protect emerging democracies, many scholars and practitioners recommend political power-sharing institutions, which aim to safeguard minority group interests. Yet little empirical evidence exists to support that recommendation. Filling that gap are Kaare Strom of Political Science and two co-authors: In the November 2017 issue of the American Political Science Review, they use a global data set to examine how various power-sharing institutions affect the survival of democratic regimes in 180 countries from 1975 to 2015. They find that only power-sharing characterized by strong commitments to individual liberties, independent judiciaries and civilian control of the armed forces strongly promotes democratic survival.
This Explains How Social Media Can Both Weaken – and Strengthen – Democracy
“The past year has seen a flood of concern about how social media can undermine democracy. And yet not too long ago, after the Arab Spring, social media was being hailed as a ‘liberation technology’ that would help spread democracy. How can this be?” write Margaret “Molly” Roberts of Political Science and others in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog. The co-authors answer this question with two observations, both in the blog post and in a recent ungated article in the Journal of Democracy.
Design Lab Joins FCC, NCI to Champion Critical Role of Broadband in Rural Cancer Care
An Appalachia demonstration project will study the relationship between broadband access, adoption and improved cancer care for patients in critical need counties. UC San Diego’s Design Lab, directed by Don Norman of Cognitive Science, will lead coordination and intervention development for the public-private consortium, partnering with the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, the University of Kentucky’s Markey Cancer Center and Amgen.
Giving Grandma a Tax Break to Get More Homes on the Market
In the midst of California’s housing shortage, realtors quietly submitted a statewide ballot initiative to expand Proposition 13, letting older homeowners keep their artificially low property tax rates regardless of how many times they move, as long as they stay in California. The initiative “turns the logic of Proposition 13 on its head,” said Thad Kousser of Political Science. “This is not about keeping Grandma in her house, which is what Proposition 13 was all about. It’s about people trying to move up.”
Various Scenarios Seen for Evolution in Number of Muslims in Europe
The Pew Research Center analyzes three potential scenarios and finds that Muslims will increase as a proportion of Europe’s population from 4.9 percent of the total today to 14, 11.2 or 7.4 percent in 2050. Claire Adida of Political Science is “pessimistic about how host communities will respond to these demographic patterns.”
Less Than Skin Deep
How sensitive is the human sense of touch? Sensitive enough to feel the difference between surfaces that differ by just a single layer of molecules, shows a new study co-led by Darren Lipomi of the Jacobs School of Engineering and V. S. Ramachandran of Psychology. The study could pave the way for developing electronic skin and prosthetics that can feel, as well as for advanced haptic technology for virtual and augmented reality.
What Made Human Language Possible?
Rafael Nunez of Cognitive Science speaks, in Spanish, on the evolution of human language with a Radio Uruguay show called “Efecto Mariposa” (Butterfly Effect). Nunez interview starts at 48:40.
Is Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful Wall’ the Best Plan tor Border Security?
Wayne Cornelius of Political Science and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies weighs in with Canada’s The Globe and Mail.
Campus Recognizes Impact of Mentorship at Annual Postdoctoral Scholar Awards
Congrats to David Barner of Psychology and Linguistics, who was honored with a Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Postdoctoral Scholar Mentoring.
Dreamers Pushing for Legislative Action
Five recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, shared at a UC San Diego event what they’re feeling as they count down the days until the temporary permits given to them under former President Barack Obama expire. A Union-Tribune story on the event quotes Political Science student Veronica Benitez, who was brought to the U.S. when she was 1, and Political Science alumna Dulce Garcia, also a DACA recipient and an immigration attorney. “For the first time in 30 years DACA has allowed me to speak out,” Garcia said. La Prensa also covered the event, focusing on a presentation made by political scientist Tom Wong on Dreamers’ positive economic impact.
Social, Climbing: Tackling Tough Issues
UC San Diego’s Annual Report features two examples of how we address trenchant social problems: eyewitness research by John Wixted of Psychology that seeks to improve criminal justice and the upward mobility work being done through the Yankelovich Center that aims to restore the American Dream.
UCSD Graduate Students Concerned Over GOP Tax Plan
Speaking in front of the Social Sciences Building, graduate students Doreen Hsu of Sociology and Sophia Armen of Ethnic Studies share with 10News how the tax plan would affect their education.
As Economy Booms, San Diego’s Traffic Congestion Worsens
With more people employed and the price of gas low, commute times are now at their highest since before the start of the recession. “San Diego’s transitioning from being a fairly small city to becoming a much larger city,” said Mark Jacobsen of Economics. “There will be some growing pains as we figure out how to move people around.” The story appeared in the Los Angeles Times (linked above) and the Union-Tribune.
Life on ‘Mars’
Grab some popcorn? Set your DVR? And explore with Education Studies student Julia Velasquez what it might be like to live on the Red Planet. Xploration Outer Space will feature Velasquez – an advocate for the Deaf community who won the show’s #StudentAstronaut contest and went to live in Hawaii’s Mars habitat – in an episode set to premiere the week of Dec. 11. Typically, the show airs Saturday mornings on local FOX channels (so probably Dec. 16), but check your listings to be sure. The episode will also be available on Hulu, Amazon Prime and Yahoo! View.
Overcoming Hate in Our Backyards
“Hate speech and harassment have spiked nationwide since the 2016 election. They’ve spiked in our own backyards, too – requiring each community to counteract hate proactively,” writes Mica Pollock of Educations Studies and CREATE in this piece for the Rethinking Schools blog. “We can counter hate at our dinner tables; we can do it via our religious organizations. I suggest we counter hate particularly where we most come together daily: in our schools.”
How Chickens and Goats Are Helping to Stop Child Marriage
NPR spoke with Anita Raj of Education Studies and the Center on Gender Equity and Health about the Berhane Hewan (“Light of Eve”) program in Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Tanzania. “From what I’ve seen so far, I’d say it’s a strong program that has strong science underlying it,” said Raj, who was not involved in the program’s development or the study assessing its effectiveness. Because programs to end child marriage are complicated to design and interventions can backfire, Raj believes that further long-term monitoring is essential.
New Real Estate and Development Minor in USP
Beginning Winter Quarter 2018, the Urban Studies and Planning Program will offer a new minor in Real Estate and Development. A major will launch next fall. The RED program takes a 21st century approach to the field, recognizing “that the next generation of real estate and development innovators will need hybrid skills in order to understand the nexus between real estate finance and development, data visualization and analysis, urban planning and design, sustainability, demographic trends, and new technologies.”
Dec. 7: Confronting Political Intimidation and Public Bullying (PDF)
Akos Rona-Tas of Sociology will interview Literature emeritus Roddey Reid about his new short book, “Confronting Political Intimidation and Public Bullying: A Citizen’s Handbook for the Trump Era and Beyond.” Rona-Tas will also moderate a discussion with the audience in this event co-sponsored by the Department of Sociology. Beginning at 2 p.m. in the Literature Building, Rm. 155, de Certeau Room.
University Professional of the Year
Kudos to Alan Daly of Education Studies! The California Educational Research Association (CERA) awarded Daly its University Professional of the Year Award for 2017. The award, presented at the annual conference on Nov. 30, celebrates those who have “demonstrated long-term commitments to their communities through rigorous research practices.”
Software Developers and Designers Risk Over-Automating Enterprises
Don Norman of Cognitive Science and the Design Lab argues for human-technology teamwork in a recent Research-Technology Management article, ZDNet reports. ZDNet also includes in its story a video in which Normans says “we want to design technology to be a collaborator, a team worker, with people. And yet, we still think that people are somehow deficient, and we have to replace them with machines.”
San Jacinto Unified School District Showcases Computer Science Students at Summit
Beth Simon of Education Studies was one of the speakers at the Inland CSforALL Summit, Valley News reports. At the summit, Simon described her work developing computer curriculum for high schools and the training and community needs of K-12 teachers who want to bring computing education to their students.
California Republicans Pay the Price of Trump
“My sense is that, after taking tough votes on issues like Obamacare and generally supporting President Trump, they figure they are in for a dime, in for a dollar of tax changes,” Thad Kousser of Political Science wrote in an email to the author of this Bloomberg View piece. “The marginal increase in the furor of liberal and centrist voters may well be outweighed by the advantages of thrilling their base, appeasing their party leaders and fulfilling their sincere policy goals.”
The Origin of the Wall Is a Quarter of a Century Ago
David FitzGerald of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies spoke with Japan’s Asahi Shimbun Globe on the subject of the border wall, twice. If you can’t read Japanese, you may want to try Google Translate or a similar service.
UC Global Health Day 2018
In April, UC San Diego is hosting UC Global Health Day 2018. Submit a poster abstract or proposal for a breakout session by Dec. 15. The day will showcase the outstanding research, training and outreach taking place across the UC system. Topics may range from basic to translational sciences, technology to social entrepreneurship, women’s health to global health diplomacy or policy.
Inspiring Future Innovators and Changing the World Through Entrepreneurship
Thanks to the efforts of Cognitive Science sophomore Samarth Aggarwal, UC San Diego now has a chapter of The Hult Prize and was able to host a competition on campus for the first time on Dec. 2, the UCSD Guardian reports. The Hult Prize, the student paper writes, “is a partnership between Hult International Business School and the Clinton Global Initiative and is the world’s biggest collegiate entrepreneurial challenge for social good.” The winning team gets a $1 million prize in start-up funding.
Blessed Are the Handouts
Christianity Today’s cover story on giving poor people cash, with no strings attached, features Paul Niehaus of Economics and the nonprofit he helped to found, GiveDirectly.
How Language Shapes Your Perception of Gender, Color, and Justice
Business Insider takes a look at “some of the most fascinating findings” by cognitive scientist Lera Boroditsky, based on a talk she gave at the TEDWomen conference in New Orleans. Her talk addressed the many ways humans can perceive the world based on their language. The story was picked up by the San Francisco Chronicle and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, among others.
China Is Perfecting a New Method for Suppressing Dissent on the Internet
Vox reports on a study co-authored by Margaret “Molly” Roberts of Political Science showing that the Chinese government is a leading innovator in fabricating social media posts for strategic distraction. Instead of refuting critics or defending its policies, it overwhelms the population with positive news.
America’s Wall
David FitzGerald of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies is one of the sources for this KPBS/inewsource report on the decades-long struggle to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.
‘Master Networker’ and More
ICYMI: The division’s newsletter, Social Sciences E-Connection, features a story on the education equity work of CREATE’s Susan Yonezawa; a surprise prize for alumna Jennifer Nations of Sociology; and a letter on real-world classrooms from Dean Carol Padden, among others.
What Do States Have Against Cities, Anyway?
Research co-authored by Thad Kousser of Political Science is cited in Governing magazine: Kousser and Gerald Gamm of the University of Rochester “took on the monumental task of examining the fate of 1,736 pieces of legislation in 13 states over 120 years.” Big-city bills, they found, were approved at a rate 15 to 20 percentage points lower than other pieces of legislation. “The great narrative in urban politics,” they concluded, “has been a story of unremitting hostility.” Kousser also commented in the San Francisco Chronicle on the implications for California of Democratic wins in the New Jersey and Virginia governors’ races.
WTO Report on Trade, Technology and Jobs
Marc Muendler of Economics consulted the World Trade Organization for its main flagship report, which is focused this year on trade, technological change and labor markets. The electronic version of the report and Muendler’s background paper are now available for download.
Property Taxes Likely Here to Stay in Pa. Here’s Why
“The reason that no one has gone whole hog to get rid of the tax,” said Isaac Martin of Sociology, “is that we need the things the tax pays for.”
Psychology Scores High Marks
The 2018 Times Higher Education World University Rankings’ table for psychology places UC San Diego’s Department of Psychology at No. 11.
Who’s Afraid of Free Speech?
ThisWeek@UCSanDiego reports on the Nov. 8 talk given by journalist and legal scholar Thomas Healy to a packed house in Price Center. What is “free speech” and is it at risk on college campuses? Are raucous and violent demonstrations that disrupt or shut down campus speakers and events a legitimate form of “counter-speech” or a chilling attempt to silence open debate and the free exchange of ideas? Hosted by the Department of Communication, this was the first in a series of talks exploring free speech with the campus community and is part of the university’s First Amendment education initiative.
Did David and Solomon’s United Monarchy Exist?
Front-page Haaretz (Israel) story, suggesting that vast ancient mining operations may hold answers to that question, includes research by Tom Levy of Anthropology.
More Students Turn to ‘Daddy’ to Pay for College
Afraid of taking on massive student loan debt, a growing number of American students are turning to “sugar daddies” to pay for college, often connecting through online sites set up for the purpose. Has the Internet simply made an age-old transaction easier? “You could argue it is just making the market more efficient,” said Kevin Lewis of Sociology.
When It Comes to Financial Aid, UC Is the Most Generous of Top Public Universities
The University of California is the nation’s most generous public university in awarding financial aid to freshmen, a new study has found, the Los Angeles Times reports. UC campuses snared seven of the top 10 spots among 250 public universities surveyed about their financial aid packages, according to The Student Loan Report news site. The survey finds that UC Riverside was the nation’s most generous campus, giving freshmen an average of $22,241. UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC Irvine and UC San Diego, also in the top 10, had average awards ranging from $21,100 to $19,028.
UC San Diego Launches Institute to Address Ethics of Today’s Innovation
Designer babies, driverless cars and modified mosquitoes may be boundary-breaking, but moral quandaries these advances create can raise controversy. John Evans of Sociology is, with Craig Callender of Philosophy, inaugural co-director of the Institute for Practical Ethics.
Through Dec. 1: TEÍČ’IȞ IŊLA: Practicing Decolonial Love (PDF)
This exhibit presents a selection of ledger drawing by Dwayne “Chuck” Wilcox from the artist’s collection. Working with graduate students in a course entitled “Representing Native America,” taught by Ross Frank of Ethnic Studies, the artist and co-curators offer commentary on contemporary issues from an indigenous perspective. Mandeville Special Collections at Geisel Library.
Dec. 4: Challenges for Dreamers in Trump’s America
Tom Wong of Political Science is one of the featured speakers, along with former New York Times immigration reporter Julia Preston, now with the Marshall Project. Wong will talk about “The Integration of DACA Recipients: What We’ve Gained and What We Stand to Lose.” The Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies event is co-sponsored by the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies. Beginning at 9:30 a.m. at the Institute of the Americas.
6 Reasons Why Being Kind to Others Is Actually Good For You
One reason is that kindness is contagious, spreading from one person to another to another, according to research by James Fowler of Political Science.
Short Videos Helping Students Grasp Difficult Concepts
Melissa Famulari and Joel Watson of Economics ftw! Check out this short video story on the video handbook they developed. The 200-plus videos, which cover a year’s worth of course material in microeconomics, are free to all University of California students. After you view the story above, more about innovative handbook is here.
Nov. 8: UC San Diego Pauses to Ask, ‘Who’s Afraid of Free Speech?’
The Union-Tribune reports in advance on journalist and legal scholar Thomas Healy’s Nov. 8 talk on campus, hosted by the Department of Communication. More about the event, beginning at 7 p.m. in the Price Center East Ballroom, is here. To learn more about free speech at UC San Diego, visit this website.
Making Room for Deaf Performers in Hollywood
A New York Times story on the film “Wonderstruck,” its deaf star, deaf characters and its “homage to visual storytelling” quotes Tom Humphries of Education Studies and Social Sciences Dean Carol Padden. The couple served as advisors both for the film and the best-selling book by Brian Selznick, which he adapted for the screen. Padden and Humphries would like to see more deaf actors in film – and not just as deaf characters.
Music Is Not for Ears
Research by Diana Deutsch of Psychology is cited in this Aeon essay arguing that music is in your brain, your body and your life.
How Natural Is Numeracy?
Where does our number sense come from? Is it a neural capacity we are born with – or is it a product of our culture? Aeon looks at the research of Rafael Nunez of Cognitive Science.
Globe’s 16th Best University and Nation’s Fifth Best Public
UC San Diego has been ranked 16th best university in the world by U.S. News and World Report’s Best Global Universities ranking, which includes the top 1,250 institutions in 74 countries. The campus was also recognized as the nation’s fifth best public university in the fourth annual rankings, which measure factors such as research, global and regional reputation, international collaboration, as well as the number of highly-cited papers and doctorates awarded.
11 UC San Diego Faculty Members Honored with Hellman Fellowships
Daniel Navon of Sociology, Amy Non of Anthropology and Danielle Raudenbush of Sociology are among the faculty receiving Hellman Fellowships, which support the research and creative endeavors of junior faculty.
Melania Trump, Please Work on the Biggest Bully of Them All
Mica Pollock of Education Studies and CREATE is quoted in the Washington Post’s Right Turn blog, from a piece she wrote for the Post last November about “Trump Talk”: “Children and youth hear the words adults hear. They hear them on the Internet, over a shoulder and repeated by other kids on the playground or in the classroom. And words matter. They shape what young people think about themselves, each other, adults and their country.”
Woolard’s Timely Book on Catalonia Wins Award
“A surging movement for Catalan political independence from Spain has brought renewed urgency to questions about what it means, personally and politically, to speak or not to speak Catalan and to claim Catalan identity” begins the book description for “Singular and Plural: Ideologies of Linguistic Authority in 21st Century Catalonia,” by Kathryn “Kit” Woolard of Anthropology. Woolard has won another award for her work – this time the 2017 Edward Sapir Book Prize from the Society for Linguistic Anthropology, which is awarded to “a book that makes the most significant contribution to our understanding of language in society.”
Center for American Progress Welcomes Tom K. Wong as Senior Fellow for Immigration Policy
As a senior fellow, Tom Wong of Political Science “will build upon his strong track record of collaborating with the organization’s Immigration Policy team on cutting-edge quantitative and qualitative research.”
Nov. 8: How Immigration Policy Affects Health and Human Rights
David FitzGerald of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies is one of the featured speakers at this symposium hosted by the School of Medicine. RSVP here. From 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Student Services Center Multipurpose Room.
UC San Diego Researchers Analyze Critical Questions for China’s Future
A briefing released by the 21st Century China Center, “Xi Takes Charge: Implications of the 19th Party Congress for China’s Future,” includes an essay by Molly Roberts of Political Science. Roberts addresses China’s censorship, using her research to outline if the recent growth in information control can be considered a new normal.
Congrats to the ‘Design for San Diego’ Finalists!
Cognitive Science majors and alumni were among the finalists in the Design Lab’s “Design for San Diego” challenge. The teams proposed innovative solutions to mobility issues in our city. The top three will be pitched to the City of San Diego, SCALE SD, and SANDAG for implementation.
Kudos to Marez
The book “Farm Worker Futurism: Speculative Technologies of Resistance,” by Curtis Marez of Ethnic Studies, was named runner-up for the American Studies Association’s John Hope Franklin Publication Prize. Marez was cited for his “innovative approach to the figure of the farm worker” and “innovative method for interdisciplinary scholarship.”
Nov. 13: Cities and Economics Growth
The Economics Roundtable features Edward Glaeser of Harvard University, author of the New York Times best seller “Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier.” From 7:30 to 9 a.m., Faculty Club.
Native American Heritage Month Celebration
A month-long series of events honoring the heritage, culture and traditions of Native Americans is co-sponsored by the Department of Ethnic Studies. Full event listings are here.
Book Prize to Bialecki
Anthropology alumnus and lecturer Jon Bialecki has been selected by the American Ethnological Society as a winner of the 2017 Sharon Stephens Book Prize for a scholar’s first book. The book is called “A Diagram for Fire: Miracles and Variation in an American Charismatic Movement.”
Gift Enhances Distinguished Melanesian and Anthropology Studies Collection
The UC San Diego Library recently received a generous gift to create the Schwartz Library Collection Endowment for Melanesian/Anthropology Studies, in honor of Theodore “Ted” Schwartz of Anthropology.
When American Lawmakers Took a Page from the Nazi Playbook
History.com features a book review written by Natalia Molina of History and Urban Studies and Planning on Steve Ross’s “Hitler in Los Angeles.”
Walls Are the 'Ugliest Version of Racism and Exclusionary Citizenship'
The World Architecture Community features a Q&A with Fonna Forman of Political Science and the Center on Global Justice.
In Memory Training Smackdown, One Method Dominates
Efforts to boost IQ by improving working memory haven't panned out, says Bradley Voytek of Cognitive Science to KPBS. “We want to just be able to pull up our iPhone while we're sitting on the train or at a bus stop or something, play a game for a couple minutes, and get smarter," he says. But we can't.
A Surprise Prize for Recent Graduate
When newly minted Sociology Ph.D. Jennifer Nations went to meet with her dissertation adviser, Isaac Martin, shortly after graduation, she didn’t think much of it. But to her surprise, the meeting was arranged to award her a $20,000 fellowship in recognition of her academic merit and personal perseverance.
The Survivor’s Guilt of a New American Citizen
A personal account from a New York Times writer cites research by Tom K. Wong of Political Science: Of the 800,000 participants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, 33.7 percent have lived here for more than two decades, with an average length of stay of 18.8 years.
Town Halls Shed Light on Federal Changes Affecting Researchers
If you missed the town halls – with Vice Chancellor for Research Sandra Brown of Psychology and Angela Phillips Diaz, executive director of government research relations – you can still view a video of the presentation.
Reducing Racial Bias in Children
Co-authored by Gail Heyman of Psychology and published in Child Development, an international study suggests that one way to reduce implicit racial bias is by teaching young kids to distinguish among faces of a different race. The study shows promising results for a simple touch-screen app. A first-person piece written by Heyman for the Conversation also describes the research and was picked up by such outlets as Salon.com and the Associated Press.
Oct. 27: Contextual Robotics Forum
“Intelligent Vehicles 2025” is the focus of the fourth annual forum presented by the Contextual Robotics Institute, a joint venture of the Jacobs School of Engineering and the Division of Social Sciences. Dean Carol Padden will make remarks. Design Lab Director Don Norman of Cognitive Science is chairing a panel on the user experience, and a technology showcase in the afternoon includes Design Lab projects. The forum runs all day. Visit the link for additional details and registration.
Nov. 8: Who’s Afraid of Free Speech?
Journalist and legal scholar Thomas Healy addresses free speech on campus, at the invitation of the Department of Communication and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. If you haven’t already read Healy’s article of the same title in the Atlantic, consider checking it out. Beginning at 7 p.m., Price Center East Ballroom.
Mysterious Braid-Chopping Bandits Have Kashmiris in Panic
Saiba Varma of Anthropology is quoted by the Associated Press: “Hair has historically symbolized sexuality and a certain excessive feminine energy,” she said. “The braid-chopping seems to be a clear example of someone trying to curtail these feminine energies.”
To Prevent Displacement, Westside Program Targets Property Taxes
“These policies do not do much to protect homeowners from displacement in gentrifying neighborhoods,” said Isaac Martin of Sociology to WABE, NPR affiliate in Atlanta. That’s because, according to Martin’s study, it’s renters rather than homeowners who are at risk.
The NRA, Potent Foe of Gun Controls in the U.S
Following the Las Vegas gun massacre, an Agence France-Presse story on the National Rifle Association quoted Gary Jacobson of Political Science: “They are good in exciting their constituency,” with the result of “an intense minority winning out over an apathetic majority.” The story ran in Yahoo News (linked above) and many other outlets.
San Diego City Employees Lead on Public Transit, Lag on Bikes
Mark Jacobsen of Economics said to KPBS that subsidized parking and other policies that increase the supply of parking undermine the city’s transportation goals.
Who Were The Winners – and the Big Loser – of California’s Legislative Session
“A big winner in this session is the political center in California – a mixture of business groups and environmental groups that want to build a California towards the future,” said Thad Kousser of Political Science to the Bay Area News Group. Kousser has been busy lending his California expertise to a number of other outlets, including: CALmatters.org on how a gas tax repeal is ripping GOP alliances, the San Francisco Chronicle on State Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León’s potential challenge to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and KPCC-FM on four GOP incumbents in Orange County who are each facing several well-funded Democrats. He also spoke with the New York Times about Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown’s vetoes and his steering of the state toward the political middle: “This is a governor who relishes his role as the adult in the room,” Kousser said.
Is San Diego a ‘Design World Capital’?
The San Diego Union-Tribune previews the Oct. 25-27 Design Forward Summit presented by the Design Forward Alliance, a spinoff of UC San Diego’s Design Lab. The story mentions Design Lab Director Don Norman and the D4SD civic design challenge on mobility, being run by Steven Dow of Cognitive Science, which will culminate with a showcase at the summit. Also check out this Xconomy story: “Lab Focused on Human-Centered Design Moves to Put San Diego on Map.”
Trump Divide Trickles Down to College
“No one is more provocative than Trump himself,” said Amy Binder of Sociology, “and now students are in this position of having to choose whether to do what the president does, or having to make decisions to not be like the president.” The Los Angeles Times story also quotes Sara Garcia, a UC San Diego sophomore and GOP club officer, and also appeared in the Sacramento Bee (linked above).
Cyber-Archaeologist Participates in ‘Dialogue of Civilizations’
Tom Levy of Anthropology traveled to India for a conference sponsored by the National Geographic Society, the Archaeological Survey of India and India’s Ministry of Culture. Levy is also mentioned in a Berkeley blog post, this time for his role in a digital, UC-funded project to preserve at-risk cultural heritage sites.
Salk Institute Scientists Get $25 Million for Brain Atlas
UC San Diego researchers, including Eran Mukamel of Cognitive Science, will participate in the project led by Salk to identify cell types in the mammalian brain. The project is funded by the National Institutes of Health as part of the federal BRAIN Initiative.
UC San Diego Scientist Wins Coveted MacArthur ‘Genius’ Grant
San Diego Union-Tribune story reporting that cybersecurity expert Stefan Savage of Engineering has been selected for the prestigious award quotes Dean Carol Padden, who won a MacArthur in 2010: “It changed my life immeasurably. It has brought me and my work much more visibility than I ever had before. It has opened doors, and made it easier to meet people.”
The Transformation of UC San Diego
Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla’s letter on his vision for the future campus mentions Social Sciences and the soon-to-be-built North Torrey Pines Living and Learning Neighborhood.
Oct. 30: The Science of Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse
Bradley Voytek of Cognitive Sciences gives a talk just in time for Halloween! From 12:30 to 1:30 p.m., Cognitive Science Building, Rm. 003.
Oct. 30 and Nov. 6: Science Studies Colloquium Series
Rafael Nunez of Cognitive Science asks “Does Cognitive Science (Still) Exist?” on Oct. 30. Then, on Nov. 6, Akos Rona-Tas of Sociology presents “Knowing What We Don’t: Uncertainty in Food Risk Science in the United States and the European Union.” From 4 to 5:30 p.m., Humanities and Social Sciences Building, Rm. 3027.
Nov. 3: Introduction to Social Media for Researchers
Researchers have many different social media options to enhance appreciation for and understanding of their work. This panel will provide an introduction to the top social media networks and how to use them, as well as an overview of available UC San Diego resources. From 11:30 a.m. to 1pm, Natural Sciences Building Auditorium. RSVP by Oct. 26.
Seeking Leaders, Changemakers & Innovators
In recognition of the 40th anniversary of the UC San Diego Alumni Awards, the alumni association is honoring 40 young Tritons – the next generation of leaders, changemakers and innovators. Help honor the best of UC San Diego. Submit a nomination today! Note: Deadline extended to Nov. 6.
Schumer, Pelosi: ‘Dreamers Are as American as Apple Pie’
Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi write in a CNN op-ed that the Trump administration’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program is “morally and economically wrong.” To bolster their argument, they cite research by Tom Wong of Political Science showing the social and economic contributions made by DACA recipients.
Appointment of Co-Directors of the Institute for Practical Ethics
John Evans of Sociology and Craig Callender of Philosophy are the founding co-directors of the new Institute for Practical Ethics in the Division of Arts and Humanities.
UC San Diego Focuses on First-Generation College Students with Campus-wide Initiative
The University of California has launched a system-wide initiative aimed at showcasing the unique struggles and triumphs facing students who are the first in their families to attend college. The goal is to inspire high schoolers considering college and to provide support to first-generation students already enrolled. UC San Diego’s campaign, Triton Faculty Firsts, is highlighting members of the faculty who are also #FirstGen, including Frances Contreras of Education Studies and Bradley Voytek of Cognitive Science. Contreras and Voytek are featured in the story linked above and in this video.
Hurricane Maria Isolates Archaeological Site that UC San Diego Was Studying
Environmental archaeologist Isabel Rivera-Collazo of Anthropology and Scripps Oceanography is conducting research at the site.
Oct. 11: ‘What the F’ (PDF)
Benjamin Bergen of Cognitive Science will discuss what swearing reveals about our brains as the featured speaker at the UCSD Emeriti Association’s October meeting. Beginning at 3:30 in the Faculty Club.
Oct. 12: Research Town Hall Meetings
The Office of Research Affairs invites all faculty members to attend for updates on the federal research budget, new regulations in federal agencies that impact researchers, and new opportunities from state and federal agencies for research funding and training grants. Three different times and locations; click link for details.
Oct. 16: Distinguished Teaching Awards Presentation
This year’s honorees for exceptional teaching are Melissa Famulari of Economics, Leslie Robin Lewis of Urban Studies and Planning, and graduate students Erica Bender of Sociology and Grant E. Johnson of Economics. Reception begins at 1 p.m., program at 1:30 in the Faculty Club courtyard.
Using Artificial Intelligence for Healthy Living
IBM Research and UC San Diego have announced a multiyear commitment to enhance quality of life and independence for aging populations through the new Artificial Intelligence for Healthy Living Center. The partnership is supported by a five-year, $10 million commitment from IBM for research and applications in two thematic areas: Healthy Aging and the Human Microbiome. The Healthy Aging project will be co-led by Virginia de Sa of Cognitive Science, with Laurel Riek of Computer Science, and will involve many other Cognitive Science faculty. A story on the Sept. 28 signing ceremony is here.
School Reform and the Pitfalls of Techno-Idealism
Christo Sims of Communication appeared at the Data & Society research institute in Manhattan to discuss his new book, “Disruptive Fixation: School Reform and the Pitfalls of Techno-Idealism.” A video of the talk is linked above. He also spoke with Doug Henwood on the radio show/podcast “Behind the News“ (MP3).
Nov. 8: Quarterly Conversations in Global Health
“Child and Maternal Health” is the focus of the fall conversation brought to you by the Global Health Program, Global Health Institute and Global Forum. Hear from a panel of experts, enjoy appetizers and visit with tabling organizations who are working to reduce health disparities for women and children. Beginning at 3 p.m. in the Great Hall.
Walls
Japan's Asahi Shimbun GLOBE features David FitzGerald of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies in a special issue on walls.
For a Preview of the Border Wall, Look to California
Wayne Cornelius of Political Science spoke with the New York Times about the beefed-up border crossing at San Ysidro: “There has been a massive effort and expense to create a border that is unlike anything else. What it did more than anything is reroute the flows. It created a balloon effect to send people elsewhere and pay smugglers more to get them through.”
Back into the Trump Vortex America Goes
“Trump’s highest-profile fights have served to fuel the cultural divide that pits his most fervent supporters, white men and rural residents, against what he describes as ‘elites,’’ writes Los Angeles Times political analyst Cathleen Decker on the debate over football players kneeling during the national anthem. She quotes Thad Kousser of Political Science on the president’s fight with the multicultural cast of the Broadway hit “Hamilton” in November, who said at the time that it was “a perfect culture war.”
Home Ownership Will Have to Wait for This DACA Recipient
The story includes research by Tom Wong of Political Science showing that DACA recipients have significant contributions to the economy by earning higher wages, buying cars and purchasing homes.
Did Russian Ads on Facebook Make a Difference?
In light of a new study “concluding it’s almost impossible to persuade voters to change their views in today’s highly polarized America” but that you can suppress or increase voter turnout, Yahoo News cites a 2012 Nature by James Fowler of Political Science showing that Facebook helped quadruple the effect of a get-out-the-vote message.
Mayor’s Travels Raising Eyebrows in LA
“Times are good, so that makes it easier for him to slip out of town,” said Steve Erie of Political Science. “But there’s always a threshold. The criticism will be that he was elected to be mayor, not to run for president.”
Daniel Yankelovich Turned From Philosophy to Market Research
The Wall Street Journal remembers the founder of the division’s Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research.
You Can Help Design Solutions to San Diego’s Troubles with Traffic and More
How do we create a San Diego where we all move freely? That’s the central question posed by “Design for San Diego,” or D4SD for short, a month-long, city-wide civic design challenge led by Steven Dow of Cognitive Science out of the Design Lab. Helping to kick off the challenge were Don Norman, Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla and San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer.
Conservatives Want Their Own Safe Spaces Too
“Some conservatives are less interested in robust debate than in trolling liberals, while other are simply looking for ‘safe spaces’ of their own,” writes Sociology alumnus Jeffrey Kidder in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog. In his piece, Kidder cites “Becoming Right,” a book by Amy Binder of Sociology and alumna Kate Wood.
Putting Students First
The back-to-school issue of ThisWeek@UCSanDiego showcases the university’s new services to enrich student life, including a number of new degree programs and specializations in Social Sciences.
San Diego Metro Magazine’s 2017 40 Under 40
All the UC San Diego alumni on this year’s list of “some of the best and brightest minds in San Diego County” are connected to Social Sciences: Kent-Fuh “Kent” Lee, Economics ’07, executive director of Pacific Arts Movement; Joseph Leventhal, Political Science ’99, managing partner at Dinsmore & Shohl LLP; Shannon Casey , Communication’03, vice president at Cleantech San Diego; Lindsay Stevens, Human Development ’03 , trial attorney with Gomez Trial Attorneys; Sandra F. Young, Communication ’06, vice president at, J. Walcher Communications; Andrew “Andy” Hall, Economics ’10, chief operating officer, San Diego Workforce Partnership.
Seeking Leaders, Changemakers & Innovators
In recognition of the 40th anniversary of the UC San Diego Alumni Awards, the alumni association is honoring 40 young Tritons – the next generation of leaders, changemakers and innovators. Help honor the best of UC San Diego. Submit a nomination today! Deadline is Oct. 30.
Daniel Yankelovich, 92
Nationally renowned public opinion expert Daniel Yankelovich spent more than six decades monitoring social change and public opinion. He also left a legacy of supporting research in the Division of Social Sciences, aimed at improving how people live. You can read more about the founder of our Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research in the New York Times and the Washington Post. The Union-Tribune, in its “Death of Daniel Yankelovich causes deep sadness at UC San Diego,” includes words from deans Carol Padden, Jeff Elman and Paul Drake.
New York Times: Trump Says Jump. His Supporters Ask, How High?
Thomas Edsall’s column cites research co-authored by Daniel Butler of Political Science showing that “voters often adopted the positions legislators took, even when legislators offered little justification.”
Kids Praised for Being Smart Are More Likely to Cheat
“You are so smart” vs “You did very well this time”: An international team of researchers, including Gail Heyman of Psychology, reports that the style of praise matters. In addition to affecting motivation, it has a moral dimension. The research was covered by the Independent (UK), MarketWatch, India Times, Consumer Affairs, Psychology Today and many others. It also appeared as the lead story in the University of California’s Fiat Lux newsletter.
U.S. Pavilion Announces Design Teams for 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale
Among the work to be showcased at the “Dimensions of Citizenship” exhibition is “UCSD Cross-Border Community Station: A Public Space that Educates” by Teddy Cruz of Visual Arts and Fonna Forman of Political Science.
IBM Gives UC San Diego $10 Million to Find Better Ways to Detect Memory Loss
The Union-Tribune reports on a new contract “to help seniors live in their own homes late into life.” The research will involve numerous faculty members from the Department of Cognitive Science.
Tata Institute for Genetics and Society Advances with Building Naming, Inaugural Chair Holders
Karthik Muralidharan of Economics and Anita Raj of Education Studies, along with biologists Suresh Subramani and Ethan Bier, are the inaugural holders of Tata Chancellor’s Endowed Professorships.
The UC Global Food Initiative (PDF)
A special edition of California Agriculture features Keith Pezzoli of Urban Studies and Planning and of Communication, who also authored one of the articles.
China’s Ever-Tighter Web Controls Jolt Companies, Scientists
The Associated Press quoted Margaret “Molly” Roberts of Political Science in a story that appeared in the Houston Chronicle (linked above), Ottawa Citizen and Indian Express, among many others.
UC San Diego Revelle Medalists Announced
Kudos to Paul Drake of Political Science, former dean of the Division of Social Sciences and senior vice chancellor of Academic Affairs. “It truly is difficult to overstate the depth and breadth of the contributions Professor Drake has made to UC San Diego.”
ComSciCon: Science Communication Workshops for Graduate Students, by Graduate Students
“Publishing in scientific journals has long been a linchpin of success in science. But many scientists want their work to enrich the lives of the public and positively influence society,” writes graduate student Rose Hendricks of Cognitive Science in a PLOS blog post.
Speculating on What Dolphins Are Communicating
Christine Johnson of Cognitive Science served as advisor to the Fall 2017 exhibition in the Qualcomm Institute’s gallery@calit2.
Giving Impact
The September issue of UC San Diego’s newsletter for donors and friends of the university features two recent fundraising successes in the division: the Center for Peace and Security Studies and a breakthrough program in clinical psychology.
Kit Woolard on Her New Book, ‘Singular and Plural’
This Q&A features anthropologist Kathryn “Kit” Woolard on Catalonia’s language, identity politics and independence movement.
Democrats’ Road to Winning Back the House Goes Through California
“This is not going to be a usual year. The energy and anger is on the Democrats’ side,” Gary Jacobson of Political Science told the Los Angeles Times. The story also appeared in the Union-Tribune.
California Kids With an Autistic Older Sibling Are Less Likely to Be Vaccinated
KPBS reports on a new study published in the New England Journal Medicine and co-authored by doctoral alumna Gena Glickman and Karen Dobkins of Psychology.
UC San Diego-Led Expedition Documents Ancient Land and Sea Sites in Israel
In an attempt to understand trade and exchange during Biblical times, Tom Levy of Anthropology carried an Explorers Club flag to the ancient mining region of Timna and to the site of a submerged port at Tel Dor.
Facebook Live With Don Norman
Go behind the scenes of UC San Diego’s Regional Campaign Celebration in L.A. with Don Norman of Cognitive Science and the Design Lab.
The Potential Economic Hit of Sending “Dreamers” Back
CBS News reports that DACA recipients are successful and productive. According to an August 2017 survey by Tom Wong of Political Science, 97 percent of them are currently employed or in school. The research was also cited in Voice of San Diego and the San Francisco Chronicle.
Grand Plans
The September issue of Triton takes a look at the future of campus and the plan to enhance the student experience, engage our community, and facilitate research and innovation. Part of the story is the mixed-use North Torrey Pines Living and Learning Neighborhood, which will include a building for Social Sciences. The magazine also includes a letter from UC San Diego Alumni Board President Robert Brownlie of Economics, who shares his enthusiasm for the university’s next chapter of growth.
Brand Champion
How a Snapple cap (at UC San Diego) influenced the career of Communication alumnus Jacques Spitzer, now the owner of a branding and advertising company called Raindrop Marketing.
Public Invited to Solve San Diego’s Commuting Nightmare
The city-wide D4SD civic design challenge is directed out of the Design Lab by Steven Dow of Cognitive Science.
‘Gone With the Waves’ Project Documents Puerto Rico’s Coastline and Cultural Heritage
Just ahead of hurricanes Irma and Maria, a research team led by Isabel Rivera-Collazo of Anthropology was able to document various underwater and coastal features along Puerto Rico’s coast, providing baseline measurements of important archaeological sites that are vulnerable to coastal erosion, particularly due to climate change.
Trump’s Wall Is Big, Beautiful and Dumb – Here’s a Better Way to Control The Border
Steve Lopez’s column in the Los Angeles Times quotes the “semi-retired” Wayne Cornelius of Political Science: “The fact is unauthorized Mexican migration to the U.S. has fallen to levels not seen since the early 1970s.”
Why Our Brains Make It Hard to Grapple with Global Warming
Opinion piece co-authored by Political Science alumnus Nick Obradovich with colleagues at Scripps Oceanography and the School of Global Policy and Strategy.
7 Reasons Why Lily From Those Hilarious AT&T Commercials Is BAE
Check out this fun BuzzFeed listicle on Communication alumna Milana Vayntrub.
Scientists: Advertise Your Failures!
The “Rejections & Failures” section of cognitive scientist Bradley Voytek’s CV inspires Scientific American to urge academics to be vocal about their setbacks.
Public Invited to Design Solutions to Our City’s Biggest Issues
Helping to solve complex urban problems in a way that puts people first, the UC San Diego Design Lab has launched a city-wide civic design challenge called “Design for San Diego,” or D4SD for short. Steven Dow of Cognitive Science said the challenge is focused on four related areas: enhancing the commuter experience, promoting walkable and bike-able communities, improving accessibility, and preparing for a future with autonomous vehicles. Times of San Diego reported on the initiative. The Sept. 21 kickoff event will feature our city’s Mayor and UC San Diego’s Chancellor.
High Schoolers Doing Better than Expected with New Graduation Requirement But Many Still Struggle
“Our latest report has both good news and bad news for the new college prep policy,” said Julian Betts of Economics, executive director of the San Diego Education Research Alliance (SanDERA). The new SanDERA report was covered by the Union-Tribune, KPBS and in two separate stories for Voice of San Diego.
Breakthrough Clinical Psychology Program Funded by UC San Diego Alumnus
“We are always grateful whenever alumni give back to UC San Diego. Joe [Edelman]’s continued generosity has led to a unique partnership between social sciences and health sciences in the area of mental health training,” said Dean Carol Padden. “This program is designed to provide psychology undergraduates with a rare opportunity for practical experience before they graduate.” KPBS radio reported on the opportunity; their Evening Edition TV report starts at minute 9:31.
Teacher Collaboration Can Improve Student Outcomes, Reduce Teacher Turnover
Amanda Datnow and Alan Daly of Educations Studies are cited in new resources released by Public Agenda and the Spencer Foundation to help advance teaching and learning by fostering collaboration among teachers. The research report is available as a PDF.
Post-DACA: How Congress Can Replace Obama’s Program and Make it Even Better
Immediately following the current administration’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program, Wayne Cornelius of Political Science outlines how to provide permanent protection from deportation for the Dreamers. The op-ed was the second for Cornelius on DACA, with the Los Angeles Times printing “Ending DACA would be mean-spirited and shortsighted – even for Trump” on the eve of the administration’s announcement. Cornelius also wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Times about the skills needed for so-called “low-skilled” jobs, and he was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times on the “wall dividing San Diego and Tijuana.”
Free Online Class Teaches How to Be a Better Parent – and a Better Consumer of Parenting Advice
“My goal is to train students to reason about the science of parenting – how to be savvy consumers of science,” said David Barner of Psychology and Linguistics. His free, online course “The Science of Parenting” launched mid-August on the edX platform. On Sept. 7, Barner hosted an “Ask Me Anything” live chat on Reddit about the course and parenting in general. Enrollment in the class is ongoing.
UC San Diego 6th College Returns to Campus Roots
The Union-Tribune highlighted progress on the future home of the Division of Social Sciences, the “North Torrey Pines Living & Learning Neighborhood.”
Did Climate Change Bring Down Late Bronze Age Civilizations?
Thomas Levy of Anthropology spoke to Hakai Magazine as lead on a project in Greece for the Scripps Center for Marine Archaeology, a joint endeavor between the Division of Social Sciences and Scripps Oceanography. In other center-related news, Levy is carrying the Explorers Club Flag on a Desert Land and Sea Expedition in Israel.
Design Lab Faculty to Launch NSF-Funded Graduate Education Project
A new project will teach incoming graduate students how to program in the era of big data. The project’s principal investigator is James Hollan of Cognitive Science, co-founder of the Design Lab, who leads a team including cognitive scientists Scott Klemmer, Philip Guo and Bradley Voytek.
New UC San Diego Foundation Board Trustees Inspire Philanthropy
Psychology alumnus Marc Brutten is one of eight new and returning trustees.
Locals Watch Closely as NAFTA Negotiations Begin
James Hamilton of Economics said he hopes there is “nothing too radical” in any potential changes to the trade agreement.
How SANDAG’s Former Leader, Gary Gallegos, Became a Lightning Rod
“There are a lot of accomplishments under his directorship,” Steve Erie of Political Science said to the Union-Tribune.
New UC San Diego Provosts Announced
Congratulations to K. Wayne Yang of Ethnic Studies, new acting provost of John Muir College, and Ann Craig of Political Science, new interim provost of Sixth College. Their appointments were effective Sept. 1, 2017.
Drawing the Line: The Short- and Long-Term Consequences of Partitioning India
Prashant Bharadwaj of Economics publishes an article in VoxDev outlining the economic and political consequences of the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947.
Democratic Infighting Between Establishment, Progressives Sweeping Country
Political scientist Thad Kousser spoke to the San Francisco Chronicle, saying interparty fighting should not be surprising.
The Super-Sized Spoiler That Couldn't Sink Terminator 2
Research from 2011 by Nicholas Christenfeld of Psychology continues to be cited, this time in a report for IGN, an entertainment media company.
After Charlottesville, What Will the College Republicans Stand For?
In the wake of the white nationalist rally in Virginia, the Chronicle of Higher Education spoke with Amy Binder of Sociology as well as Ph.D. alumnus Jeffrey Kidder, now at Northern Illinois University, about the future of College Republicans.
What America Would Look Like if it Guaranteed Everyone a Job
Vox features research in India led by Karthik Muralidharan and Paul Niehaus of Economics.
DACA Recipients’ Economic and Educational Gains Continue to Grow
In the largest survey to date of DACA recipients, Tom Wong of Political Science – with the Center for American Progress, United We Dream and the National Immigration Law Center – shows that recipients continue to make positive and significant contributions to the economy, which benefits all. “The available evidence couldn’t be clearer: DACA positively impacts the lives of recipients, their families, and the American economy more broadly,” Wong said. The research received wide coverage, both leading up to and immediately following the administration’s decision to end the program. And Wong was interviewed and cited repeatedly, including the New York Times, two separate stories for the Union-Tribune (here and here), three for KPBS (here, here and here) and KUSI. Additional highlights include NBC News (here and here), Science Magazine, Mother Jones, Yahoo! News, USA Today, The Daily Beast, Bustle, The Scientist, El Tecolote, Vox and the San Francisco Chronicle, among many others.
Amazon’s Turker Crowd Has Had Enough
Wired cites work by Lilly Irani of Communication. Irani is one of the creators of the popular “Turkopticon” plugin, advocating for fair payment and open communication policies for Amazon workers.
UC San Diego’s Center for Peace and Security Studies Receives $3.3 Million Grant
Led by Erik Gartzke of Political Science, the Center for Peace and Security Studies is poised to become one of the leading sources of insight about the emerging logic of cyberwar and military automation. Gartzke participated in a Q&A about the center and support from the Charles Koch Foundation for the Union-Tribune, covered as well by the Times of San Diego, the La Jolla Patch, KUSI, San Diego Business Journal, Cal News and Philanthropy News Digest, among others.
Times Higher Education Ranks UC San Diego Fifth Best Public University in the World
The campus also went up 10 spots in the overall international rankings.
How Federal Budget Cuts Threaten San Diego Economy
Vice Chancellor of Research Sandra Brown of Psychology writes this op-ed in the Union-Tribune, saying UC San Diego researchers have been critical in transforming San Diego into one of the most innovative regions in the world.
Professor Writes to Boy Scouts
An open letter in the Washington Post online from Mica Pollock of Education Studies and CREATE. Pollock urges thinking critically not only about Trump’s speech at the National Jamboree but also about any speech by anyone: “I ask a basic question about everything people say. Does this talk support each and all of us, or not?”
Watching Children Learn How to Lie
Writing in the Conversation, Gail Heyman of Psychology describes her recent study investigating the emergence of the ability to deceive in early childhood.
Nature Names UC San Diego a Top 15 Research Institution Worldwide
The prestigious scientific journal praises the campus for its research output and real-world impact. Environmental economist Richard Carson’s work valuing the BP oil spill was featured in the UC San Diego announcement.
2017 #StudentAstronaut Winner
Congratulations to Julia Velasquez! An Education Studies student at UC San Diego and an advocate for the Deaf community, Velasquez won Xploration Station’s student astronaut contest. She’s headed to Hawaii to train like a Mars astronaut.
UC San Diego Hosts Regional Education Leaders, Tackling Common Math Barrier to Student Success
“Zeroing in on Intermediate Algebra/Integrated III: A Problem-Solving Symposium” on Aug. 11 brought together educators from dozens of K-12 schools, all 10 of the region’s community colleges, and the area’s four-year universities to develop new pathways for student success in math. The San Diego Math Network and CREATE, led by Mica Pollock and Susan Yonezawa, organized the symposium. Yonezawa appeared on KPBS Midday Edition to discuss, and you can follow the conversation on Twitter using #ZeroSD17. Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla, who spoke at the event, wrote a summary for his blog.
Technology Is Transforming What Happens When a Child Goes to School
In the Economist, Karthik Muralidharan’s recent research on the impact of technology-aided instruction in India is featured. Muralidharan gave a talk on the work for a Design@Large lecture, recorded and posted by The Design Lab.
Scientists Find New Way to Map Differences in the Brain
A Salk Institute for Biological Studies and UC San Diego team studied epigenetic changes in the DNA of individual neurons, identifying novel types. The study gives the most detailed information yet on what makes one brain cell different from its neighbor. Eran Mukamel and graduate student Christopher Keown of Cognitive Science are co-authors on the research. Covering the study were the Union-Tribune, Medical News Today, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News, among others.
GOP Plan to Slash Legal Immigration Wins Trump’s Support
Sociologist John Skrentny of the Yankelovich Center and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies weighs in on a proposed bill that would prioritize “merit.” Skrentny was also featured in an in-depth Q&A in The Atlantic on the same subject.
20 Attorneys General Write to Trump, Urging Him to Keep DACA
NPR reports on a letter from 20 state attorneys general asking the administration to keep the DACA program. The official letter, citing research by Tom Wong of Political Science, is here (PDF).
In Politics, Indirect Argument Appears Most Effective
China social media research by Margaret (Molly) Roberts of Political Science is explored.
BCC Welcomes New Leader
Anthropology Ph.D. alumna Eva Bagg is the new superintendent and president of Barstow Community College.
Trump Sounds Like Pete Wilson – and That Scares Calif. GOP
“California voters are explicitly reacting against the direction of the modern Republican Party,” said Thad Kousser of Political Science in The Hill.
Aug. 23, 7:30 a.m.: Economics Roundtable
Sandra Krieger, former executive vice president and chief risk officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, will discuss “Facing Financial Meltdown: Reflections of a Central Bank Risk Officer.”
Community Watch and Comment
Amy Binder of Sociology appeared on the Aug. 3 program of Oh My Government’s “Community Watch and Comment,” on WPFW radio.
California Will Model a New Approach for the Nation
With a UC Berkeley colleague, Marisa Abrajano of Political Science will work with six community organizations across the state to develop best practices for enhancing voter engagement.
Watching Others Wash Their Hands May Relieve OCD Symptoms
Work by V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology was cited in the New Scientist.
Darrell Issa Was Obama’s Toughest Critic. Here’s Why He’s Suddenly Sounding Like a Moderate
Political scientist Steven Erie said Issa needs to mend fences in San Diego County, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Appointment of Interim Dean of Undergraduate Education
Muir College Provost John Moore of Linguistics has been appointed Interim Dean of Undergraduate Education, effective Sept. 1, 2017.
UCSD Superfund Research Center Funded for Five More Years
The center studies the impact of environmental toxicants on human health. Keith Pezzoli of Communication and of Urban Studies and Planning leads the community engagement and research translation efforts.
Are the Foul-Mouthed Among Us, Like the deposed Mooch, More Honest?
“Profanity may leave a good impression in certain ways, but our impressions are not reality,” writes Benjamin Bergen of Cognitive Science in a Los Angeles Times op-ed (linked above). Separately, Bergen spoke with the New York Times about “The Case for Cursing.” Also, Bergen is a featured author at the Aug. 26 San Diego Festival of Books.
“Is There a STEM Worker Crisis? Science and Engineering Workforce Development in the U.S.”
John Skrentny of Sociology presented work at the UC Center Sacramento on July 12. The presentation and video are linked on the event page above.
Is Guaranteed Income for All the Answer to Joblessness and Poverty?
“What’s interesting about basic income is that, coincidentally, it’s a conversation people are having all the way from Silicon Valley, where they are worried about job loss to robots, to some of the poorest countries in the world,” said Paul Niehaus of Economics in Scientific American.
Design Lab Awarded NSF Grant
The National Science Foundation has awarded $4.8 million for 10 new projects; one will be led by Jim Hollan of Cognitive Science to train graduate students in data science and design.
Cities Fight Texas Immigration Law in Federal Court
Political scientist Tom Wong testified in the federal case over Texas Senate Bill 4, SB4, which in part prohibits sanctuary cities. In court, as reported by Courthouse News, Wong said that “recent ICE raids have pushed undocumented immigrants and their U.S. citizen children into the shadows.” Multiple outlets reported on the trial, including The Atlantic’s CityLab, Hoy Los Angeles, Al Dia Dallas.
Teaching Students Across Disciplines to Detect, Map and Characterize Changes to the Earth
Anthropology graduate student Brady Liss and his classwork with the UC San Diego Big Pixel Initiative was included in a Google Earth and Earth Engine blog post.
StudentAstronaut Finalist
Julia Velasquez of Education Studies, who is working on her master’s in ASL-English bilingual education, is a finalist in Xploration Station’s 4th annual #StudentAstronaut contest. “It's been a lifelong dream of mine to become the first deaf astronaut,” she says in this Q&A on the TV show’s website. You can also view Velasquez’s entry video at the link above. The contest winner will be flown to Hawaii for an overnight stay at the HI-SEAS Mars habitat, experiencing what daily life will be like for the first inhabitants of the red planet, and will be featured in a special episode of Xploration Outer Space.
Mashing up Tech for Humans
Cognitive Science alumna Vivienne Ming looks to artificial intelligence and neuroprosthetics to augment humans, Silicon Republic reports.
Engendering Empathy, Begetting Backlash
UC San Diego political scientist Claire Adida presented her ongoing research on U.S. attitudes toward Syrian refugees at the Centre for the Study of Democratic Citizenship. Also working on the project is a former student of Adida’s, Political Science alumna Adeline Lo.
Dude, Women Know Stuff
Reporting on a recent paper by the organizers of Women Also Know Stuff, a movement in political science that seeks to correct bias in the discipline, Inside Higher Ed included an interesting anecdote about political scientist David Lake: Lake, president of the American Political Science Association, wrote an email to the paper’s authors after they launched their website last year thanking them for their efforts and explaining how the site helped him with his paper.
‘Our Economies Are Completely Tied’: Why Trump’s Threats Worry Business Leaders
As reported in the Voice of San Diego: The close trading partnership between Mexico and the United States means that Mexican markets and U.S. markets usually do well alongside each other, said economist Marc Muendler.
Israel: State of Denial
Opinion piece by sociologist Gershon Shafir on “occupation denialism” in the Israeli magazine called +972. The publication is named after the international dialing code shared by Israel and the Palestinian territories.
10 Top Designers on the iPhone’s Real Legacy
“The most interesting aspect of smartphones is how seldom they are used as phones,” said Don Norman of Cognitive Science and the Design Lab at UC San Diego. Interviewed by Fast Company’s Co. Design, on the occasion of the iPhone’s 10th birthday, Norman also critiques the device’s design and says its real success is the invention of the App Store.
(1).jpg)
Alert System for Seniors Takes First Place at 2nd Design Competition
On June 10, 2017, interdisciplinary teams from Cognitive Science and the Jacobs School of Engineering presented prototypes of innovative products designed to improve the lives of senior citizens. The undergraduate teams presented to an audience of alumni, members of the La Costa Glen senior retirement community and the UC San Diego Retirees Association.
The Price of Studying at Private Schools
Research on private schools by economist Karthik Muralidharan is cited in an India Today Q&A with a University College London professor of education economics and international development.
Intensifying Heat Waves Highlight Deeper Concerns About Climate Change
Research led by Political Science alumnus Nick Obradovich, showing how an increase in temperatures can interrupt sleep, could have implications for public health and the economy.
Single-Payer Health Care Put on Hold in California
Political scientist Thad Kousser chimed in on the politics surrounding the California legislation introduced this year. His comments were then cited in The New American. Later, Kousser was interviewed by the California Healthline for a report on a nurses association that is not giving up on the state’s “single-payer push.”
Can We Talk? Some Advice on Negotiating Online Health Chat Rooms
UC San Diego Health cites political scientist James Fowler and his book, “Connected,” saying a key factor in determining our health is the health of others.
On the Eve of Garcetti's Inauguration, Soaring Ambition Meets a Sober Reality
“It’s a long jump from being mayor to being president,” said Steve Erie of Political Science following the swearing in of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Political Analysis Editors’ Choice Award
A paper by Yiqing Xu of Political Science has been selected by the editors of Political Analysis as one that provides “an especially significant contribution to political methodology.”
A ‘Very Credible’ New Study on Seattle’s $15 Minimum Wage Has Bad News for Liberals
The Washington Post (linked above) was the first to report on a new minimum-wage study, inviting Jeffrey Clemens of Economics to comment. Clemens was quoted in many other outlets, including FiveThirtyEight and the Los Angeles Times, with the latter story focused on what might happen with the rise of minimum wage in Los Angeles.
Democrats’ Internal Dispute Over the White Working Class Is About to Get Real
In the Washington Post’s Wonkblog, Lane Kenworthy of Sociology “cautioned that while Democrats’ proposals would shore up ordinary households' finances and bring down inequality, they might not improve employment and economic growth.”
Basic Income Could Empower Millions of Indians, but India May Find Cost too High
“If you can reliably get cash to people, it is one of the most effective interventions to improve people’s lives,” said Paul Niehaus of Economics to India’s Sify.
Bonkers for BonobosA San Diego Reader cover story on the “zoo’s once-forgotten apes” includes projects undertaken by cognitive scientist Federico Rossano’s Comparative Cognition Lab to study the social life of these and other primates. What is it like to grow up as a baby bonobo versus a human child, for example, or what are the characteristics of shared activity?
Are the Rich Really Less Generous Than the Poor?
Freakonomics features economist Jim Andreoni (with a side of Leonard Cohen).
Dalai Lama to New Grads: Create a Happier WorldHis Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama delivered the keynote address to 25,000 graduates and their families June 17 at the university’s All Campus Commencement. He was followed on the stage by Political Science and Sociology graduate Ricky Flahive. As this year’s student speaker, Flahive shared his story of being a first-generation, low-income student who wasn’t sure he would even graduate high school. Earlier, Flahive spoke about his excitement for the much-anticipated visit from the Dalai Lama.
Mellon/ACLS Public Fellows Announced
The American Council of Learned Societies has announced the 2017 Mellon/ACLS Public Fellows, which include Communication Ph.D. graduate Kara Wentworth. Each fellow takes a two-year, full-time position with a partnering non-profit organization or government agency, working in the fields of policy, civil rights, arts and culture, and the media. Wentworth has been appointed as a strategic impact analyst at Twin Cities PBS.
Familiar Faces Look Happier Than Unfamiliar OnesIt’s a cheesy pick-up line: “Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?” It might also be something that profoundly alters how we perceive other people. According to new research from UC San Diego published in Psychological Science, familiar faces look happier to us than unfamiliar ones. Evan Carr led the research as part of his doctoral studies in Psychology and Cognitive Science. Co-authors are Timothy Brady and Piotr Winkielman, both of Psychology.
Renaming Non-Communicable Diseases
Janis Jenkins and graduate student Ellen Kozelka of Anthropology publish a letter in The Lancet.
Appointment of John Skrentny as Director of the Yankelovich Center for Social Science ResearchFrom Dean Carol Padden, to campus: “I am pleased to announce that John D. Skrentny, a professor in our Department of Sociology, has agreed to serve as director of the division’s Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research. We are grateful to fellow sociologist Lane Kenworthy for stewarding the center for the past two years.”
Trump’s Reversal of U.S. Policy on Cuba
Wayne Cornelius of Political Science weighs in with a letter to the editor of the New York Times.
Democrats Look to Bridge Divide as They Challenge Trump
In the San Francisco Chronicle, Thad Kousser of Political Science helps explain the state of the Democratic Party, saying, “The current unpopularity of Donald Trump has masked over a party that’s been in free fall below the presidential level.”
DWP Contract Could Spark Costly Demands from Other City Unions
“Voters have short memories,” said Steve Erie of Political Science in the Los Angeles Times, responding to whether the contract could affect municipal elections. “Several years out is an eternity.”
Colleges Must Provide Counseling After a Student Suicide
Dubbing the phenomenon “the Werther effect,” sociologist David Phillips showed in 1974 that the number of suicides seems to rise after other, well-publicized suicides. “Hearing about suicide seems to make those who are vulnerable feel they have the permission to do it,” Phillips said.
June 28-30: Talking Research – Improving Science Dialogue
The Research Communications Program continues with a three-day intensive workshop led by Kim Rubinstein of Theatre and Dance. Faculty and post-docs are invited to register here.
San Diego Archaeologists Are Going Underwater for a Deeper Look at Humanity’s Past
KPBS took a look at the region’s efforts to support marine archaeology, including the recent launch of an effort co-led by the Division of Social Sciences, the Scripps Center for Marine Archaeology. Thomas Levy of Anthropology is co-director. He discusses plans to explore a submerged Israeli port that might have been an important trade hub during the time of kings David and Solomon.
All Campus Commencement Student Speaker Ricky Flahive
Richard “Ricky” Flahive, who will earn degrees in both Political Science and Sociology, is a peer mentor and aspiring community leader whose story is one of happy persistence despite countless hurdles.
UC San Diego’s Connections with the Dalai Lama Run Deep
“He is very quick to laugh, and that is a wonderful way of diffusing tension and inviting people to have perspective on a situation,” said Lera Boroditsky of Cognitive Science, who presented on her research to the Dalai Lama in India in 2015. “That is a wonderful personal quality that a lot of people could emulate.”
Schooltalk: Rethinking What We Say About – and to – Students Every Day
The summer issue of Teaching Tolerance magazine, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, features a book excerpt by Mica Pollock of Education Studies and CREATE.
E-Connection Is Here!
In case you haven’t check it out yet: the Spring issue of the Social Sciences E-Connection newsletter includes a feature on cognitive scientist Marta Kutas, aka “Dr. Seuss of Science,” and a message from Dean Carol Padden, “We’re Old Hands at Setting New Trends.”
Indiana Jones Meets the Sea
The Department of Anthropology and Scripps Institution of Oceanography have joined forces to launch the Scripps Center for Marine Archaeology. Researchers with the center, including co-director Thomas Levy and Isabel Rivera-Collazo of Anthropology, will conduct fieldwork at key underwater and coastal archaeological sites around the world, studying the complex interactions of marine environments and human cultures. “With social scientists and marine scientists working together in one center, we will be studying the relationship between society and the sea from both angles, increasing our knowledge of the past for a better future,” said Dean Carol Padden. Times of San Diego reported on the launch. Separately, a Q&A with Levy about the CAVEkiosk ran in the university library’s newsletter (PDF).”
DJ Patil on Campus for Alumni Weekend
The former chief data scientist for the Obama White House, who was on campus to receive a UC San Diego Alumni honor, joined cognitive scientist Bradley Voytek for a discussion that was broadcast live on Facebook (linked above). DJ Patil also served as one of the judges for special final project presentations by students from Voytek’s first ever “Data Science in Practice” class.
Israel’s ‘Temporary’ Occupation Has Lasted 50 Years. A New Book Explains Why.
Gershon Shafir of Sociology writes in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog about the subject of his new book, “A Half Century of Occupation: Israel, Palestine and the World’s Most Intractable Conflict.” Separately, Shafir was quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle regarding a hunger strike in an Israeli prison.
Renowned Anthropologist Ted Schwartz Donates his Papers to UC San Diego
Theodore Schwartz of Anthropology has donated his personal papers to the UC San Diego Library, reports the Union-Tribune, including materials that date to when he studied primitive cultures in the South Pacific with Margaret Mead.
Response to the April 30 La Jolla Shooting
A letter from UC San Diego faculty, including several from the Division of Social Sciences, was published in The Triton, an independent, student-run news source, addressing the “the inherence of race to this mass shooting.”
California Democrats Wrestle with Proposal to Replace Private Health Insurance
The single-payer issue presents an opportunity and a challenge for the Democratic Party as it tries to regain control of Congress in 2018, said Thad Kousser of Political Science. It could help mobilize people who otherwise don’t show up at the polls, he said, but could also knock out centrist Dems in the primary who have the best shot at winning a general election. In a separate story, Kousser discussed potential candidates for California governor.
Californians Divided on Russia Probe, Poll Shows
“Since [special counsel Robert] Mueller hasn’t done anything yet, he hasn’t offended either side,” said Gary Jacobson of Political Science in a story leading up to former FBI director James Comey’s testimony.
Border Patrol on Tijuana River Gains Respect From Enviros
Oscar Romo of Urban Studies and Planning comments on the ongoing controversy involving clean water in the region’s river.
UC San Diego Will Add Four to Athletics Hall of Fame
UC San Diego Athletics will honor three Division of Social Sciences athlete alumni in October: softball player Dana Chaiken of Communication, swimmer and diver Rosanna Delurgio of Human Development and basketball player Tim Rapp of Political Science.
HKS and Clark Construction to Design-Build New Living and Learning Neighborhood
UC San Diego has selected HKS and Clark Construction to lead the design-build of the North Torrey Pines Living and Learning Neighborhood, the future home of the Division of Social Sciences and several of its departments.
2017 Outstanding Graduates
The story includes Jessica Arroyo of Education Studies, who derives her passion for social justice and teaching from personal experience.
Why One Mexican Woman Decided to ‘Self-Deport,’ Long Before Trump
“These policies are designed to increase anxiety, they’re designed to create fear in immigrant communities,” said sociologist David FitzGerald, co-director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies. “The government knows they’ll never be able to go out and deport the unauthorized population – and one of their stated hopes is that people will self-deport.”
APA Awards
Three Urban Studies and Planning students each received a $1,000 scholarship from the San Diego Section of the American Planning Association. The students are Mark Anderberg, Isabel Ignacio and Vincent Page.
June 23: Working with Your Public Information Officer
Hope to see you at this lunch-hour presentation of the UC San Diego Research Communications Program.
June 28-30: Talking Research – Improving Science Dialogue
The Research Communications Program continues with a three-day intensive workshop led by Kim Rubinstein of Theatre and Dance. Faculty and post-docs are invited to register here.
Losing Sleep Over Climate Change
Climate change may keep you awake – and not just metaphorically. Nights that are warmer than normal can harm human sleep, researchers show in a new paper, with the poor and elderly most affected. In the future, rising temperatures may cause even more sleep loss. Nick Obradovich, an alumnus of Political Science now at Harvard’s Kennedy School and the MIT Media Lab, conducted much of the research while a doctoral student at UC San Diego. He was inspired to investigate the effect of climate on sleep during the heat wave that hit San Diego in October 2015. The study, published by Science Advances, was covered by the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Popular Science, The Atlantic and many more.
Up to 600,000 Immigrants in U.S. South May Have Path to Legal Status
“As we ramp up immigration enforcement in the United States, we should take this figure and remind ourselves that we shouldn't deport first and then ask questions,” said Tom Wong of Political Science to Reuters. Wong conducted a statistical review of immigrant screenings for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network. The Austin American-Statesman, meanwhile, cited Wong’s report showing there are fewer crimes in sanctuary cities.
Don’t Count on Your Chickens Counting
To understand numbers, you need culture, says cognitive scientist Rafael Nunez. In a paper featured on the cover of Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Nunez takes on the conventional wisdom in the field right now – a widely accepted view in cognitive neuroscience, child psychology and animal cognition that there is a biologically evolved capacity for number and arithmetic that we share with other species. CBC (Canada), Cosmos magazine (Australia) and Inverse, among others, ran stories.
New Collaboration Focuses on Refugee Stories, Experiences and Humanity
Led by Yen Le Espiritu of Ethnic Studies, the UC-wide Critical Refugee Studies Collective is featured.
June 1, 4 p.m.: Women as Leaders: Do They Make a Difference?
In collaboration with the Office of the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and the Division of Social Sciences, the Department of Psychology presents Alice Eagly of Northwestern University, the second speaker in a series on the Science of Human Diversity. RSVP to the talk in the link above, which will be held in the Crick Room of Mandler Hall.
Will Single-payer Health Care in California Help the Economy?
“Americans want everyone to receive health care, but nobody wants to pay for it,” says James Hamilton of Economics in the Union-Tribune.
Central American Gangs Like MS-13 Were Born out of Failed Anti-crime Policies
Elana Zilberg of Communication has her book “Space of Detention: The Making of a Transnational Gang Crisis between Los Angeles and San Salvador” cited in this op-ed published in The Conversation.
Border Patrol Agents Said Tijuana Sewage Problem Worse Now Than in Previous Decades
To the Union-Tribune, Oscar Romo of Urban Studies and Planning said he has seen septic companies dump waste into the Tijuana River’s main channel at night.
Data, Teachers’ Allegations Undermine Gompers’ College-Ready Promise
An inewsource report includes former CREATE Director Bud Mehan of Sociology. A Communication undergraduate is featured in a follow-up story.
UC San Diego Researchers Discover Human Burials and Artifacts in Ancient Mycenaean Tomb
The discovery was made at the site of an ancient village by a team of archaeologists led by Thomas Levy of Anthropology, who directs the Center for Cyber-Archaeology and Sustainability at the Qualcomm Institute.
California Democratic Chair Race Angers ‘Berniecrats’
In the Associated Press, Thad Kousser of Political Science says the Democratic Party could suffer if tensions linger, as a unified, excited membership has a huge impact on a political party.
Hi, I’m Ken
Triton magazine publishes a letter to UC San Diego alumni from Ken Kroner, alumnus of Economics and chair of the International Leadership Committee for the Campaign for UC San Diego.
From the Alumni President
UC San Diego Alumni Board President Robert Brownlie, an Economics alumnus, gives his take on the Campaign for UC San Diego and why alumni should get involved.
This Is Your Nontradition
A look back at the history of campus, from its seafaring roots, a spaceship library and the establishment of the Cognitive Science department, all in the name of science: It’s what makes us “us” – the research firsts and campus quirks that make up our nontradition.
Barnard Chooses a Leader Whose Research Focuses on Women
The New York Times publishes an announcement of the new president of Barnard College, Sian Beilock. Beilock is an alumna of Cognitive Science. The Wall Street Journal also ran a story.
4 Key Lessons from France’s Presidential Election
Writing in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog, William Chandler and current Ph.D. student Veronica Hoyo of Political Science highlight voter abstention, a changing French party system and the upcoming June legislative elections. Hoyo is also a research associate at the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies.
UC San Diego Researchers Selected for IBM Watson AI XPRIZE ® Competition
Jeff Elman of Cognitive Science and Tim Gentner of Psychology are part of the team.
Immigrants, Unions March in US for Rights, Against Trump
Tom Wong of Political Science said to the Associated Press that the administration’s focus on immigration is generating more support for immigrant rights advocates. “Every pivot back to the issue of immigration gives the immigrant rights movement another opportunity to make its best pitch to the public,” he said.
The Dalai Lama Controversy Highlights the Absurdity of Safe Space Demands
Chinese students’ calls for the Tibetan leader to be barred from speaking at the UC San Diego show a flawed conception of accommodation and respect, says Communication alumnus and lecturer Ben Medeiros in this Times Higher Education op-ed.
Why Are Working Age Men Dropping Out of the Labor Force?
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported on the May 2 Economics Roundtable and its speaker, James Furman, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
Grad Students Show Lawmakers Value of UC Research
State lawmakers in Sacramento heard from Communication Ph.D. student Jahmese Fort during UC Graduate Research Advocacy Day April 19. Fort and Scripps Intuition of Oceanography graduate student Tashiana Osborne were part of the delegation of UC graduate students who traveled to the State Capitol to impress upon legislators the value of graduate research.
‘Game of Thrones’ Language Inventor to Teach Course at UC Berkeley
Linguistics alumnus David Peterson, who was a 2016 Emerging Leaders award winner from UC San Diego Alumni, is the man behind the invented languages featured in “Game of Thrones.”
2017 Nancy Weiss Malkiel Scholars Announced
The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation has identified 10 emerging faculty leaders, including Anthropology alumna Sara Gonzalez. Gonzalez is currently an assistant professor at the University of Washington.
It’s Been a Messy Semester for Free Speech on Campus. What's Next?
Amy Binder of Sociology shares her expertise with the Chronicle of Higher Education, commenting on controversial speakers invited to speak at universities across the United States. The best practice to avoid blowups, she said, would be for universities to hold events despite the security costs. “I would also advise faculty, students, and those in the community to ignore the events and not even show up to protest, quite frankly,” she said.
Confused About Trump’s Border Wall? Here Are 7 Essential Reads
One of the essential reads appearing in this Salon round-up is by political scientist Wayne Cornelius.
Communicating Science 2017
Graduate students and postdocs are invited to apply now for the ComSciCon-SD workshop, to be held at UC San Diego in September 2017. The workshop is for young scholars who are interested in communicating science to an audience beyond their narrow academic discipline. Free for accepted applicants. Application deadline is June 15.
Talking Science
New research communications program seeks to improve the ability of faculty members, postdoctoral fellows and other researchers on campus to explain to the public the value of their work.
Language and Thought
In her work and in this news story, Lera Boroditsky of Cognitive Science answers the question “Does language shape the way we think?”
Geeking Out in the Golden Years
Philip Guo of Cognitive Science is eager to share his passion for programming with an unexpected and underserved demographic –adults age 60 and up. His paper, the first known study of older adults learning to code, has been selected for honorable mention by CHI, a leading conference on human-computer interaction.
Donald Trump’s Surprising Defense of International Norms
Writing in the Lawfare Blog, Center for Peace and Security Studies Director Erik Gartzke of Political Science discusses the current administration’s military strike in Syria. Gartzke is also included in a recent STRATCOM newsletter (PDF).
After the Death of a Friend, Healing in a Social Network
Published in Nature Human Behavior, a study of 15,000 anonymized networks on Facebook suggests that human social structures are resilient to death. When a friend dies, we get closer to that person’s friends, with the network repairing itself in ways that keep our total connectedness the same. Alumnus William Hobbs conducted the research while a doctoral student in Political Science. The work was covered by Science, the Union-Tribune, New York Magazine, WebMD and The Atlantic, among others.
UC San Diego Professors Host Conference on Refugees and War
Organized by Yen Le Espiritu of Ethnic Studies, the first “Militarism & Migration” academic conference was presented in the City Heights neighborhood, at the East African Community and Cultural Center.
A Language Out of Nothing
Linguistics Ph.D. alumna Kathryn Davidson is featured on the cover of Harvard Magazine. The story highlights her passion for “the scientific study of language” and for helping to bring ASL teaching back to Harvard.
Economists Price BP Oil Spill Damage to Natural Resources at $17.2 Billion
Environmental economist Richard Carson was one of the principal investigators on the study published in Science, improving valuation techniques that drive policy decisions.
There’s a Well-Funded Campus Industry Behind the Ann Coulter Incident
“In a classic case of ‘heads I win, tails you lose,’ conservative provocateur Ann Coulter emerged from last week’s events at Berkeley as a free-speech martyr,” writes Amy Binder of Sociology in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog.
Democrats Could Tighten Grip on California Political Control
For the Associated Press (linked above), political scientist Thad Kousser said local government is “the next big partisan battlefield.” For U.S. News & World Report, Kousser commented on California’s gas-tax increase. And in the San Francisco Chronicle, Kousser weighed in on the president’s health-care agenda.
Beyond the March for Science
Organizers and backers of local March for Science, including V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology and Diana Hereld of Psychology and Music, look at next steps to increase public engagement in support for science.
MPSA Award Recipients - 2017
The paper “Sources of Authoritarian Responsiveness: A Field Experiment in China” by Yiqing Xu of Political Science won the AJPS Best Article Award from the Midwest Political Science Association, which honors the best article appearing in the American Journal of Political Science. Xu and coauthors wrote this 2015 blog post about the research.
‘Le Racisme S’immisce Aisement et Regulierement dans les Processus Democratiques’
Sociologist David FitzGerald spoke with the French publication Liberation about his book “Culling the Masses: The Democratic Origins of Racist Immigration Policy in the Americas.”
‘Pacemaker’ for the Brain Can Help Memory, Study Finds
Bradley Voytek of Cognitive Science, who was not involved in this specific research covered in the New York Times, says it gives “a blueprint for moving forward.”
The Art and Science of Classroom Transitions
For a new education series called “What Learning Looks Like,” cognitive scientist Gedeon Deak met with KPBS at UC San Diego’s Mesa Child Development Center to discuss cognitive flexibility in the preschool set.
Why the F*** Are You Talking S*** with Kids in the Room?
CNN cites Benjamin Bergen of Cognitive Science on the link between perceived honesty and profanity.
May 5: Extraordinary Variations of the Human Mind
Co-sponsored by the Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA) and the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind, the symposium takes place from 1 to 5:30 p.m. at the Salk Institute. It will also be live webcast if you can’t attend in person.
A Will to Ensure Change
Local philanthropist David Gubser established a $200,000 endowment through his estate that will support scholarships for LGBT students and Critical Gender Studies majors.
Hacking into a Lost World
Undergrads recreate at-risk archaeology sites in virtual reality as part of a hackathon co-organized by anthropologist Thomas Levy, director of the Center for Cyber-Archaeology & Sustainability. Check out each project as well.
Communicating Science 2017
Graduate students and postdocs are invited to apply now for the ComSciCon-SD workshop, to be held at UC San Diego in September 2017. The workshop is for young scholars who are interested in communicating science to an audience beyond their narrow academic discipline. Free for accepted applicants. Application deadline is June 15.
An Archaeological Perspective on Humans and Climate Change
UCTV: Isabel Rivera-Collazo of Anthropology focuses on understanding human resilience and adaptation to past environmental change as a lens through which we can view the future.
Times Higher Education Ranks UC San Diego No. 1 in the World
UC San Diego is listed first in a new Times Higher Education ranking of institutions that were founded between 1945 and 1966. The ranking cites the university’s innovative approach to education, including the establishment of the world’s first Department of Cognitive Science.
American Academy of Arts and Sciences Elects UC San Diego Chancellor and Three Professors
Molecular biologist James Kadonaga, economist Valerie Ramey and artist Faith Ringgold, along with Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla, become new members of the prestigious society.
$1M Grant from Mellon Foundation to Expand Cross-Border Work
In an era of wall-building, they are breaking boundaries and engineering bridges. Fonna Forman of Political Science and Teddy Cruz of Visual Arts are creating links between the university and marginalized communities straddling the U.S.-Mexico border. Where some see chaos and crisis, Cruz and Forman see the future. The border region, they say, is an ideal site for tackling urban inequality.
Marching for Science
Members of the UC San Diego community gear up for April 22 March for Science in San Diego and Washington D.C. One of the featured speakers at the San Diego march will be V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology.
Are the Rich More Selfish Than the Rest of Us?
Not so fast, writes James Andreoni of Economics in The Conversation. Discussing their field experiment published as an NBER working paper, Andreoni and co-authors go on to explain that the rich may be no different than the poor.
Celebrating Breakthrough Teaching at UC San Diego
CREATE reports on its successful fourth annual teaching and learning conference, co-hosted by the Department of Education Studies. Called “Breakthrough Teaching for Student Success,” the conference celebrated classroom teaching innovations and attendees expressed appreciation for “hands-on, experiential sessions” that could have immediate positive impact in their classrooms.
UC Toasts its Inaugural Class of Presidential Public Service Fellows
The University of California’s first group of Presidential Public Service Fellows came together at the Office of the President to be honored for their service and to share their internship experiences. Dejanay Wayne, an undergraduate double major in Communication and Ethnic Studies who hopes to be an education leader, landed a paid internship at the National Education Association. “My experience was nothing less than marvelous,” Wayne said.
California’s Gas Tax Hike Shows Governor’s Political Skill
In an Associated Press news article, Thad Kousser of Political Science said Gov. Brown and his legislative partners cleared a high hurdle by winning passage for a much broader tax package.
Found: Fresh Clues to Mystery of King Solomon’s Mines
National Geographic reports on a study from the University of Tel Aviv that lends support to the Biblical telling of events. The story quotes Thomas Levy of Anthropology, who has also been working on ancient mining in the region.
Why Are UC San Diego Scientists Disguising Themselves as Empty Car Seats?
Cognitive scientists from the Design Lab – Don Norman, Jim Hollan and Colleen Emmenegger – plan to study how other motorists and pedestrians react to the sight of “driverless” research vehicles.
San Diego Unified’s Jaw-Dropping Grad Rate Is Now Official
Voice of San Diego continues its coverage of graduation rates for San Diego Unified School District, citing an initial study led by Julian Betts of Economics and SANDERA.
The Sherlock Holmes of Neuroscience
India’s Swarajya magazine features V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology.
7th Annual Integrity Award Recipients
The 2017recipients of an award honoring outstanding contributions in support of UC San Diego’s commitment to integrity include Political Science graduate student Abigail Vaughn and Social Sciences undergraduate student Sierra Lee.
Is San Diego Headed for a Luxury-hotel Glut?
James Hamilton of Economics comments on two Union-Tribune economy questions, including the first regarding a potential “luxury-hotel glut.” Hamilton said “no” to that question (linked above). He also answered a second: “Will a rising minimum wage promote more spending to make up for lost jobs?”
April 19, 3 p.m.: Spring Quarterly Conversations in Global Health
An interdisciplinary panel that includes Isabel Rivera-Collazo of Anthropology will discuss “Climate Change and Health.”
April 20, 4 p.m.: First Things First! The Urgent Need to Reimagine Primary Education
The Department of Education Studies invites attendees to join in a discussion with Ruby Takanishi about transforming America’s primary schools to better meet the needs of all learners.
April 21-23: Militarism and Migration Conference
The conference, taking place in San Diego’s City Heights, will “include workshops, panels, discussions, film showings, art exhibits, performances, and presentations exploring the connection between militarism and migration within the urgent context of ongoing transnational struggles.” Yen Le Espiritu of Ethnic Studies is conference co-organizer.
May 2, 7:30 a.m.: Economics Roundtable
Jason Furman, former chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, will discuss “The Decline of Men Working: Why It Is Happening, What It Means, and What to Do About It.”
May 9, 12 p.m.: Horizons of Global Health Research Symposium
In conjunction with the Study Abroad in Global Health Field Experience Expo, view students’ research posters highlighting the diversity of global health work done around the world, and listen to a keynote speaker address the topic of “Global Health and Climate Change.”
Trump’s Bid to Control Mexican Immigration
In this video interview, ABC (Australia) talks to David FitzGerald of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies.
New Superintendent Takes Charge at Poway Unified
Psychology alumna Marian Kim-Phelps reflects on her career in the Union-Tribune.
Group Gives Cash Aid to Rural Kenyans, Then Studies its Effects
PBS NewsHour goes in-depth and on-site to talk with recipients of aid from GiveDirectly, co-founded by Paul Niehaus of Economics.
Words Matter: The Repercussions of What We Say – And Don’t Say – About Students
Mica Pollock of Education Studies and CREATE discusses her book “Schooltalk” with the National Education Association.
Stopping the Death Spiral
In considering what policies can stop health insurance markets from going down the drain, the American Economic Association spoke with economist Jeffrey Clemens on how different policies interact, sometimes with unintended consequences.
The Future of Not Working
The New York Times Magazine takes an in-depth look at GiveDirectly, co-founded by Paul Niehaus of Economics, and its experiment with universal income.
Learning Equality Awarded $5M Through Google.org Global Education Commitment
Jamie Alexandre, co-founder and executive director of Learning Equality, is a Cognitive Science alumnus. Learning Equality is currently based at the Qualcomm Institute Innovation Space. Alexandre wrote about the award on the nonprofit’s blog.
Should Sanctuary Cities Lose Federal Funding?
As the current administration threatens to withhold federal grant money from so-called “Sanctuary Cities,” Center for American Progress research by political scientist Tom Wong that analyzes the effects of sanctuary policies on crime and the economy continues to be cited. In addition to mentions by the Business Insider and Desert Sun, Reuters looks at how some cities are looking to respond. Wong’s work on DACA benefits also continues to be covered.
The Art of Transformation
Hatchly Galindo Morenom, a current Political Science student, helps unveil three new murals at the Raza Resource Centro, where she interns.
UC San Diego Students, Alumni Launch Kickstarter Campaign for Smart Mirror
Economics alumnus Josh Cohenzadeh and engineering alumnus Noah Martin ran across the concept of a voice-controlled smart mirror while looking for a way into the Internet of Things market.
April 5, 6 p.m.: ‘Bass Clef Bliss: Terrence’s Path’
Education Studies is partnering with UC San Diego Athletics to promote a screening of “Bass Clef Bliss” during Autism Awareness Month. Held at the Price Center theater, the reception and screening will be followed by a discussion with the filmmakers, the stars of the film – Terrence Patridge and his mother, Therese Davis – as well as Shana Cohen of Education Studies and Leanne Chukoskie of the Institute for Neural Computation.
April 9: Triton 5K
If you like the idea of having fun while raising funds for student scholarships, TEAM SOC SCI will see you at the Triton 5K. Running not required. Music, food, drink and Fun Zone are also part of the day.
April 21-23: Militarism and Migration Conference
The conference, taking place in San Diego’s City Heights, will “include workshops, panels, discussions, film showings, art exhibits, performances, and presentations exploring the connection between militarism and migration within the urgent context of ongoing transnational struggles.” Yen Le Espiritu of Ethnic Studies is conference co-organizer. A conference launch event on campus, on April 10, from 2 to 5 p.m., features a discussion panel of Ethnic Studies graduate students and keynote by Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian of Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The Israeli Settler Movement Isn’t Much of a Movement
“In short, the settlement project has not created the conditions for the annexation of the West Bank to Israel nor made it inevitable,” writes Gershon Shafir of Sociology in Forward, “The turn to blunt tools of politics is an indirect admission that the 50 years of colonization have stalled.”
Best Response to Trump Is Welcoming and Protecting Immigrants
Political scientist Wayne Cornelius argues in The Oregonian that “policies adopted by sanctuary jurisdictions offer the only meaningful protection against deportation for immigrants whose only violation of law is being an undocumented person.”
A Young UC San Diego Scientist Vents About How Hard it Is to Obtain Grants
The San Diego Union-Tribune contacted Bradley Voytek of Cognitive Science following a social media post by Voytek on the struggles of finding funding for research.
How to Get Ahead at Work: Learn How to Cuss
Profanity doesn’t have to be a liability in the workplace – it can be a persuasive tool that conveys enthusiasm and honesty, said Benjamin Bergen of Cognitive Science to CBS News.
An Army of Sophisticated Bots Is Influencing the Debate Around Education
“The paradox here is we have more information and more viewpoints, but this doesn’t necessarily mean we’re making better decisions. Each individual has to be their own arbiter about what’s true and not true,” said Alan Daly to the Huffington Post in a piece that covered the “#CommonCore“ research project co-led by Daly. Also covering the research were Education Week and the Washington Post.
GOP’s Medicaid Block Grant Plan Should Trump Other Concerns
In this op-ed for The Hill, Thad Kousser of Political Science says the current president’s Twitter rants are keeping our eyes away from the “complex, confounding, but massively consequential” issue of Medicaid block grants. “Medicaid block grants seem at first glance like an obscure debate for the few policy wonks who care about federal funding formulas. But the outcome of this particular fight in D.C. will reverberate across all 50 states for decades to come,” he writes.
Trump’s Revised Travel Ban Hurts America’s Universities
“Anyone who visits America’s great research universities can see that science and engineering are global enterprises,” writes sociologist John Skrentny in this Fortune op-ed. Skrentny, co-director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, argues that the current administration’s efforts to reform immigration will not help in the global competition to attract the world’s top researchers.
UC San Diego Student Worker Saves Man’s Life
Anthropology student Skylar Lane was lauded for her quick thinking while working at the County of San Diego Aging and Independent Services.
Communicating Climate Change: Focus on the Framing, Not Just the Facts
In this op-ed, Cognitive Science Ph.D. student Rose Hendricks explains how the way we talk about climate change affects what people think about it.
The U.S. Wants to Stop North Korean Missiles Before They Launch. That May Not Be a Great Idea.
In the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog, political scientist Erik Gartzke, director of the Center for Peace and Security Studies, explains just why “left of launch” approaches like cyber and electronic warfare may backfire. Gartzke, along with coauthor Jon Lindsay, recently published a related paper in the Journal of Cybersecurity.
Politically Speaking: Demonstrations, Protests Locally and Across U.S.
“Are people becoming more active and less apathetic about the political process?” In this Politically Speaking video segment for NBC 7, Thad Kousser of Political Science helps answer.
Where Did the Tea Party Go?
Robert Horwitz of Communication, author of a 2013 book on the rise of Tea Party-style conservatism, comments to Vice that it’s hard to sustain activist momentum after gaining electoral advantage.
Sanctuary State Bill Will Make Californians Safer and More Prosperous
Political scientist Tom Wong’s research on sanctuary cities is included in a recent op-ed by California Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon.
How San Diego Built a Bridge Over the Wall
Politico goes to Richard Carson of Economics in their extensive piece on the cross-border Tijuana airport facility. Carson points to other benefits for the region, including increased tourism in San Diego from residents of Mexico and other Latin American countries, who now find it “considerably easier” to get there.
California Spending May Doom the Boom
“The progressivity of the California tax code is what causes volatility,” said James Hamilton of Economics. “There’s a trade-off between saying we want to get revenue from capital gains and saying we want steady, predictable revenues.”
‘Dutch Donald Trump’
All eyes were on the prime minister race in the Netherlands last week, where one candidate was being called the “Dutch Donald Trump.” Matthew Bergman of Political Science joined CBS News to discuss the controversial candidate.
Design Competition — or Ideological Crisis?
A New York Times op-ed on the U.S.-Mexico border-wall quandary facing architects sought the opinion of Fonna Forman of Political Science and Teddy Cruz, both of the UCSD Cross-Border Initiative: “The problem for us,” they wrote back, “is that problem solving or business smartness without ethics, and without respect for human dignity, and without a sensibility toward social justice … is simply just business.”
Don’t Roll Back Fuel Standards, End Them
A Bloomberg View piece cites research by Mark Jacobsen of Economics and Arthur van Benthem at the Wharton School suggesting that higher fuel-efficiency standards may keep gas guzzlers on the road longer.
How Adding Another Person to a Conversation Builds Capacity
For the second segment of an interview with Education Week, Alan Daly of Education Studies explores the benefits of bringing a third person into a one-on-one conversation.
Breaking the Boundaries of Communication
The Guardian, UC San Diego’s student newspaper, sat down with Daniel Hallin of Communication, who helped build the department from its earliest days.
Grad Programs Earn High Marks in 2018 U.S. News and World Report Guidebook Rankings
Division of Social Sciences departments in political science (ranked 9th), economics (ranked 12th) and psychology (ranked 13th) were lauded as some of the top programs in the nation. The specialty areas of behavioral neuroscience, econometrics and international politics were all ranked 4th in the nation. Cognitive psychology and public finance were both 8th, while comparative politics and development economics were both 10th. American politics and political methodology were ranked, respectively, 11th and 12th.
Struggling Students Moved to Online Charters, Boosting District’s Record Grad Rate
Voice of San Diego released a report on the large number of students who left San Diego Unified high schools for charter schools geared toward recovering credits. The report cites work by Julian Betts of Economics, executive director of the San Diego Education Research Alliance, SanDERA.
Speaking Mandarin May Offer Kids a Musical Edge
A study led by Sarah Creel of Cognitive Science and co-author Gail Heyman of Psychology is featured in Science News for Students.
A Pendant Fit for a King
To say that Geoffrey Braswell of Anthropology was surprised to discover a precious jewel in Nim Li Punit in southern Belize is something of an understatement. “It was like finding the Hope Diamond in Peoria instead of New York,” said Braswell, who led the dig that uncovered a large piece of carved jade once belonging to an ancient Maya king. News organizations across the globe were fascinated by the archaeological find, including KPBS, LiveScience, San Diego Union-Tribune, Fox News, Tech Times, National Geographic, Archaeology, BBC Mundo, Spiegel, the Hindu and more. It was the week’s No. 1 story on the EurekAlert news service operated by AAAS, the organization that publishes Science.
Vacant Church in San Ysidro to Become Community Center, Park
KPBS reports on the news of community-space redevelopment by Casa Familiar and the UCSD Center on Global Justice, led by Teddy Cruz of Visual Arts and Fonna Forman of Political Science.
Sanctuary City Limits
Tom Wong of Political Science is featured in a recent episode of the Scholar Strategy Network’s podcast No Jargon. For the podcast, Wong discusses his research on sanctuary cities and dispels common myths.
International Institute – Inaugural Event and Call for Faculty Groups
Headed by Nancy Postero of Anthropology, the institute hopes to foster new collaborations on international issues; applications for funding due March 30. An inaugural event March 14 features a UC Berkeley political theorist on the rise of authoritarianism.
Professors and Politics: What the Research Says
An Inside Higher Ed article, responding to the accusation by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos that liberal professors forces their views on students, cites sociologist Amy Binder’s 2012 book “Becoming Right: How Campuses Shape Young Conservatives.”
A Heartfelt Thank You
The UC San Diego annual Hearts and Scholars dinner connects scholarship recipients with donors, including Jayaram Bhat of the Bhat Family Scholarship. Bhat decided to support student scholarships for transfer students after his son, Rohit Bhat, graduated with a Psychology degree in 2014.
Robots Poised to Take Over Wide Range of Military Jobs
“Robots will continue to replace the dirty, dull and dangerous jobs, and this will affect typically more uneducated and unskilled workers,” said Henrik Christensen, director of the Contextual Robotics Institute, to the Union-Tribune.
Team Soc Sci Needs You
Yeah, you! Join the divisional team, Team Soc Sci, in support of student scholarships at the annual Triton 5K on Sunday, April 9. You can run, walk, hop, skip or jump. But you must register first. Also, in case you missed it: Special Social Sciences’ schwag includes towels.
UC San Diego Launches Online Courses with edX to Advance Careers in Data Science
The university’s Data Science program grew out of a call for MicroMasters proposals fielded by Beth Simon of Education Studies, formerly associated with Computer Science and Engineering.
Study Documents How Strict Voter ID Laws Suppress Voting by People of Color
A recent Journal of Politics study by political scientist Zoltan Hajnal and Ph.D. student Nazita Lajevardi was the subject of this extensive feature. “When these laws are enacted, the voices of Latinos, Blacks, and Asian Americans all become more muted and the relative influence of white America grows," Hajnal told Facing South, a publication of the nonprofit Institute for Southern Studies.
UC San Diego to Probe How Humans Became Aware of Death
How awareness of death has factored into our evolution and neurobiology was the focus of the latest Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA) symposium. Margaret Schoeninger of Anthropology is co-director of CARTA with Ajit Varki: Varki appeared on KPBS to discuss.
Who Will Pay for Trump’s ‘Big, Beautiful’ Wall?
“Trump’s executive order to begin construction of a new border wall and his continued insistence that Mexico pay for it are political theater, intended for consumption by his U.S. base,” writes Wayne Cornelius of Political Science.
Trump Will Lose America Like Pete Wilson Lost California
Writing in The Hill, sociologist John Skrentny, co-director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, says that the processes that turned California blue will occur throughout the rest of the United States. Skrentny went on air with KPCC’s Take Two to discuss his prediction. He was also featured in WalletHub's recent debate on the U.S.-Mexico wall and in a National Geographic story about the surprising ways science survives travel bans and gag orders.
Free Speech Includes All Views
Erik Gartzke of Political Science says in this San Diego Union-Tribune op-ed: “The use of violence and intimidation to prevent the free exchange of ideas must be vigorously opposed since this is fundamental to the mission of an academic community.”
How Can Archaeology Help Us Adapt to Climate Change?
Environmental archaeologist Isabel Rivera-Collazo, a new joint hire of Anthropology and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, appeared on KPBS Midday Edition.
Code-Dependent: Pros and Cons of the Algorithm Age
In addition to saving lives and conquering chaos, algorithms “can also put too much control in the hands of corporations and governments, perpetuate bias, create filter bubbles, cut choices, creativity and serendipity, and could result in greater unemployment,” finds a Pew report surveying experts. One of the experts survey and quoted is Lilly Irani of Communication.
Social Science Research Council Names Alondra Nelson as Next President
Anthropology alumna Alondra Nelson, current professor of sociology and dean of social science at Columbia University, was selected for a five-year term as president of the Social Science Research Council.
UC San Diego Undergraduate Named Principal Community Scholar
Global Health major Selena Lopez was recently recognized for her efforts to give back to the San Diego community while promoting health, the environment and social justice.
The American Obsession With Parenting
Summarizing research by economists Valerie Ramey and Garey Ramey, the Atlantic writes: The amount of time spent by parents on childcare in the U.S. started to increase dramatically in the 1990s, especially among the college-educated. The Rameys’ research on the “Rug Rat Race” was also cited in The Economist’s 1843 supplement.
Do Voter Identification Laws Suppress Minority Voting? Yes. We Did the Research.
“Before 2006, no state required photo identification to vote on Election Day. Today 10 states have this requirement,” writes political scientist Zoltan Hajnal in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog.
Trump Administration Signals Shift in Policy on DACA
"The game seems to have changed when it comes to interior immigration enforcement under Trump," said Tom Wong of Political Science on NPR’s All Things Considered.
Hunter Proposes Cutting Student Aid to ‘Sanctuary Campuses’
Nathan Fletcher of Political Science said many of his students are frightened by talk of a crackdown on undocumented individuals.
Feb. 23, 1 p.m.: Basement Entrepreneur Series
Cognitive Science alumnus Sam Ramji, new VP of product management for Google Cloud, is giving a talk.
March 13, 7:30 a.m.: Economics Roundtable
Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard University and former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund will discuss “The Case for a Less-Cash Economy.”
March 19, 2 p.m.: Memorial for George Mandler
Please RSVP before March 12 for a celebration of the life and legacy of Psychology department founder George Mandler.
Culture Report: Carving Out Community Space in San Ysidro
A community center and urban park will be developed in San Ysidro by Casa Familiar and the UCSD Center on Global Justice, led by Teddy Cruz of Visual Arts and Fonna Forman of Political Science.
East Village’s Emerging Arts District Doesn’t Have Much Art
Sociologist Mary Walshok, associate vice chancellor for public programs, has been a longtime proponent of giving UC San Diego a home downtown, the Voice of San Diego reports. Walshok said the planned space in the downtown building would include a 350-seat amphitheater and other venues specifically designed for hosting arts and culture events.
What Drives Population Declines in Some States
Research by Isaac Martin of Sociology is cited, showing that the burden of property taxes prompts some people to move but mostly when coupled with a drop in income.
Middle, Senior High Students Visit Ancient Sites in 3D – Without Leaving La Jolla
The Center for Cyber-Archaeology and Sustainability (CCAS) and Qualcomm Institute hosted nearly 200 students on the UC San Diego campus from neighboring La Jolla Country Day School. Anthropologist Thomas Levy, who directs CCAS, participated. The La Jolla school reported on the visit as well.
Meet our New Faces
Political Science alumna Katherine Johnston is now the senior vice president of communications of the San Diego Downtown Partnership, after working for six years in the Office of the Mayor.
Modi Faces ‘Disappointed’ Voters in India’s Most Populous State
Education research conducted by economist Karthik Muralidharan is cited in the New York Times.
Misophonia: When Chewing, Other Everyday Sounds Enrage You
Psychology Ph.D. candidate Miren Edelstein comments on a recent study on misophonia. Edelstein has conducted her own research on the condition, which sees some people react negatively to sounds such as those made when breathing or eating.
'What the F'
The New York Review of Books features cognitive scientist Benjamin Bergen’s book.
Q&A: Immigration Expert
It’s “highly unlikely,” political scientist Wayne Cornelius said, that the current administration’s plan to invest in a border wall along the Mexico border will have any significant effect on cross-border traffic.
Residents Along U.S.-Mexico Border Shrug off Trump's Wall Plan
David FitzGerald, of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, is cited in this Xinhua (China) report. FitzGerald also spoke with Yomiuri Shimbun (Japan) on sanctuary city policies.
Pressure for Town Halls Ratchets Up; Issa not Biting
Gary Jacobson of Political Science says in the Union-Tribune that elected representatives brush off protesters and town hall requests “at their peril.”
The Wrong Way to Stop Terrorism
Claire Adida of Political Science co-writes a piece for Foreign Affairs on what the data show about attacks and immigration: “[T]he key to the United States’ security is the successful integration of a diverse population eager to become productive members of society.”
San Diego Professor Finds Sanctuary Counties Are Safer and Economically Stronger
Political scientist Tom Wong released a report through the Center for America Progress that analyzes the effects of sanctuary policies on crime and the economy. Wide media coverage included the Washington Post, Union-Tribune, NBC San Diego, KPBS, City Lab and CBS News, along with many other outlets. Wong’s previous work on DACA’s positive economic effects was also covered.
Do Regulations Really Kill Jobs?
The Atlantic cites a study of pollution policy in Los Angeles co-authored by Eli Berman of Economics. The study found “no evidence that local air quality regulation substantially reduced employment.”
San Diego Lab Creates Partially Human Pig Embryos
For its coverage on a new study out of the Salk Institute, KPBS reached out to Social Sciences Associate Dean John Evans. A sociologist, Evans said ethical concerns could be raised if cross-species mixing were taken many steps further, but this study didn’t cross the line.
Did Twitter Make Trump the President?
“As the nation inaugurated its first Twitter President,” Education Week writes, one of their reporters met with Alan Daly of Education Studies to talk about “how the little 140-character messages are bending big politics.”
UC San Diego Leading the Way in Upward Social Mobility
Study reveals campus forges path for low-income students on the road to economic success.
Gentrification Has Virtually No Effect on Homeowners
The risk of displacement falls largely on renters, writes Richard Florida in the Atlantic’s CityLab, covering a recent study by Isaac Martin of Sociology.
How to Make America’s Robots Great Again
The New York Times talks about the future of robotics in the U.S. with Henrik Christensen, director of the Contextual Robotics Institute. Called “one of the most influential robotics researchers in the world,” Christensen also spoke with the Robotic Industries Association. Discussing the U.S. Robotics Roadmap and the campus institute’s role in its vision, he remarked: “UC San Diego has the best cognitive science department in the world. We want to understand how robots can become the best possible complement to humans for work, for independent living. Given that we have a strong engineering department and a strong cogsci, if I put them in the same room, we can do things that you couldn’t do otherwise.”
Trump’s Immigration Order Is Bad Foreign Policy
Center for Comparative Immigration Studies co-director and sociologist David FitzGerald gives a quick lesson on the history of nationality-based immigration bans in this Conversation op-ed, reprinted by Newsweek, U.S. News, UPI and several others.
How the US Immigration System Compares to Japan, Canada and the UK
Sociologist John Skrentny appeared on WBUR’s “Here and Now.” Skrentny, co-director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, discussed what the United States could learn about immigration by looking at other nations.
Feb. 9: The Future of Immigration Reform
David FitzGerald of Sociology and Tom Wong of Political Science join moderator David Lake of Political Science in this American Academy of Arts and Sciences discussion at the UC San Diego Faculty Club. The talk begins at 5 p.m.; RSVP to cmcdermott@amacad.org.
Feb. 15: Quarterly Conversations in Global Health
Did you know that hunger and malnutrition are still the number one health risk worldwide? Join the Global Health Program in the Great Hall to hear from an interdisciplinary panel of experts on food insecurity from local and global perspectives. The program’s summer work at the Chile Global Health Field School was recently featured on their blog.
Feb. 22: Identities Are Changeable (PDF)
Anthropology and Ethnic Studies are among the co-sponsors of this 2 p.m. conversation with jazz saxophonist Miguel Zenón, a Grammy nominee and a MacArthur and Guggenheim fellow exploring Puerto Rican identity in New York.
Group Begins Circulating Petitions in Hopes of Making California Its Own Nation
“That would set in place another California initiative,” said Thad Kousser of Political Science. “Then you have to add another positive vote and then the rest of the nation would have to decide whether they really want to let California and all its tax dollars, all its sunshine, and all its military bases walk away from the union. All of that looks incredibly improbable right now but it has to start with the first step.” Kousser also spoke with the Christian Science Monitor on the future role of Gov. Gerry Brown, NBC San Diego for their “Politically Speaking” segment, and the Los Angeles Times on presidential incompetence.
IGNITE @ UC San Diego Conference Aims to Accelerate Innovation
“UC San Diego is the university of the future,” said Vice Chancellor of Research Sandra Brown of Psychology. “IGNITE @ UC San Diego will spur the regional economy by bringing the campus and regional communities together to spark new ideas, share expertise and generate new opportunities for collaboration.”
California Border Town Mayor Says Trump Plan Will Hurt Local Economy
David FitzGerald of Sociology gives an analytical look at immigration and crime rates, saying immigrants are not more likely to commit crime.
Giving Sanctuary to Undocumented Immigrants Doesn’t Threaten Public Safety – It Increases It
“Sanctuary jurisdictions–39 cities and 364 counties across the country have policies that limit local law enforcement’s involvement in enforcing federal immigration laws–increase public safety,” write political scientist Wayne Cornelius and coauthors in this Los Angeles Times op-ed.
UCSD Class Fails Literacy Test Once Given to Minority Voters
Political Science professor of practice Nathan Fletcher recently gave his students a so-called “literacy test” that black people in the South once had to take to vote. The result? No so good. “The only way I could describe it was devastating,” a student said about taking the test. “You literally heard the gasps. This is a test obviously designed for you to fail.” Also, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla’s visit to Fletcher’s class was covered by FOX News, Voice of San Diego and Univision.
San Jose Councilman Takes Oath of Office With Captain America Shield
“I think it’s a symbol of what’s positive,” Political Science alumnus Lan Diep said when he was sworn in. “I want to shine a ray of optimism.”
Team Soc Sci Needs You
Yeah, you! Join the divisional team, Team Soc Sci, in support of student scholarships at the annual Triton 5K on Sunday, April 9. You can run, walk, hop, skip or jump. But you must register first.
Zeinabu Davis on Using Film to Tell Stories About the Black Experience
The San Diego Union-Tribune interviews Zeinabu Davis of Communication about her latest film, “Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema from UCLA,” which highlights a number of fellow filmmakers from the Los Angeles Rebellion movement.
Reimagining the Working Class
Curtis Marez of Ethnic Studies participated in an LA Review of Books roundtable discussion on economic and racial justice in the Age of Trump. Additionally, Marez’s book “Farm Worker Futurism: Speculative Technologies of Resistance” was the inspiration for a Flash Forward podcast on the future of farming, for which he was interviewed.
Mandarin Makes You More Musical?
Mandarin makes you more musical – and at a much earlier age than previously thought. That’s the suggestion of a new study from lead author Sarah Creel of Cognitive Science and co-author Gail Heyman of Psychology. PsychCentral, the UK’s DailyMail and the Economic Times of India were among outlets covering the study.
Ring-Tailed Lemur Populations Have Crashed by 95 Percent
Scientific American (linked above) and Conservation International blog about research by anthropologist Marni Lafleur, co-director of Lemur Love. Lafleur also published a letter in Nature calling for improvements in the fight against Madagascar’s illegal trade in lemurs.
Impact of UC San Diego Research
UCTV: At Founders Symposium 2016, Christina Gremel of Psychology talks about what it takes to break habits. Gremel’s talk starts at the 14-minute mark.
'The Border Is a Way of Reinforcing Antagonism That Doesn't Exist'
UCSD-Blum Cross-Border Initiative co-directors Teddy Cruz of Visual Arts and Fonna Forman of Political Science want to turn the line between the U.S. and Mexico into a site for creative problem solving, The Atlantic’s City Lab reports.
San Diego’s Public Transit Growth Hits Speed Bump
Economist Mark Jacobsen tells KPBS that, in the long term, good land-use planning is critical to maximizing transit ridership. Meanwhile, manipulating prices is most effective but not popular.
Contreras, Norbash Appointed AVCs for Faculty Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
UC San Diego professors Frances Contreras of Education Studies and Alexander Norbash have been appointed to serve as associate vice chancellors for Faculty Equity, Diversity and Inclusion beginning January 2017.
What Apple, Google, and Tesla Get Wrong
In conversation with Co.Design, Design Lab director and cognitive scientist Don Norman offers cutting criticism of Silicon Valley's brightest.
An Oil Crisis Is Looming: Welcome to Trump-Putin World
“Geopolitical events have figured very large in questions about oil supply and I think that will continue,” says James Hamilton of Economics in the Daily Beast.
Transcript and Analysis: Obama Addresses the Nation in Farewell Speech
Political scientist Thad Kousser spoke with KPBS about President Obama’s farewell address to the nation and to KPCC about then-President Elect Donald Trump’s first press conference since July. In the Times of San Diego, Kousser was quoted about turning apathy into a political movement.
Why the Republican Plan to Repeal Obamacare Is so Extraordinary
Sociologist Lane Kenworthy, director of the Yankelovich Center at UC San Diego, expressed confidence to the Washington Post’s Wonkblog that the country will eventually offer universal healthcare. “Parts of [Obamacare] will be taken away. Parts of it will be left in place, and other parts will be changed a little bit,” he said. “It's not going to be a true repeal. It's not like everything goes off the books.”
Getting a Scientific Message Across Means Taking Human Nature into Account
Cognitive Science Ph.D. candidate Rose Hendricks writes in The Conversation about applying the lessons of psychology to science communication. The San Francisco Chronicle and others picked up the piece.
Let's Not Murder the King's English
Linguistics Ph.D. candidate Amanda Ritchart is quoted in an op-ed for the Coachella Valley-based Desert Sun.
Demystifying a Phantom
The Hindu covers a talk on phantom limb syndrome given by psychologist V.S. Ramachandran, director of the Center for Brain and Cognition.
Obama Looks to His Legacy
An op-ed cites the work of political scientist Gary Jacobson, who argued last year in the journal of the American Academy of Political and Social Science that President Barack Obama will have a permanent effect on the U.S. partisan profile.
YHS Graduate Begins Sign Language Career
Ryan Taylor, a 2015 undergraduate alumnus of Linguistics, has developed a passion for American Sign Language and now works as a sign language facilitator for the Southern Oregon Education Service District.
C-SPAN Cities Tour: San Diego
Featured videos include: Balboa Park, Dr. Seuss, the city’s naval history, a look at UC San Diego special collections and a conversation with Benjamin Bergen of Cognitive Science.
County Supervisors Need to Start Putting Themselves Last
In this op-ed for Voice of San Diego, Nathan Fletcher of Political Science says it’s time to invest in those families most in need.
What Science Can Tell Us About Trans People’s Brains – and What It Cannot
When Psychology Ph.D. alumna Laura Case was completing her degree, she and a small research team conducted an experiment on eight transgender men and genderqueer individuals, with findings published in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.
Stories in the current issue of UC San Diego Alumni’s Triton magazine include:
Beauty Behind Bars
Sociology doctoral alumna Laura Pecenco is using art to better serve prison’s true aim of rehabilitation.
Maria Ho Goes All In
As a Communication undergraduate, Maria Ho had to fight her way into her guy friends’ poker night. Now she plays for stakes they could only dream of.
Sign of the Times
In 1967, a handful of Tritons – including Geoff Moyle of Economics – created UC San Diego’s only student newspaper to stand the test of time, the paper now called The UCSD Guardian.
The Worst F&#%ing Words Ever
A Q&A with cognitive scientist Benjamin Bergen on his “book-length love letter to profanity.”
Nanome Inc.
A visit to The Basement and the team behind Nanome Inc., a virtual reality company created by alumni Keita Funakawa of Economics and Steve McCloskey of Nanoengineering.
Finding Pixar
Sociology alumna Becky Neiman-Cobb helps to bring beloved Disney/Pixar characters to life.
The Year in Reading
In the New York Times’ annual roundup of what notable people have been reading, Francis Fukuyama names among his go-to a book by Marisa Abrajano and Zoltan Hajnal of Political Science, “White Backlash: Immigration, Race, and American Politics.”
Top 100 Articles 2016
Altmetric’s annual list measuring a paper’s public impact includes a study on Facebook and longevity by James Fowler and alumnus Will Hobbs of Political Science. Topping the list is President Barack Obama's JAMA article at no. 1.
The Best Books of 2016
Foreign Affairs names “Aspirational Power: Brazil on the Long Road to Global Influence,” coauthored by David Mares of Political Science, as one of its best books of the year.
Teacher Networks: Here, There, and Everywhere
Education Studies chair Alan Daly’s work on tracking network development among teachers is included in this Education Week blog post.
Schools Worry About Campus Tone in Trump Era
Mica Pollock of Education Studies and CREATE was the keynote speaker at a USD conference, the Union-Tribune reports, linking also to Pollock’s most recent piece in the Washington Post.
Toeing the Line: Study Finds Brain Cells that Signal Path of Travel
“We’re describing an entirely new and unexpected form of neural activity,” said senior author Douglas Nitz of Cognitive Science. Ph.D. student Jacob Olson and undergraduate Kanyanat Tongprasearth coauthored the paper published in Nature Neuroscience.
UC San Diego Research Awarded $3.8 Million for Critical, Innovative Work
Interdisciplinary, multi-campus projects led by Thad Kousser of Political Science and Yen Espiritu of Ethnic Studies are part of a larger $17 million grant award from the University of California Office of the President.
Number of UC San Diego Freshman Applications Continue to Rise
The most popular majors chosen by freshman applicants are in social sciences, engineering and biology.
Inside Amazon's Clickworker Platform: How Half a Million People Are Being Paid Pennies to Train AI
Research by Lilly Irani of Communication, on collective action by Amazon contract workers, or “Turkers,” is included in this extensive TechRepublic cover story.
Will Putin Unite the European and American Right?
Robert Horwitz of Communication says in this New Yorker essay that he sees an ideological connection between Putinism and American cultural conservatism.
This Study Could Unlock the Mysteries of Teen Brain Development
The national Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study is in STAT. The study’s Coordinating Center is led by Terry Jernigan of Cognitive Science and the Center for Human Development, and Sandra Brown of Psychology.
Swearing Is Scientifically Proven to Help You *%$!ing Deal
Cognitive scientist Benjamin Bergen’s book “What the F” is included in this TIME feature.
How Trump's Deportation Plans Could Damage Our Economy
Research by Tom Wong of Political Science, showing how DACA both helped the lives of the recipients and was good for the U.S. economy, is cited in Mother Jones. The Center for American Progress also includes work by Wong in “Now is the time to continue – not end – DACA.”
How Donald Trump Will Make America White Again
The Nation cites David FitzGerald of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, who describes the thinking among early-20th-century U.S. lawmakers alarmed by the unprecedented waves of poorer, swarthier immigrants coming to the nation at the time. To KPBS, FitzGerald said, “History shows that when we build more walls, it becomes more dangerous to cross.”
Is There Life Beyond the Chargers?
The Union-Tribune looks at all aspects of post-Chargers San Diego, turning to economist Gordon Dahl to discuss his study on domestic violence and football.
UC San Diego's Urban Hub to be Catalyst for Region
“With change, comes opportunity. Understanding that moment – and seizing its promises – is key,” write Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla and UCSD Extension dean Mary Walshok of Sociology. Their op-ed appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune, announcing the university’s new development located in downtown San Diego.
The Great A.I. Awakening
New York Times Magazine story on Google Translate and machine learning prominently features Geoff Hinton, whose start-up out of the University of Toronto was acquired by Google. Hinton did some of his early research on neural networks at UC San Diego in the late 1970s/early ’80s, working with cognitive scientists and psychologists on campus.
UCTV: Days after the November election, prominent UC San Diego faculty including political scientist David Mares took stock of what’s at stake for the incoming administration and the country it will lead.
L.A. Mayor Promises Improved Customer Service at DWP
Steve Erie of Political Science said there are a lot of “gray areas” in proposed customer service plan for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and questioned whether it would change public perceptions.
Timing Is Everything
For the Scholars Strategy Network’s No Jargon podcast, Zoltan Hajnal of Political Science explains how combining national, state, and local election days would boost turnout and reduce disparities in voting and representation. NBC News, meanwhile, ran a piece citing Hajnal’s recent study showing that restrictive voter ID laws depress turnout the most among minority voters as well as those with less income and education.
It's Not the Weather that Makes Christmas So Deadly
David Phillips of Sociology first pointed out the phenomenon of the holiday season’s increased death rates, now nicknamed the “Merry Christmas Coronary,” the “Happy New Year Heart Attack” or the more reserved “Christmas Holiday Effect,” Washington Post’s Wonkblog reports.
UC San Diego Archaeologist Explores Prehistoric Sites in Indian State for Digital Conservation
Thomas Levy of Anthropology was in south-central India to tour 10 cultural heritage sites across five districts in the new Indian state of Telangana and its capital city, Hyderabad. Levy is looking to a forge cyber-archaeology MOU with the Indian government and his Center for Cyber-Archaeology and Sustainability.
Study: Medicaid Changes Could Cost RI $514M
Research by Jeffrey Clemens of Economics is used in this WPRI Eyewitness News report.
Gas Prices Are Rising Again. What Does that Mean for the Economy?
A 2009 study by James Hamilton of Economics was cited by the Houston Chronicle.
Governor Brown Appoints Four to San Diego County Superior Court
In the coming weeks, Psychology alumna Cynthia Freeland will be sworn into her new role alongside the other lawyers appointed by Governor Brown. The Union-Tribune also reported on the appointments.
“After graduating high school in Singapore, I earned my bachelor’s degree in Communication from the University of California San Diego,” says alumna Kristina Audencial in this profile feature.
How Robots Will Change the American Workforce
“My own prediction is that kids born today will never get to drive a car. Autonomous, driverless cars are 10, 15 years out,” said Henrik Christensen, head of the Contextual Robotics Institute, a joint endeavor of the Division of Social Sciences and the Jacobs School of Engineering. The comments, made to the Union-Tribune ahead of the institute’s February forum, caught the attention of Motor Trend, Government Technology, Market Business News and Quartz, among others.
2016
Three Challenges for Teachers in the Era of Trump
“We need to lead a charge for accurate information about our country and its people,” writes Mica Pollock of Education Studies and CREATE in this guest piece for the Washington Post’s Answer Sheet blog.
The Election Really Was Rigged
Washington Post opinion writer Dana Milbank relies heavily in this piece on research by Zoltan Hajnal of Political Science and also quotes him at length. “We have across most states some significant element of voter suppression,” Hajnal said. “Over time these have shrunk the electorate in significant ways and tilted the electorate toward the Republican Party.”
Psychologists Think Your Lies About Santa Will Damage Your Kids
Parents generally lie for two reasons: to make children do something, and to make children happy, says Gail Heyman of Psychology. This Huffington Post story also features research by psychologist Leslie Carver.
UCSD Opening Permanent Downtown Outpost
Union-Tribune story on new campus building to open downtown – the “Innovative Cultural and Education Hub” at Park Boulevard and Market Street in East Village –includes Keith Pezzoli of Communication and Urban Studies and Planning, Mary Walshok of Extension and Sociology, and Political Science alumnus Christopher Yanov. Read the UC San Diego press release.
Coming Home: Alumni Faculty Share Why They Came Back to Campus
It’s no secret that UC San Diego’s reputation as is a major draw for prospective students, but it’s also pulled many graduates – including Social Sciences alumni Grant Goodall and Mike Callen – back to campus to serve as faculty members. Callen, a graduate from Economics, is now an assistant professor at the Rady School of Management. Goodall, who said the caliber of faculty and graduate students on campus drew him back, returned to Linguistics.
Introducing PsyArXiv
PsyArXiv is a recently launched digital archive for the psychological sciences dedicated to providing a free, open access outlet for new findings. It joins a growing collection of open access archives in other academic fields. David Barner of both Linguistics and Psychology serves on PsyArXiv’s steering committee. Read the FAQs.
Really? Most Americans Don't Suffer Information Overload
Dan Hallin of Communication spoke to the Union-Tribune following a Pew report that shows most people in the United States don’t feel overwhelmed by too much information. “The fact that the volume on information circulating has increased doesn’t necessarily mean that most people are consuming more of it. It doesn’t even mean that they are exposed to more of it,” he said.
California Attorney General Pick Pledges Affront to Trump
Political scientist Thad Kousser weighs in on the role of rising California Democrat Xavier Becerra in this widely reprinted Associated Press story.
Sacramento Report: Voting Is a Two-Way Street
In the Voice of San Diego, Thad Kousser of Political Science talks about a study he conducted with Seth Hill, also of Political Science. Working with California Common Cause, they sent non-partisan letters to 150,000 of the roughly 4 million Californians who vote in general elections but skip primaries — a group often ignored by campaigns, Kousser said. They found that sending one letter increased turnout by 5.4 percent: “Direct outreach does have an effect,” Kousser said. “Invitations do matter.”
Immigrant Exclusion and Insecurity in Africa
Political scientist Claire Adida speaks about her 2014 book “Immigrant Exclusion and Insecurity in Africa: Coethnic Strangers” with the African American Intellectual History Society. Adida was also interviewed by VOA’s Daybreak Africa on her immigration in Africa research, beginning around the podcast’s 15-minute mark.
Why Immigrants Won’t Self-Deport
In this Los Angeles Times op-ed, Wayne Cornelius of Political Science said “mass self-deportation is destined to remain a fantasy of immigration hawks. Turning the U.S. into a police state to get rid of a large chunk of the labor force that most citizens consider indispensable is not politically sustainable, let alone economically sensible.”
The Woman Who Sees Time as a Hula Hoop
A small group of people see calendars not as grids, but as rings, check marks and other objects that seem vividly real. The Atlantic reports that V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology is studying people with this perceptual quirk for insights into the human brain.
Stimulating the Brain Can Bring Back Forgotten Short-Term Memories
People have been wondering for a decade whether short-term memory might work when the neurons aren’t firing, says Edward Ester, a postdoctoral researcher in Psychology. Until now, though, nobody could show this using a direct experiment in humans.
Cute Coincidence? Uranus? One Summer, Three Presidents
“It’s a cute coincidence more than anything else,” political scientist Gary Jacobson said regarding the fact that Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Donald Trump were born within 10 weeks of each other in 1946.
Passing of Anthropology Professor Emeritus Roy D’Andrade
Roy D’Andrade, 84, played an important role at UC San Diego as one of the founding members of the anthropology department, as a strong advocate of research bridging traditional disciplinary boundaries, and as a founder of the field of cognitive anthropology.
Video: CAVEkiosk at UC San Diego Geisel Library Opens
The Geisel Library virtual reality CAVEkiosk is one of four planned for University of California campuses at San Diego, Berkeley, Los Angeles and Merced. All are partners in a UC collaboration led by anthropologist Thomas Levy, director of the Center for Cyber-Archaeology and Sustainability (CCAS).
#Calexit – Fun Hashtag, Bad Idea
In a Los Angeles Times op-ed, Thad Kousser of Political Science looks to “inject some political reality” into calls for California secession.
2016 AAAS Fellow
Economist Richard Carson is one of five at UC San Diego honored for advancing science applications that are “scientifically or socially distinguished.”
David A. Lake: Master Builder (PDF)
Political scientist David Lake is the 2016-17 American Political Science Association president and was featured in the organization’s October publication: “Intellectually, Lake is and always has been motivated by big questions about how international order is constructed. In his research, he has rigorously parsed what it means for states to build order, arguing order is actively constructed.”
Fellowships Totaling $120,000 Support Graduate Students Studying Human Origins
Four of the 2016 recipients are from the Division of Social Sciences. Co-directed by Margaret Schoeninger of Anthropology, the Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA) will administer the research fellowships.
Young ‘Dreamers’ See Peril as Trump Plans for Deportations
Tom Wong of Political Science, a former advisor to the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders under President Barack Obama, spoke with Bloomberg News about potential immigration policy by the incoming administration. The story appeared in such outlets as the Mercury News and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Wong was also quoted in the Union-Tribune, in an article considering what federal funding San Diego might lose if it’s defined as a “sanctuary city.”
This Land Is My Land, That Land Is Your Land
A recent United States of Anxiety podcast, a production of WNYC and The Nation, features David FitzGerald of Sociology addressing just how broken the U.S. immigration system appears to be.
Walking the Talk
Featured in ThisWeek @ UC San Diego, Karthik Muralidharan of Economics is not afraid to get his shoes dirty in the fight against inequality.
Experts Say Original Pyramid Found at Mayan Ruins in Mexico
The Associated Press sought the expertise of Geoffrey Braswell of Anthropology about an archaeological find at Chichen Itza, where Braswell has previously conducted research. He compared the pyramid – discovered within two other structures – to a Russian nesting doll and said it might be new or it might have been detected in the 1940s. The story appeared in the New York Times (linked above), CBS News, the Huffington Post, the Daily Mail, Vice and the San Francisco Chronicle, among many others.
Synaesthetes Who ‘See’ Calendar Hint How Our Brains Handle Time
The New Scientist reports on recent research from the lab of V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology: “The idea that calendars are literally laid out in space for some people suggests that we are all hardwired to some extent to map time in space.” CW6, meanwhile, reports on the efforts of two visiting scholars in Ramachandran’s lab, Jason McKeown and Paul McGeoch, to create a new weight-loss device.
Loretta Sanchez Went All-in on a Failed Bid for California's U.S. Senate Seat
Political scientist Thad Kousser tells the Los Angeles Times that Sanchez could use her support base to gain state office as soon as 2018. In both Bloomberg View and the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Kousser discusses political tactics for the next California governor’s race.
UC San Diego Grad’s ‘Rough Draft’ Beer Toasts $35,000 Prize
A San Diego-based craft brewery run by Jeff Silver, an alumnus of Cognitive Science, won a $35,000 prize that will help pay for international expansion efforts.
WTF? New Book Explores Our Fascination With Profanity
KQED’s The California Report interviews Benjamin Bergen of Cognitive Science on his new book. Continued media attention also comes from CBS News, the Statesman and Yahoo! News.
New Campus Lactation Room Open
Good news for nursing mothers on campus! Sequoyah Hall room 111 is now a dedicated lactation room. This room, one of several on campus, is available to faculty, staff, and graduate students balancing their work and study commitments with family needs.
The Rise of Trumpism
“Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s quip that ‘you’re entitled to your own opinions; you are not entitled to your own facts’ no longer applies.” - Robert Horwitz of Communication, writing for Seattle’s National Public Radio affiliate KUOW.
Trump, GOP Victories Don’t Guarantee Unified Government
Political scientist Sam Popkin in the San Diego Union-Tribune says that legislative success is not a certainty “when an outsider captures the presidency.”
The Frightening Effect of ‘Trump Talk’ on America’s Schools
In the Washington Post’s Answer Sheet blog, Mica Pollock of Education Studies looks at the effect of what she calls “Trump Talk” on students, teachers and school climate, and discusses how educators should respond.
Deplorable, Yourself
Writing just before the election, Isaac Martin of Sociology questions the “economic anxiety thesis” for Trump’s support as he reviews the books “White Rage,” “Strangers in Their Own Land,” “White Trash” and “Hillbilly Elegy.”
Why Hillary Clinton Lost
“It was an incredibly angry electorate,” Thad Kousser of Political Science told the San Francisco Chronicle. “They were not sure Trump was qualified to be president, but were confident he could change things up in Washington.” Before election night, Kousser was quoted in Associated Press and Bloomberg about numerous proposals on the California ballot.
On Average, Trump Comparison of Healthcare, Housing Doesn't Match Data
Jeffrey Clemens of Economics helps to fact check for Politifact’s Truth-o-Meter.
Tackling Changes and Challenges With Robotics
More than 200 engineers and social scientists took part in the annual Contextual Robotics Forum, with a presentation by Ayse Saygin and demos by Andrea Chiba, Virginia de Sa and alumna Deborah Forster, all of Cognitive Science. Dean Carol Padden gave opening remarks.
Facebook Could Be Associated With a Longer Life, Study Finds
A recently released study of 12 million Facebook users, led by James Fowler of Political Science and doctoral student William Hobbs, suggests that online social networks are linked to living longer – when they serve to maintain and enhance real-world social ties. The New York Times (linked above) covered the study, as well as the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Union-Tribune, Smithsonian, People, Reuters, Huffington Post, among many others.
First Year Experience Course Aids in Successful Transition of New Students
ThisWeek@UCSanDiego speaks with John Moore of Linguistics, provost of Muir College, about a course that seeks to arm students with practical tools to navigate the campus.
District's Highly Touted Grad Rate Excluded Thousands of Students
Voice of San Diego story references a study from the San Diego Education Research Alliance directed by Julian Betts of Economics.
Study of 1.5B Votes Finds Warming Will Test Incumbents
While writing his Ph.D. dissertation Political Science, alumnus Nick Obradovich researched the political effects of weather in electoral democracies. Looking at elections across 19 countries from 1925 to 2011, his study finds that when temperatures spiked in the year prior to election, turnover was more likely.
‘What the F’
Talks at Google features Benjamin Bergen of Cognitive Science discussing his book on the complex nature of profanity and its relationship to our culture. Please note that this video contains language some may consider strong.
The Majority of African Migrants Move Between Countries on the Continent
“Africans migrate in Africa all the time, looking for economic opportunity, interacting with members of their host societies, carving out a life for themselves away from their hometown,” said Claire Adida of Political Science. “Yet we know very little about these communities, their struggles and successes, and we have very little data. This is therefore a phenomenon that remains very much informal and poorly understood.”
Can Your Spouse Help you Get Elected? Here’s What Data from Africa Say
A study led by Claire Adida of Political Science was cited in this Washington Post Monkey Cage blog. The recently published original research is titled “The Spousal Bump: Do Cross-Ethnic Marriages Increase Political Support in Multiethnic Democracies?”
Researchers Have Found a Surprisingly Powerful Effect of Sleeping More
Economics Ph.D. student Jeffrey Shrader’s “Time Use and the Labor Market” is covered in the Washington Post’s Wonkblog.
University of California Statement on Presidential Election Results
President Janet Napolitano and the chancellors of the University of California issued the statement that reiterates the UC’s Principles Against Intolerance on Nov. 9.
Founders Day Festival Nov. 18
Daniel Yankelovich, founder of the division’s Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research, is being celebrated with a Chancellor’s Medal at this week’s campus celebration.
New Study of DACA Beneficiaries Shows Positive Economic and Educational Outcomes
This year marks the fourth anniversary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, initiative, which provides temporary relief from deportation and work authorization to eligible undocumented immigrants who entered the country at a young age. In this Center for American Progress study, Tom Wong of Political Science leads a team that shows DACA recipients are making significant contributions to the economy, among other findings. The report was covered by the San Diego Union-Tribune, Times of San Diego, KPBS, New America Media and Univision, among others.
New 3-D CAVEkiosk Brings Cyber-Archaeology to Geisel
The university’s iconic, futuristic spaceship of a building, Geisel Library, will unveil its first virtual-reality 3-D display system during a public reception on Monday, Nov. 7, from 10 a.m. to noon. The CAVEkiosk will be open to the campus community and the public at large, and it will also allow researchers to analyze and visualize 3-D data from at-risk archaeological sites in Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Israel, Greece, Morocco and Cyprus. The kiosk is part of a UC collaboration led by Tom Levy of Anthropology.
Alumni Play Integral Role in Campus Fundraising
In March, the university will celebrate the kickoff of the public phase of The Campaign for UC San Diego, a bold, ambitious and historic $2 billion fundraising effort. Our alumni are playing an integral role in the campaign, led by Economics alumnus Kenneth Kroner, Ph.D. ’88, a renowned global finance innovator who is chairing the International Leadership Committee. Related: Private support to UC San Diego totals a record-breaking $213 million.
Social Sciences E-Connection Is Out!
Read it here if you haven’t already. The fall issue includes a spotlight on development economist Karthik Muralidharan and how he takes on inequity in India; a letter from Social Sciences Dean Carol Padden on converting empathy to action; and a piece on how the Rising Leaders Program teams undergrads with alumni mentors, among many other stories. Check them out!
The Public Learning Curve
How do people go from raw opinion to judgment? Public opinion expert Daniel Yankelovich, founder of the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research at UC San Diego, explains in this video.
Dear Science: Why Can’t I Tickle Myself?
The Washington Post features psychologist Christine Harris discussing knismesis and other tickling matters that she’s researched. The feature was reprinted broadly.
Vatican, China Consider Deal on Selection of Bishops
The deal could be a diplomatic breakthrough for Pope Francis, reports the Wall Street Journal. But Vatican officials are bracing for protests from its Chinese adherents who have been underground for decades and, says Richard Madsen of Sociology, it could “cause serious divisions in the Chinese Catholic Church.”
Nov. 8: Election Night 2016 – A Political Party
Election returns on a theater screen, pizza, prediction contest and more. Free and open to all; registration required.
Nov. 10: Creating the Perfect Human? The Ethics of Enhancement
Do we have the means necessary to create the perfect human? Do we have a moral responsibility to do so? This public event, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Faculty Club, is part of an NSF-funded project on the ethics of emerging technologies, headed by Andrea Chiba of Cognitive Science. There is also a public event in the evening, at San Diego’s Central Library, focused on the science of learning.
If You Want a More Powerful President Trump, Impose Term Limits on Congress
In this Washington Post Monkey Cage blog post, political scientist by Thad Kousser explains that term limits are a popular idea as old as Ancient Greece, but they often don’t do what people think they will. And they tend to shift power to the executive branch. Kousser was also cited in separate pieces for the San Francisco Chronicle regarding political ramifications to the state’s response to Wells Fargo, and the Los Angeles Times on the California Senate race.
In Praise of Profanity
Cognitive scientist Benjamin Bergen’s latest book, “What the F,” was reviewed in the Wall Street Journal, adding to the extensive coverage the book has received. Bergen and the book were also recently featured in Mental Floss and Australia’s ABC, as well as in radio interviews for KPCC, WPR, KUER and BBC.
Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Honor
Design Lab director Don Norman of Cognitive Science received the 2016 Arnold M. Small President’s Distinguished Service award from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society at the society’s annual meeting in DC. He was also awarded an honorary degree from the University of the Republic of San Marino. Separately, but while still across the pond, Norman gave a talk on automation and society at the University of Florence, which was also covered by Italian press. Norman was also cited in the UK Register, discussing self-driving cars.
In 1992, Bill Clinton Launched a Manhattan Project to Win Voters’ Trust. Now It’s Hillary’s Turn.
Political scientist Samuel Popkin was part of Bill Clinton’s “Manhattan Project” – a team of campaign strategists convened to help the 1992 candidate overcome his “Slick Willy” image. Popkin recalls that experience for the Daily Beast and analyzes what Hillary Clinton is doing now to win voters’ trust.
Why a Tech Education Matters
In an article by Forbes outlining the 12 best STEM colleges for international students, John Skrentny of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies explains what may be leading foreign-born students to favor study in science, technology, economics and mathematics.
Forget ‘Teach a Man to Fish…’ Just Give Him Cash
Paul Niehaus of Economics was interviewed for a Tiny Spark podcast, saying “We’ve got to go back to people, now, and admit that … our fishing lessons aren’t very good.”
Live Long and… Facebook?
Is social media good for you, or bad? Well, it’s complicated. A study of 12 million Facebook users suggests that using Facebook is associated with living longer – when it serves to maintain and enhance your real-world social ties. The study was led by James Fowler of Political Science and doctoral student William Hobbs, who is now a postdoc at Northeastern. Fowler’s previous research on using the social media platform during election cycles was cited in the Washington Post and Yahoo News, as well.
Active Genetics Goes Global
UC San Diego has received a $70 million commitment from the India-based philanthropic Tata Trusts to establish the Tata Institute for Active Genetics and Society, a collaborative partnership between the university and research operations in India. The institute will include a parallel thrust in society and ethics, involving such social scientists as Karthik Muralidharan and Anita Raj.
Students Initiate Ambitious Get Out the Vote Campaign as Nov. 8 Election Nears
Massive voter registration efforts are underway at UC San Diego, as students from the nonpartisan Student Organized Voter Access Committee (SOVAC) race to register 4,000 students. The story quotes SOVAC executive director Liam Barrett, who is majoring in Political Science. Department chair Thad Kousser weighs in on the youth vote. Save the date Nov. 8 for ‘Election Night: A Political Party.”
Why Voting With Your Wallet Means Voting Democratic
“Americans from almost all groups do much better economically when a Democrat is in the White House than when a Republican is,” argue Zoltan Hajnal of Political Science and Barbara Walter of Global Policy and Strategy in this op-ed for CNN.
UC San Diego Announces Recipients of Chancellor’s and Revelle Medals
Daniel Yankelovich, founder of the division’s Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research, who also established the Yankelovich Chair in Social Thought, is being celebrated this year with a Chancellor’s Medal. The story notes his “passion for bringing together social science theory and practice for the betterment of society.”
California Teacher of the Year
Education Studies alumna Jenny Anderson is one of two San Diego County educators to be recognized as California Teacher of the Year. Anderson teaches at the Casita Center for Technology, Science, and Math in Vista, where she also leads a fourth grade journalism class and runs the DREAMS lab, which introduces students to the language of coding.
'Beautiful Wasteland'
Ethnic Studies Ph.D. alumna and Dean’s Fellowship recipient Rebecca Kinney published the book “Beautiful Wasteland: The Rise of Detroit as America’s Postindustrial Frontier.” In it, Kinney answers “What is the ‘New Detroit’ that everyone talks about?”
UC San Diego Foundation Welcomes 10 New Trustees
Of the 10 new trustees, three are Division of Social Sciences alumni: Kenneth Kroner of Economics, Jerrilyn Malana of Psychology and Robert Brownlie of Economics.
Oct. 28: Contextual Robotics Forum 2016
Focused on the future of robotics, the forum will this year address "Shared Autonomy: New Directions in Human-Machine Interaction." Ayse Saygin of Cognitive Science is one of the featured speakers and the technology showcase includes presentations by Andrea Chiba and Virginia de Sa, also of Cognitive Science. Social Sciences Dean Carol Padden will give remarks.
Nov. 2: Fall Quarterly Conversations in Global Health
Join the Global Health Program in the Great Hall to hear an interdisciplinary panel of experts discuss health inequalities from a gender perspective.
UCSD Economist Gauges Number of Workers Hit By Heat
KPBS interviews economist Joshua Graff Zivin about his worker productivity research, which links higher temperatures with lower outcomes. Also covered by CBS 8, his work shows the economic impacts of climate change.
Why Do We Love to Curse So Much?
The New York Times (linked above) and The Economist featured Benjamin Bergen of Cognitive Science and his new book, “What the F.” Bergen participated in a Reddit AMA and was also highlighted in the UCSD Guardian’s “Behind the Lectern” series.
Thad Kousser Talks Politics and Data
For UC San Diego Extension’s “50 Voices of the Future” series, Thad Kousser of Political Science answers questions like what’s the next big thing in his field and how big an impact politics will have in the region in the future. Kousser was also featured in the Daily Progress and The Hill regarding two California races, and a radio interview for KPCC on spending in the Inland Empire election.
Paul Niehaus on Rethinking Ways to Eradicate Global Poverty
Economist Paul Niehaus was also included in Extension’s “50 Voice of the Future.” Niehaus says the future looks bright: “In the very big picture, I’m incredibly optimistic. I think if you look at the trends now, there’s a reasonable chance that we will have reduced extreme poverty to a negligible number of people by 2030. To me, it’s all about getting there as quickly as possible.”
アメリカ不法移民の"最前線"
Sociologist David FitzGerald was interviewed by Japan’s Nippon Television about undocumented immigration into the United States. While the report is in Japanese, FitzGerald appears near the 10-minute mark, in English.
UCSD, Community Colleges Trying to Boost Humanities
Education Studies alumna Carmen Carrasquillo Jay, a former student of Amanda Datnow’s, was featured in San Diego Union-Tribune coverage of a $2.59 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to the Division of Arts & Humanities and the San Diego Community College District.
Clinton Prepares For ‘Difficult, Challenging’ Debate With Trump
Using his expertise in helping former presidential candidates prep for debates, Samuel Popkin of Political Science spoke with NPR multiple times leading up to the second Clinton-Trump debate. His NPR appearance was also included in a Los Angeles Times op-ed.
Expert Panel on the Science of the Presidential Debate
In a special virtual panel meant specifically for reporters covering the presidential debate, Andrew Kehler of Linguistics tracked the candidates’ comments which imply a meaning without directly stating it. A Bloomberg writer watching the panel followed up with Kehler.
Brand New
UC San Diego breaks boundaries in new branding campaign, which features Paul Niehaus of Economics and Dayo Gore of Ethnic Studies.
Good Schools for All: When to Consider Special Ed
In a recent Voice of San Diego podcast, Shana Cohen of Education Studies talks about how children from different backgrounds sometimes receive varied levels of services for developmental disabilities.
Forget Facts – Check the Candidates’ Innuendo
Andrew Kehler of Linguistics lent his expertise to Bloomberg View on the first debate between U.S. presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump: “We’re always taking more information away from utterances than what is said, and we don’t realize how we are manipulated this way.” The wire story was picked up widely, from the Chicago Tribune to the Japan Times.
Grand Project to Unify Global Efforts to Understand the Brain
Neuroscientists met in New York to agree on a global mission to understand the workings of the human brain. The meeting included Andrea Chiba of Cognitive Science, along with Terry Sejnowski of the Salk Institute and, at UC San Diego, the Institute for Neural Computation. Science and Nature also reported on the important gathering.
How Big Should Our Government Be?
Lane Kenworthy of the Yankelovich Center and Sociology presented evidence at the Economic Policy Institute about the effects of government spending on economic growth. He and his co-authors argue the United States can afford and would benefit from a significantly larger government presence to make the needed public investment to improve our economic future.
Convocation Keynote to Students: Mistakes are Stepping Stones on Path to Greatness
This year’s campus convocation guest speaker was Cognitive Science alumna Vivienne Ming. Ming, who was named one of Inc. magazine’s “10 Women to Watch in Tech,” told the incoming students: “The only bad decision you can make right now is to fail to grow as much as possible.” Along with Communication alumna Hillary Whittington, Ming was also featured in the latest issue of Triton magazine.
Oct. 7 and 8, 7 p.m.: I Was Never Alone – A New Documentary Play
Written by Communication post-doc Cassandra Hartblay, the play is based on interviews with people with disabilities living in Russia. It is presented as part of an interdisciplinary project between the departments of Communication and Theatre and Dance, made possible by the UC San Diego Frontiers of Innovation Scholarship Program.
Oct. 13, 6 p.m.: The Way We Talk – On Stuttering and Related Matters
The Department of Linguistics presents a screening of a documentary film “about grappling with the parts of ourselves that make us feel ashamed.” A Q&A with the director, a UCLA linguist, as well as members of the San Diego chapter of the National Stuttering Association follows. The event is cosponsored by the Division of Social Sciences.
Immigration Reform: Disparate Ideas, Disparate Futures
Political scientist Wayne Cornelius and the Mexico Migration Field Research Project were cited in The New York Times, with additional coverage on shrinking numbers of undocumented Mexican immigrants in BuzzFeed and KPBS.
Veterans Courted in California’s Ballot Fight Over Curbing Drug Prices
Thad Kousser of Political Science says that while there may not be enough veterans to swing a state ballot proposition, there are “clearly enough people who love and trust veterans to swing a campaign.” Kousser was also cited in the Sacramento Bee on overriding a Gov. Brown veto and the Union-Tribune on the state senate campaign.
Oct. 12, 7:30 a.m.: Economics Roundtable
Narayana Kocherlakota, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, will discuss “Is there hope for better performance of the U.S. economy, and should we expect more from U.S. policy?”
Can Facebook's Campaign Push Users to the Polls?
Research by James Fowler of Political Science that looked at social media’s influence on getting people to vote, is cited by the Christian Science Monitor in light of Facebook’s recent four-day campaign. Mumbrella also included Fowler’s work.
Terms of Reference
Aidpreneur welcomed Paul Niehaus of Economics into the studio for a recent Terms of Reference podcast, discussing the radical charity he co-founded, GiveDirectly.
‘We See the World Through the Lens of Language’
In support of her keynote at the DRONGO language festival, the John Adams Institute interviewed Lera Boroditsky of Cognitive Science. “What seems to us so automatic, and so much driven by the world, is instead a combination of factors, including the language that you speak. By the time you see the world, you’re seeing it through the lens of your language,” Boroditsky said. She also appeared on BBC Radio to discuss the different ways of talking about directions in other languages.
Conservative Organizations and the Suspicion of Higher Education
The Princeton University Press blog posted this piece by Amy Binder of Sociology, urging universities to strengthen organizational structures that help all students feel connected to the university and part of a larger community.
The Amazing Race
In a Q&A for Triton, the university’s alumni magazine, political scientist Sam Popkin weighs in on the state of the presidential campaign after balloons dropped on both the Republican and Democratic national. Also featured in Triton: Urban Studies and Planning alumnus Michael Estrada’s Alternative Breaks; Political Science alumnus Nick Obradovich’s collective action research; and a study on how your train of thought derails by Adam Aron of Psychology.
Teaching New Tricks
Cognitive Science alumnus Leo Trottier, co-creator of CleverPet.com – an interactive and adaptive tool to engage dogs in automated activities while owners are out of the house – was also featured in Triton, as was Maker’s Row founder and Sociology alumna Tanya Menendez.
Go Ahead, Curse in Front of Your Kids
Cognitive scientist Benjamin Bergen pens this op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, highlighting work from his new book “What the F.” Coverage for the book continued in the Seattle Times and South China Morning Post.
Ever Wonder What the Teen Brain Is Thinking?
The University of California news and Fosters reported on the landmark national Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. The ABCD Coordinating Center is led by Terry Jernigan of Cognitive Science and the Center for Human Development, and Sandra Brown of Psychology.
Save the Date Oct. 28: Contextual Robotics Forum 2016
Ayse Saygin of Cognitive Science is one of the featured speakers and the technology showcase includes presentations by Andrea Chiba and Virginia de Sa, also of Cognitive Science. Social Sciences Dean Carol Padden will give remarks.
What Profanity Teaches Us About Ourselves
Some people cuss like a sailor while others might only drop the occasional f-bomb, but almost everyone swears. Writing in Time magazine about his new book, “What the F,” Benjamin Bergen of Cognitive Science explains what swearing reveals about our brains. The book is receiving widespread coverage, including by KPBS, the Union-Tribune, Globe and Mail, Observer, Science magazine, Science News, Huffington Post, Salon and The Atlantic, among others.
France’s Burkini Ban
Claire Adida of Political Science argues that France’s ban is a “misguided attempt at protecting women’s rights.”
Landmark National Study of Adolescent Brain Now Underway
The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study will follow 10,000 children for 10 years, into early adulthood. UC San Diego is one of 19 research sites across the country participating and is also home to the Data Analysis and Informatics Center, as well as the ABCD Coordinating Center directed by Terry Jernigan of Cognitive Science and Sandra Brown of Psychology.
Rock Star Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson Talks Tooth Fairy
“The universe is amazing enough that you don’t have to invent stuff just to keep kids entertained,” Tyson said. Gail Heyman of Psychology says there’s no evidence that the Tooth Fairy story is harmful but that she also didn’t want to lie to her children.
Rising Academy Partnership Schools Launched in Liberia
Economics graduate students Wayne Sandholtz and Mauricio Romero are taking part in “a bold and deliberately experimental pilot program to explore whether bringing in operators from outside government can help address the chronic crisis of education quality in the public system.” Sandholtz presented on the project in Liberia, which was also covered by Front Page Africa.
TEDxSanDiego Aims to Leave a Legacy
In her column for San Diego Magazine, Political Science alumna Amanda Caniglia features Scott Klemmer of Cognitive Science and the Design Lab. Klemmer is part of this year’s TEDxSanDiego Oct. 22 lineup.
A Revolutionary Experiment in Giving May Face a Surprising Challenge
GiveDirectly, which has been providing no-strings-attached cash transfers to individuals in Kenya and Uganda for several years, has begun an experiment with universal basic income. The radical move is encountering skepticism from recipients. Business Insider spoke with GiveDirectly co-founder, economist Paul Niehaus.
County’s Five Teachers of the Year Named
Education Studies alumna Yun “Jenny” Tzu Anderson, a Vista STEM teacher at the Casita Center for Technology, Science and Math, is one of five San Diego County “Teachers of the Year.” Anderson will now compete for the state title. EDS alumna Jennifer Roberts of Point Loma High School was also among the finalists, selected from the region’s 26,000 teachers.
On Refugees, We Must Do Better
Salon looks to David FitzGerald of Sociology for their report on refugees. The sentiment that refugees pose a threat, FitzGerald said, has long been a staple of U.S. politics.
You Can Read Scrambled Words – Under Certain Conditions
In this video blog post for Brainstuff, Marta Kutas of Cognitive Science and the Center for Research in Language says context is important.
The Economist Slammed for Article
A critique of the way the magazine covered research by economist Gordon Dahl.
UC San Diego a Prominent Presence at Startups Demo Day in D. C.
“UC San Diego has innovation and entrepreneurship in our DNA,” said psychologist and Vice Chancellor for Research Sandra Brown. “These high-potential young companies exemplify that spirit, and merit the national recognition they will receive.”
Executive Power Can Still Affect Immigration Enforcement
In The New York Times’ “Room for Debate,” Gordon Hanson of Economics and GPS says presidents can – and have – shaped immigration policy, in spite of opposition from other branches of government. Hanson’s additional media on immigration, as well as on trade, include: The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, the Houston Chronicle and PBS NewsHour, among others.
#21: Affirmative Action Bake Sale
Closing out their program, the Cited podcast features sociologist Amy Binder’s work about conservative student life on university campuses.
Following Growth of ‘Stem Cell Clinics,’ FDA Poised to Crack Down
Economist and Global Health Institute co-director Joshua Graff Zivin likens the growth of stem-cell clinics to medicine’s “Wild West.”
The Results on Voter ID Laws Are In — and It’s Bad News for Ethnic and Racial Minorities
For the Los Angeles Times, Zoltan Hajnal of Political Science discusses how his research shows that the racial turnout gap doubles or triples in states that enact strict voter-identification laws. Hajnal’s work was also featured in Think Progress and Real Clear Politics.
U.S. Admiral: ISIS Coming to Pacific
Eli Berman of Economics was sought out for this Union-Tribune article.
Sex, Drugs and Guns: Coming to a Ballot Near You!
In this op-ed, political scientist Thad Kousser explains why there will be so many initiatives on the California ballot this November. Kousser also spoke about the ballot with the Fresno Bee. On NBC 7 San Diego, he addressed campaign giving and why California money is going to races out of state.
Audio Engineering Society to Honor Deutsch With Gold Medal
Diana Deutsch of Psychology is being recognized for “lifelong contributions to the understanding of the human hearing mechanism and the science of psychoacoustics.” She will accept the Gold Medal Award at the Audio Engineering Society’s 141st convention in Los Angeles on Sept. 29.
Interdisciplinary UC San Diego Initiative Is Hiring
The university is launching a campus-wide initiative to hire tenure-track or tenured faculty conducting research with the broad goal of understanding human knowledge, learning and creativity.
What Makes Humans Social?
Neurodevelopmental study on Williams Syndrome may give clues. Research on the rare genetic condition, which produces individuals with extremely sociable personalities, may also shed light on biology and behavior of persons with autism and other social disorders. Coverage of the Nature paper – by Katerina Semendeferi of Anthropology, and students Branka Hrvoj and Kari Hanson, along with colleagues at UC San Diego Health Sciences and the Salk Institute – included Live Science, Daily Mail and Times of San Diego.
If Millennials Truly Want to Start a Political Revolution, They’ll Need to Vote
Zoltan Hajnal of Political Science says any talk of massive voter shifts is conjecture: “I have not seen anybody providing numbers showing an extraordinary number of young voters,” he told Quartz.
New Wave of Scientists Join San Diego Universities
The San Diego Union-Tribune highlights environmental archaeologist Isabel Rivera-Collazo of Anthropology, who studies coastal communities and how people respond to climate change, and Philip Guo of Cognitive Science, who researches human-computer interaction, online learning and computing education.
California’s 2016 Ballot: ‘Sex. Drugs. Guns. Death.’
Thad Kousser of Political Science breaks down this year’s California ballot for The Hill. “Our ballot’s going to be long,” he said, “but it’s going to be a page-turner.”
Sept. 14, 9 p.m.: ‘School of the Future’ Airs on PBS
Save the date or set your DVR: Terry Jernigan of Cognitive Science and the Center for Human Development is part of this NOVA special. Can the science of learning – including new insights from neuroscientists, psychologists, and educators – reveal how kids’ brains work and tell us which techniques are most likely to engage and inspire growing minds?
Quetzal Mama Scholars Ready to Soar
Education Studies Ph.D. student Roxanne Ocampo and her work with the Quetzal Mama Scholars program was featured in the Union-Tribune and Entravision. Two books by Ocampo are also finalists for the 2016 International Latino Book Awards.
Todd Hylton Joins UC San Diego Contextual Robotics Institute
“Social scientists are in the business of solving society’s problems. We could have called this an institute of robotics, but we made a point of calling it contextual robotics, integrating context from the start. To solve the challenges that people and industries face, we need robots that are compatible with the human brain and behavior, our public space and cultural infrastructure.” – Carol Padden, dean of the Division of Social Sciences. The San Diego Union-Tribune, San Diego Metropolitan and Xconomy published the news, among others.
Which City Will Actually Get the $15 Minimum Wage First?
Because many of the new minimum wage laws are being phased in slowly, it will be difficult to disentangle their effects on employers from the effects of other slow-moving economic developments, said Jeffrey Clemens of Economics.
UC San Diego Named Among World’s Best
According to the 2016 Academic Ranking of World Universities, UC San Diego is 14th best in the world and third among public universities. Division of Social Sciences’ work helped contribute to UC San Diego’s standing as a powerhouse.
Nation’s No. 1 Public School
Washington Monthly ranks UC San Diego tops among public universities for serving the public interest.
San Diego’s Smart City and Cybersecurity Cluster
Psychologist Sandra Brown, vice chancellor for research, is one of the region’s decision-makers, writes Forbes, “attempting to bring together elements of academia, talent and entrepreneurship to create a ‘world-leader’ in Smart Cities.” The piece includes the MetroLab initiative, a city-university partnership addressing such challenges as income inequality, infrastructure weakness, security, environmental sustainability and transportation.
Poker’s Central Ambassadors
Communication alumna Maria Ho, a professional poker player, is featured as a leader in her industry.
Olympics Spoilers
Avoiding Olympics spoilers is futile. But spoilers don’t always hurt enjoyment of an event and can actually enhance it, according to research by Nicholas Christenfeld of Psychology, reports NBC News.
Kenyan Refugee Camp Closure Shakes San Diego’s Somali Population
KPBS News interviews Political Science graduate student John Porten on the Dabaab camp, the world’s largest refugee camp. Porten and fellow Ph.D. student Michael Seese are conducting a survey of the Dabaab camp.
Council Race Could Bring Some Twists
Political Science alumnus Daniel Dumouchel files to run for Oceanside City Council.
In the Long Run, Republicans Are Screwed
Gary Jacobson of Political Science is cited in this Pacific Standard op-ed.
Focus: NAFTA in U.S. Campaign Spotlight
Gordon Hanson of Economics lays the groundwork for this in-depth article on trade between the United States, Mexico and China. To start, Hanson says, “Mexico is our teammate. … When you look at manufacturing in the U.S., you have to look at manufacturing in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.” Hanson’s work was also cited in this Associated Press feature on trade.
The Science of How and Why We Swear
Benjamin Bergen of Cognitive Science speaks with Gizmodo about his new book “What the F: What Swearing Reveals About Our Language, Our Brains, and Ourselves.”
Why Is Iran Harassing U.S. Warships?
“It could be they are testing the waters and seeing how much did they actually get with the deal,” Erik Gartzke of Political Science told the Union-Tribune. “Are they going to get enough of a free hand that the compromises they made in terms of (nuclear) proliferating are worth it to them?”
Investing: Nothing Looks Good
Ross Star of Economics discusses interest rates and bonds with the San Diego Reader.
Resilience Project Technical Report
For the last two years, the American Planning Association has worked with Urban Studies and Planning and others on a FEMA-funded project, “Innovations in Planning and Public Engagement for Community Resilience.” APA has released a technical report on the conclusion of the project’s first phase. USP’s Robert Leiter is one of the project leads.
Australia’s Ranked Ballot Headaches Need Not Be Imported by Canada
Arend Lijphart of Political Science, who is scheduled to testify on electoral reform in Canada, explains ranked ballot systems to the Canadian Press.
Save CA Residents From a Language Drought: Vote ‘Yes’ This Fall
Ana Celia Zentella of Ethnic Studies co-writes an opinion piece for the American Anthropological Association, published in the Huffington Post: “Proposition 58-LEARN offers California state residents the opportunity to access an untapped and invaluable resource that can provide an edge in the global economy: multilingualism.”
Ancient Mexicans May Have Raised Rabbits
“They were breeding rabbits as a form of specialized labor,” said Anthropology lecturer Andrew Somerville, who led the team of anthropologists that made the discovery. The study, co-authored by Margaret Schoeninger, garnered media attention around the world, including The Daily Mail, the New Historian and the Archaeological Institute of America.
Innovate 8: Listening to Waves
Waves are everywhere: the sea, the brain and sounds all around us. UC San Diego researchers Alexander Khalil and Victor Minces, former and current post-docs in Cognitive Science, are helping local high school students explore the fundamental science of waves by making music – creating musical instruments and analyzing their acoustic properties. Minces and Khalil are also alumni of the university and affiliates of the Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center at UC San Diego. The video features “Listening to Waves” at High Tech High in Chula Vista.
For Journalists Covering Trump, a Murrow Moment
“After months of holding back, modern-day journalists are acting a lot like Murrow [with Sen. McCarthy], pushing explicitly against Donald Trump.” The Columbia Journalism Review uses “Hallin Spheres,” developed by Daniel Hallin of Communication, in its analysis. Hallin sees political discourse as falling into three concentric spheres: consensus, legitimate controversy and deviance.
UC Olympians Go for the Gold
University of California is sending so many athletes to this year’s Summer Olympics in Brazil that they make up 8 percent of the U.S. delegation, representing 18 sports and 27 countries. Tom Black, a Political Science alumnus and former Triton coach, is serving as assistant coach to the top-ranked U.S. Women’s National Volleyball Team. Black was featured in the NBC 7 coverage.
UCSD to Explore, Digitize 100 Shipwrecks in Bermuda
Research at the Qualcomm Institute, including work by Tom Levy of Anthropology, is featured in the Union-Tribune.
Rethinking the Role of Government in Society
New York Times’ Eduardo Porter makes the case for more government, citing a recent book by sociologist Lane Kenworthy, director of the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research. Kenworthy and his co-authors lay out four key tasks for the U.S. government: “improving the economy’s productivity, bolstering workers’ economic security, investing in education to close the opportunity deficit of low-income families, and ensuring that Middle America reaps a larger share of the spoils of growth.”
2016 Most and Least Educated Cities: The Experts
Critical thinking and problem solving, Megan Hopkins of Education Studies tells WalletHub, are the keys skills we should as a country focus on teaching. “What is taught in K-12 schools needs to reflect the skills that adults will need to use in the workforce,” she said. “Our current focus on testing and accountability has led us to a place where many schools focus on teaching to the test.”
‘Lost’ Generation
Inside Higher Ed fact-checks the persistent idea, promoted at the GOP convention, that liberal professors politically indoctrinate their students. Sociologist Amy Binder argues the Republican Party is out of step with millennials on the environment, LGBT rights, education and immigration, among other social issues. Campus Reform also covered the topic and cited the book “Becoming Right: How Campuses Shape Young Conservatives,” by Binder and doctoral student Kate Wood.
Hillary Clinton Seeks Party Unity Amid ‘a Lot of Anger out There’
Clinton risks further alienating Sanders supporters if she fails to make concessions to them, said Sam Popkin of Political Science.
¿Por Que los Latinos Definiran el Proximo Presidente de EEUU?
Venezuela’s El Nacional newspaper interviews David FitzGerald of Sociology about why Latinos will “define” the next U.S. president. FitzGerald says there could be a “Trump effect,” leading even more Latino voters to vote for Hillary Clinton.
Tijuana Looks Inward, Not Northward, to Spark Cultural Revival
Fonna Forman of Political Science, co-director of the Cross-Border Initiative, says Tijuana hadn’t been taken seriously since World War II. “Tijuana was long considered a place where you go to be sinful and escape,” she said.
‘Core Knowledge and Conceptual Change’
Oxford University Press publishes the latest co-edited book by David Barner of Psychology and Linguistics, part of its Oxford Series in Cognitive Development.
Tighter Restrictions Are Losing in the Battle Over Voter ID Laws
“At the moment, the side that wants fewer voting restrictions seems to be winning,” reports FiveThirtyEight in a piece that features research by Zoltan Hajnal of Political Science. “The enactment of strict voter ID laws,” Hajnal said, “tends to double or triple the gap in turnout between whites and racial and ethnic minorities.” Hajnal’s research was also cited in Vice News.
A Lifetime Later, a Smog Attack's Full Cost Is Seen
London's great smog event of 1952 is linked to a staggering surge in asthma finds Prashant Bharadwaj of Economics in a new study co-authored with Joshua Graff Zivin of the School of Global Policy and Strategy, among others. Worst hit were children aged 1 and younger, even in utero. “The youngest Londoners ,” Marketplace reports, “turned out to be five times more likely to have asthma. Nearly 25 percent of those in London during the Great Smog reported having asthma; those not in the city at the time reported a 5 percent rate.” Also reporting on the research: The London Times, Medical Research and Health Day.
Beyond the Wall: Costly Answer in California Altering the Landscape
“We treasure it,” Oscar Romo of Urban Studies and Planning said about the Tijuana River Estuary. “However, we are trashing it with these pieces of infrastructure that are not helping, that are not well-designed, that are generating heavy impacts on the natural resources of this area.”
The Internet Was Supposed to Foster Democracy; China Has Different Ideas
The Washington Post cites recent research by Molly Roberts of Political Science.
United States Health Care Reform: Progress to Date and Next Steps
President Barack Obama cited research by Jeffrey Clemens of Economics in his recent paper on health care reform published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Obama emphasized the implications of Clemens' research, finding that Medicare payment reforms have system-wide effects due to their effects on private health insurers' payment models.
Veni Grant to Verhoef
Center for Research in Language post-doc Tessa Verhoef has been named a recipient of a Veni grant from the Dutch Science Foundation. This, along with her Rubicon Postdoctoral Fellowship and UC San Diego Frontiers of Innovation Scholars Program fellowship, are highly sought, junior-career grants.
Four in 10 UC Students do Not Have a Consistent Source of Nutritious Food, Survey Says
In the Los Angeles Times, recent Economics graduate Dominick Suvonnasupa said he budgeted just $650 a month for housing in a market that commands hundreds more. As a result, he ran short of money for food and cut back to two meals daily. Suvonnasupa was also interviewed for the Huffington Post.
Does Justin Trudeau Really Say ‘Uh’ All the Time?
Research by Nicholas Christenfeld of Psychology on counting speech tics was included in this National Post article. Christenfeld said tics like those from the Canadian Prime Minister accumulate depending on the “range of options being considered” when answering a question. The article was picked up by numerous Canadian media.
Denise Whisenhunt Named Interim President of SD City College
Current San Diego City College’s vice president of student services and Political Science alumna Denise Whisenhunt has been appointed interim president of the city’s oldest community college.
'I'm Just Ribbing You': Where'd That Come From?
The story cites a 2005 study by V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology, which found that a particular region of the brain is at least partly responsible for our ability to understand figurative language.
The Ocean Is Full of Treasure if You Know Where to Look
“Finding money in the world’s oceans is a lot easier than finding Dory,” writes Grist on a recent paper by a team of researchers that includes Ted Groves of Economics and alumna Summer Martin. The paper for the first time puts a dollar value on the Eastern Tropical Pacific’s “ecosystem services.”
Donald Trump Promised ‘Amazing’ Convention; Well, It’s Certainly Different
Political scientist Samuel Popkin told the Sacramento Bee that incidents like the Trump campaign’s failure to check Melania Trump’s speech highlight an amateur campaign. “I don’t know that it matters quite yet, but it often makes the person look like he’s not the whiz of management that could run a government,” he said. In a separate piece, Popkin spoke on the need for Hillary Clinton to gain support from former candidate Bernie Sanders.
California GOP Hits Cleveland
The Republican Party has had a problem in California, said Thad Kousser of Political Science, since 1994’s Prop. 187. Though the ballot initiative to restrict public services to undocumented immigrants was later overturned by the courts, it alienated many of the state’s Latinos.
It’s a Boy Thing
The Economist’s 1843 magazine explores a phenomenon observed by Gordon Dahl of Economics: Men are more likely to marry, and stay married to, women who bore them sons rather than daughters.
Neuroscientists Say Multitasking Literally Drains the Energy Reserves of Your Brain
Hal Pashler of Psychology explains recent research to Quartz, saying that not all attempts at multitasking are equally draining.
On Demand, and Demanding Their Rights
Turkopticon was co-created by Lilly Irani of Communication and gives Amazon’s “invisible” Mechanical Turk workers a tool to protect themselves against employers who cheat, reports The American Prospect in a long piece on the new digital on-demand economy. “Our first goal was to give workers an ability to help each other: mutual aid,” Irani said. “But that isn’t the same as voice.”
U.S. Moves to No. 1 in Global Oil Reserves
Economist James Hamilton questions whether recoverable oil reserves are worth exploiting. The story was reprinted in the Los Angeles Times.
Career Counselors or Headhunters?
Inside Higher Ed explores research by Amy Binder of Sociology and Ph.D. candidate Daniel Davis looking at the potentially problematic relationships between university career centers and companies.
Refugee Crisis in Europe
C-SPAN recorded the presentations of a German diplomat and several academics, including David FitzGerald of Sociology. Fitzgerald’s portion begins in the 21st minute of the video.
Bolivia Decides It’s Time to Ditch the Gregorian Calendar
On PRI’s The World, Paul Goldstein of Anthropology weighs in on the Bolivian president’s push to resurrect an indigenous calendar. Starting in the 43rd minute, Goldstein explains the ancient Aymara calendar and the challenges of switching today.
Putting Designs on a Growing Career
The Union-Tribune’s “Employment News” column, by Jennifer Davies of UC San Diego Extension, highlights the Design Lab’s recent Design Forward symposium and Don Norman of Cognitive Science. “Design is a way of thinking and doing that can transform lives, businesses and communities,” he said. Norman was also featured in the San Diego Business Journal (registration required).
Top Robotics Expert to Lead Contextual Robotics Institute
“Henrik Christensen is a world leader in robotics with an exceptional track record in education, research and industry partnerships. He is a leader who will build bridges between engineering, computer science and the social sciences as we work together as a campus to develop the useful robotics systems that will improve human lives,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. The Union-Tribune reported on the UC San Diego hire.
Hillary Clinton’s Campaign Takes a Page From Bill’s Playbook
The Los Angeles Times looks at presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton’s campaign, using concepts introduced by Samuel Popkin of Political Science. Popkin and his book “The Candidate” were also cited in the New York Times Magazine article “What Makes a Politician ‘Authentic?’”
Latest Benghazi Report Has ‘No New Evidence of Wrong Doing’
In a Southern California Public Radio interview, political scientist Thad Kousser discusses Hillary Clinton’s campaign following the release of the proposed final report by the Select Committee on Benghazi. Kousser also spoke with the Los Angeles Times about the November California ballot: “Hardly anything on this ballot is boring,” he said.
26th Ramon Llull International Prize
Kathryn Woolard of Anthropology has been recognized by the Ramon Llull International Prize for “making a notable contribution to disseminating the situation of Catalan among the academic community.” Oxford University Press, meanwhile, is publishing Woolard’s book, “Singular and Plural: Ideologies of Linguistic Authority in 21st Century Catalonia.”
Ferreira to Serve on NIH Center for Scientific Review
Congratulations to Victor Ferreira of Psychology, who will serve as a member of the Language and Communication Study Section of the NIH Center for Scientific Review. Members are selected for a four-year term on the basis of their demonstrated competence and achievement in their scientific discipline.
Treasury Yields Predict Interest Rates Best, Fed Study Shows
Reuters reports on research coauthored by James Hamilton of Economics.
Researchers Created Literal Windows Into the Brains of Fruit Flies
New York Magazine’s Science of Us video features research by Takeo Katsuki, Dhruv Grover and Ralph Greenspan of Cognitive Science and the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind.
Election 2016 Is Propelled by the American Economy’s Failed Promises
Economist Gordon Hanson is quoted in the Wall Street Journal (linked above), with his work cited in The Economist, Investor’s Business Daily, Bloomberg Politics, The Christian-Science Monitor and Bloomberg View.
UC Graduates Making the Most of Opportunity Through Public Service
An op-ed by University of California President Janet Napolitano highlights recent graduate Vincent Pham, Political Science major and Education Studies minor, who tutored students in underserved schools. Now that the student mentor and former UCSD Guardian editor-in-chief has graduated, he will travel to Vietnam for a year of service as the recipient of a Fulbright. When he returns, he plans to teach students in low-income communities.
School’s Out for National Schools Chief
Economics alumnus and National School District Superintendent Chris Oram retired after 37 years, the last seven serving as the district’s chief executive. Oram and his work were featured in the Union-Tribune.
Beijing Establishes a D.C. Think Tank, and No One Notices
Sociologist Thomas Medvetz’s book “Think Tanks in America” is included in this Foreign Policy report, reprinted in Yahoo! News.
UC San Diego Admits Most Diverse Class for Fall 2016
Compared to last year, UC San Diego admitted 46.2 percent more historically underrepresented freshmen and 30.7 percent more transfers. At the freshman level, the largest increase of 58 percent is among Mexican-American students, which is followed by black students at 38 percent and Latino students at 28 percent. For transfers, the largest increase of 46 percent comes from black students followed by Native Americans at 31 percent, Latinos at 30 percent and Mexican-Americans at 27 percent.
Summit Unites Designers, Industry
Don Norman of Cognitive Science and the Design Lab spoke on KPBS Midday Edition about the lab’s design summit and his goals to make the region a hub for “design thinking.” The summit was also covered by the Union-Tribune (linked above) and San Diego Magazine.
Nitza Villapol: The Woman Who Taught Cubans to Cook With Just About Anything
Discussing “Cuba’s Julia Child” with NPR, Hanna Garth of Anthropology said the legacy of Villapol is much more than a collection of recipes.
Graduating Student With Muscular Dystrophy Shows Incredible Strength to Achieve His Dreams
Raul Carranza, a Chula Vista native who graduated with a degree in Political Science this year, is passionate about American politics, cares about social justice, studies hard and has a wry sense of humor. But that is not all that sets him apart. Born with muscular dystrophy, Carranza has only limited use of his right thumb. He will soon apply to law school and plans to run for public office someday. Both the campus story (linked above) and the Union-Tribune cite praise from two of his favorite faculty members: Nathan Fletcher and Mattheus Stephens.
Sally Ride Science Conversations
On UCTV’s STEAM channel, Beth Simon of Education Studies offers fresh ways to keep tech-phobic students engaged.
Babies Are Sponges for Language – Spoken and Signed
NSF’s Science Nation features the work of Rain Bosworth, an alumna of Psychology who is now a research scientist in the department’s Infant Vision Lab.
Here’s How Text Analysis Is Transforming Social-Science Research
Political scientist Molly Roberts edited a recent “virtual issue” on innovations in text analysis for social science and spoke about the subject with The Washington Post’s Monkey Cage.
Hidden Values of Open Ocean
A study by Theodore Groves of Economics, together with researchers from Scripps Oceanography and NOAA Fisheries, for the first time puts a dollar value to the “ecosystem services” provided by the Eastern Tropical Pacific Ocean.
Santa Barbara Selects New Police Chief
Communication alumna Lori Luhnow, a 27-year veteran of the San Diego Police Department, will be Santa Barbara’s first female top officer.
UC San Diego & You
Videos are available from two UCSD Alumni regional events: Dayo Gore of Ethnic Studies and Critical Gender Studies in San Diego, and Paul Niehaus of Economics in New York.
A Female Exec’s Life Lesson: ‘You Don’t Have to Accept the Status Quo’
Economics alumna and Concur President Elena Donio didn’t get in to her college of choice, UC San Diego, on first attempt: “She remembers telling her father, holding up in defeat the skinny envelop college applicants fear. But Donio’s father taught her never to be satisfied. He told her to go on a campaign to get into that college. She graduated from the school four years later.”
California Democrats Target Trump in Congressional Races
Thad Kousser of Political Science spoke with the AP on which of the state’s Republicans the Dems will attempt to unseat and with Reuters about a pending Bay Area referendum on taxing soda.
Life on the Mesa: What You Didn’t Know About Muhammad Yunus
Amanda Caniglia, a Political Science alumna, is a business owner who teaches languages and dance, and writes about meeting UC San Diego commencement speaker Muhammad Yunus in her latest San Diego Magazine column.
Openings: This Column May Contain Spoilers – But So What?
Research by Nicholas Christenfeld of Psychology is featured in the Financial Times (registration required).
UC San Diego Faculty Call on Regents to Divest UC Funds From Fossil Fuels
Adam Aron of Psychology said it was important for faculty to show moral leadership on the issue.
UC San Diego Athletics Announces 2016 Hall of Fame Honorees
An NCAA Division III Men’s Golf champion his graduating year, Economics alumnus Pat Weishan was selected as one of this year’s honorees.
Antisemitism Is Flourishing on California Campuses
Noah Lightman, a recent graduate of Political Science and appointed member of Associated Students for the 2015-2016 academic year, was interviewed.
Caroline Dessert Returns to San Diego LGBT Community Center
Psychology alumna Cara Dessert will be the center’s chief development and community engagement officer.
Dismembered Central American Migrants Ask for Change in US Strategy
Sociologist David FitzGerald, co-director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, said a U.S.-supported plan that boosts Mexico’s deportations of Central Americans forces migrants onto more dangerous routes through Mexico. Mexico, he said, is being used as a buffer state: “There’s a high human cost to this kind of buffer policy.”
The Science Behind Why Breaking a Bad Habit Is So Hard
“If you change the context or go about things in a different behavioral pattern, it can help you break out of habit,” said Christina Gremel of Psychology, lead author on research recently published in Neuron.
Quoting the Gray Lady Ain’t Cheap
In regards to creating the book “Making Health Public: How News Coverage Is Remaking Media, Medicine, and Contemporary Life,” co-author Daniel Hallin of Communication explains how the New York Times charged the researchers $1,884 for three quoted passages.
UC San Diego’s Stellar Students From the Class of 2016
More outstanding students are featured: Heidi Martinez, who earned a degree in Political Science, and Tracey Kiser, who earned a Doctor of Education in Teaching and Learning from Education Studies.
Making a Splash
“Finding Dory” broke box office records opening weekend, and no doubt all those involved are celebrating – including Pixar production manager and Sociology alumna Rebecca Neiman.
Imperial Beach Braces for Rising Sea Levels
Mayor of Imperial Beach Serge Dedina, an alumnus of Political Science, was interviewed twice by the Voice of San Diego on rising sea levels. Additionally, Dedina’s nonprofit WILDCOAST was honored by Assemblymember Toni Atkins as nonprofit of the year for environmental work in the U.S. and Mexico.
Honored @WILDCOAST as my dist Non-Prof of the Year for being great #environmental stewards on both sides of border. pic.twitter.com/fRq6usHv1F
— Toni G. Atkins (@toniatkins) June 22, 2016
Creating a Window Into a Fly’s Brain
New York Times’ Science Take video and story on research by Takeo Katsuki, Dhruv Grover and Ralph Greenspan of Cognitive Science. Published in Nature Methods, the study from the university’s Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind gives a first look into the brain of a freely walking fruit fly. Part of why this feat matters: Scientists can study the fly's brain while it's being social.
'There Has to Be a Change': Local Experts Describe How to Reduce Terror Threat
Terrorism expert Eli Berman of Economics spoke with NBC 7 about the mass shooting in Orlando.
Why Are So Many Swear Words Monosyllabic?
For a Slate “Lexicon Valley” podcast, cognitive scientist Benjamin Bergen discusses the science of cursing and his forthcoming book “What the F: What Swearing Reveals About Our Language, Our Brains, and Ourselves.”
Hellman Fellows Program Supports Junior Faculty on Tenure Track
This year’s winners from Social Sciences include Abigail Andrews of Sociology, Mattie Marie Harper of Ethnic Studies and Molly Roberts of Political Science.
Seeking Solutions to Pressing Problems
“The Yankelovich Center is helping us to fulfill our mission of educating next-generation leaders and conducting research that transforms lives,” Chancellor Khosla said in this blog post. The Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research and its namesake, Daniel Yankelovich, were celebrated at a special reception held at Geisel University House.
June 16: Design Forward Summit
Civic leaders, industry innovators and designers come together to explore the potential and power of human-centered design in driving San Diego’s economic growth and global identity. The day-long event will demonstrate design as a critical component of San Diego’s innovation strategy. The event features Don Norman of Cognitive Science and the Design Lab and Mary Walshok of Sociology and UCSD Extension, as well as San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and many other leaders.
Like Sweden, a 6-Hour Workday for Americans?
Economist James Hamilton says a six-hour workday may be ideal for parents with young children, but likely not feasible for those with a long commute. “Rather than dictate a single arrangement that everyone has to follow, it makes more sense for employees to match up with jobs that best suit their own needs, and employers to try to accommodate whenever possible,” he said.
Clinton Can't Win for Losing
Heading into the California primary, Thad Kousser of Political Science was interviewed by U.S. News & World Report (link above), CNBC, Toronto’s CTV News, The Straits Times out of Singapore and Washington’s The Hill.
Students Seeking Sugar Daddies for Tuition, Rent
As reported by the Associated Press and distributed widely, “Sugar Daddy" arrangements have existed for ages but the phenomenon is not well studied. The AP cited Kevin Lewis of Sociology, who in part studies online dating. "[The internet] allows you to hone in on what you want,” Lewis said. “You could argue it is just making the market more efficient."
Gordon Parks and Ralph Ellison, Artistic Giants of Postwar Harlem
Gabriel Mendes of Ethnic Studies, author of the recently published book “Under the Strain of Color,” spoke with the New York Times.
US Voter ID Laws Balance Risk of Fraud, Barring People From Polls
Political scientist Zoltan Hajnal’s work on voter identification laws is included in this Voice of America report.
Does Having A ‘Wingman’ Actually Help You Get A Date?
The YouTube science channel ASAP Science pulled from a 2013 paper by Drew Walker and Edward Vul of Psychology, “Hierarchical Encoding Makes Individuals in a Group Seem More Attractive.”
Alumnus Takes on 10,000-mile ‘Mongol Rally’ for Charity
Cognitive Science alumnus Nick Bokaie, ’15, said he stumbled on the rally soon after he’d finished school and decided there was “no better time” to take on the journey, which starts in London and ends in Russia, about 400 miles north of Mongolia’s capital.
Social Distortion, With Chinese Characteristics
Research on the Chinese government and social media by Molly Roberts of Political Science was featured by U.S. News & World Report in its “Best Countries” rankings.
‘How Big Should Our Government Be?’
Lane Kenworthy of Sociology and the Yankelovich Center has coauthored a book that examines how to optimize growth and fair distribution.
Yankelovich Center Seed-Funding Awards, 2015-16
Funded research and their principal investigators include: "Enhancing College Completion through Peer Coaching,” Eli Berman of Economics; "Improving Odds: Enhancing Access to Quality Autism Interventions for Low-Income, Mexican-Heritage Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders," Shana Cohen of Education Studies; "How Are Voters Willing to Pay for Social Policy? A Computational Analysis of California Ballot Measures,” Isaac Martin of Sociology; "Can Monetary Incentives for Instructors and Students Boost Performance in Community College?" Sally Sadoff, Rady School of Management; and "America’s Shadow Training System: University Extension Schools in Regional Tech Economies," John Skrentny of Sociology and Mary Walshok of Sociology and UCSD Extension.
'Farm Worker Futurism'
In his new book, Curtis Marez of Ethnic Studies describes how one of America’s key social movements led the way in using new media for justice.
Honoring Alumni Achievements
Each year during Alumni Weekend, UC San Diego recognizes esteemed graduates who have brought distinction to the university through their leadership, professional achievements and personal accomplishments. This year, five alumni were honored, including language creator David Peterson of Linguistics.
Two New Provosts to Take the Helm
Psychologist Leslie Carver has been appointed Thurgood Marshall College’s new provost. Carver has been director of the Developmental Cognitive and Social Neuroscience Lab for 14 years.
July 7: Economics Roundtable
Shantayanan Devarajan, chief economist of the World Bank’s Middle East and North Africa Region, will discuss "How Arab oil exporters and importers can benefit from low oil prices."
All Campus Commencement Ceremony
This year’s undergraduate student speaker, Karina Mohajerani of Psychology, plans on working with social businesses to address poverty after graduation. “Having a Nobel Peace Prize recipient as this year’s guest speaker is already a noteworthy experience; furthermore, his work with social businesses is exactly what influenced me to take the career path that I have chosen,” she said.
UC San Diego’s Stellar Students From the Class of 2016
A small sampling: Ph.D. graduate Nick Obradovich of Political Science breaks barriers when it comes to climate change research; Sociology and Psychology graduate Kyra Hendrickson strives to contribute to criminal justice reforms; devoted student mentor Isi Iyoha of Psychology and biology aspires to promote reproductive health in underserved communities; and UCSD Guardian editor-in-chief Vincent Pham, graduating with a degree in Political Science and a minor in Education Studies, will pursue teaching upon graduation.
Distract and Conquer: New Study Sheds Light on China’s Online Propaganda Strategy
Research co-authored by Molly Roberts of Political Science estimates that the Chinese government posts approximately 448 million social media comments per year, aiming to change the subject rather than argue with critics. The first, large-scale empirical analysis of the covert operation, the study was covered by the New York Times, Foreign Policy, Wall Street Journal (linked above), the Associated Press and many others.
The Real Refugee Crisis Is in the Middle East, not Europe
Sociology Ph.D. candidate and Center for Comparative Immigration Studies researcher Rawan Arar writes in the Washington Post’s Monkey Cage.
How the Brain Makes – and Breaks – a Habit
Not all habits are bad. Some are even necessary. But inability to switch from acting habitually to acting in a deliberate way can underlie addiction and obsessive compulsive disorder. A study led by Christina Gremel of Psychology identifies brain chemicals and neural pathway that allows for habit to control behavior. Business Standard and Tech Times, among others, reported on the findings.
Bernie Sanders Faithful Look for Victories in Likely Defeat
The Sacramento Bee turned to Thad Kousser of Political Science several times for election expertise, including for stories on presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders and on hurdles for nonpartisan voters. Kousser also spoke with the Santa Cruz Sentinel about the new law that aims to modernize California’s initiative system.
Sanders Loses Ground in California
Washington Times piece quoting political scientist Sam Popkin suggests the provocative behavior of Bernie Sanders’ campaign is driving away voters.
South Asian Community Debates ‘South Asia,’ ‘India’ Ahead of Textbook Updates
NBC News spoke with Kamala Visweswaran of Ethnic Studies, a member of the South Asia Faculty Group, while deliberations were in process. The California Department of Education’s Instructional Quality Commission voted not to use “South Asia” in place of “India,” First Post reported.
First Peek Into the Brain of a Freely Walking Fruit Fly
A Nature Methods paper by Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind researchers demonstrates a novel method for monitoring a fruit fly’s neural activity during fundamental and complex social behavior when it’s unrestrained. The co-authors are Takeo Katsuki, Dhruv Grover and Ralph Greenspan of Cognitive Science. The work was featured in Gizmag, United Press International and Tech Times, among others.
Meet the Creator of the Dothraki Language for ‘Game of Thrones’
In his first interactive Facebook Live interview, Linguistics alumnus David Peterson talks about Dothraki, the language he created for the popular HBO series.
Obituary: Psychology Founder George Mandler
George Mandler – founding chair of the Department of Psychology and one of the central figures in psychology’s cognitive revolution – died in his Hampstead, London home on May 6, 2016. He was 91.
Festival delle Scienze a Roma: La Mente, il Corpo, il Tempo
Rafael Nunez of Cognitive Science delivered a keynote at Rome’s International Science Festival, “Is the future behind us or uphill?” The appearance led to newspaper and radio interviews, including this piece in one of Italy’s main newspapers (in Italian).
Connecting With Alumni and Friends
At the New York City UC San Diego & You, Paul Niehaus of Economics spoke on his work. Chancellor Pradeep Khosla’s blog has some of the fun photos. The next event is in San Diego on June 2, during Alumni Weekend, and will feature Dayo Gore of Ethnic Studies.
An ‘Alternative’ Path to Giving Back
Urban Studies and Planning alumnus Michael Estrada, ‘79, a cancer survivor, goes above and beyond to help support Alternative Breaks student service program. “For years, I’d been looking for something to reconnect with at UC San Diego,” Estrada said. “Alternative Breaks sounded interesting, and I recognized that it was time to start doing things I had put off.”
Is Texas’s Strictest-in-the-Nation Voter ID Law Discriminatory?
The Christian Science Monitor interviewed Zoltan Hajnal of Political Science on his recent research. The work is also mentioned in the Washington Post.
Spoiler Alert: Spoilers Make You Enjoy Stories More
The University of California video series Fig. 1 featured work by Nicholas Christenfeld of Psychology, showing that spoilers don’t ruin a story. The research was picked up by Salon and Gizmodo.
More Honesty Seen as Cure to Fears About Migration
John Skrentny of Sociology tells the Financial Times that reaction to migrants often “starts not from hatred, but from a positive seed of valuing communities.” He proposes measures to retrain indigenous workers who lose out, coupled with steps to protect migrants from exploitation.
Top 100 Economics Blogs of 2016
Economist James Hamilton’s Econbrowser is featured alongside FiveThirtyEight and blogs by Thomas Piketty and Ben Bernanke.
June 3-5: Octavia Butler Conference
Organized by Shelley Streeby of Ethnic Studies and Literature, the conference at the Cross-Cultural Center will consider how Butler’s work helps us imagine a future where justice is attainable and differences are celebrated.
Beauty Behind Bars
Sociology alumna Laura Pecenco brings art to prisons with Project PAINT (The Prison Arts INiTiative), deconstructing the hyper-masculine imperative and fostering a more positive and safe environment for prison staff and inmates alike.
Trump Voters: Not So Irrational
Political Scientist Samuel Popkin says in the Wall Street Journal that there was a method to the GOP’s primary madness.
Spanking Study
A new meta-analysis finds that spanking children doesn't help and may lead to long- and short-term problems. Gedeon Deak of Cognitive Science went on KUSI’s “Good Morning San Diego” to discuss.
Stricter Rules for Voter IDs Reshape Races
The New York Times (linked above), included research by Zoltan Hajnal of Political Science in its coverage of new voter identification laws. Hajnal’s work showing that photo-ID requirements disproportionately affect minority voters was also cited in the Christian Science Monitor and on Fox News.
Students Take Top Prize for Seaport Village Development Plan
A team of students from Urban Studies and Planning and the Jacobs School of Engineering has won the sixth annual NAIOP University Real Estate Challenge for their proposal to redevelop downtown’s iconic Seaport Village. Coverage also appeared in San Diego Metro and BisNow.
New Provost Appointed
Leslie Carver of Psychology will begin as provost of Thurgood Marshall College on July 1.
Senator’s Attack on ‘Cheerleading’ Study
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) released an 85-page report titled “Twenty Questions: Government studies that will leave you scratching your head,” including a study led by Ed Vul of Psychology. Analysis by Science magazine suggests the report obscures government’s role in training the next generation of scientists and also gives “the skinny” on Vul’s paper. Locally, Vul spoke with KGTV and KFMB.
How to Talk About Climate Change So People Will Act
What can you do about climate change? The better question might be: What can we? Framing the issue collectively is significantly more effective than emphasizing personal responsibility, show doctoral students Nick Obradovich and Scott Guenther of Political Science in a study published by Climatic Change. Widespread coverage included the Huffington Post, Christian Science Monitor, Pacific Standard magazine, Think Progress, Fusion, Vice’s Motherboard, and KPCC’s “Take Two,” among others.
The ‘Prestige’ of a Career in Finance Is a Marketing Tool
The exclusive image of finance jobs is “at odds with the ambivalence that many bankers feel about working a world with long hours, brutal management styles, and few perks,” reports Quartz, turning to Amy Binder of Sociology to help explain why so many elite grads go to work on Wall Street.
End to ‘Ivory Tower’ Universities?
The Union-Tribune reports on the MetroLab Network, formed last fall after a White House conference on smart cites, and Keith Pezzoli of Urban Studies and Planning explains that his MetroLab project sends 50 students from his food-justice class to investigate suitable sites in urban neighborhoods for temporary community gardens.
The Most Career-Minded Generation
The Atlantic features research coauthored by doctoral student Kristin Donnelly of Psychology on generational differences in reasons for attending college.
Manufacturing Matchmaker
Communication alumna Tanya Menendez co-founded Maker's Row to make it easier for DIY artists to connect with American manufacturers. The piece was published by University of California, too.
California GOP Convention: For State's Republicans, a Rare Moment in the Sun
Thad Kousser of Political Science was the go-to source leading up to the California Republican Convention April 29, appearing in Newsweek, the Union-Tribune and USA Today, among others. Kousser also spoke with City News Service, saying that high turnout in the California’s primaries is now looking unlikely.
How Ugly Sweaters Led to Pretty Sales
Bored with corporate law, CNBC reports, alumnus Evan Mendelsohn of Economics took up Search Engine Optimization as a hobby and ended up starting the company Tipsy Elves with former UC San Diego roommate Nick Morton.
How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse
“Find a mountain range, keep quiet, mimic the way the undead walk and NEVER fight,” this Daily Mail article says. Bradley Voytek of Cognitive Science uses what we know about the brain to explain the behavior of film zombies.
Trump Trade Policy a 'Big Loser,' Economists Say
Economist Gordon Hanson spoke with VOA News.
Founder of Queer Palestinian Organization Speaks at UC San Diego
The Critical Gender Studies Program, in partnership with the Global Forum at UCSD International House, hosted Palestinian queer community organizer Haneen Maikey for the Papadopoulos Endowed Lecture.
Students, Civil-Rights Groups Want to Oust SDSU’s Hirshman
Terrorism expert Eli Berman of Economics weighed in on the controversy around the Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) movement. There’s a legitimate debate about whether the movement is useful and ethically correct, Berman said, but he doesn’t think it’s appropriate to associate it with terrorism. Berman was interviewed for KPBS as well.
College Campuses Take on Food Waste
Efforts by students Jessica Pompa, a Political Science undergraduate, and Kara Wentworth, Ph.D. candidate in Communication, are highlighted by the University of California.
May 16: Spring Quarterly Conversations in Global Health
Join the Global Health Program Monday, May 16 at 3:30 p.m. at the Great Hall, to hear an interdisciplinary panel of experts discuss refugee health.
Some UC Majors See Balance Shift Toward Out-of-State Students
Via the Sacramento Bee: “At UC San Diego, the number of Californians studying Psychology and Social Sciences both dropped by more than a third over the five-year period, while out-of-state students increased by 244 and 119 percent, respectively.”
Out-of-State Tuition Relief Could Pay Off for Economy
An editorial in Maine cites a 2003 study by Michelle White of Economics on the economic impact of out-of-state students.
Triton Magazine: Spring 2016
The Division of Social Sciences is well represented in the new issue of Triton magazine. “Brilliant Minds, Inspiring Lives” features Linguistics alumnus David Peterson. Alumna Emily Castor – a double major in Critical Gender Studies and Political Science – is interviewed for “Driving the New Economy.” Hal Pashler of Psychology, and Edwin Hutchins and Jim Hollan of Cognitive Science are included in “AI: Automotive Intelligence.” Psychology professor and alumna Christine Harris and graduate student Nicole Henniger’s research on envy is featured in “The Grass Is Always Greener.” And in the online edition, Communication alumna Maria Ho, a professional poker player, is featured in “Alumna Maria Ho Goes All In.”
What Didn’t Happen After Sanders Slammed Clinton on Helping Poor People
Lane Kenworthy of Sociology and the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research is quoted in the Washington Post’s Wonkblog on Europe’s basic income guarantees.
San Diego Unified High School Graduation Rates Higher Than Expected
Education Studies alumna and San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Cindy Marten told KPBS that sharing data with the San Diego Education Research Alliance (SanDERA) at UC San Diego, led by Julian Betts of Economics, helped the district rise to the challenge of a rigorous new graduation policy. Related reports on the district’s own new estimates for 2016, in the Union-Tribune and Voice of San Diego, compared them to estimates released earlier by SanDERA.
Did a Teen Discover a Lost Mayan City? Not Exactly
The internet was abuzz with a 15-year-old “discovering” a Mayan site, leading Geoffrey Braswell of Anthropology to weigh in. “Mr. Gadoury should be praised for his work, and it is clear that he will have an exciting future,” Braswell said. “Nonetheless, the images that he has shown are not of Maya pyramids.” News organizations around the globe began to update their stories with Braswell’s comments: New York Magazine, Wired, Gizmodo and the Washington Post (linked above), among them.
On Mexico-US Border, Living in the Shadow of 'The Wall'
In this in-depth feature, Fonna Forman of Political Science, co-director of the UCSD Center on Global Justice and the Blum Cross-Border Initiative, says the US-Mexico border wall has a different psychological impact depending on your geographic and economic situation.
Will Embryo Selection Replace How Pregnancy Traditionally Begins?
Citing an earlier piece, Deseret News featured comments from John Evans of Sociology for an updated article on ethics and new genetic technologies.
Student Speakers Selected for All Campus Commencement Ceremony
Psychology major Karina Mohajerani will share her personal story and encourage the class of 2016 to be of service to the community and the world.
From Riverside’s Casa Blanca to the White House
Tom K. Wong almost didn’t graduate high school when he learned at 16 that he was an undocumented immigrant. Now a Ph.D.-holding faculty member of Political Science, Wong has completed his second book. And he has just been detailed by the U.S. government to serve as a policy advisor on a White House initiative.
American Indian Narratives in Picture Form
The New York Times reports on efforts to keep intact 19th-century ledger books used to record tribal history. Included in the story are Ross Frank of Ethnic Studies and his Plains Ledger Art Project.
American Academy of Arts and Sciences Elects Three From UC San Diego
Jeff Elman of Cognitive Science, former dean of the Division of Social Sciences, is one of three UC San Diego professors honored – and one of 29 UC-wide.
Don’t Fear Muslim Immigrants: They Aren’t the Real Problem
In a feature for Foreign Affairs, Claire Adida and her co-authors for the book “Why Muslim Integration Fails in Christian-Heritage Societies” say “democracies are not opening their doors to terrorism when they let in Muslim immigrants.”
What If We Just Gave Poor People a Basic Income for Life?
Economist Paul Niehaus and a fellow cofounder of the organization GiveDirectly write in Slate that they are about to test the idea. GiveDirectly is pledging $10 million to provide at least 6,000 Kenyans with a basic income for 10 to 15 years. Tech Insider covered the news as well.
Global Mental Health: Transdisciplinary Perspectives
Thomas Csordas and Janis Jenkins of Anthropology are among those working to move mental health from the margins to the mainstream of the global development agenda. Jenkins served as panel chair for “Conceptualizing Mental Health,” while Csordas served as a panelist for “Context and Mental Health: Culture, Poverty, and Religion,” at a meeting convened by the International Monetary Fund, the World Health Organization, the U.S. National Institutes of Health and Georgetown University. The meeting was held in conjunction with the World Bank’s and World Health Organization’s “Out of the Shadows: Making Mental Health a Global Health Development Priority,” covered by The New York Times and Huffington Post.
Downtown San Diego: The Innovation Economy’s Latest Frontier
Sociologist Mary Walshok, dean of Extension, urges the region to court creative millennial talent by providing “an urban environment where they can have diverse social interactions, where they can walk and bike to work, shops, restaurants and cultural amenities.”
Meet the Inventor of Game of Thrones’ Otherworldly Language
A CBS News video feature on Linguistics alumnus David Peterson, this year’s UCSD Alumni Emerging Leader honoree and creator of languages for Hollywood, includes a visit to Grant Goodall’s class on invented languages.
Alumna Gives Voice to Transgender Youth With New Book
For Transgender Day of Visibility, Communication alumna Hillary Whittington returned to campus to discuss her memoir “Raising Ryland: Our Story of Parenting a Transgender Child with No Strings Attached.”
Will New Tax ‘Inversion’ Rules Hurt San Diego Biotechs?
The San Diego Union-Tribune asks thought leaders across the region, including economist James Hamilton.
Could Generational Change Ease Brazil’s Politics of Corruption?
It is possible the sheer scale of Brazil’s recent presidential scandal will prompt real reform, says Scott Desposato of Political Science in the Christian Science Monitor, though he urges caution in hoping that it will.
Where Jobs Are Squeezed by Chinese Trade, Voters Seek Extremes
Economist Gordon Hanson is interviewed by the New York Times, linked above, and WBUR about his research showing the effects of trade on the U.S. job market. Hanson’s research has been cited by free-trade critics, Bloomburg reports, but in a Vox interview, Hanson says he thinks free trade is essential.
‘Power of the Crowd’ to Monitor At-Risk Archaeological Sites
A team of researchers at the new Center for Cyber-Archaeology and Sustainability led by Thomas Levy of Anthropology has launched a joint online mission to monitor nearly 11,000 archaeological sites located in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.
Class Acts: Annual Faculty Excellence Awards
Teddy Cruz is honored for excellence in community service, including for projects he designed and directs with collaborator Fonna Forman of Political Science.
Architect Wants to Turn Tijuana River Canal Into a Solar Energy Farm
A proposal by Rene Peralta of Urban Studies and Planning gains traction.
‘Race for the White House’
CNN’s presidential election series of documentaries features Samuel Popkin of Political Science in two of six episodes: “Truman v. Dewey” and “Clinton vs. Bush.” Popkin was also interviewed for CNN Newsroom Weekend.
Three Officials Charged in Flint Water Crisis
A previous interview by Thad Kousser of Political Science, where he cautions running a government like a business, is recalled for this Christian Science Monitor story.
Auto Workers Union Fights Internally Over Israeli Boycott Policy
Jennifer Mogannam, a Ph.D. candidate in Ethnic Studies, is interviewed by RT News.
What You Need To Know About That ‘Cute’ Lemur Video
Did you see or share that viral video of a lemur demanding back scratches? Marni LaFleur of Anthropology, who co-directs the nonprofit Lemur Love, explains to NPR why interacting with wild lemurs is not good for you, or the lemur. LaFleur also spoke with Slate.
Young Cancer Survivor Vies for Fundraising Crown
Communication alumna Chelsea Street hopes to raise $100K for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
San Diego Celebrates Earth Day, Cheers Paris Climate Accord
Psychologist Sandra Brown, vice chancellor of research, said San Diego is at the forefront of climate-change issues.
2016 UC San Diego Sustainability Awardees
Leslie Lewis of Urban Studies and Planning is honored as an outstanding faculty member for personally modeling sustainability, as well as for her teaching and outreach.
New Graduation Rules Create Win-Lose Scenario for Students
Study by Julian Betts of Economics and SANDERA on required college-prep courses and potential effects on graduation rates (PDF) continues to receive press, including this Voice of San Diego article on foreign-language requirements.
Derailed Train of Thought? Brain’s Stopping System May Be at Fault
The same neural mechanism that interrupts body movement also interrupts cognition, suggests a study by Adam Aron of Psychology, published in Nature Communications. The findings, which may give insight into Parkinson’s Disease, were covered by NBC News, The Scientist, Daily Mail, and Parkinson’s News Today, among others.
Society Needs to Better Understand the Economics of Climate Change
“What is crystal clear is that society is hampered in using natural science knowledge of climate change because of gaps in the knowledge of economic and social dimensions of climate change,” write economists Richard Carson and Joshua Graff Zivin, along with many others in Science, urging a more substantive research program in the economics of climate change so we can find “effective policy solutions with broad societal support.” Carson was also interviewed by ClimateWire on San Diego’s goal of 100 percent clean electricity by 2035.
System Overload: Inside America’s Infrastructure Problem
In The New Yorker, political scientist Steven Erie, former director of Urban Studies and Planning, explains the “edifice complex,” as well as how Americans have turned into “short-term-fix addicts,” and how the Republican Party is now more skeptical of big infrastructure projects than it once was.
Wage Deal Part of New Political Process in California
“The minimum wage agreement shows how compromise can come when state leaders use direct democracy and representative democracy to cooperate rather than compete,” writes Thad Kousser of Political Science in a San Diego Union-Tribune op-ed, while an editorial in The Oklahoman quotes him on stark contrasts between state legislatures.
Accounts Show How Imperfect Memory Can Be
“I think there would be a lot less disagreement of eyewitness accounts if you knew how confident they were. It’s so critical,” said John Wixted of Psychology in a story on the case of Jamar Clark’s shooting by police officers in Minneapolis. Wixted’s work on eyewitness confidence is explored more deeply in a forthcoming issue of Scientific American Mind.
The Strange Seasonality of Violence
Some consider April the “beginning of the killing season,” writes the Washington Post. David Phillips of Sociology urges caution about making such a claim.
‘The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the 21st Century’
Fonna Forman of Political Science, co-director of the UCSD Center on Global Justice and the Blum Cross-Border Initiative, serves on the Global Citizenship Commission to re-examine the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The commission is presenting their report to the United Nations Secretary General April 18. Subsidiary research projects related to the commission’s work were carried out by researchers at the Center on Global Justice, including a report on human rights education led by Gerry Mackie of Political Science and a report on human rights enforcement.
The Crazy Idea That Higher Oil Prices Might Be Good for the Economy Right Now
Washington Post’s Wonkblog calls prior research by Johannes Wieland of Economics the “perfect test case” for understanding the effects of high oil prices and zero interest rates on the economy.
Benin Has a New President: Patrice Talon, an Ironic Outsider Politician
Claire Adida of Political Science looks at Benin’s history of supporting outsiders, raising questions about what the recent election means for the country’s democratic future.
Tritons Baseball Trio Has Stuck Together
Economics students Gradeigh Sanchez and Jack Larsen, along with friend and teammate Tyler Howsley, are featured in the Union-Tribune.
Organic Farm Serves Up Life Lessons for UC Students
Sociology student Gabriela Estrada comments on her UC Global Food Initiative fellowship, saying she plans to work at the Ocean View Growing Grounds in Southeast San Diego after graduation.
Curating the Craft Beer World
Nick Norton, Political Science alumnus, is featured with other Warren College alumni in Triton magazine.
April 28 and May 12: Triton Connect
Social Sciences alumni are featured in two upcoming events: Silicon Valley on April 28 features Elisa Schreiber of Greylock Partners and Angela Calman of 23andme, and Los Angeles on May 12 features professional poker player Maria Ho. All three are alumni of Communication.
‘Modernity’s Ear: Listening to Race and Gender in World Music’
Roshanak Kheshti of Ethnic Studies and Critical Gender Studies discusses her book on a New Books Network podcast. “Modernity’s Ear” explores how world music gets recorded, produced, marketed and sold.
May 3: Global Health Expo and Research Symposium
Join the Global Health Program at the Great Hall for two events May 3: the Global Health Field Experience Expo from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and Horizons of Global Health Research Symposium from 12:30 to 3 p.m. The afternoon keynote speaker, Brandon Kohrt, will address new horizons in global mental health.
These People Have a Mind-Bending Way to Navigate
Rafael Nunez of Cognitive Science discusses in National Geographic his research on Yupno speakers in Papua New Guinea, the first known to imagine slopes to orient themselves inside flat homes.
The Provocative Politics of the Republican Party
This year’s election cycle is the “apotheosis of provocation,” writes Amy Binder of Sociology, co-author of “Becoming Right: How Campuses Shape Young Conservatives,” in a Princeton University Press blog post. “[W]e can see that style, not substance, is mainly what is at issue here.”
May 18: Keynote for Ethnic Studies’ 25th Anniversary (PDF)
Robin D.G. Kelley of UCLA will present “Over the Rainbow: Second Wave Ethnic Studies Against the Neoliberal Turn,” from 3 to 5 p.m. at The Great Hall. A reception will follow.
Young Republicans Are Surprisingly Moderate – and They Could Change American Politics
According to a new study by Gary Jacobson of Political Science covered by Vox, young Republicans are likely to be to the left of older Republicans on a host of issues and not just the expected ones. Jacobin magazine covered the research in “The Coming Left-Wing Majority.” Also, Jacobson spoke with the Union-Tribune about Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine, and about “San Diego’s Trump Dilemma.”
UCSD Students Gear Up for California Primary
Featuring Assembly Speaker Emeritus and UC Regent John Perez, UC San Diego’s Center for Tomorrow’s California and Associated Students welcomed political leaders and students to discuss California’s role in the presidential primary race. Fox 5 News was on site to report.
Solutions From Budding Urbanologists
Keith Pezzoli, of Communication and Urban Studies and Planning, thinks of the 1,100-acre campus as the county’s 19th city, where 56,000 students, faculty and staff labor daily. “It has to deal with problems any city faces,” he told the Union-Tribune in its coverage of the 26th annual expo featuring the work of USP students on issues on- and off-campus. In addition to highlighting select student projects, the story also includes Isaac Martin of Sociology, who gave the keynote.
Pay Wars: Would a Higher Minimum Wage Help or Hurt Workers?
As news broke of a deal to raise the minimum wage in California to $15 an hour, a paper (PDF) by Jeff Clemens of Economics and Ph.D. alumnus Michael Wither on how minimum wage affects employment and income proved valuable to reporters. An AP story quoting Clemens appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune, Boston Globe, Yahoo! News and the New York Times, among many other outlets. A Wall Street Journal editorial also cited the work.
A New Kind of Weather
The Economist cited political scientist James Fowler’s research – a massive 60 million-person experiment on Facebook in 2010 to get out the U.S. vote – in a story on the role social media play in collective action.
2015 Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action and Diversity Awardees
Among the honorees for campus diversity awards: UCSD Community Stations led by Fonna Forman of Political Science, Michael Cole of Communication and Bud Mehan of Education Studies.
San Diego Graduation Rates Expected to Drop
In a KPBS Midday Edition interview, Julian Betts of Economics and SanDERA discusses his recent report analyzing SDUSD’s new college-prep graduation policy. The report predicts a rise in the number of students eligible for college but also raises concerns that many may not graduate at all.
Young India on the Move
The Wall Street Journal’s book review of “The End of Karma: Hope and Fury Among India’s Young” by Somini Sengupta includes Karthik Muralidharan of Economics.
Do Endorsements Matter?
Thad Kousser of Political Science went on KPBS Midday Edition to talk endorsements in San Diego politics. With the Contra Costa Times, Kousser discussed California's history of populism in light of the current presidential primaries.
Airport Terror: Increase Security Net?
Following the bombings in Brussels, the San Diego Union-Tribune spoke with Eli Berman of Economics. Berman said to attack terrorism networks at their source.
Team Soc Sci Needs You
Yeah, you! Join the divisional team, Team Soc Sci, in support of student scholarships at the 20th annual Triton 5K on Sunday, April 10. You can run, walk, hop, skip or jump. But you must register first.
How Apple’s Design Changed the Computer World
Voice of America video features Don Norman of Cognitive Science and the Design Lab.
Trump Vows to 'Break' NAFTA
PRI’s The World interviews Economist Gordon Hanson on the potential to endanger relations with Mexico, saying, “I would hope that a lot of what we're hearing in terms of criticism of NAFTA and using Mexico as a political pinata is just posturing."
‘The People v. O.J. Simpson’ Contradicts ‘No Spoilers’
Research by Nicholas Christenfeld of Psychology and Ph.D. alumnus Jonathan Leavitt is used in this Arts and Entertainment story for The Washington Post. Their research on spoilers was released in 2011.
Addressing Inequality
ICYMI, in case you missed it – a Storify on the spring edition of Socially Speaking, the division's quarterly conversation series: Lane Kenworthy of Sociology, Thad Kousser of Political Science and Amanda Datnow of Education Studies, with Voice of San Diego Editor in Chief Scott Lewis.
April 22: Social Media for Campus Researchers and Faculty
Noon to 1:30 at the Faculty Club: Social media can be a powerful tool to share work, network with colleagues and learn from others in your fields. Free, register at link above.
San Diego’s New Graduation Policy on Course to Score Big Wins and Losses
A rigorous new “college prep” graduation requirement in the San Diego Unified School District looks likely to produce more college-eligible students, according to a report by the San Diego Education Research Alliance at UC San Diego. Co-authored by SanDERA executive director Julian Betts of Economics and supported by the Yankelovich Center, the study also finds as many as 16 percent more students may not graduate at all. Voice of San Diego reported on the findings, followed shortly by the Union-Tribune on the front page of its Sunday paper.
California Networking Consortium to Honor UC San Diego ‘Cyber’ Archaeologist
Thomas Levy of Anthropology will receive the CENIC Innovations in Networking Award for Research Applications in recognition of developing and deploying new systems for reconstructing the archaeological record through digital technologies.
‘Under the Strain of Color’
Gabriel Mendes of Ethnic Studies and Urban Studies and Planning reads from his new book, “Under the Strain of Color,” Wednesday, March 30, 4:30 to 6 p.m., at the UC San Diego Cross Cultural Center.
Investing in California’s African American Students (PDF)
Frances Contreras and Thandeka Chapman of Education Studies led a research team comprised of UC San Diego, UC Riverside, UC Berkeley and UC Davis graduate students and faculty to produce this report showing that high-achieving African-American students in California are not attending UC campuses due to a number of factors.
March 30: Socially Speaking on ‘Addressing Inequality’
Join Lane Kenworthy of Sociology and the Yankelovich Center, Thad Kousser of Political Science and Associate Dean Amanda Datnow of Education Studies for conversation – as well as tapas, wine and dessert. The evening is moderated by Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis.
Legendary Pollster Donates Millions to UC San Diego
Union-Tribune reports on the generous bequest by pioneering public opinion researcher Daniel Yankelovich, which will help the division’s Yankelovich Center study some of the most pressing issues in the social sciences, including education and upward mobility.
More Than Meets the Eye
From DIY comedian to humanitarian, Communication alumna Milana Vayntrub is more than just the face of AT&T.
New Candidates Jumble Key Council Race
The San Diego Union-Tribune reaches out to Vladimir Kogan, doctoral alumnus of Political Science, for comment on the San Diego City Council race.
Voices From a Credentials ‘Summit’
The Chronicle of Higher Education goes to political scientist Alan Houston, UC San Diego’s director of academic strategic initiatives, for insight on how the roles of colleges, employers and students are changing as credentials become digital.
Reps. Davis, Sarbanes Seek Alternative to ‘Big Money’ Campaigns
Thad Kousser of Political Science is cited, saying there is no way to stop big money in campaigns because of recent Supreme Court rulings, notably Citizens United.
Interested in Education? Government Work? Intern at ED!
Andrew Chao, International Studies undergraduate student, pens this blog post about his internship for the U.S. Department of Education.
Diversity Awards Recognize Dedication to Empowerment and Community Engagement
Several Social Sciences faculty and staff were honored at the recent UC San Diego Diversity Awards: Ethnic Studies professors Dayo F. Gore and Sara Clarke Kaplan founded the Black Studies Project two years ago, and Ethnic Studies professor Daphne Taylor-Garcia co-founded the Mackey-Cua Project. Ethnic Studies alumnus Amrah Saloman J. and Communications Ph.D. student Tara-Lynne Pixley were also honored for their work.
El Diseno Es una Forma de Pensar, de Resolver Problemas, Dice Don Norman
In Spanish, El Sol de Mexico features Design Lab director Don Norman of Cognitive Science at the conference “The Future of Design.”
Why Publishing Is So White
Publisher’s Weekly addresses a lack of diversity with sociologist John Skrentny suggesting it is important to look at broader data when considering why book publishing has such a high concentration of white faces in its ranks. Additionally, Skrentny also discusses South Korea’s struggle with cultural diversity in DW Akademie.
Trump Likely Needs California Triumph to Win Nomination
In California media, Samuel Popkin of Political Science looks at what Donald Trump needs to win the Republican nomination, while also comparing the presidential hopeful to former Calif. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Are Free Trade Agreements Good or Bad?
Economist Gordon Hanson appears on Marketplace (linked above) and in the Union-Tribune and New York Times looking at trade and the presidential election.
Grad Students Make the Case for Why Their Research Matters
Tracey Kiser, a graduate student in Education Studies, visited with lawmakers for UC Graduate Research Advocacy Day. She is testing new approaches to help community college students succeed in developmental math.
UC San Diego & You: Kelly Gates and Mica Pollock
Watch now: Kelly Gates of Communication and Mica Pollock of Education Studies and CREATE discuss their work in short, TED-style talks for UC San Diego Alumni and Community Engagement. YouTube links for Gates and Pollock.
Daniel Yankelovich Endows Multimillion Dollar Fund
The public opinion expert’s bequest will continue support for the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research, which aims to find solutions to pressing and complex problems that confront our nation. Times of San Diego, San Diego Metropolitan, La Jolla Patch, KPBS, San Diego Business Journal and others reported on the announcement.
Fighting Truancy Among India’s Teachers, With a Pistol and a Stick
Nearly 24 percent of rural Indian teachers were absent during random visits for a recent study led by Karthik Muralidharan of Economics, reports The New York Times.
It's Not You. Bad Doors Are Everywhere.
Who hasn’t pushed a door when they should have pulled? Cognitive scientist Don Norman – director of the Design Lab at UC San Diego and a longtime leader of human-centered design – is changing the world, one poorly designed door at a time.
March 30: Socially Speaking on 'Addressing Inequality'
Join Lane Kenworthy of Sociology and the Yankelovich Center, Thad Kousser of Political Science and Associate Dean Amanda Datnow of Education Studies for conversation – as well as tapas, wine and dessert. The evening is moderated by Voice of San Diego CEO Scott Lewis.
Two Receive Prestigious Sloan Research Fellowships
The Sloan Foundation has selected two UC San Diego faculty members for Sloan Research Fellowships in 2016: Charles Sprenger, associate professor of economics and strategy, and Julio Barreiro, assistant professor of physics.
Archaeology’s Information Revolution
The Atlantic reports on what big data and technology mean to the study of ancient artifacts, including the work of Thomas Levy of Anthropology. Also, Levy’s new Center for Cyber-Archaeology and Sustainability at the Qualcomm Institute is now partnering with the Israel Antiques Authority.
Obama Will Have a Tough Time Rallying Support to Replace Scalia
FiveThirtyEight analyzes the power of the president to “go public” – or pressure Congress by shaping public opinion. The phrase was coined by UC San Diego political scientist Samuel Kernell.
Legislative Primer: Battles That Will Impact You
Thad Kousser of Political Science begins a new series to track laws facing Californians. Up first: an overview of the major battles in Sacramento, from the budget to daily fantasy sports. Kousser also spoke with public radio station KPCC about an initiative that would force California politicians to wear decals of their financial backers.
How San Diego’s Redistricting Map Could Shortchange Democrats
Political Science alum Vlad Kogan spoke with KPBS Midday Edition: “Even when there’s a Democratic advantage on paper, that rarely translates into an actual Democratic advantage on Election Day.”
China's Environment Minister Wants More Power to Crack Down on Polluters
Vice News seeks the expertise of Political Science Ph.D. candidate Deborah Seligsohn.
The Winnowing of the Republican Field
Wayne Cornelius of Political Science sends a letter to the editor of The New York Times: “Mr. Trump has made racial and religious bigotry ‘respectable.’”
Why White People Should Care About Anti-Racism on Campus
Laura Barraclough, alumna of Ethnic Studies and Urban Studies and Planning, pens this piece for Huffington Post.
How Donald Trump Compares to Teddy Roosevelt
Union-Tribune op-ed by James Ingram, doctoral alumnus of Political Science and current lecturer in Urban Studies and Planning.
Why Trump Now?
In reference to his recent paper “The China Shock,” Gordon Hanson of Economics explains the “populist insurgencies” in the current election cycle to The New York Times’ Thomas Edsall.
Physical Attraction, Feminine Faces and Why ‘the Johnny Depp Effect’ Doesn’t Always Apply
Research by Piotr Winkielman of Psychology showing how assigning gender to faces can cause people to see them as less attractive was covered by The Washington Post (linked above), The Daily Mail and Science 2.0, among others.
Labor May Support Faulconer Challenger
The San Diego Union-Tribune looks at the June 7 mayoral primary, interviewing Steve Erie of Political Science. In the Los Angeles Times, Erie comments on that city’s city council.
Detroit's Lesson – 2016 Candidates Can't Ignore $60 Trillion Debt
Economist James Hamilton’s research on federal liability is cited by USA Today.
Team Soc Sci Needs You
Yeah, you! Join the divisional team, Team Soc Sci, in support of student scholarships at the 20th annual Triton 5K on Sunday, April 10. You can run, walk, hop, skip or jump. But you must register first.
Fred Chang Named to National Academy of Engineering
Psychology alumnus Frederick Chang says, “This recognition further motivates me to continue pursuing the challenge of securing cyberspace.” Chang was previously profiled for his cybersecurity work in Social Sciences E-Connection.
Gardening & Giving Back: UCSD Alumni Day of Service
At a service event supporting the Promise for Education initiative, UC San Diego alumni – including Imperial Beach Mayor Serge Dedina of Political Science, South Bay Unified School District Superintendent Katie McNamara of Education Studies, Imperial Beach City Councilman Ed Spriggs of Economics and Steph Barry of Political Science — are featured by Triton magazine and the Eagle and Times of Imperial Beach. Barry recently took the helm of Alumni and Community Engagement at UC San Diego.
The Race to Save Threatened Cultural Heritage Sites
“When intolerant radical ideologies are coupled with modern bombs and bulldozers, the potential for total destruction of heritage sites is unparalleled compared with the past,” says Thomas Levy of Anthropology. A UC Newsroom feature and Forbes detail how cyber-archaeology research headed by Levy is coming to the rescue.
New Company From GiveDirectly Founders Aims to Streamline Payment System
Economist Paul Niehaus’ software technology company Segovia scores investment from the Global Innovation Fund.
What Does It Take to Get Dads to Take Parental Leave?
Seeing other dads do it. Economist Gordon Dahl explains his research on NPR. The study, based on Norwegian data, was also covered by New York Magazine.
Rebels With a Cause
Gerardo Arellano and Gabriel Agundez met 20 years ago, when both men were Ethnic Studies majors and campus community centers were just sprouting. Arellano, now director of the Raza Resource Centro, recently reconnected with Agundez – and his stepson, a new transfer student to UC San Diego – at the center’s Avanzando Juntos event.
Changing the Future
Communication alumna Helen Griffith leads ‘Most Innovative’ high school, located in San Diego’s Central Library.
On a 'CRASSH' Course
Representatives from several departments in the Division of Social Sciences participated in UC San Diego’s Conference for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities.
Learning Empathy Through Art in Prison
The San Diego Union-Tribune features Sociology Ph.D. candidate Laura Pecenco and her Project PAINT, the Prison Arts INiTiative, which brings art classes to prison inmates.
Cricket Team of Maasai Warriors Goes to Bat for Women's Rights
Huffington Post and NPR report on the Maasai Cricket Warriors, the focus of a documentary film that charts the players’ journey from their Kenyan village to their first championship in London. The team was founded by Aliya Bauer as part of her work at the Uaso Ngiro Baboon Project run by Shirley Strum of Anthropology.
Republicans – Then and Now – Talking About Drug Addiction
NPR reaches out to Curtis Marez of Ethnic Studies for their coverage of the Republican Party primaries.
Tea Party Stakes Claim to City, County Races
In the Los Angeles Times, political scientist Gary Jacobson said the rising influence of the tea party in the state GOP will only accelerate the decline of the party's influence.
Feeling Sleepy? You May Confess to a Crime You Didn’t Commit
Letting suspects sleep will protect the innocent but may also let more criminals off the hook by helping them resist interrogation, says John Wixted of Psychology in Science magazine.
Learning Program Eases English Lessons for Somalis
Grant Goodall of Linguistics gives language-learning insights to the San Diego Union-Tribune, explaining the importance of “meaningful input” and interaction.
Students Get Crash Course in Responding to Life’s Unexpected Turns
Daisy Rodriguez, Ethnic Studies’ undergraduate coordinator, has been a coordinator of the Real World Career Series for the past three years.
Voter ID Laws Suppress Dems, Minorities
Research led by Zoltan Hajnal of Political Science continues to receive extensive media coverage. In addition to the San Diego Union-Tribune and Los Angeles Times, articles appear in the Huffington Post, Latin Post, AFL-CIO and Atlanta Black Star.
Team Soc Sci Needs You
Yeah, you! Join the divisional team, Team Soc Sci, in support of student scholarships at the 20th annual Triton 5K on Sunday, April 10. You can run, walk, hop, skip or jump. But you must register first.
Alumni and Community Engagement Announces 2016 Honorees
David Peterson of Linguistics is this year’s Emerging Alumni winner. Peterson is a language creator best known for creating the Dothraki and High Valyrian languages for the HBO series “Game of Thrones.” Peterson will be recognized during UC San Diego’s annual Alumni Weekend, beginning June 2.
Smart Tech Use for Equity
Mica Pollock of Education Studies and CREATE writes about engaging a diverse group of K-12 teachers in San Diego to “identify uses of technology in schools that promote learning, development and success for all students versus uses that don’t.” The piece appears in the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance magazine.
Why Iowa?
With a population that is overwhelmingly white and more rural than the nation as a whole, does it make sense for Iowa to play such a big role in picking our president? Thad Kousser of Political Science proposes a reform of the current national primaries model that also retains its advantages.
Research and the Real World
A special Chronicle of Higher Education package examines if research scientists and their funders are working to provide solutions for society’s problems. Eli Berman of Economics is featured in the pieces “Is University Research Missing What Matters Most?” and “How Fresh Funding Structures Could Support Research With Impact.”
Feb. 23: Gun Violence in the United States – A Global Public Health Crisis
Hosted in part by the Global Health Program and co-sponsored by Department of Communication, the quarterly Conversations in Global Health event includes Janis Jenkins and Saiba Varma of Anthropology, and Brady Campaign Director Ron Marcus. The conversation starts at 3:30 p.m.
Democratic Socialism Might Be Inevitable in America
Even if Bernie Sanders loses, not only is social democracy possible in the United States, but it’s near inevitable, argues Lane Kenworthy of Sociology and the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research in a Washington Post Wonkblog Q&A.
Team Soc Sci Needs You
Yeah, you! Join the divisional team, Team Soc Sci, in support of student scholarships at the 20th annual Triton 5K on Sunday, April 10. You can run, walk, hop, skip or jump. But you must register first.
The Power of One Voice
Meet Dejanay Wayne, '17. The undergraduate majoring in Communication and Ethnic Studies has ideas on how to make the university more welcoming to students of color. See what she's accomplished so far.
‘Why Muslim Integration Fails in Christian-Heritage Societies’
Book co-authored by Claire Adida of Political Science is reviewed by The Financial Times.
Study Finds Republican Voter Suppression Is Even More Effective Than You Think
Zoltan Hajnal, alumnus Lindsay Nielson and Ph.D. candidate Nazita Lajevardi, all of Political Science, show that “voter ID laws skew democracy in favor of whites and those on the political right.” Think Progress, Vice and Color Lines reported on the working paper, as well as The Washington Post’s Wonkblog and an op-ed in The Los Angeles Times.
The Surprising Relationship Between Taxes and Charitable Giving
Research by James Andreoni of Economics tying an increase in government grants to a decrease in personal giving is featured in Yahoo! Finance.
The Oscars Whiteout Is Driven by Racism – and Greed
A U.K. Guardian op-ed on this year's Academy Awards cites research by sociologist John Skrentny, director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies at UC San Diego.
The China Shock (PDF)
A National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, co-authored by Gordon Hanson of Economics, details the impacts of the China trade shock on labor markets in developed economies. It also argues that the “case for free trade [be] not based on the sway of theory alone, but on a foundation of evidence that illuminates who gains, who loses, by how much, and under what conditions.” Multiple media outlets covered the study, including The Economist, The New York Times, CNN and The Atlantic.
Dogs Get Bitten by the Green-Eyed Monster, Too
Huffington Post covers 2014 research by psychologist Christine Harris and former honors student Caroline Prouvost.
Award-Winning Research About Mexican Immigration
Natalina Molina of Urban Studies and Planning was recently awarded the 2015 Susanne M. Glasscock Humanities Book Prize for Interdisciplinary Scholarship for her book, “How Race Is Made in America: Immigration, Citizenship, and the Historical Power of Racial Scripts.”
How Plunging Oil Prices Threaten the U.S. Economy
In a story for The Fiscal Times, James Hamilton of Economics predicts that oil-producing regions in the United States may experience recession like they did during the oil glut of the 1980s. The comment is used again for Sputnik News.
'Eugenia: A Fictional Sketch of Future Customs'
Latin American Studies librarian Sarah Buck Kachaluba has edited and translated a book by Eduardo Urzaiz, now published by the University of Wisconsin Press.
Why Don’t We Have a Piketty Tax Already?
"The short answer is the Constitution,” blogs sociologist Isaac Martin.
Family Welfare Cultures: Evidence from Norway’s System of Disability Insurance
Research by Economist Gordon Dahl presents some of the first causal evidence for the intergenerational transmission of “family welfare cultures.” Additionally, Dahl pens a Children, Youth & Families briefing on the “Earned Income Tax Credit and Educational Outcomes” (PDF).
Energy Company Dollars Have Flowed to Leaders
Gary Jacobson of Political Science looks at a conflict of interest arising from privately financed campaigns, in context of the current methane gas leak in Los Angeles.
Tribes’ Win in Fight for Bones Clouds Hopes for DNA Studies
In addition to The New York Times, Forbes mentions Margaret Schoeninger of Anthropology in reporting that the Supreme Court has declined to hear a lower-court case appeal regarding remains found on UC San Diego property.
Honor a Father's Fight for Civil Liberties
Evidence discovered by Peter Irons of Political Science while researching World War II Supreme Court cases was used in the 1980s to prove there was no military necessity for Japanese-Americans to be forcibly removed from their homes.
Floating Another Way to Pay for New Water
Economist Richard Carson spoke with Voice of San Diego about who should bear the cost of new water supplies.
Still Connected After All These Years
Psychologist Jean Mandler, co-founder of Cognitive Science with Jeff Elman and Don Norman, is featured for her commitment to UC San Diego for more than 50 years. Responding to her interviewer, Mandler said, "Why stay at this institution? Well, it's the best."
Dialogues With the Dalai Lama
In a special 30th Mind and Life Institute event held at the Sera Monastery in India, Lera Boroditsky of Cognitive Science sat with the Dalai Lama to discuss “Language and Mind: How the Languages We Speak Shape the Ways We Think.”
Presidential Election 2016
Political scientist Thad Kousser brings his expertise on this year’s election to several media outlets: The Christian Science Monitor (linked above) on why money won’t matter; KPCC’s AirTalk on the Republican Party’s California primary; The New York Times on the party’s 50-state solution; and KPBS’s Midday Edition on Obama’s State of the Union. Additionally, Kousser advocates for “ranked-choice voting” in a Zocalo Public Square conversation.
Facial Recognition: Who's Tracking You in Public?
Kelly Gates of Communication, author of “Our Biometric Future: Facial Recognition Technology and the Culture of Surveillance,” is quoted in Yahoo! News. The story originally ran in Consumer Reports.
Solving Housing Crisis Key to Growing San Diego Economy
“We talk about a ‘sunshine tax’ on housing, as if the high cost simply reflects a surcharge for our high quality of life. There actually are many reasons for our affordable housing shortage,” writes Cary Lowe of Urban Studies and Planning in an op-ed for the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Dothraki and 'The Art of Language Invention'
The Daily Show hosted Linguistics alumnus David Peterson to discuss his book “The Art of Language Invention” and how he developed Dothraki for the TV series “Game of Thrones.”
Obama Administration Plans Shake-Up in Propaganda War Against ISIS
Anthropology alumnus Michael Lumpkin is appointed the new head of a State Department program on global engagement.
EconoMeter Predictions for 2016
What economic indicator to focus on most in 2016? Interest rates, says James Hamilton of Economics in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Giving Money With No Strings Attached
Economist Paul Niehaus, president of GiveDirectly, discusses whether large, one-time cash transfers to the poor are more effective than sums given on a regular basis in this audio interview for The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Robots in Context
In Triton magazine, Social Sciences Dean Carol Padden says social and cognitive scientists lend a deep understanding of the brain that will ultimately allow robots to better interact with humans.
Brain Monitoring Takes a Leap Out of the Lab
A first-of-its-kind dry EEG system was developed in part by Cognitive Science alumnus Tim Mullen, CEO of Qusp. Coverage of the invention includes Crazy Engineers, Engaget and Gizmag, among others.
Steph Barry, Assistant Vice Chancellor of Alumni and Community Engagement
Political Science alumna Steph Barry is announced as a new assistant vice chancellor at UC San Diego. In a UC San Diego News feature, Barry said, "There is so much promise for the future of this campus, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to be a part of it."
Obama Repeated a Common Myth About the Presidency
Research by Samuel Kernell of Political Science is cited in The Washington Post’s Wonkblog.
So Much to Read, So Little Time
Ph.D. alumna, postdoctoral scholar Elizabeth Schotter of Psychology and the late Keith Rayner publish work on how we read, saying speed readers ultimately don't understand the information they take in. The research sparked features in The Daily Mail, Quartz, The Guardian and Tech Times, among others.
Flint Water Crisis Reveals Limits of Running a State as a Business
Commenting on recent events in Michigan, Thad Kousser of Political Science is cited in The Christian Science Monitor.
Drowning in Oil
“It’s slowing world GDP growth (particularly in China) that is causing oil prices to fall, not falling oil prices that are causing GDP to fall,” says economist James Hamilton.
Sit. Stay. Play.
Two UC San Diego alumni – Leo Trottier, a Ph.D. candidate with a master's in Cognitive Science, and Dan Knudsen, a neuroscientist from the Gentner Lab – took a prize at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show for CleverPet, a first-of-its-kind game console for dogs.
27 Million Latinos Eligible to Vote
Marisa Abrajano of Political Science: Making voting personal for Latinos is a significant part of getting them to the polls.
Apple Buys San Diego Artificial Intelligence Startup Emotient
Created and developed by several UC San Diego affiliates, including Cognitive Science and Psychology alumna Marian “Marni” Bartlett and Javier Movellan, a research scientist at the Institute for Neural Computation and head of the Machine Perception Lab, Emotient offers emotion-recognition technology. The acquisition was widely reported, including in the Los Angeles Times, MacWorld and Bloomberg.
‘Why Muslim Integration Fails in Christian-Heritage Societies’
A Research on Religion podcast features Claire Adida of Political Science discussing her new book and contemporary discrimination towards Muslims in France. Adida and the book’s other authors were also interviewed for The Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog.
UC San Diego’s Big Ideas for 2016 — and Beyond
The new year is the perfect time to look forward to what we want to accomplish next. Here, visionaries from UC San Diego share their “big ideas” for revolutionizing our community and our planet, including three from Social Sciences. Amy Binder of Sociology says “Match every first-generation college student with a mentor,” Sandra Brown of Psychology says “Move the campus to the ‘Frontiers of Innovation’” and Alan Daly of Education Studies says “Offer intentional instruction in network literacy.”
Jan. 21: Socially Speaking
The 2016 presidential election with political scientist Sam Popkin.
Archaeologists Find Captive Carnivore Remains in Mexico
Epoch Times features research analysis by Margaret Schoeninger of Anthropology of puma, eagle and wolf remains found in Teotihuacan.
Shooter Video Games Increase Aggression
“The effect of violent video game exposure on children remains a concern. Very little research has been conducted with children, and very little research has looked at cumulative effects of exposure over time,” says Mark Appelbaum of Psychology in Triton magazine.
Can We Prevent Terrorism by Checking Immigrants’ Social Media Accounts? No.
Political Science Ph.D. candidate Zachary Steinert-Threlkeld pens this op-ed with Jesse Driscoll of the School for Global Policy and Strategy for The Washington Post’s Monkey Cage blog.
Vice Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Briefed on Cross Domain Deterrence
Erik Gartzke of Political Science, with Jon Lindsay of the Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, recently briefed the second highest-ranking military officer for the U.S.
Marr Prize Honorable Mention for Computer Vision Researcher
Prestigious international conference selects paper coauthored by Zhuowen Tu of Cognitive Science from 1,698 submissions.
Racial Identity, and Its Hostilities, Are on the Rise in American Politics
The New York Times cites research by Julian Betts of Economics showing that for every four immigrants entering public high schools, one native student switched to a private school.
The Democratic Party’s Immigration Record Is Atrocious
David FitzGerald of Sociology is quoted by Salon.com in a piece arguing that GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz accidentally made a good point.
Conference Offers Perspectives on Refugee Situation Worldwide
East County Magazine features Center for Comparative Immigration Studies event, and sociologist David FitzGerald and Sociology Ph.D. candidate Rawan Arar.
What’s a Chair?
Lane Kenworthy of Sociology, holder of the Daniel Yankelovich Endowed Chair on Social Thought, is interviewed in Triton magazine, stating how his research has direct policy implications. Triton also featured the upward mobility project recently launched by Kenworthy as director of the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research.
Alumni in Triton: Making a Positive Impact
Also in Triton magazine, Economics alumna Chris Haley talks about her service as the San Diego Police Department’s data analyst and Communications alumna Lisa Rodriguez recounts her path to San Diego County Superior Court judge.
Governor Brown Appoints Alumna to San Joaquin County Superior Court
Imperial Valley News features Political Science alumna Kristine Eagle.
‘The Minimum Wage and the Great Recession’
NBER working paper by economist Jeffrey Clemens – showing that minimum wage increases reduced employment among individuals ages 16 to 30 with less than a high school education by 5.6 percentage points – caught the attention of the Adam Smith Institute, the Washington Examiner, Market Watch, The Week and the National Review, the latter citing Clemens’ work with Ph.D. alumnus Michael Wither.
Why Death Doesn’t Take a Holiday This Time of Year
The Wall Street Journal cites research by David Phillips of Sociology on the increases in deaths during the holiday season, including how New Year’s Day is the deadliest day of the year. Other media also cover the phenomenon, with his work cited in The Washington Post’s Wonkblog, the Daily Star and Quartz, among others, as well as a feature for Yahoo! News on why SIDS increases on New Year’s Day.
Sweetwater District Garners Celebrity Attention
San Diego Union-Tribune story celebrates the success and local impact of computer-science education that grew out of collaboration between the San Diego Supercomputer Center and the Center for Research on Educational Equity, Assessment, and Teaching Excellence (CREATE).
Jan. 21 and Feb. 18: A Life in the Law
The Department of Political Science presents a pair of lectures by renowned litigator Bill Lerach.
2015
Confident Eyewitnesses More Accurate, Study Finds
Research published in PNAS by memory expert John Wixted of Psychology and alumna Laura Mickes suggests it’s important – to justice and the protection of innocents – for the legal system to take into account initial eyewitness confidence. The field study of witnesses to real robberies was covered by the San Diego Union-Tribune (reprinted in the Los Angeles Times), KPBS, BuzzFeed News, Scientific American, Forensic Magazine, the Daily Mail, Pacific Standard, Ars Technica, Science and others.
Confidence Counts: Accuracy of Eyewitness IDs Increases With Degree of Certainty
When it comes to accurately identifying a criminal suspect, it makes a difference how sure an eyewitness is, finds a field study by memory expert John Wixted of Psychology and alumna Laura Mickes.
The Key to Getting People to Donate to Charities: Don’t Push It
The Wall Street Journal publishes this op-ed by James Andreoni of Economics, highlighting verbal pledges over immediate giving.
UC San Diego Alums Turn Ugly Christmas Sweater Line into Booming Business
Economics alum Evan Mendelsohn is featured, along with his company, Tipsy Elves.
Why Jerry Brown’s Shifting Focus on Pollutants Could Help the Planet
Thad Kousser of Political Science explains the local focus on climate change.
San Diego Professor Discusses Radicalization
KPBS interviews Eli Berman of Economics, author of “Radical, Religious and Violent: The New Economics of Terrorism.”
Thomas E. Levy Among Recipients of UC President’s Research Catalyst Award
Anthropology professor Thomas Levy, the Norma Kershaw Chair in the Archaeology of Ancient Israel and Neighboring Lands, will lead a $1.07 million project to curate, analyze and visualize 3D data from at-risk archaeological sites in the Middle East. Levy served as a key participant in this year’s Digital Heritage Conference.
How Trippy Version of Christmas Hit Fools the Brain
Auditory illusions specialist Diana Deutsch of Psychology explains why most hear a voice that isn't actually there. The Telegraph also reports on this cognitive phenomenon.
Who Is Responsible for Climate Change?
Psychology alum Peter Frumhoff will speak on campus Jan. 21.
Learning Equality Crowdsources Funding for Offline Education
Cognitive Science alum Jamie Alexandre takes the nonprofit Learning Equality to new heights, launching a campaign to develop a free app to provide universal primary school education. Update: Funded! Pledge from GlobalEDU.org pushes group to 200 percent of goal.
Nevada Democrats Nervously Watch U.S. Supreme Court Hearings
Thad Kousser of Political Science discusses immigration laws in Nevada.
Biographical Memoirs: Melford Spiro
The National Academy of Sciences produces a biography of Mel Spiro of Anthropology for its national archives.
'Degrees of Health and Well-being'
Tom Wong of Political Science is set to participate in the Division of Arts and Humanities' lecture series Feb. 17.
Elite Older Scientists Say 'No Thanks' to Retirement
Don Norman of Cognitive Science and the Design Lab is featured in this San Diego Union-Tribune article.
Hey, China, This Is Why Democracies Beat Autocracies in a Fight
Erik Gartzke of Political Science pens this op-ed for The Washington Post’s “Monkey Cage” blog, touching on tensions in the South China Sea.
To Study OCD, Scientists Get Their (Rubber) Hands Dirty
The Center for Brain and Cognition visiting scholar Baland Jalal is cited.
'On the Line: Slaughterhouse Lives and the Making of the New South'
Vanesa Ribas of Sociology publishes her first book, an eye-opening examination of the lives of workers in the New South, via University of California Press.
Departure of Powerful Staffer Comes Amid Changes in Capitol
Independent news source CALmatters cites Thad Kousser of Political Science, reprinted in the San Francisco Chronicle.
Here's How You Spend $600,000 on 19 Consultants in a Senate Race
Political Scientist Gary Jacobson is quoted in the Los Angeles Times.
Google Clashes with California Officials Over Proposed Self-Driving Car Regulations
Following draft regulations from the Department of Motor Vehicles that could slow down the adoption of driverless cars, Don Norman of Cognitive Science and the Design Lab is cited as opposition to the draft: "The most dangerous kind of autonomous vehicles are those that require human monitoring."
UC San Diego Innovators Gain Guidance from New Entrepreneurs-in-Residence
“We want our students to have the courage to create new businesses, design improvements for society, and be the leaders of the new economy,” said Vice Chancellor for Research Sandra Brown of Psychology.
Why Graduates of Elite Colleges Flock to the Same Jobs
The Chronicle of Higher Education features Amy Binder of Sociology and her research exploring why so many Harvard and Stanford grads pursue careers in consulting, finance and high-tech. “Universities should really take a look in the mirror. They’re facilitating entry into these jobs in a massive way,” she says. Binder was also featured on CBS.
Cracking the Trump Code
Sam Popkin of Political Science explains in The Daily Beast what some have been missing about “The Donald.”
Will Attitudes Shift on Gun Control?
Following the San Bernardino shootings, Thad Kousser of Political Science comments on gun control laws.
'This Is What They're Known For'
Media expert Daniel Hallin of Communication comments on tabloid publications following the San Bernardino shootings.
Why ISIL Will Fail on Its Own
"Deciding how we think about ISIL is critical to deciding how to fight it," says Eli Berman of Economics in this op-ed for Politico. Berman also gave an interview to MSNBC and wrote another op-ed, this one for Bloomberg View.
Will China Be Seen as a Leader or a Villain?
The Christian Science Monitor includes Political Science Ph.D. candidate Deborah Seligsohn in its coverage of the Paris Climate Summit.
Extraordinary Conditions
Janis Jenkins of Anthropology writes a guest post for the University of California Press blog and is interviewed on the “Thinking Aloud” radio program about her book “Extraordinary Conditions: Culture and Experience in Mental Illness.”
Why Affluent Parents Put So Much Pressure on Their Kids
The Atlantic cites research by economists Garey and Valerie Ramey.
What’s Behind Trend That Has Mexicans Leaving U.S.
Sociology professor David FitzGerald, co-director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, weighs in on KPBS Midday Edition.
UC San Diego Foundation Welcomes New Trustees
Gordon Hanson of Economics joins as faculty representative.
Gavin Newsom Making Overtures to San Joaquin Valley
Thad Kousser of Political Science comments on the upcoming California gubernatorial race.
AIPAC Announces New Director of its Jerusalem Office
Political Science alumnus Cameron Brown will take over as lobby’s Israel director.
Should We Care About 'Star Wars: Force Awakens' Spoilers?
Research by Nicholas Christenfeld of Psychology and alumnus Jonathan Leavitt was cited.
Outstanding Faculty Leader in Presidential Initiatives
Keith Pezzoli of Communication and Urban Studies and Planning is honored by University of California President Janet Napolitano. Pezzoli also appeared in a UC holiday feature.
Principal of High Performing San Diego School Credits Controversial Superintendent
Economist Julian Betts, director of the San Diego Education Research Alliance, is interviewed on Bersin legacy for this KPBS story.
American Political Science Association Moves Ahead on Transparency
“The social sciences, like the natural sciences and medical research, are facing rising expectations for accountability,” writes David A. Lake of Political Science, president-elect of the APSA, together with the current and past presidents of the association.
Is Your Family Stressed, Tired and Rushed?
“This is not an individual problem, it is a social problem…and we need a societal-wide response.” - Mary Blair-Loy of Sociology and the Center for Research on Gender in the Professions, as quoted in the New York Times. She also gave interviews on the topic to WBAL in Baltimore and KGTV.
Here Is What Social Science Can Tell Us About the Terrorist Attacks in Paris
Washington Post opinion piece cites research by Claire Adida of Political Science.
Paris Attacks Likely Work of ISIS
Eli Berman of Economics commented on the recent attacks in Paris to several news outlets, including City News Service and Le Devoir in Montreal.
New Robotics Institute Aims to Help People Age at Home
Division of Social Sciences and Jacobs School of Engineering’s Contextual Robotics Institute featured.
Restoring American Dream Is Study's Aim: UCSD
Lane Kenworthy of Sociology and the Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research speaks about the center’s recently launched project to assess strategies for increasing upward mobility in the United States. Kenworthy and the project were also featured on KPBS’ Midday Edition.
Zombies Invade a New Mexico Middle School
Kids love zombies, and studying zombie brains means they're learning brain science. This school is using the book "Do Zombies Dream of Undead Sheep" by Bradley Voytek of Cognitive Science as inspiration.
Biographer Researching Stockton Genius
The Stockton Record features Ivano Caponigro of Linguistics, who is working on a book about philosopher and logician Richard Montague.
Plight of the Funny Female
The Atlantic features alumna Laura Mickes of Psychology, along with studies on gender and humor she conducted while at UC San Diego.
Closer Look at Latino Students
Not attending preschool can have profound effects, said Frances Contreras of Education Studies, speaking at the Latino Leadership Education Summit, which was covered by KFSN in Fresno.
So How’s the American Middle Class, Really?
Lane Kenworthy of Sociology speaks with the Christian Science Monitor. Another CSM story, run by Yahoo News, cites him on a very different topic: Bernie Sanders’ so-called “socialism.”
Was Argentina’s Election Stolen?
Analysis by Sebastian Saiegh of Political Science and alumnus Francisco Cantu in the Washington Post's Monkey Cage blog.
Why Ben Carson’s Claim That He Stabbed Someone Is so Key to His Appeal to White America
Marisa Abrajano of Political Science has her research cited in a Washington Post op-ed.
New Dream for Tijuana River: Producing Electricity
Solar energy plan grew out of class taught by Rene Peralta and Jim Bliesner of Urban Studies and Planning lecturers. Bloomberg Business picked up the story, too.
The Adolescent Brain Subject of Long-Term Federal Study
Education Week reports on the ABCD project, whose coordinating center will be led by Sandra Brown of Psychology and Terry Jernigan of Cognitive Science, who also directs the Center for Human Development.
Coverage Continues for Envy Study
Recent research by Christine Harris of Psychology and graduate student Nicole Henniger continues to receive press, including Medical Daily, the New Zealand Herald, Health Day, MinnPost and the Toronto Star.
Tech Visas in Line With American Values
Center for Comparative Immigration Studies director John Skrentny of Sociology pens this op-ed in The Hill. Skrentny was also quoted in a San Diego Union-Tribune story about more immigrants pursuing STEM careers.
Healthy Aging Initiative Announces Inaugural Research Projects
New UC San Diego initiative includes Leslie R. Lewis and Mirle Rabinowitz Bussell of Urban Studies and Planning, and Don Norman of Cognitive Science and the Design Lab.
Former Apple Design Gurus Criticize Apple’s Current Designs
TidBITS piece refers to work done by UC San Diego students and Don Norman of Cognitive Science. It also cites a Fast Company article recently co-written by Norman, director of UC San Diego’s Design Lab.
Behaves So Strangely
Trouble staying in tune? Diana Deutsch of Psychology may have the reason.
Faculty Honored for Contributions to UC Initiatives
Keith Pezzoli of Communication and Urban Studies and Planning is one of 10 winners of the Award for Outstanding Faculty Leadership announced by UC President Janet Napolitano.
Alumnus Joseph Edelman Pledges $400,000
The gift will help students facing mental health challenges. “I think mental health is the single biggest inhibitor of economic growth and happiness" - Joseph Edelman, Department of Psychology alumnus.
This Way Up
The Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research seeks to point policymakers to effective strategies for improving upward mobility in the United States. Lane Kenworthy of Sociology, director of the center and holder of the Yankelovich Chair in Social Thought, launched a two-year project to restore the promise of the American Dream.
Using History to Address Inequality
Renowned French economist Thomas Piketty joins Social Sciences’ scholars Peter Gourevitch, Gordon Hanson, Gary Jacobson, Lane Kenworthy, Thad Kousser, Isaac Martin, Bud Mehan, Valerie Ramey and Tom Wong in discussion on global income, wealth distribution. The Times of San Diego gave pre- and post-event coverage.
The Most Innovative Schools in America
Communication alumna Helen Griffith's school, e3 Civic High in San Diego, receives national honor, reported in CNN.
Founders Symposium Features TED-style Talks
Angela Booker of Communication, Alan Daly of Education Studies and Paul Niehaus of Economics answer short questions ahead of the Nov. 12 symposium.
Socially Speaking: Building San Diego’s Future – Nov. 17
Join us for an intriguing conversation with Urban Studies and Planning faculty and other regional experts on the future of water supply, the Qualcomm Stadium site and transportation in San Diego.
Paul Ryan and Joe Biden: Unlikely Alliance of Working Fathers
“Men are required by the culture to be these superheroes, to fulfill this devotion and single-minded commitment to work,” said Mary Blair-Loy of Sociology in The New York Times.
Should Restaurants Ban Tipping?
James Hamilton of Economics weighs in, as part of The San Diego Union-Tribune’s EconoMeter panel.
UC San Diego Ranked Among Top 10 LGBTQ-Friendly Universities in the Nation
The undergraduate degree program in Critical Gender Studies contributes to national ranking.
How Texas Is Trying to Screw Over the Children of Immigrants
John Skrentny of Sociology is cited in this Salon article, pulled from an earlier Politifact piece.
Mackie Highlights Implications of Dignity for International Development
Community change, said Gerry Mackie of Political Science at a conference of the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, starts with “self-efficacy and autonomy and, before that, moral inspiration.”
Like Prohibition, the Fight Over Guns Is About Something Else
Department of Sociology founding chair Joseph Gusfield's work cited in this Los Angeles Times op-ed.
Robotics Institute Launched
The Division of Social Sciences and Jacobs School of Engineering have launched the Contextual Robotics Institute to develop safe and useful robotics systems. “By designing more responsive robots that are compatible with humans and in sync with social practices, we can build machines to serve humanity,” said Dean of Social Sciences Carol Padden. Coverage of the announcement included NBC San Diego, Times of San Diego and a cover story in The San Diego Union-Tribune, reprinted in The Los Angeles Times.
Smiles All Round
Interdisciplinary research by James H. Fowler of Political Science cited in this feature on why sharing happy news is good for you and everyone you know.
Mindfulness May Make Memories Less Accurate
Psychology Ph.D. candidate Brent M. Wilson's work is featured by the Association for Psychological Science.
Democrat Faces Uphill Battle in San Diego Mayoral Race
Political Science professor Steve Erie speaks with KPBS about the upcoming contest.
Through Nov. 29: 'Tradition by Moderns'
Featuring the work of five Native American women artists, “Tradition by Moderns” is now on view at the Women’s Museum of California in Liberty Station. Ethnic Studies students curated this exhibit as a part of a course taught by Ross Frank and in partnership with the artists they selected.
Editorial: B.C. Can Do More to Boost Voter Turnout
Political Science professor Zoltan Hajnal‘s book “America’s Uneven Democracy” is cited.
Political Science STARS
A new addition to the Summer Training Academy for Research Success (STARS): Led by Claire Adida and David Lake of Political Science, the program will bring students from Morehouse and Spelman colleges in Atlanta, two of the nation’s most distinguished historically black colleges and universities, to UC San Diego for an intensive eight-week research experience in the summer of 2016.
The Research That's Changing US Food Policy
Keith Pezzoli of Communication and Urban Studies and Planning is featured in this University of California news story.
Supporting the Next Generation of Scholars
The new Judith and Neil Morgan Endowed Fellowship will support up to two doctoral students annually in the humanities and the humanistic social sciences.
Boosting Research that Benefits Society
Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla lauds the Global Health Program and the CREATE STEM Success Initiative in his letter to the campus community.
Who’s the ‘Enviest’ of Them All?
Research by Christine Harris of Psychology and graduate student Nicole Henniger suggests young adults are more envious than their elders – and about more things. Covering the study: Yahoo! Health, Washington Post, Psych Central, Daily Mail (UK), Panorama (Armenia) and NDTV (India), among others.
Protecting Digital Labor
“My work is concerned with how innovation creates new forms of inequality." - Lilly Irani of Communication, featured in L.A. Times Local Plus.
‘Walls Are Not the Solution’
David Scott FitzGerald of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies and Akos Rona-Tas of Sociology pen this op-ed for CNN.
Passing of Edmund J. Fantino
The Department of Psychology is deeply saddened by the death of the distinguished professor.
Ethnic Studies Turns 25
In addition to the UC San Diego story on Ethnic Studies’ anniversary celebration, media coverage includesVida Latina(Spanish) and LGBT Weekly. Robert Alvarez Jr. and Curtis Marez of Ethnic Studies are quoted in stories on the related Paul Espinosa Film Series in the San Diego Union-Tribune and Enlace(Spanish).
Bernie Sanders, Democratic Socialist Capitalist
“I think Bernie Sanders’s use of the word ‘socialism’ is causing much more confusion than it is adding value,” said Lane Kenworthy of Sociology in The New York Times.
Uncovering the Secrets of the Adolescent Brain
Social and medical scientists at UC San Diego, including Sandra Brown of Psychology and Terry Jernigan of Cognitive Science, will lead an unprecedented national study.
Birch Aquarium Announces New Executive Director
Anthropology alumnus Harry Helling chosen to lead Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Project PAINT Creates New Sense of Self for Donovan State Prison Inmates
KPBS features program founder, graduate student Laura Pecenco of Sociology.
Are We Tight Yet? The Fed's Problem in Finding the Neutral Rate
James Hamilton of Economics was cited in Bloomberg.
Is There 'White Backlash' to Latino Immigration?
NBC News features book by Marisa Abrajano and Zoltan Hajnal of Political Science.
Worth Every Cent: To Help the Poor, Give Them Cash
Co-written by Paul Niehaus of Economics, published in Foreign Affairs.
Two of Four
Students Nhat-Dang Do of Political Science and Shayla Wilson of Sociology have won two of four 2015 Undergraduate Library Research prizes.
Hugh 'Bud' Mehan Honored as 2015 Revelle Medal Recipient
Bud Mehan was the founding director of the Teacher Education Program (now Department of Education Studies) and the Center for Research on Educational Equity, Assessment and Teaching Excellence (CREATE), which is housed in the Division of Social Sciences.
Founders Celebration Festivities Kick Off Nov 12
On Nov. 12, join six UC San Diego faculty presenters during the evening symposium, celebrating the ways in which our scholarship, community and commitment have created a force for positive change in our region, nation and world. Social Sciences presenters include Angela Booker, Communication; Paul Niehaus, Economics; and Alan Daly, Education Studies.
Cognitive Neuroscience Lurking in Art
“What can neuroscientists learn from the masters and other artists?” V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology answers in The Scientist.
USP in da Haus
Crowdsurf, the UC San Diego crowdfunding platform, helped fund an Urban Studies and Planning trip to Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany. You can also follow their blog.
San Diego Drought Lessons, Straight From Israel
Steve Erie of Political Science shares thoughts on water conservation in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Scholars Examine Iran Nuclear Deal at Global Forum
Erik Gartzke of Political Science led a panel of speakers presenting on the Iran nuclear deal.
Understanding and Combating Terrorist Groups: Is it All a Matter of Economics?
Eli Berman of Economics and research director at the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, is featured in an L.A. Times Local Plus profile.
'Ready or Not, the Fully Autonomous Car Is Coming'
Don Norman of Cognitive Science and Psychology, and founding director of the Design Lab at UC San Diego, published this op-ed in The San Diego Union-Tribune.
$25 Million to GiveDirectly
Co-founded by Paul Niehaus of Economics, GiveDirectly sends no-strings-attached cash directly to poor people. The innovative nonprofit has won major support from the Good Ventures foundation.
California Infrastructure Gets an 'F'
Steve Erie of Political Science recently spoke with Patt Morrison of the Los Angeles Times about all things Calfornia infrastructure.
Kyle Haines, Outstanding Student Leader
A Ph.D. candidate in Political Science, Kyle Haines has been helping to convene a cross-campus and cross-border forum on environmental research. For this and other important work, he has been honored by the University of California as an outstanding student leader.
Beyond MOOCs
Campus has launched the Office of Online and Technology Enhanced Education, headed by Jeff Elman of Cognitive Science. Elman will provide oversight of UC San Diego’s online education activities and serve as the institutional liaison with technology platform partners.
Three Hellman Fellows
Hellman Fellowships help junior faculty take their research to the next level. Three of this year's fellows are from the Division of Social Sciences: Congratulations Marc Garellek of Linguistics, Jillian Hernandez of Ethnic Studies and Vanesa Ribas of Sociology!
Study Links Income and Brain Structure
A new Nature Neuroscience study, co-authored by Terry Jernigan of Cognitive Science, links family income to children's brain structure. The findings give clues to how the negative effects associated with low income might be overcome, say the researchers. U-T San Diego reports.
CCIS to Lead Major Research Project on Immigration
If California were its own country, it would have the world’s fourth largest immigrant population. The Center for Comparative Immigration Studies will lead a major new research project on immigration. Funded by the UC Office of the President, the collaboration between five UC campuses will help policymakers, non-governmental organizations and the public to better understand the impacts of immigration on California and to plan more effectively for the state’s future.
'Madness in Civilization'
Andrew Scull of Sociology discusses his latest book, "Madness in Civilization: A Cultural History of Insanity, from the Bible to Freud, from the Madhouse to Modern Medicine." - on BBC Radio3, KPBS and more.
Social Scientists at the 'Frontiers of Innovation'
Three Social Sciences-led centers are among seven multi-disciplinary projects on campus that will receive seed funding thanks to the "Frontiers of Innovation" Program.
Exploring Race and Overreaction
Mica Pollock of Education Studies and CREATE co-authors an article in The Atlantic that delves into the overreaction to a perceived threat of black criminality on the streets and in schools.
How to Increase the Vaccination Rate
Economics graduate student Brigitte Roth Tran explains her proposal to increase the vaccination rate on CNN.com: "Why I won’t let unvaccinated people around my kids."
UC President Janet Napolitano visits the Ocean View Growing Grounds, a thriving community garden in southeastern San Diego, and meets with UC San Diego Global Food Initiative fellows. Keith Pezzoli, director of Urban Studies and Planning and a faculty member in Communication, is an active participant at the OVGG.
Paul Niehaus of Economics and Bradley Voytek of Cognitive Science are two of five UC San Diego researchers honored with Sloan Research Fellowships for 2015. The fellowships help boost fundamental research by early-career scientists and scholars of outstanding promise.
Political Science graduate student Michael Davidson and two other UC San Diego researchers say they can predict the spread of the flu a week into the future with as much accuracy as Google Flu Trends can display levels of infection right now.
In memoriam: Joseph Gusfield, 91, founder of UC San Diego's Department of Sociology.
Claire Adida of Political Science and colleagues from Stanford and the Paris School of Economics offer some ideas in the Washington Post "Monkey Cage blog for getting past the "vicious circle of discrimination" in which French and Muslims seem to be stuck.
2014
A team of developers that includes Cognitive Science alumna Jelena Jovanovic has won the $500,000 grand prize in Intel’s Make It Wearable challenge for their wrist-mounted camera drone called Nixie. The device can travel a fixed distance from its owner to take a photo or video of them, and then return. Images or video can instantly be shared with friends.
"The Democrats' Immigration Problem," by Zoltan Hajnal in The New York Times: "President Obama's executive order eliminating the threat of deportation for millions of undocumented immigrants is good policy. It is the right thing to do. But it is a dangerous move for the Democratic Party."
Too many people, not enough water – now and 2700 years ago. New research co-authored by doctoral candidate Adam Schneider of Anthropology suggests that drought and overpopulation helped destroy the Assyrian Empire. The Climatic Change paper draws parallels with modern Syria and Iraq, and cautions other regions also facing weather stresses today
In memoriam: Melford E. Spiro, 94, founder of UC San Diego's Department of Anthropology.
Meet the new dean of the Division of Social Sciences: Carol Padden.
"Voting is habit-forming, but so is sitting out an election," writes Thad Kousser of Political Science in a Los Angeles Times op-ed. Based on his own and others' research, Kousser urges outreach to "forgotten voters," or those that campaigns believe are unlikely to cast a ballot. Doing so will not only increase turnout but will also improve representation.
Turning food deserts into food forests: A successful collaboration between the community and campus is creating a sustainable model to ensure that people in underserved areas have access to nutritious food. Keith Pezzoli, director of Urban Studies and Planning, is part of the inspiring effort. He is pictured here with communnity leaders at the Ocean View Growing Grounds in Southeast San Diego.
Undergraduates at UC San Diego can now pursue a bachelor of arts in global health – an increasingly popular new field of study and urgent social concern. Launched this fall, the new interdisciplinary major in the Division of Social Sciences is a first in the University of California system, as was the global health minor that preceded it.
Congratulations to Marta Kutas of Cognitive Science, recipient of the Cognitive Neuroscience Society’s 2015 Distinguished Career Contributions Award; to Tom Levy of Anthropology, on election to the European Academy of Sciences and Arts; and to James Fowler of Political Science – on being named to the Politico 50 list of "thinkers, doers and dreamers who really matter in this age of gridlock and dysfunction.”
Why are Harvard grads still flocking to Wall Street? Students from elite colleges, writes Amy Binder of Sociology in the Washington Monthly, march off to jobs at the big banks and consulting firms less by choice than because of a rigged recruiting game that the schools themselves have helped to create.
The Point of Pointing: In National Geographic, Rafael Nunez of Congnitive Science and graduate student Kensy Cooperrider were featured for their research in Papua New Guinea.
$100 million per barrel oil is here to stay, says James Hamilton of Economics in a new paper, even if peace breaks out in the Middle East.
To prevent future Fergusons, we must increase representation writes Zoltan Hajnal of Political Science in the Los Angeles Times.
In a Gender & Society study, sociologist Abigail Andrews finds that “returning immigrant women bring something quite meaningful back with them – the motivation to improve the economic and political climate of their village in Mexico.”
Andrea Chiba of Cognitive Science has won an NSF “EAGER” award. Chiba will be working on the "socially situated neuroscience" project with Laleh Quinn, also of Cognitive Science, and colleagues in bioengineering at UC San Diego as well as the University of Queensland, Australia.
Eli Berman of Economics spoke with KPBS about ISIS and why Americans join terrorist groups. Earlier in the year, Berman appeared on BBC World News to talk about security in Afghanistan and, in May, his research team got word of a five-year grant from the Minerva Initiative to study how a country like the United States works with local allies to address a shared threat in a dynamic setting.
It's not just for humans. Dogs can act jealous, too, finds a new study by Psychology professor and alumna Christine Harris and honors student Caroline Prouvost. Supporting the view that a basic form of jealousy may have evolved to protect social bonds from interlopers, the paper made headlines nationally and internationally. Some of the outlets covering, to name just a few: New York Times, NPR, Washington Post, Slate, TIME, USA Today, National Geographic and Newsy.
Taking paternity leave encourages other men to follow suit, finds a study co-authored by Gordon Dahl of Economics. The effect is most pronounced when a manager takes the leave. The Atlantic reports.
Friends are the family you choose: Genome-wide analysis by James Fowler of Political Science and Yale colleague Nicholas Christakis published in PNAS reveals that unrelated pairs of friends have genetic similarities. The study was widely covered: NPR, Washington Post, AP, Reuters, Smithsonian Magazine, CNN, CBS News and many others.
Carol Padden will be dean of the Division of Social Sciences starting Oct. 1, 2014. The sign-language scholar and MacArthur "genius grant" winner is a doctoral alumna of Linguistics and has been a faculty member in Communication since 1983. She currently serves as UC San Diego's interim vice chancellor for equity, diversity and inclusion.
"Racial realism” in the workplace threatens the equal-opportunity goals of the Civil Rights Act, writes John Skrentny of Sociology and Center for Comparative Immigrations Studies – in his recent book and in a New York Times op-ed.
Can language influence our perception of reality? Slate-UC partnership story on the research of Lera Boroditsky of Cognitive Science.
Toronto's The Globe and Mail explores the legacy of American Plains Indian ledger drawings, an art form weighted by tragedy -- with Ross Frank of Ethnic Studies. Image: Detail of a drawing by the Kiowa artist Koba.
"We know intuitively that strong relationships are the underpinning of successful organizations but we pay little attention to this fact as we design and implement complex change,” writes Alan Daly of Education Studies , with Kara S. Finnigan of the University of Rochester. The researchers use social network analysis to explain in the Washington Post “Answer Sheet” why building relationships is vital to school reform.
“Republicans’ increasing reliance on white voters may not spell electoral doom just yet,” writes the Washington Post based on research by Marisa Abrajano of Political Science. Abrajano’s analysis was also covered by many other outlets, including the Christian Science Monitor in a story about why the Latino vote still matters.
NSF highlights research by John Haviland of Anthropology. Haviland is studying the creation of a complex sign language among an extended family of Mayan Indians in an isolated community in highland Chiapas, Mexico.
English learners who are reclassified as proficient in English by the end of fifth grade perform as well or better academically than native English speakers – and they continue to do so through middle and high school, finds the “Pathways to Fluency” report (PDF) co-authored by researchers at the Public Policy Institute of California with Julian Betts, Andrew Zau and Karen Volz Bachofer at the San Diego Education Research Alliance (SanDERA), an independent research entity based in UC San Diego’s Department of Economics.
Zombie-brain expert: Bradley Voytek of Cognitive Science, writes UT San Diego, "is a young, award-winning neuroscientist who explores how and why disease can afflict the human brain. But he is better known for his tongue-in-cheek explanations of why the living dead are so lively."
Kudos! To Kutas, Ramachandran and Elman. Jeff Elman, dean of the Division of Social Sciences, has been selected as UT Austin's Outstanding Graduate Alumnus for 2014. OnlinePhDProgram.org identifies Marta Kutas, chair of Cognitive Science, as one of "100 Notable Professors at Top Research Universities." Also on the list is recent sociology Ph.D. alumn Erin Cech, now teaching at Rice. And ARCS Foundation has named V.S. Ramachandran of Pyschology "Scientist of the Year."
Don't fib to kids: Leslie Carver of Psychology and undergraduate alumna Chelsea Hays have published a paper in Developmental Science showing that children who have been lied to are themselves more likely to cheat and lie. This is the first paper to demonstrate a connection between adult dishonesty and children's subsequent behavior. Science News and NBC local, among others, reported on the research. Photo © Bowie15 | Dreamstime.com
Urban Studies and Planning students find that designers and planners miss the mark – UT San Diego reports on the 24th annual Urban Expo.
40th Faculty Excellence Awards: Leslie Carver of Psychology wins the award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching and is recognized for her “wise and inspiring” leadership.
You can catch a mood online? A study led by James Fowler of Political Science shows that Facebook feelings are contagious. Also, postive posts are more viral than negative ones. Coverage includesTIME, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, BBC and many others.
Valerie Ramey of Economics was quoted in a Washington Post column about the effect of the economic stimulus.
Are social media raising an army of armchair activists? A study co-authored by Kevin Lewis of Sociology analyzes the Save Darfur Cause on Facebook when it was at its height and counted more than a million members. The vast majority of these supporters donated no money and recruited no one, suggesting that the commitment to the cause might have been only as deep as a click. The study was covered by New Scientist, Wired UK, CNET Australia and Pacific Standard, among others.
Citizen monitor: Can a text message get a person to the polls? What about an online social network – can a posting there persuade a voter to report back on what they observe during an election? These are among the questions that a team headed by Clark Gibson of Political Science will be seeking to answer during the 2014 national elections in South Africa, thanks to a $1.38 million Stage 2 Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) grant from the USAID, or US Agency for International Development. The current grant will build on some of the ideas first piloted in Afghanistan in 2010.
A lever for local STEM education: The STEM Success Initiative, led by CREATE, aims to gather community and university resources to lift the region’s K-20 education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
There is no safe combination of drinking and driving, finds a study led by David Phillips of Sociology. Analysis of more than 500,000 fatal crashes in the U.S. finds that drivers with blood alcohol content as low as 0.01 percent – well below the legal limit of 0.08 – are 46 percent more likely to be at fault than the sober drivers they collide with. The study was extensively covered by the press, including the Huffington Post, US News & World Report and Reuters.
When a doctor’s visit is a guilt trip: Psychologist Christine Harris examines patient reactions to physician-inspired guilt and shame. The Atlantic covered the study as did MSN via Quartz and Huffington Post, among others.
2013
"Valley Girl" talk is, like, on the rise? Graduate student Amanda Ritchart of Linguistics documents that both young men and women are using "SoCal English," a dialect characterized by uptalk, or higher intonation at the end of statement so it sounds almost like a question. Coverage includes WBUR, UT San Diego, Scientific American and Washington Post.
Money for nothing: GiveDirectly is a nonprofit that does something radical – almost heretical – in the world of international charity: It gives cash directly to those who need it without any strings attached. Each donation is about $1,000, deposited through a mobile banking system straight to a recipient’s phone. In Kenya, where the group began operations, this is equivalent to a year’s wages. The windfall is not a loan. And what’s required in return is exactly nothing. GiveDirectly was co-founded by Paul Niehaus of Economics.
Kudos to Keith Rayner of Psychology! Rayner has been honored by the FABBS Foundation and as a William James Fellow by the Association for Psychological Science for "lifetime of significant intellectual contributions to the basic science of psychology."
UC San Diego is a top producer of Fulbright students. And Sharon Seegers, an alumna of Political Science, is one of them.
Does the use of government assistance by parents make their children more likely to use welfare, too? Yes, suggests research coauthored by Gordon Dahl of Economics.
Race and romance, online: Study of internet dating by Kevin Lewis of Sociology suggests racial barriers can be overcome. USA Today, KPBS, Huffington Post, NPR and many others reported on the research. Photo © Michelle Haymoz.
Social Sciences Dean Jeff Elman discusses UC San Diego’s foray into massive, open, online courses, or MOOCs, with KPBS.
Talk to your toddler. And use numbers when you talk. Doing so may give a child a better head start in math than teaching her to memorize 1-2-3 counting routines, finds an international study led by David Barner of Psychology and Linguistics.
The 2013 fall issue of UC San Diego’s alumni magazine, Triton, is bursting with a “Back to School” package. Check out all the stories focused on Education Studies’ 40 years of scholarship and outreach.
MacArthur “Genius” Award winner Carol Padden – Linguistics alumna, Communication professor and associate dean of Social Sciences at UC San Diego – gave the keynote address at this year's Welcome Convocation. In her inspiring speech, she urged new freshmen and transfer students to stretch, to take "reasonable" risks and to explore different points of view. A university education, she said, is “about becoming a person.”
The campus has created the Center for Brain Activity Mapping, and Ralph Greenspan of Cognitive Science has been named founding director.
San Diego Mayor Bob Filner: Political scientist Steve Erie, director of Urban Studies and Planning, talks with Bloomberg, TIME, NPR, U-T San Diego, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and many others about the scandal at City Hall.
Dolphins have dolphin-given “names”? Apparently so. Doctoral students Whitney Friedman and Jeremy Karnowski of Cognitive Science speak with National Geographic about a study out of the University of St. Andrews.
The Latin American Studies Association selected Peter H. Smith of Political Science for its highest honor, the Kalman Silvert Award, presented every year to “an eminent senior scholar for distinguished lifetime contributions to the study of Latin America.”
Twelve UC San Diego students and recent alumni have won Fulbright grants to conduct research abroad.
“The problem is that despite our two-term black president, despite our oft-repeated desire for a colorblind society, despite our willingness to applaud companies for dropping products sold by slur-spewing celebrities..., racism remains an integral part of the United States,” writes Sara Clarke Kaplan of Ethnic Studies in the U-T. Her opinion piece is on the verdict acquitting George Zimmerman of Trayvon Martin's murder.
Ellen T. Comisso, 1947-2013. The UCSD Department of Political Science will hold a public celebration of her life in the fall quarter; date to be announced mid-September. In the meanwhile, the department remembers this pioneering professor of Eastern European political economy with a written memorial (PDF).
Is the universe inherently mathematical...or is math a construct of the brain? It’s physicists v. neuroscientists in this edition of a Kavli Foundation roundtable discussion. Math is not somewhere out there, according to Rafael Nunez of Cognitive Science. “Math is a form of human imagination,” he says, “that is not only brain-based but that is also culturally shaped.”
Alan Houston of Political Science is UC San Diego’s Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. Read the Q&A in ThisWeek@UCSanDiego.
Ed Studies alumna Cindy Marten, the new superintendent of San Diego Unified, “has zeroed in on principals, appointing the district’s first mentor principal to coach those new to the profession,” writes the U-T.
Are you following the immigration debate? So is Tom K. Wong - closely. And the UCSD political scientist is blogging about it at the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies. He predicted the Senate vote. His work has been covered by ABC News/Univision, Southern California Public Radio, New York Times, Fronteras Desk, KPBS, Yahoo News and Univision.
Linguist David Perlmutter and anthropologist Kathryn Woolard have been elected to the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Inventors of fantastic and alien tongues, including alum David Peterson of Linguistics, discuss the art of constructing languages – Klingon for “Star Trek,” Na’vi for “Avatar” and Dothraki for “Game of Thrones.”
UC San Diego will play a key role in President Obama’s BRAIN initiative.
Would a ban on large soda drinks backfire? A UC San Diego psychology experiment says “yes.” In addition to the Los Angeles Times, also covering the research led by graduate student Brent Wilson were: the Washington Post, CBS News, Huffington Post and NBC’s “Today,” among many others.
End of men? Not even close, says Mary Blair-Loy of Sociology in new report on gender in the professions.
The self-described “tinkerers” and “hacker-ninjas” behind a free web app they call “KA Lite” have an immodest goal: They aim to bring the revolution in online education to the 65 percent of the world that isn’t online. Led by Jamie Alexandre of Cognitive Science, the team of social-sciences students is breaking down barriers to the Internet commons.
The New York Times, KPBS and Marketplace, among others, reported that the Obama administration plans to launch a decade-long Brain Activity Map project and that the effort would include Ralph Greenspan of the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind.
Education Studies alumna Cindy Marten has been named superintendent of San Diego Unified, the state’s second-largest school district, the U-T San Diego and others report. A profile of Marten details city-wide advocacy and an impressive collection of fortune-cookie fortunes. Alumna Tina Rasori, meanwhile, a teacher at Fay Elementary in City Heights, was featured in a front-page U-T story on the new Common Core standards.
Former UC President and UC San Diego Chancellor Richard Atkinson of Psychology and Cognitive Science has donated $3.5 million to the National Academy of Sciences to create a $200,000 prize “to recognize and support scientists in improving our understanding of how the mind works.” Read more.
The U.S. is facing a debt situation that could become “unmanageable” in the next decade, warns a paper coauthored by James Hamilton of Economics and reported on by the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times “Economix” blog, among others.
The Atlantic reported on research by Gail Heyman of Psychology showing that while a majority of American parents lie to their children, nearly all Chinese parents do and see less harm in it, too.
A critic sat in on the California government and politics class co-taught by Nathan Fletcher and Thad Kousser of Political Science, filing this light-hearted report in the U-T: “Nathan Fletcher Gets Schooled.”
Karen Dobkins of Psychology appears in a TEDx America’s Finest City video: “The Space Between Kansas and Oz.” Dobkins was also quoted by the Scientist in a story on brain adaptations among deaf people.
UC San Diego is beginning to offer massive open online courses, or MOOCs, partnering initially with Coursera and Google. The U-T story reporting on the announcements quoted Social Sciences Dean Jeff Elman.
A PolitiFact story attempting to sort out the debate between Carly Fiorina and Paul Krugman on the government’s role in promoting economic growth cited research by Valerie Ramey of Economics showing that government spending does not boost activity in the private sector.
Washington Post’s “Wonkblog” and the LSE Review of Books ran positive pieces on “Think Tanks in America” by Tom Medvetz of Sociology.
Karthik Muralidharan of Economics wrote a piece on primary education policy for the Economic Survey of India 2013, issued by the Ministry of Finance; his argument that, above all else,holding teachers accountable improves student learning was cited by the Times of India.
Doctoral candidate Michael Madowitz and alumnus Kevin Novan of Economics published an op-ed in the Washington Post: “Why Sales Taxes and Gasoline Don’t Mix.”
Chronicle of Higher Education story on the problems in priming research cites at length Hal Pashler of Psychology, the “most prolific of the Replicators.” Pashler’s work is also cited in a Sunday New York Times op-ed.
“Alternative Accounts”: Curated by an interdisciplinary group of students and Ross Frank of Ethnic Studies, an exhibition of Plains Indian ledger art at the San Diego Museum of Art gives a glimpse of Native visions of American history.
New Republic published a glowing review of “Becoming Right: How Campuses Shape Young Conservatives,” by Amy Binder and doctoral student Kate Wood of Sociology. Binder also appeared on WPR’s “Joy Cardin” show and MSNBC’s “The Cycle” to talk about the book.
John Skrentny of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies is now one of the U-T San Diego’s “Insights on Immigration” panel of experts. Skrentny was also quoted in a U-T story about Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs’ meeting with President Obama to discuss immigration reform.
Work by Gordon Dahl of Economics showing that an increase in family income has significant effects on a poor child’s test scores is cited in an Examiner.comstory on the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Ben Bergen of Cognitive Science spoke about his book “Louder than Words: The New Science of How the Mind Makes Meaning” on KPCC’s “Air Talk.” He is also featured on Zocalo Public Square and in a Brain Science Podcast.
Wired piece on “how Facebook is transforming science and public health” cited research led by James Fowlerof Political Science.
Wall Street Journal story on Venezuela’s continuation of Hugo Chavez’s “heating-oil diplomacy” quoted David Mares of Political Science.
Schools need strong social networks to implement changes grounded in research, according to work presented on Capitol Hill by Alan Daly of Education Studies and blogged about by Learning First.
Eli Berman of Economics is quoted in an International Business Times story suggesting that some of the international aid going to the Palestinian Authority is used to pay Palestinian prisoners’ salaries.
A Voice of San Diego story taking Mayor Filner to task for his ideas on San Diego-Tijuana collaboration quoted Oscar Romo of Urban Studies.
PRI’s “The World” spoke with Wayne Cornelius of Political Science and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies for a story about families torn apart by immigration rules.
Gary Jacobson of Political Science was quoted in a Huffington Post story looking at fundraising for the Senate 2014 race.
“Kabuki theater,” said Steve Erie of Urban Studies and Political Science to the U-T of Assembly Bill 291, which would automatically sunset state boards and departments.
Fans of the TV show “Downtown Abbey” were enraged by a media spoiler revealing a major character’s death, and The Week cited research led by Nicholas Christenfeld of Psychology to temper the anger.
A first for UC San Diego and the Division of Social Sciences: Former California State Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher is inaugural “professor of practice.” Also reporting the news were U-T San Diego, with quotes from Thad Kousser of Political Science, as well as La Jolla Patch and NBC7.
Roger Gordon and Gordon Dahl of Economics made headlines with their white paper showing that, contrary to popular belief, there is a surprising degree of agreement among academic economists. The New York Times’ Paul Krugman reported on the research, first presented at the annual meeting of the American Economic Association in San Diego, as well as the Economist, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BusinessWeek and Reuters.
Mica Pollock of Education Studies and CREATE published an op-ed in U-T San Diego: “Let’s Truly Protect Our Children in 2013.”
Clark Gibson and David Lake of Political Science have been named winners of the 2013 Chancellor’s Associates Faculty Excellence Awards – for, respectively, graduate teaching and research.
The BBC News and TIME reported on research led by Gail Heyman of Psychology on lying to children in the U.S. and China.
Facebook is more memorable than books or faces, finds a study by Nicholas Christenfeld, Christine Harris and alumna Laura Mickes of Psychology. Coverage ranged from the Wall Street Journal to Cosmopolitan and included the Los Angeles Times,Salon, U-T San Diego, Gizmag, Mashable, PC Magazine, ScienceNOW and TIME, among others. Christenfeld appeared onKPBS-FM and TV. The LiveScience coverage enjoyed wide national and international pick-up, while Scientific American also included commentary by John Wixted.
The Times Higher Education ran a book review of “Becoming Right: How Campuses Shape Young Conservatives,” by Amy Binder and doctoral student Kate Wood of Sociology.
David FitzGerald of Sociology and CCIS was quoted in a Washington Post story on Canada’s guest worker program serving as a model for the U.S.
Thad Kousser of Political Science appeared on KPBS-FM and TV to discuss California’s newest laws.
Post-doc Joshua Lewis of Cognitive Science created controversy by proposing changes in Scrabble points, reported UPI.
“Seeds of Persuasion”: Lead story package in ThisWeek@UCSanDiego on getting people to better citizens includes research by James Fowler of Political Science and Chris Bryan of Psychology.
Feb. 6: Craig McKenzie of Psychology and the Rady School of Management will talk about “Business and Psychology: Decision Making, Rationality and Creativity” at this quarter’s Social Sciences Supper Club.
2012
The Economist, in a story on the ebbing of the Mexican migration “wave,” cited David FitzGerald of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies.
Washington Post’s “Wonkbook” selected as one of its “top long reads” the New York Times story reporting that Sam Popkin of Political Science was one of the academics whose research informed President Obama’s successful re-election campaign.
Pollster Michael Dimock, doctoral alum of Political Science, is taking over as director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, reported Research Magazine.
Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly focused on UC San Diego in her piece “Freshman Seminars Are Weird.” To support her argument that these seminars are “on trivial subjects and biased in content,” she cited, among other courses, “How Minds and Groups Make Religion and Superstition” from the Department of Cognitive Science.
If you had $20 million to spend on solving a social problem, what would it be? Carol Padden of Communication is one of the MacArthur “Genius” Grant winners asked by the New York Times to propose an imaginary challenge prize.
“Did Facebook give Democrats the upper hand?” wondered the Atlantic, covering efforts by James Fowler of Political Science to study the effects of online social networks on voter turnout, in 2012 and 2010. Also reporting: CBS News andTechCrunch (twice), among others.
Academic discussions and networking on Twitter? U.S. News and World Report followed up on a Daily Muse blog post by Communication graduate student Tamara Powell.
APA Monitor November cover story on embarrassment prominently features work byChristine Harris of Psychology; the digital edition of the magazine includes video interview on the subtle signs and the consequences of the social emotion.
San Diego Mayor-elect Bob Filner has less time than most other city leaders to assemble an administration, reported Voice of San Diego in a story quoting Steve Erie of Urban Studies.
Psychology Today blogged about research by Ben Bergen of Cognitive Science showing how language distracts us from driving
In passing Prop. 30, Californians voted to tax themselves to help prevent further cuts to education and could serve as a guide to the nation, reported Bloomberg BusinessWeek in a story quoting Thad Kousser of Political Science.
Gary Jacobson of Political Science was quoted in a Dallas Morning News piece about what the nation’s changing demographics mean for both the GOP and Dems in elections to come. Jacobson was also quoted in a Los Angeles Times story on the 11 newcomers to California’s congressional delegation.
Election “pre-mortem” with Sam Popkin of Political Science appeared in the Atlantic; Popkin also commented on the election in the New Yorker, while the American Prospect ran a piece by Popkin on “our most prominent number cruncher,” poll watcher Nate Silver.
Where is he now? ThisWeek@UCSanDiego catches up with Nobel Laureate Robert Engle of Economics.
“Louder Than Words,” by Ben Bergen of Cognitive Science, got positive reviews in Nature andNew Scientist.
Live Science reported on research by Christine Harris of Psychology debunking the popular idea that women in the fertile phase of their cycle prefer more masculine men.
TechCrunch named James Fowler of Political Science one of its “20 Most Innovative People in Democracy 2012”; Fowler’s Facebook “get out the vote” research, which first made major headlines in September, continued to get coverage in the lead-up to Election Day with CNET,Technology Review, Austin American-Statesman and others.
Financial Times reported on research by Chris Bryan of Psychology showing that framing matters: People were less likely to cheat when encouraged to think of themselves as cheaters if they did.
KPBS-FM story on Italy inviting ethnic Italians in San Diego to “come back home” consulted John Skrentny of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies about the bigger trend in Europe and Asia.
NBC News, the Business Standard of India, the UK’s Daily Mail, U.S. News and World Report, the Detroit Free Press and others reported on research by Diana Deutsch and Kevin Dooley of Psychology, presented at the Acoustical Society of America's annual meeting, suggesting that genetics may help explain perfect pitch.
Ben Bergen of Cognitive Science wrote in the Huffington Post about “50 Shades of Grey Matter: Your Mind on Smut.”
Patch.com reported on the nonpartisan California Choices website, co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science and designed to help the state’s voters with statewide ballot measures.
James Hamilton of Economics was cited in Newsday on the global oil market’s effect on the American economy.
A CBS News story on how little some U.S. Senate races are mentioning Romney or Obama quoted Gary Jacobson of Political Science.
Salon has published an excerpt from "Louder Than Words: The New Science of How the Mind Makes Meaning," by Ben Bergen of Cognitive Science.
“The Atlantic Meets the Pacific: Predicting Election 2012” features three Social Sciences’ affiliates – Sam Popkin and James Fowler of Political Science, and longtime pollster and friend of the division Dan Yankelovich – along with James Fallows of the Atlantic, veteran political reporter Ron Brownstein of the National Journal and Republican strategist Steve Schmidt.
TechCrunch followed up on study by James Fowler of Political Science, suggesting the real power of political messages on Facebook lies not in paid advertising but in shares among friends.
Thad Kousser of Political Science is one of the experts behind CaliforniaChoices.org, an interactive nonpartisan website helping California voters make sense of statewide initiatives. Students, meanwhile, are behind several campus successes: a San Diego mayoral candidate debate held Oct. 13 and amassive voter registration drive.
Insights on the 2012 presidential election: Sam Popkin of Political Science shares election insights and experience in three-part UCTV Prime video series. He’s also speaking regularly with, among others, U-T San Diego and the Atlantic.
The Russell Sage Foundation published a piece by John Skrentny and graduate student Jane Lilly Lopez of Sociology, examining the Latino vote and President Obama's record on immigration reform.
U-T San Diego ran a feature on the “entrepreneurial force behind UCSD”: former UC President Dick Atkinson of Psychology and Cognitive Science.
Gedeon Deak of Cognitive Science is one of the researchers on a large NIH-funded study to learn how much language babies understand before they can speak, reported U-T San Diego
Geoffrey Braswell of Anthropology tells the Associated Press that the Maya did not predict an apocalyptic end of the world in 2012.
Steve Erie of Urban Studies spoke with the San Diego Reader about a proposed bayside football stadium in San Diego and with the Associated Press about a massive new desalination plant in Carlsbad.
A 61-million-person experiment on Facebook, led by James Fowler of Political Science, shows (for the first time, Fowler and coauthors believe) that important real-world behaviors like voting can be influenced by online social networks. The authors estimate that Facebook's election-day “get out the vote” message yielded 340,000 more voters at the polls in 2010. Close friends made all the difference. Coverage included: NPR, New York Times, BBC, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, CNN.com, AP, Politico, Financial Times, the Atlantic, PBS NewsHour, and many others.
Inside Higher Ed covered research coauthored by Kate Antonovics of Economics on the effect of affirmative action bans in college admissions.
Using smartphones to reduce election fraud? New Scientist reports on work by alumni Michael Callen of Economics and James Long of Political Science, with faculty Eli Berman and Clark Gibson.
Hello E.T.! Bloomberg reported “The Last Pictures” project of artist Trevor Paglen, which includes work by Rafael Nunez of Cognitive Science and will orbit Earth for 5 billion years on satellite EchoStar XVI.
Research on Indian education by Karthik Muralidharan of Economics was covered by the Business Standard and, in a widely picked-up story, by the Agence France-Presse.
Why are robots creepy? CNN reports on explorations of the human brain by Ayse Saygin of Cognitive Science.Huffington Post also covered Saygin’s work.
UC San Diego again tops Washington Monthly's national rankings for public service.
NPR, the Los Angeles Times and the Christian Science Monitor were three of many outlets reprising findings by Nicholas Christenfeld and graduate student Jonathan Leavitt of Psychology showing that spoiler don’t spoils stories – or the 2012 London Olympics.
In a story on the Aurora, Colo. theater mass shooting, ABC News quoted Gordon Dahl of Economics on his research about violence and movies.
Shirley Strum of Anthropology was cited widely in stories about baboon management in South Africa, including Fox News,Cape Times and others.
The Washington Post and the New York Times reviewed “The Candidate: What It Takes to Win – and Hold – the White House,” by Sam Popkin of Political Science.
How a cheetah can hide its spots: New Scientist features the illusion research of Psychology’s Stuart Anstis.
Innovative Neural Research Wins $7 Million in DOD Funding Tim Gentner of Psychology will participate in an interdisciplinary multi-university research initiative to investigate the dynamic principles of collective brain activity.
Guggenheim Fellow to Study Long-term Effectiveness of NGOs James Rauch of Economics, who studies development and international economics, was awarded a 2012 Guggenheim Fellowship. With the fellowship, Rauch plans to investigate jadedness and professionalism in non-governmental organizations. read more...
Archive Renamed for Anthropologist The late Donald Tuzin of Anthropology helped build a world-class research collection at UC San Diego for the study of the peoples of Papua New Guinea and other island countries of the southwestern Pacific. Now, in honor of his leadership and legacy, the collection of materials from one of the most culturally, linguistically and geographically diverse places on earth has been renamed the Tuzin Archive for Melanesian Anthropology. Celebrating the archive’s 30 years, an exhibit is on view at Geisel Library through June 30.
To Research and Serve Psychology professor and alumn John Wixted is passionate about research. He also thinks it’s important we all use our education and expertise to serve our community. In this interview, he discusses what he’s learned about memory and how he got involved evaluating the effectiveness of an after-school program in Spring Valley. Plus his favorite food and favorite way to spend $10.
Advocacy in Sacramento Joel Sobel of Economics, chair of the Academic Senate, met with state legislators to illustrate how transformative research has an impact on society now and into the future.
Cognitive Scientist to Help Lead New Center for Human Imagination David Kirsh of Cognitive Science will serve as associate director of the newly established and interdisciplinary Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination.
‘Economics Roundtable’ on UCSD-TV Like the Economics Department lecture series it features, a new web resource provides opportunity to hear renowned experts in economics, finance, business and public policy.
UCTV Prime 'Vote' Features Faculty Experts UCTV Prime, a new Youtube original channel, features analysis by Thad Kousser and commentary by Peter Gourevitch of Political Science in its “Vote” series on the 2012 election. Next up from UC San Diego Social Sciences will be Zoltan Hajnal.
Economist Halbert White, 61 Halbert L. White, Jr. – Chancellor’s Associates Distinguished Professor of Economics in the Division of Social Sciences at the University of California, San Diego and cofounder of Bates White Economic Consulting – died March 31, 2012, following a four-year battle with cancer.
Ethnic Studies Professor Wins ASA Election Curtis Marez of Ethnic Studies has been elected to serve as leader of the American Studies Association.
CNS Celebrates Psychology Professor Adam Aron of Psychology has won the 2012 Young Investigator Award from the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, an honor that “recognizes outstanding contributions by scientists early in their careers.” Aron will present his research on self-control at the society’s annual meeting in April.
Making of the Modern Human Humans dominate the planet thanks largely to our unique abilities to extract calories and protein from all kinds of animal and plant material. Margaret Schoeninger of Anthropology reviews how food fueled our evolution.
Dawn of Social Networks Hunter-gatherers in Tanzania provide clues about the evolution of cooperation, says a study coauthored by James Fowler of Political Science and published as Nature’s cover story.
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.
Vlad Kogan, Ph.D. candidate in Political Science, spoke with KPBS about the term-limit reform just approved by California voters
Sam Popkin of Political Science answered the Atlantic’s “Were you on Obama’s ‘Dream Team’?” Popkin also spoke with U-T San Diego about the sun-setting of Mitt Romney’s political career in La Jolla.
The Boston Globe ran a positive review of the book “Becoming Right: How Campuses Shape Young Conservatives,” by Amy Binder and doctoral student Kate Wood of Sociology. Binder and Wood also took “The Page 99 Test.”
Katerina Semendeferi of Anthropology was featured in the U-T as one of the San Diegans recently named fellows of AAAS, the nation's largest scientific organization.
First prize: Anthropology graduate student Jordan Haug has won the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest for his collection “Mormon Fundamentalism and Polygamy,” which numbers nearly 100 volumes.
North County Times story on historically “red” Riverside County voting “blue” last election quoted Steve Erie of Political Science.
Tom Levy of Anthropology has published a free e-book: “Cyber-Archaeology in the Holy Land: The Future of the Past.”
Zoltan Hajnal and doctoral student Jeremy D. Horowitz of Political Science published an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times showing that minorities – and whites – fare better economically under Democratic presidents. The piece was distributed on the McClatchy Tribune wire and picked up in publications as diverse as the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the United Arab Emirates’ the Gulf Today. It was also blogged on Washington Monthly and led to an appearance on the Alan Colmes Radio Show.
The Chronicle of Higher Education featured Amy Binder and doctoral student Kate Wood of Sociology, coauthors of the forthcoming book “Becoming Right: How Campuses Shape Young Conservatives,” in an exchange with Mark Bauerlein of Emory. The new book was also previewed by Inside Higher Ed.
Katerina Semendeferi of Anthropology is one of 10 UC San Diego faculty named new AAAS fellows, reported UC San Diego News.
U.S. News & World Report featured a Q&A with Ben Bergen of Cognitive Science about his book “Louder Than Words: The New Science of How the Mind Makes Meaning,” while Psychology Today blog “PreFrontal Nudity” ran a review. Bergen also appeared in an hour-long interview on Texas public radio program “Think.”
A drawing by Rafael Nunez of Cognitive Science is now orbiting Earth aboard a satellite, reported U-T San Diego. It is part of “The Last Pictures” project, a collection of images meant to be discovered by future civilizations.
Business Insider reported on a new study finding every $1 of government infrastructure spending boosts the economy by $2 compared to the more typical .5 to 1.5 fiscal multiplier found by Valerie Ramey of Economics.
Steve Erie of Urban Studies and Planning was quoted in a Los Angeles Times story on the legacy of San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders. Erie and Gary Jacobson of Political Science also spoke at length with the Reader on demographics and the election results in San Diego.
AP story on the powerful supermajorities elected to many state legislatures, picked up by Salon.com and others, cited Thad Kousser of Political Science.
MSN Money cited “Econbrowser” blog by James Hamilton of Economics in a story on how Superstorm Sandy is already beginning to boost local and national economies.
Front-page U-T San Diego story featured a long Q&A with Ben Bergen of Cognitive Science on language, meaning, distracted driving – and Groucho’s famous “fruit flies like a banana.”
Washington Post’s “Wonkbook” selected as one of its “top long reads” the New York Times story reporting that Sam Popkin of Political Science was one of the academics whose research informed President Obama’s successful re-election campaign.
Pollster Michael Dimock, doctoral alum of Political Science, is taking over as director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, reported Research Magazine.
Conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly focused on UC San Diego in her piece “Freshman Seminars Are Weird.” To support her argument that these seminars are “on trivial subjects and biased in content,” she cited, among other courses, “How Minds and Groups Make Religion and Superstition” from the Department of Cognitive Science.
“U.S. university departments that have more foreign graduate students produce more academic publications and have their work cited more frequently, ” wrote Gordon Hanson of Economics/IRPS in The Cato Journal, according to a piece in Forbes on how the GOP can attract immigrant voters.
Social science “dream team”: Sam Popkin of Political Science is identified by the New York Times as one of the academics whose unpaid, research-based advice helped inform and secure President Obama’s 2012 re-election bid.
If you had $20 million to spend on solving a social problem, what would it be? Carol Padden of Communication is one of the MacArthur “Genius” Grant winners asked by the New York Times to propose an imaginary challenge prize.
“Did Facebook give Democrats the upper hand?” wondered the Atlantic, covering efforts by James Fowler of Political Science to study the effects of online social networks on voter turnout, in 2012 and 2010. Also reporting: CBS News andTechCrunch (twice), among others.
Academic discussions and networking on Twitter? U.S. News and World Report followed up on a Daily Muse blog post by Communication graduate student Tamara Powell.
APA Monitor November cover story on embarrassment prominently features work byChristine Harris of Psychology; the digital edition of the magazine includes video interview on the subtle signs and the consequences of the social emotion.
San Diego Mayor-elect Bob Filner has less time than most other city leaders to assemble an administration, reported Voice of San Diego in a story quoting Steve Erie of Urban Studies.
Psychology Today blogged about research by Ben Bergen of Cognitive Science showing how language distracts us from driving
In passing Prop. 30, Californians voted to tax themselves to help prevent further cuts to education and could serve as a guide to the nation, reported Bloomberg BusinessWeek in a story quoting Thad Kousser of Political Science.
Gary Jacobson of Political Science was quoted in a Dallas Morning News piece about what the nation’s changing demographics mean for both the GOP and Dems in elections to come. Jacobson was also quoted in a Los Angeles Times story on the 11 newcomers to California’s congressional delegation.
Young women are quicker to exercise next to seemingly unfit peers, according to a study coauthored byJames Kulik of Psychology, blogged the Today Show.
The Washington Post holds up the Preuss School UCSD as a national model and cites a new book on the school by Hugh “Bud” Mehan of Sociology, founding director of CREATE, “In the Front Door: Creating a College-Going Culture of Learning.”
Election “pre-mortem” with Sam Popkin of Political Science appeared in the Atlantic; Popkin also commented on the election in the New Yorker, while the American Prospect ran a piece by Popkin on “our most prominent number cruncher,” poll watcher Nate Silver.
Where is he now? ThisWeek@UCSanDiego catches up with Nobel Laureate Robert Engle of Economics.
“Louder Than Words,” by Ben Bergen of Cognitive Science, got positive reviews in Nature andNew Scientist.
Live Science reported on research by Christine Harris of Psychology debunking the popular idea that women in the fertile phase of their cycle prefer more masculine men.
TechCrunch named James Fowler of Political Science one of its “20 Most Innovative People in Democracy 2012”; Fowler’s Facebook “get out the vote” research, which first made major headlines in September, continued to get coverage in the lead-up to Election Day with CNET,Technology Review, Austin American-Statesman and others.
Financial Times reported on research by Chris Bryan of Psychology showing that framing matters: People were less likely to cheat when encouraged to think of themselves as cheaters if they did.
John Skrentny of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies was cited in a New York Times story on Asian Americans and affirmative action, focusing on the University of Texas, Austin.
Wall Street Journal and CNN, among others, reported on research by graduate student Evan Carr of Psychology, with Piotr Winkielman, presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting: Smiles have a thing or two to say, it seems, about human pecking order.
KPBS-FM story on Italy inviting ethnic Italians in San Diego to “come back home” consulted John Skrentny of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies about the bigger trend in Europe and Asia.
NBC News, the Business Standard of India, the UK’s Daily Mail, U.S. News and World Report, the Detroit Free Press and others reported on research by Diana Deutsch and Kevin Dooley of Psychology, presented at the Acoustical Society of America's annual meeting, suggesting that genetics may help explain perfect pitch.
Ben Bergen of Cognitive Science wrote in the Huffington Post about “50 Shades of Grey Matter: Your Mind on Smut.”
Patch.com reported on the nonpartisan California Choices website, co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science and designed to help the state’s voters with statewide ballot measures.
James Hamilton of Economics was cited in Newsday on the global oil market’s effect on the American economy.
A CBS News story on how little some U.S. Senate races are mentioning Romney or Obama quoted Gary Jacobson of Political Science.
Salon has published an excerpt from "Louder Than Words: The New Science of How the Mind Makes Meaning," by Ben Bergen of Cognitive Science.
“The Atlantic Meets the Pacific: Predicting Election 2012” features three Social Sciences’ affiliates – Sam Popkin and James Fowler of Political Science, and longtime pollster and friend of the division Dan Yankelovich – along with James Fallows of the Atlantic, veteran political reporter Ron Brownstein of the National Journal and Republican strategist Steve Schmidt.
TechCrunch followed up on study by James Fowler of Political Science, suggesting the real power of political messages on Facebook lies not in paid advertising but in shares among friends.
Thad Kousser of Political Science is one of the experts behind CaliforniaChoices.org, an interactive nonpartisan website helping California voters make sense of statewide initiatives. Students, meanwhile, are behind several campus successes: a San Diego mayoral candidate debate held Oct. 13 and amassive voter registration drive.
Insights on the 2012 presidential election: Sam Popkin of Political Science shares election insights and experience in three-part UCTV Prime video series. He’s also speaking regularly with, among others, U-T San Diego and the Atlantic.
The Russell Sage Foundation published a piece by John Skrentny and graduate student Jane Lilly Lopez of Sociology, examining the Latino vote and President Obama's record on immigration reform.
U-T San Diego ran a feature on the “entrepreneurial force behind UCSD”: former UC President Dick Atkinson of Psychology and Cognitive Science.
Gedeon Deak of Cognitive Science is one of the researchers on a large NIH-funded study to learn how much language babies understand before they can speak, reported U-T San Diego
Geoffrey Braswell of Anthropology tells the Associated Press that the Maya did not predict an apocalyptic end of the world in 2012.
Steve Erie of Urban Studies spoke with the San Diego Reader about a proposed bayside football stadium in San Diego and with the Associated Press about a massive new desalination plant in Carlsbad.
A 61-million-person experiment on Facebook, led by James Fowler of Political Science, shows (for the first time, Fowler and coauthors believe) that important real-world behaviors like voting can be influenced by online social networks. The authors estimate that Facebook's election-day “get out the vote” message yielded 340,000 more voters at the polls in 2010. Close friends made all the difference. Coverage included: NPR, New York Times, BBC, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, CNN.com, AP, Politico, Financial Times, the Atlantic, PBS NewsHour, and many others.
Inside Higher Ed covered research coauthored by Kate Antonovics of Economics on the effect of affirmative action bans in college admissions.
Using smartphones to reduce election fraud? New Scientist reports on work by alumni Michael Callen of Economics and James Long of Political Science, with faculty Eli Berman and Clark Gibson.
Hello E.T.! Bloomberg reported “The Last Pictures” project of artist Trevor Paglen, which includes work by Rafael Nunez of Cognitive Science and will orbit Earth for 5 billion years on satellite EchoStar XVI.
Research on Indian education by Karthik Muralidharan of Economics was covered by the Business Standard and, in a widely picked-up story, by the Agence France-Presse.
Why are robots creepy? CNN reports on explorations of the human brain by Ayse Saygin of Cognitive Science.Huffington Post also covered Saygin’s work.
UC San Diego again tops Washington Monthly's national rankings for public service.
NPR, the Los Angeles Times and the Christian Science Monitor were three of many outlets reprising findings by Nicholas Christenfeld and graduate student Jonathan Leavitt of Psychology showing that spoiler don’t spoils stories – or the 2012 London Olympics.
In a story on the Aurora, Colo. theater mass shooting, ABC News quoted Gordon Dahl of Economics on his research about violence and movies.
Shirley Strum of Anthropology was cited widely in stories about baboon management in South Africa, including Fox News,Cape Times and others.
The Washington Post and the New York Times reviewed “The Candidate: What It Takes to Win – and Hold – the White House,” by Sam Popkin of Political Science.
Research by Julian Betts of Economics supporting steady and early test preparation for California’s high school exit exam was featured in Education Week and Central Valley Business Times; the state’s current intervention after failure in grade 10, Betts says, is too late.
“Natural experiments” studying the effects of media on families were the subject of a recent paper by Gordon Dahl of Economics and a Wired “GeekDad” blog post.
TEDx video: Thomas Levy of Anthropology explains how new visualization technologies have enabled archaeologists to collect, manage and analyze site data.
In a New York Times article on natural gas, James Hamilton of Economics suggested that a politician would do well to urge domestic expansion of the industry. Washington Post “Wonkblog,” meanwhile, cited Hamilton and his “Econbrowser” on the minimal impact falling oil prices have on economic recovery.
Margaret Schoeninger of Anthropology was quoted in Science on the forest foraging diet of Australopithecus sediba, a possible early member of the human family.
NPR’s “It’s All Politics” blog quoted Thad Kousser on the likely consequences of having (thanks to term-limit laws) large numbers of newbie legislators in state governments after the fall elections.
New Scientist has been featuring visual illusions by Stuart Anstis of Psychology; the latest post demonstrates the way the human brain sometimes perceives an overall shape and sometimes its smaller components.
MSNBC cited a study led by David Phillips of Sociology connecting the annual July spike in hospital deaths to new M.D.s beginning their residency programs.
A study by Julie Cullen of Economics on the relationship between a city’s homicide rate and its total population was cited in a Forbes blog post.
San Diego Reader story on Imperial Valley and the Salton Sea as the next Owens Valley/Owens Lake, of California “water wars” fame, quoted Steve Erie of Political Science.
NPR science blog featured recent work by V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology on the unusual phantom-limb experience of patient RN.
NewScientist featured research by Rafael Nunez of Cognitive Science on the culturally unique way the Yupno people of Papua New Guinea think about time: For them, it seems, the future is uphill and the past, down
Research by Nicholas Christenfeld and post-doc, alumna Laura Mickes of Psychology was cited in a San Francisco Chronicle article on how women’s humor can fail in the workplace
In an article about Hollywood blockbusters, Colorado Springs Independent referenced findings by Nicholas Christenfeld of Psychology that stories are not spoiled by “spoilers”
Thad Kousser of Political Science explained in the La Mesa-Mount Helix Patch the challenge proponents of Proposition 29 face in finding support for the “regressive tax”
The Huffington Post cited a study coauthored by Isaac Martin of Sociology finding that small business owners in the South think the American taxation system is morally objectionable
Christopher Bryan of Psychology was quoted in The Atlantic on the public perception of B.F. Skinner’s behavior modification techniques
Steve Erie of Political Science was quoted in the Los Angeles Times on the evolution of neighborhoods in downtown Los Angeles
Live Science on wrongful convictions based on misidentification by eyewitnesses cited work led by John Wixted of Psychology
Thad Kousser of Political Science was quoted in the Encinitas Patch on Proposition 29, which if passed would increase cigarette tax
USA Today story on the effect voters’ economic outlook might have on the upcoming presidential election quoted Gary Jacobson of Political Science
James Hamilton of Economics was quoted in an Associated Press story on the politics of lowered gas prices
OB Rag cited the book “Paradise Plundered,” by Steve Erie, doctoral student Vladimir Kogan and alumnus Scott MacKenzie of Political Science, in post on San Diego mayoral candidate Carl DeMaio
In a story on Madeleine Kunin, the first female governor of Vermont, Women’s eNewsmentioned the research of Valerie Ramey and Garey Ramey of Economics on the increased time college-educated mothers spend on childcare
Wayne Cornelius of Political Science, founder of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies, has won Mexico's highest award for foreigners.
How a cheetah can hide its spots: New Scientist features the illusion research of Psychology’s Stuart Anstis.
An endowed scholarship, honoring the work of educational reformer Hugh “Bud” Mehan of Sociology and CREATE, will help local underserved students attend UC San Diego.
Innovative Neural Research Wins $7 Million in DOD Funding Tim Gentner of Psychology will participate in an interdisciplinary multi-university research initiative to investigate the dynamic principles of collective brain activity.
Guggenheim Fellow to Study Long-term Effectiveness of NGOs James Rauch of Economics, who studies development and international economics, was awarded a 2012 Guggenheim Fellowship. With the fellowship, Rauch plans to investigate jadedness and professionalism in non-governmental organizations. read more...
Archive Renamed for Anthropologist The late Donald Tuzin of Anthropology helped build a world-class research collection at UC San Diego for the study of the peoples of Papua New Guinea and other island countries of the southwestern Pacific. Now, in honor of his leadership and legacy, the collection of materials from one of the most culturally, linguistically and geographically diverse places on earth has been renamed the Tuzin Archive for Melanesian Anthropology. Celebrating the archive’s 30 years, an exhibit is on view at Geisel Library through June 30.
KPCC quoted Marisa Abrajano of Political Science on generational differences in support of gay marriage
Political Science alumna Danette Meyers is running for Los Angeles County district attorney, reported the LA Times
The book “The Logic of American Politics,” by Samuel Kernell, Gary Jacobson andThad Kousser of Political Science, was cited by Governing in a piece on ticket splitting
Joel Sobel of Economics, chairman of the Academic Senate, noted in a UT San Diegostory the likelihood of midyear tuition hikes if the governor’s tax initiative fails to pass
The Scientist, Nature and Science reported that the 9,000-year-old skeletons found at UC San Diego’s University House would not be reburied until a federal lawsuit against the university by three UC professors, including Margaret Schoeninger of Anthropology, is settled
The body of hiker and Psychology student Guillermo Pino, who went missing Easter weekend, has been found, reported numerous news outlets, including Fox 5
Nicholas Christenfeld of Psychology weighed in on a UT San Diego story about employee personality tests
The May 10 Economics Roundtable was covered by the San Diego Daily Transcript
Study Finds Twist to the Story of the Number Line Challenging a mainstream scholarly position, a study led by Rafael Nunez of Cognitive Science suggests that the number-line concept is not innate but learned. His work with the Yupno of Papua New Guinea also shows that there is another way to think about time too – one that does not place past/future on a line or use the body as a reference point. Referring instead to their valley’s terrain, the Yupno, it seems, conceive of the future as uphill and the past, down.
To Research and Serve Psychology professor and alumn John Wixted is passionate about research. He also thinks it’s important we all use our education and expertise to serve our community. In this interview, he discusses what he’s learned about memory and how he got involved evaluating the effectiveness of an after-school program in Spring Valley. Plus his favorite food and favorite way to spend $10.
Advocacy in Sacramento Joel Sobel of Economics, chair of the Academic Senate, met with state legislators to illustrate how transformative research has an impact on society now and into the future.
Cognitive Scientist to Help Lead New Center for Human Imagination David Kirsh of Cognitive Science will serve as associate director of the newly established and interdisciplinary Arthur C. Clarke Center for Human Imagination.
‘Economics Roundtable’ on UCSD-TV Like the Economics Department lecture series it features, a new web resource provides opportunity to hear renowned experts in economics, finance, business and public policy.
UCTV Prime 'Vote' Features Faculty Experts UCTV Prime, a new Youtube original channel, features analysis by Thad Kousser and commentary by Peter Gourevitch of Political Science in its “Vote” series on the 2012 election. Next up from UC San Diego Social Sciences will be Zoltan Hajnal.
Economist Halbert White, 61 Halbert L. White, Jr. – Chancellor’s Associates Distinguished Professor of Economics in the Division of Social Sciences at the University of California, San Diego and cofounder of Bates White Economic Consulting – died March 31, 2012, following a four-year battle with cancer.
High Honors from Chancellor's Associates Two of the 2012 Chancellor’s Associates Faculty Excellence Awards recipients are from Social Sciences: Alan Houston of Political Science, for excellence in undergraduate teaching, and Laura Schreibman of Psychology, for excellence in research in humanities and social sciences. The annual recognition ceremony will be held March 29 at Atkinson Hall.
New York Times op-ed responding to the comment made by Rick Santorum, contender for the GOP presidential nomination, that colleges indoctrinate youth to godless liberalism cited research by Amy Binder and doctoral student Kate Wood of Sociology
CBC News spoke about redundancies in everyday language – “the reason why,” “unexpected surprise,” “advance warning” and similar – with doctoral student Gabe Doyle of Linguistics
U-T San Diego published piece by Political Science doctoral student Vlad Kogan: “Statistics Point to Rise of Closet Partisans”
City Council has unanimously appointed Susan Peerson of Urban Studies to San Diego’s Planning Commission, reported La Jolla Light
National Geographic and several other outlets reported on paper challenging genopolitics findings of James Fowler and alumnus Chris Dawes of Political Science
U-T San Diego featured the views of Sam Popkin of Political Science on Super Tuesday, as well as on Romney’s “evangelical problem”
Latin American Herald Tribune ran a piece on “socially responsible actress” Yareli Arizmendi (“Like Water for Chocolate,” “A Day Without Mexicans”), who got her bachelor’s in Political Science before going on to earn a UC San Diego MFA in Theatre
Best-selling fantasy writer, Communication alumnus Raymond Feist was featured in the North County Times
NPR’s “Morning Edition” spoke with Gordon Dahl of Economics for a piece about what the IRS could learn from the Mormon practice of tithing and from adherents’ definition of “income”
TIME Magazine cover story package on “10 Ideas That Are Changing Your Life” included, at no. 7, a piece on high-status stress citing Mary Blair-Loy of Sociology
The Economist blog “Baobab” covered Brookings Institution presentation by Clark Gibson of Political Science on experimental work in Afghanistan and Uganda showing that smart phones can dramatically reduce electoral fraud – by having election monitors simply take digital photos of publicly posted election tallies
The Wilson Quarterly and The Daily Beast reported on research coauthored by Eli Berman of Economics showing that unemployment in conflict zones does not lead to greater levels of political violence; contrary to the principles animating the efforts of many development agencies, putting men to work does not reduce insurgency
In advance of his appearance at the March 21 San Diego Festival of Science and Engineering, James Fowler of Political Science spoke with U-T San Diego about genetic influences on voting behavior
Comment by GOP contender for the presidential nomination Rick Santorum saying rising gas prices led to the recession were tied to a paper by James Hamilton of Economics by many media outlets, including Washington Post, International Business Times and KGTV (with the latter interviewing fellow UC San Diego economist and wife,Marjorie Flavin); numerous outlets, meanwhile, continued to seek Hamilton’s expertise for run-of-the-mill stories on gas prices, with Mother Jones referring to him as “your go-to guy for the effect of oil prices on the economy”
U-T San Diego: Sam Popkin of Political Science weighed in on the Michigan, Arizona primaries
An op-ed in the Indian business newspaper Mint on reorganizing education governance cited the work of Karthik Muralidharan of Economics
After Mayor Jerry Sanders announced that he had eliminated San Diego’s structural budget deficit, KPBS “Midday Edition” and Voice of San Diego featured the skepticism of doctoral student Vlad Kogan of Political Science
Foreign Policy piece on the near-universal distrust of immigrants referred to the “Hortefeux effect” research coauthored by Claire Adida of Political Science
NPR piece on politicians making increasingly outrageous and flamboyant remarks included commentary from Thad Kousser of Political Science
Steve Erie of Urban Studies called what’s happening in Garden Grove city government “political incest” and the comment became the headline for The Los Angeles Timesstory
Washington Post “Wonkblog” post on tapping nation’s strategic reserves to lower gas prices cited James Hamilton of Economics; Huffington Post meanwhile sought Hamilton’s take on the connection between U.S. exports of gas and cost at the pump
U-T San Diego published op-ed coauthored by Cary Lowe of Urban Studies calling for preservation of “San Diego’s back yard,” Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
The Atlantic magazine cover story on President Barack Obama quotes Sam Popkin of Political Science and cites his forthcoming book, “The Candidate: What It Takes to Win – and Hold – the White House”
Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank considered whether the GOP has a “death wish” when it comes to the growing Latino vote and quoted Zoltan Hajnal of Political Science; the column was widely reprinted around the country
USA Today and Huffington Post were two of many outlets reporting that the Occupy movement has found its way into university curricula, including a course taught by Ivan Evans of Sociology
ComputerWorld story on mobile voting quoted Clark Gibson of Political Science
Valentine’s Day piece on MSNBC pondering the future of human-robot relationships cited Ayse Saygin of Cognitive Science
Los Angeles Times story on synesthesia’s blended senses include the work of Psychology graduate student David Brang
News that Roger Levy of Linguistics is one of three new Sloan Foundation research fellows from UC San Diego was picked up by the San Diego Daily Transcript
California News Service story on the contributions of affluent Californians to PACs or Political Action Committees, appearing in the San Jose Mercury-News, among other outlets, quoted Gary Jacobson of Political Science
Imperial Beach Patch covered talk on getting kids “21st-century ready” by Education Studies alumna Shivani Burrows-Goodwill, a master Waldorf teacher and runner-up for San Diego Unified School District Teacher of the Year in 2009-10
Santa Barbara Independent piece on Random Dance Co. and its founder Wayne McGregor included discussion of collaborative work with David Kirsh of Cognitive Science to analyze the choreographic process
Life’s Little Mysteries’ piece on “why yuor barin can raed tihs” cited Marta Kutas of Cognitive Science and ran on MSNBC, LiveScience and others
U-T San Diego ran feature on Political Science alumna Charlotte Huggins, who is “now one of the most prolific 3-D film producers in history”
“Does fiscal stimulus work?” asked a Chicago Tribune story and answered “no” in part based on National Bureau of Economic Research paper by Valerie Ramey of Economics
Recent Kavli Foundation conversation on human-robot interaction featuring Ayse Saygin of Cognitive Science was picked up the Jerusalem Post and AZoRobotics of Australia
Latin American energy politics was the subject of a talk by David Mares of Political Science and post by the Council on Foreign Relations blog
ScienceNOW reported on study about how the brain processes metaphors and quoted commentary by V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology
Sam Popkin of Political Science in U-T San Diego with his views on Nevada caucuses
Life’s Little Mysteries’ piece on “why yuor barin can raed tihs” cited Marta Kutas of Cognitive Science and ran on MSNBC, LiveScience and others
U-T San Diego ran feature on Political Science alumna Charlotte Huggins, who is “now one of the most prolific 3-D film producers in history”
“Does fiscal stimulus work?” asked a Chicago Tribune story and answered “no” in part based on National Bureau of Economic Research paper by Valerie Ramey of Economics
Recent Kavli Foundation conversation on human-robot interaction featuring Ayse Saygin of Cognitive Science was picked up the Jerusalem Post and AZoRobotics of Australia
Latin American energy politics was the subject of a talk by David Mares of Political Science and post by the Council on Foreign Relations blog
ScienceNOW reported on study about how the brain processes metaphors and quoted commentary by V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology
Sam Popkin of Political Science in U-T San Diego with his views on Nevada caucuses
The American Prospect, in an analysis of Obama’s State of the Union speech, cited research coauthored by Sam Kernel of Political Science showing that ratings for primetime presidential addresses have fallen since the advent of cable TV
Dawn of social networks? Research coauthored by James Fowler of Political Science – analyzing the friendship ties of a hunter-gatherer group in Tanzania and concluding that social networks may have played a role in the evolution of cooperation – was featured on the cover of the journal Nature and reported on by several news outlets, including CNN, Wired, the Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, Discover Magazine, U-T andPsychology Today, while local weekly San Diego CityBeat ran a profile of Fowler pegged to the research news
Voice of San Diego published op-ed by Political Science doctoral student Vlad Kogan: “Convention Centers Are Not ‘Economic Engines’”
Sam Popkin of Political Science shared his views on the GOP presidential contenders and the South Carolina primary with U-T San Diego
La Jolla Light previewed Feb. 2 Bronowski Art & Science Forum appearance by David Kirsh of Cognitive Science
U-T San Diego ran (for the second time) Q&A with David FitzGerald of Sociology and Center for Comparative Immigration Studies
Washington Post reported on paper by Julian Betts of Economics and UC President Emeritus Richard Atkinson of Cognitive Science/Psychology showing that we don’t know nearly as much about charter schools as we could – and should; and U-T San Diego included the study in a piece looking at 20 years of charter schools. Betts also appeared in KPBS-TV “Evening Edition” segment (see 5:15 of video) examining Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown’s comments on education in his “State of the State” speech.
Scientific American Mind and Big Think reported on a study by Karen Dobkins andKatie Wagner of Psychology supporting the long-speculated hypothesis that infants have synesthesia, or blended senses
Thad Kousser of Political Science weighed in on Gov. Brown’s “State of the State” onKPBS-FM “Midday Edition”
India’s First Post and the Indian Express both cited the research of Karthik Muralidharan of Economics in their coverage of PISA, or OECD Programme for International Student Assessment, test results
Edge.org’s annual question, posed to the world’s "most complex and sophisticated minds,” this year was: “What is your favorite deep, elegant, or beautiful explanation?”;Gawker’s io9 featured answer given by V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology
Washington Post "WonkBlog” on oil prices and recovery cited James Hamilton of Economics, while the Hindu Business Line cited him on the EU’s Iran embargo
Linguist Named Sloan Research Fellow Roger Levy of Linguistics, who studies the processing of natural language and directs the Computational Psycholinguistics Lab, has won a prestigious Sloan Foundation research fellowship, given to promising young scholars.
Ethnic Studies Professor Wins ASA Election Curtis Marez of Ethnic Studies has been elected to serve as leader of the American Studies Association.
CNS Celebrates Psychology Professor Adam Aron of Psychology has won the 2012 Young Investigator Award from the Cognitive Neuroscience Society, an honor that “recognizes outstanding contributions by scientists early in their careers.” Aron will present his research on self-control at the society’s annual meeting in April.
Making of the Modern Human Humans dominate the planet thanks largely to our unique abilities to extract calories and protein from all kinds of animal and plant material. Margaret Schoeninger of Anthropology reviews how food fueled our evolution.
Dawn of Social Networks Hunter-gatherers in Tanzania provide clues about the evolution of cooperation, says a study coauthored by James Fowler of Political Science and published as Nature’s cover story.
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.
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.
Reuters opinion blog post, by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, on debates about the corporate income tax rate cited research by Roger Gordon of Economics
Science 2.0 story on the popularity of trying to predict who’ll win the GOP presidential primary cited research on spoilers by Nicholas Christenfeld and graduate studentJonathan Leavitt of Psychology
Sacramento Press reported Political Science alum Terry Schanz joined the 2012 City Council race
San Jose Mercury News story on the Golden State’s graying politicians quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science
New Scientist ran video and blog post on visual illusion originally developed by Stuart Anstis of Psychology; the magazine’s “Culture Lab” blog meanwhile featured V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology on his favorite place to reflect and seek inspiration
La Jolla Patch carried obituary for Marc Swartz of Anthropology
USA Today story on rise in heart attacks during the holidays, quoting and citing research by David Phillips of Sociology, had national pick-up
LiveScience story on the possibility of ideological extremism having biological roots quoted at length Darren Schreiber of Political Science
Discussion by Steve Erie of Urban Studies/Political Science on his new book, “Paradise Plundered,” was one of Voice of San Diego’s “10 Most Popular Stories of 2011”
Boston Magazine story on over-parenting cited the “Rug Rat Race” research of Garey and Valerie Ramey of Economics
Discover Magazine named research on overconfidence, coauthored by James Fowlerof Political Science, to its “Top 100 Stories of 2011”
Shirley Strum of Anthropology was quoted in a PolitiFact piece debunking the chain joke email that refers to baboons as a “congress"
U-T San Diego ran Q&A with David FitzGerald of Sociology and Center for Comparative Immigration Studies
New York Times: Zoltan Hajnal of Political Science argues in a “Campaign Stops” op-ed that changing demographics do not necessarily predict the ascendance of Democrats. Both parties, he writes, have been failing to engage America’s racial and ethnic minorities
Eli Berman of Economics and his recent book “Radical, Religious and Violent: The New Economics of Terrorism” were featured in Science
National Review piece on austerity in the U.K. mentioned U.S. research by Valerie Ramey of Economics
Nicholas Christenfeld of Psychology weighed in on a Live Science piece on the origins of saying ‘hmm’ to fill a pause
ABC News quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science on California’s first nonpartisan primary; Kousser was also quoted in a San Francisco Chronicle article on campaign financing; and on KQED on the relationship between top donors and political influence
James Hamilton of Economics suggested in the Fiscal Times that the Fed should manage inflation expectations to prevent the economic situation in the U.S. from deteriorating
Gary Jacobson of Political Science weighed in on competitiveness of congressional races in the Atlanta Journal Constitution; and the Imperial Valley Press quoted him on the correlation between finances and campaign outcomes
The Daily Beast quoted Sam Popkin of Political Science on the need for President Obama’s re-election campaign to instill greater confidence in voters
Steve Erie of Political Science was quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle on the difficulty independent candidates face during politically polarized times; and Voice of San Diegoquoted him on the historical tendency of San Diego mayors to be centrists
Vlad Kogan, Ph.D. candidate in Political Science, spoke with KPBS about the term-limit reform just approved by California voters
2011
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.
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.
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.
New York Times, Gizmodo and many others ran features on a language invented for and used on HBO fantasy series “Game of Thrones,” called Dothraki, and its creator,Linguistics alum David J. Peterson
Times & Transcript (Canada) was one of the latest outlets to consider the arguments of the American exceptionalism op-ed written by David Lake of Political Science and published by CNN.com
Miller-McCune story on creating policy to overcome political polarization quoted Gary Jacobson of Political Science
Wall Street Journal quoted James Hamilton of Economics in a story on oil prices and how the U.S. economy is no longer driving the market. The Global Economic Intersection, meanwhile, reposted Hamilton’s “Econbrowser” blog post on claims the Fed has secretly loaned trillions to banks; the post was also cited by the Denver Post and others
As a neighborhood’s ethnic diversity goes up, charitable donations go down, and the same is true, to a lesser extent, of religious diversity, reported Macleans on research coauthored by James Andreoni of Economics
BBC News ran a feature on the ongoing mirror-therapy work of Psychology’s V.S. Ramachandran, starting with treating the phantom-limb pain of amputees in the mid-’90s and now moving on to osteoarthritis
KPBS “Midday Edition” story on border arrests being at their lowest level in 40 years included as one of the featured guests David Keyes of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies
Don Bauder column in the San Diego Reader cites Steve Erie of Urban Studies and Political Science on the city’s “civic inferiority complex”; Erie was also quoted in aCincinnati Enquirer story on overtime pay to that city’s police
Imperial Valley Press quoted Roger Gordon of Economics in a story on local sales taxes revenues going up, as well as on consumer spending and the economy more generally
A San Francisco Chronicle story on Gov. Jerry Brown’s approval ratings, which might be better than they look, quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science; Kousser was also quoted in a Bay Citizen
story on the Occupy movement’s entry into politics with a ballot initiative
CNN.com published op-ed by David Lake of Political Science and is generating tremendous volume of conversation, in Facebook “likes” and online commentary: “Is America Exceptional? Liberals, Conservatives Agree – and Disagree”
San Diego Jewish Journal caught up with Political Science alumnus Wayne J. Klitofsky, who was one of the journal’s “10 under 36 to watch” in 2004; he’s now the greater Los Angeles director of AIPAC, or the American Israel Public Affairs Committee
National Journal quoted James Hamilton of Economics in story on the effect of oil prices on U.S. economic recovery
The Daily Caller reported on the launch of The College Conservative, a website that aims to give conservative students nationwide “a place to get their voices heard”; the piece quotes Political Science student Gabriella Hoffman, who serves as assistant editor
San Diego U-T ran profile of Economics alumna and PETA campaigner Katie Arth
A review paper on the neural basis and possible evolutionary advantages of synesthesia by graduate student David Brang and V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology was featured in the first PLoS Biology podcast and was also covered by History.com,io9, LiveScience, Cosmos, National Geographic News, Daily Mail (UK), The Scientist,Science News, BoingBoing, among others
Psychology Today reported on research into the stereotype that men are funnier than women by alumna and current post-doc Laura Mickes
Six degrees of separation? TechNewsWorld quoted James Fowler of Political Science on a study by Facebook and the University of Milan concluding that any two Facebook users are, on average, less than five connections away from each other
San Diego U-T story on Brian Selznick, author of “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” mentioned that he spends most of the year in La Jolla, where he lives with his partner,David Serlin of Communication
“Meet the Scientist Nurtured in a Bread Warmer”: San Diego U-T profile of Marta Kutasof Cognitive Science
Los Angeles Times reported on presentation given by Laura Case of Psychology at Society for Neuroscience's annual conference suggesting that mirror therapy originally developed by UC San Diego’s V.S. Ramachandran for phantom-limb pain might be successful in reducing pain from arthritis; also reporting on the yet-to-be-published study were the Guardian (UK), Telegraph, Daily Mail, among others
Last week’s NYT story on the study of gender and humor led by Laura Mickes of Psychology, with Nicholas Christenfeld, prompted additional coverage and public conversation: Round 2, this time critical-satirical, on Huffington Post, as well as round 2 on Forbes, plus pieces in ThinkProgress, United Academics and others
The administration’s plan to hire faculty in the key research areas of biology, design and energy was outlined in the San Diego U-T and included mention of the social sciences and the arts/humanities in the design component of the vision
Associated Press story on the sale of the U-T to local developer Douglas Manchester quoted Steve Erie of Urban Studies and Political Science; the piece was used extensively by numerous outlets
New York Times ran story on research by Psychology alumna and current post-doc Laura Mickes, with Nicholas Christenfeld, showing that, contrary to gender stereotype, men may not be the much funnier sex. Sydney Morning Herald also ran a piece as did UK’s Chortle; and Salt Lake Tribune re-published LA Times editorial
Research from the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies showing that added security has not deterred those who are determined to cross the U.S.-Mexico border was cited in a Dallas Morning News editorial
Science/religion op-ed by John Evans of Sociology, originally published in the Los Angeles Times and then distributed on the McClatchy wire, inspired a Times-Colonistblog post
Washington Post blog cited James Hamilton’s “EconBrowser” entry on the outsized role in recessions and recoveries of housing and auto sales
San Diego U-T story on San Diego County looking for new ways to fund public parks quoted Steve Erie of Urban Studies & Planning and Political Science
Discover Magazine on study suggesting that finches may have their own grammatical rules included comment from Timothy Gentner of Psychology
Stuart Anstis of Psychology explained a “beating hearts” visual illusion to New Scientist blog
Political Science student Gabriella Hoffman blogged on Washington Times that “political correctness is perpetuating America’s demise”
Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Here on Earth” featured an hour-long conversation on “Confronting Female Genital Cutting” with Gerry Mackie of Political Science and Molly Melching, founding director of Tostan, an NGO Mackie has been working with for years;San Diego U-T previewed Melching’s public lecture at UC San Diego and included mention of the newly signed agreement between UNICEF and the Center on Global Justice
Daily Tech covered research coauthored by John Wixted of Psychology finding that the hippocampus may play a larger role in memory than previously thought
San Diego U-T published op-ed co-written by Cary Lowe of Urban Studies and Planning: The San Diego River: A Diamond in the Rough”
Allan Timmerman of Economics was quoted in a MarketWatch story on market volatility
Wall Street Journal “Real Time Economics” blog featured “Econbrowser” post byJames Hamilton, weighing in in favor of the government’s new mortgage refinancing program
KQED’s “MindShift” cited work by Hal Pashler of Psychology that doesn’t find evidence to support the popular notion of learning styles
National Review praised EconTalk podcast featuring Valerie Ramey of Economics on stimulus spending
La Jolla Patch ran story on Economics alumnus Charles Tabesh, vice president in charge of programming at Turner Classic Movies
“Funny Finding: Men Win Humor Test (by a Hair)” – research by Psychology alumna and current post-doc
Laura Mickes, with Nicholas Christenfeld and New Yorker cartoon editor Bob Mankoff – continued to generate coverage and conversation: Good Morning America ran a weekend edition segment; TIME ran a piece and Scientific American broadcast a “60-Second Mind” podcast; Los Angeles Times had an editorial that was also distributed on the McClatchy wire and picked up widely around the nation; UPI piece enjoyed international distribution
EconTalk podcast featured Valerie Ramey of Economics on the effect of government spending on output and employment
Written companion to Today Show story on Williams Syndrome included Ralph Greenspan of the Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind; CBS News also did a piece quoting Greenspan
La Mesa Patch ran “30 Under 30 County Leaders” profile of 22-year-old Political Science alumnus Victor Brown, who is working for the president of San Diego City Council
Thad Kousser of Political Science was widely quoted in stories on Gov. Brown taking on pension reform, including in the Wall Street Journal and the San Jose Mercury News
San Diego U-T story on Chaldeans in East County launching a TV station as a kind of cultural lifeline quoted Curtis Marez of Ethnic Studies
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. The story was reprinted in theSydney Morning Herald
Paper coauthored by Psychology alumna and current post-doc Laura Mickes, withNicholas Christenfeld and New Yorker cartoon editor, has generated tremendous media coverage and public conversation, locally, nationally and internationally:Huffington Post story and video), Slate, ABC News, Forbes, Toronto Star, CBS News,The Daily, NBC nationwide on local affiliates, Daily Mail, San Diego U-T, Globe and Mail, UPI, Gawker blog Jezebel, Times of India and many others
Slate ran piece called “A Picture of Democracy” on paper coauthored by doctoral students Michael Callen of Economics and James Long of Political Science about election monitoring in Afghanistan and the potential for reducing corruption through the use of smart-phones and digital cameras
James Hamilton of Economics took part in a San Diego U-T talk about the economy
Los Angeles Times story on how Vernon’s low rents in its city-owned properties are good for its residents but bad for the city’s finances quoted Steve Erie of Political Science and Urban Studies; the story was picked up in San Jose Mercury News and Sacramento Bee
“What Disney Teaches Cities About Development” in the San Diego U-T cited Susan Peerson who’s visiting Urban Studies
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.
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 Yorkercartoon caption contest, the researchers find the gender stereotype is upheld partly by memory bias.
Los Angeles Times ran op-ed by John Evans of Sociology, “Science and Religion: A False Divide.” The piece was distributed on the wire and picked up by the Sacramento Bee, Kansas City Star and others – it was also fodder for bloggers
San Diego U-T, KPBS and California Watch reported on a Public Policy Institute of California study, led by Julian Betts of Economics, finding a mandatory math testing program used in San Diego that gives teachers prompt feedback on individual students can bring about significant gains in student achievement
KPBS aired story on Occupy San Diego, regional cousin to Occupy Wall Street and similar protests around the country, featuring the views of Isaac Martin of Sociology
San Diego U-T ran feature on Hal White of Economics
A Forbes blogger reports that tax expert Roger Gordon of Economics thinks that the $447 billion American Jobs Bill should pass
Economists who are featured in the San Diego U-T’s weekly “Econometer” Q&A, including James Hamilton, took part in a "UT Talks panel on the economic difficulties the U.S. and world currently face
CNN International story wondering “Why can't Congress just get along?” quoted Gary Jacobson of Political Science
Los Angeles Times story on the funding shortfall faced by San Diego’s new library quoted Steve Erie of Urban Studies and Political Science
San Diego U-T story on former Mayor Dick Murphy’s autobiography quoted Steve Erie too
National Review “The Corner” blog post on whether stimulus spending works cited recent research byValerie Ramey of Economics
Sara Clarke Kaplan of Ethnic Studies appeared on KPBS “Midday Edition” to discuss women’s images in the media
“A Life Less Ordinary” is a Derry Journal feature story on Sociology alumnus Jim Skelly, who is also a former associate director of IGCC under Herbert York
The Economist, reporting on Thomson Reuters’ prediction that Hal White of Economics might win a Nobel, said that he and Jerry Hausman of MIT were “a good wager”
TheAtlanticCities.com, a new urban-focused venture of The Atlantic magazine, reported that walking with headphones is not always dangerous, citing forthcoming research byEsther Walker of Cognitive Science
San Diego 6 reported that Political Science major Chelsea Bollinger is one of two locals selected for White House internships
The CEO of Voice of San Diego ran a follow-up piece on the outlet’s interview withSteve Erie of Urban Studies and Political Science, his views on San Diego’s fiscal and governance problems, and his recently published book “Paradise Plundered”
NBC San Diego reported that women were being hit hardest by federal and state budget cuts, especially education, and Julie Cullen of Economics commented
San Diego U-T story on political battles over the city’s pension system quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science
Gary Jacobson of Political Science was quoted in an extensively used McClatchy Newswire story
New Scientist short with video on a visual illusion referred to Stuart Anstis of Psychology
California Watch ran story on report, led by Hal Pashler of Psychology, saying there is little scientific evidence to support the theory of “learning styles”
Voice of San Diego ran extensive interview with Steve Erie of Urban Studies and Political Science on his new coauthored book, “Paradise Plundered,” and USA Todayre-posted the story
San Diego U-T story saying that Republican Rep. Brian Bilbray may face strong Democratic challengers quoted Gary Jacobson of Political Science
Associated Press piece – picked up in the Wall Street Journal, among others – on lower gas prices as an upside of economic worries quoted James Hamilton of Economics
MSNBC reporting on the arrest of the “Toe Suck Fairy” cited V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology on foot fetishes
Voice of San Diego story on a lawsuit challenging the maintenance assessment district in Golden Hill cited Political Science doctoral student Vlad Kogan on his views that MADs are bad policy
Big Think ran piece on recent mirroring research by Piotr Winkielman of Psychology
San Diego U-T story on the San Diego Youth Symphony’s embrace of the El Sistema method of music education, also known as the “Venezuelan miracle” and credited with fostering community harmony and improving student achievement, noted a recent partnership with UC San Diego’s Center for Human Development and the Neurosciences Institute to provide more empirical data on the program’s influence
San Diego U-T ran glowing review of “Paradise Plundered: Fiscal Crisis and Governance Failures in San Diego,” by Steve Erie of Urban Studies/Political Science, doctoral student Vlad Kogan and alumnus Scott MacKenzie, endorsing the book as “required reading for all who love our city”; Erie and Kogan also appeared in 40-minuteKPBS “Midday Edition” segment and an NBC San Diego piece
Thomson Reuters identified Halbert White of Economics as contender for a 2011 Nobel Prize and San Diego U-T, among others, reported
KPBS “Cinema Junkie” blog spoke with Sara Clarke Kaplan of Ethnic Studies on gender images in the media, specifically about some of the nostalgic shows in the new fall TV line-up
Globe and Mail, MSNBC’s “Body Odd” and several others reported on Nature study coauthored by James Fowler of Political Science suggesting that evolution favors overconfidence
San Diego Reader piece on birthright citizenship cited the views of John Skrentny of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies
The Economist and Council on Foreign Relations blog, among others, cited James Hamilton of Economics and his Econbrowser blog on “peak oil” argument of energy expert Daniel Yergin in WSJ
NBC “PropZero” blog featured “Paradise Plundered,” coauthored by Steve Erie of Urban Studies and Political Science, doctoral student Vlad Kogan and alumnus Scott MacKenzie
San Diego U-T ran feature on Nicholas Christenfeld of Psychology pegged to his recent research, with Jonathan Leavitt, on spoilers; Comic Book Resources used the study to consider “Are Spoilers Spoiling Comics?”
The Atlantic story on adapting U.S. foreign policy in a changing international system cited the network theory work of James Fowler of Political Science and his book “Connected”
Steve Erie of Urban Studies and Political Science discussed San Diego’s recent power outage on two L.A.-area NPR affiliates: KPCC and KCRW
San Diego U-T ran profile of recent Urban Studies graduate Jennifer Hazard Leonardand her environmental work
KPBS story on series of public forums on the economic, educational and infrastructure needs of greater San Diego, called Our Greater San Diego Vision sponsored by the San Diego Foundation, quoted participant and Urban Studies student Sam Lyon
North County Times story on South County Supervisor Greg Cox urging fellow supervisors to back creation of independent county redistricting panel quoted Steve Erie of Urban Studies and Political Science
National Geographic News, Discovery News and several others reported on the evolution of overconfidence, as modeled by James Fowler of Political Science and a colleague at the University of Edinburgh, and published by Nature
Colbert revealed “the granddaddy of all spoilers” in a five-minute The Word segment inspired by the spoiler research of Nicholas Christenfeld and Jonathan Leavitt of Psychology
San Diego Reader roundly criticized the city in a column featuring the book “Paradise Plundered,” coauthored by Steve Erie of Urban Studies and Political Science, doctoral student Vlad Kogan and alumnus Scott MacKenzie
San Diego U-T, reporting on the economic impact of the regions power outage, quotedJames Hamilton of Economics
North County Times story on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors vote that clears the way for a first-ever “majority minority” supervisorial district quoted Steve Erieof Urban Studies and Political Science
Political Science student Gabriella Hoffman published “Leftist Cesspool California Is Model for Obama’s America” in Communities section of Washington Times
Orange County Register ran Q&A with Anthropology alumna Stephanie Morgan, owner of Seabirds vegan food truck who participated in the Food Network’s second season of “The Great Food Truck Race”
KPBS “Midday Edition” featured interview with Thad Kousser of Political Science on California legislators trying to overhaul the initiative process
Chronicle of Higher Education article on “Academics Abroad, with Family in Tow” includes at length the experience of John Haviland of Anthropology
San Diego U-T ran item on forthcoming book “Paradise Plundered: Fiscal Crisis and Governance Failures in San Diego,” co-written by Steve Erie of Urban Studies/Political Science, with doctoral student Vlad Kogan and alumnus Scott MacKenzie
La Jolla Light ran story on “Knowledge Exchange Corridors: The UCSD Community Stations Initiative,” spearheaded by Mike Cole of Communication (and Teddy Cruz of Visual Arts)
San Diego U-T story on local intrepid explorers included Thomas Levy of Anthropology and described his research in Jordan; Levy will be honored for his work by the international Explorers Club in October
KPBS-FM aired feature segment on research by Nicholas Christenfeld and Jonathan Leavitt of Psychology showing that spoilers don’t spoil stories and actually seem to enhance pleasure; Huffington Post ran a second item on the study too
Desert Sun story on job scarcity hindering historical Mexican-American migration to Palm Springs quoted Center for Comparative Immigration Studies founder Wayne Cornelius
Washington Post blog on what Gaddafi’s fall would mean for oil prices cited James Hamilton of Economics
Spoiler Alert! Spoiler study still garnering tremendous public interest: NPR’s “Weekend Edition” reported on the research by Nicholas Christenfeld and Jonathan Leavitt of Psychology showing that spoilers don’t spoil stories and actually seem to enhance pleasure. Also covering the study were: BBC News, Smithsonian Magazine, National Post (Canada), TV Guide, Science News, The Week Magazine, Newser, Chicago Tribune and Australia’s News.com.au.
Numerous TV outlets were still picking up on the Reuters and HealthDay wire stories, as did U.S. News & World Report and the New York Post, among many others.
The popular Yahoo! News ran the Reuters piece too, along with an original post on itsOMG! site.
The UK Guardian also couldn’t seem to get enough of the findings, with three different pieces running: posts in the book blog and film blog were followed by a feature in the Saturday paper.
Like the news websites, outlets such as The Mary Sue (“a guide to girl geek culture”) and a poll on SodaHead, for example, generated considerable online discussion and ongoing spread of the story through social networks.
Canada’s top-rated network CTV aired an original video feature. The study also madeHarper’s “Weekly Review” and the popular comedy news quiz from NPR, “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!”
Leslie Carver and Karen Dobkins of Psychology, coauthors on a big study led by UC Davis showing that autism risk in sibling is much higher than previously thought, were featured on the talk-show KPBS “Midday Edition” and on KPBS News; WebMD and several others mentioned UC San Diego involvement in the study
New York Daily News “Addictions and Answers” column featured study by David Phillips of Sociology suggesting that driving with blood-alcohol levels even well below the legal limit of .08 is unsafe
Study on “mental abacus,” coauthored by David Barner of Psychology, was featured inAmerican Scientist and New Scientist
Front page of San Diego U-T: story on Ayse Saygin of Cognitive Science and her research into the creepy feeling people report when interacting with robots or animated characters that are too close to human
“Good Morning America” segment topped worldwide interest in study by Nicholas Christenfeld and doctoral student Jonathan Leavitt of Psychology showing that “spoilers” not only don’t seem to spoil stories but may actually enhance them
Wired covered the research as did Salon, Huffington Post, TIME, Daily Mail and others in the UK, The Atlantic Wire, MSNBC, CBC’s “As It Happens,” which airs across Canada and also throughout the U.S. on NPR stations, North County Times, ABC News and New York Press.
The Los Angeles Times and CNBC, among hundreds of other print and broadcast outlets, ran the Reuters wire story on the study.
It was also internationally distributed by wire pieces out of India and Canada, ANI/Asian News International and QMI/Quebec Media Inc, with the latter appearing in the Toronto Sun and London Free Press, among others.
The story also played prominently in the blogosphere: Numerous film and media blogs, including IMDB, Independent Film Channel and FishBowlLA from mediabistro, as well as in such high-profile blogs by Gawker as the science/sci-fi io9 and women-targeted Jezebel.
U-T republished a Chicago Tribune story on high-stress motherhood citing the “Rug Rat Race” research of Valerie and Garey Ramey
New York Times ran story on the critics of the social-contagion research by James Fowler of Political Science and his Harvard colleague, quoting Fowler
Los Angeles Times “Booster Shots” blog on London riots and the spread violence in mobs cited the research of James Fowler of Political Science showing that altruism can be contagious too
Forbes blog, LiveScience and Deccan Herald ran stories on research by Piotr Winkielman of Psychology showing that mirroring another’s body language sometimes reflects poorly on the mimic, as did MSNBC, the French Tribune, theBusiness Insider and the Daily Mail (UK)
KPBS “Midday Edition” featured James Hamilton of Economics in a discussion of the federal debt deal
BusinessWeek story on the possibility Federal Reserve policymakers may consider further stimulus measures on signs of flagging recovery cited research by James Hamilton of Economics
Washington Post ran Bloomberg video of Economics’ James Hamilton discussing the fallout from the debt fight and odds of recession rising
KPBS News story on Councilman Carl DeMaio’s outrage about labor-backed ad which suggests that signing a petition exposes you to identity theft quoted Vlad Kogan of Political Science
Toronto Star reported on research by Piotr Winkielman of Psychology showing that body-language mimicry is not uniformly beneficial to the mimic and that mirroring is more nuanced than previously thought; also covering the story were PsychCentral and the Times of India, among others
Reuters story on the “California Dream Act” signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown quotedJohn Skrentny of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigrations Studies
San Diego Daily Transcript covered presentation by Mark Jacobsen of Economics at quarterly Economics Roundtable critiquing fuel-efficiency regulations; his talk was titled “From SUVs to Electric Cars: Shaping Consumer Choice to Save Gasoline”
Forbes “Adventures in Health” blog considered the “July effect” research of Sociology’sDavid Phillips, which shows a spike in fatal medication errors in the month associated with the entry into hospitals of newly minted med-school grads
Boston Globe published a feature on critics’ challenges to the social-contagion work ofJames Fowler of Political Science and his Harvard colleague
Bloomberg News story, appearing in Denver Post and others, blamed debt crisis on party polarization and quoted Gary Jacobson of Political Science
Wired, BoingBoing, Gizmag, Daily Mail of UK, the Hindustan Times and several others ran stories on “uncanny valley” research by Ayse Saygin of Cognitive Science, who is also an alumna of the department, showing how the human brain reacts to movement by a humanoid robot, as opposed to the same movement by a human or a mechanical-looking robot
San Diego Union-Tribune story considering the possible local fallout from the debt-ceiling debate quoted Gary Jacobson of Political Science
New Scientist feature on the link between sounds and particular sensory perceptions cited research by V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology, with alumnus Ed Hubbard, and also the work of Benjamin Bergen of Cognitive Science
Red Orbit ran feature on “Your Brain on Androids” -- fMRI study by Ayse Saygin of Cognitive Science exploring what happens in people’s brains when viewing videos of a humanoid robot vs. a human and a robot-looking robot
San Diego Union-Tribune editorial board ran piece, based on study by David Phillips of Sociology, urging lower legal limit on blood-alcohol content: “Sober News on Drinking and Driving”; U-T also published op-ed from the American Beverage Institute taking issue with Phillips’ findings
North County Times story on the endorsement by Supervisors Bill Horn and Pam Slater-Price of a map that will reshape the county's supervisorial districts quoted Steve Erie of Political Science and Urban Studies
New York Times cited research from the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies,David FitzGerald of Sociology and Wayne Cornelius of Political Science in long feature on how changes in Mexico itself (more than economic downturn or crackdowns in U.S.) are making it more attractive for would-be immigrants to stay home
Boston Globe ran item on study by David Phillips of Sociology showing that a BAC as low as .01 is associated with more severe car accidents; the Globe also ran a letter to the editor responding to the piece from the American Beverage Institute
Associated Press story on GOP claiming victory after California state budget passed without a single Republican vote quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science; the story ran in The Californian, on KUSI and others
Slate ran piece about criticism of social-network research by James Fowler of Political Science and his Harvard collaborator
CBS News Sacramento ran story on study by David Phillips of Sociology showing that hospital deaths from medication errors spike in July
San Diego U-T story on ramp-up to 2012 San Diego mayoral race and the contenders’ search for endorsements quoted Steve Erie of Political Science
Wayne Cornelius was quoted in U-T story about “UC Cashing in with Out-of-State Tuition”
Australian science magazine Cosmos referred to starling research by Tim Gentner of Psychology in a story about the evolution of language
Associated Press story on Connecticut and 11 other states granting in-state college tuition to illegal immigrants who are working toward legal status quoted John Skrentnyof Sociology and CCIS; the story appeared on CNBC and other outlets
CNN.com published op-ed by David Lake of Political Science: “How One ‘Cookie’ Got U.S. Trapped in Middle East”
US News & World Report ran HealthDay story on the “Buzz Kills” findings of David Phillips of Sociology – even a barely detectable blood-alcohol count of .01 seems to be associated with more severe car crashes
ABC News story on medieval dancing outbreak quoted James Fowler of Political Science and cited his social-contagion research
MedIndia story on how listening to music while jogging and biking makes you “deaf” quoted Diana Deutsch of Psychology
Contra Costa Times story on how Gov. Brown’s budget veto reaffirmed his credibility with voters quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science
St. Louis Today “Mound City Money” column on public skepticism about effectiveness of QE2 quoted James Hamilton of Economics from his appearance at a Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis conference
Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot reported on the first graduate to earn a degree in Arabic from UCSD: Marine Kevin Staight
Fortune/CNN Money ran piece by James Hamilton of Economics from his “Econbrowser” blog: “4 Ideas to Create New Jobs”
TIME, San Diego Union Tribune, ABC.com, WebMD, KBPS “Midday Edition,” La Jolla Light (using CNS wire piece), UPI and others reported on findings by David Phillips of Sociology that “buzz kills,” that a BAC as low as the barely detectable .01 is associated with more severe car crashes; many local affiliates of national networks around the country reported on the story, too, including NBC Bay Area
When the American Beverage Institute put out a release criticizing Phillips’ findings, theSan Diego U-T ran a follow-up story; the paper’s columnist Tom Blair also made a humorous note on the surname of Phillips’ coauthor: Brewer
KPBS-TV “San Diego Week” featured Thad Kousser of Political Science in discussion of Gov. Brown and the state budget; Los Angeles Times story on the same subject also quoted Kousser and was reprinted in the Monterey County Herald and others
Wall Street Journal story on the Fed’s controversial $600 billion bond-buying program quoted James Hamilton of Economics
Sacramento Bee story on Gov. Brown’s current and historical contentious relationship with the Capitol’s state’s Dems quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science
San Diego Daily Transcript ran a feature on V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology
Long Beach Gazette story on its port’s history quoted Steve Erie of Urban Studies and Political Science
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.
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.”
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.
Spoiler Alert: Stories Are Not Spoiled by ‘Spoilers’
An experimental study from Nicholas Christenfeld and Jonathan Leavitt of Psychology finds that, contrary to popular wisdom, people actually prefer reading a story whose ending they know in advance. And that holds true even if the story is a mystery or an ironic-twist story.
‘Mirroring’ Might Reflect Badly on You
It is not always smart to mimic a person’s body language, shows a study led by Piotr Winkielman of Psychology. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but clueless copycatting comes at a cost.
Ever get creeped out by a humanoid robot? Or an animated character that’s almost human but not quite? To see what’s going on, Ayse Saygin of Cognitive Science has taken an fMRI peek inside the brains of people viewing videos of an uncanny android, compared to videos of a human and a robot-looking robot.
Alumnus Makes $1 Million Gift to Create Fellowship
The Kroner Family Endowed Fellowship in Social Sciences will help the division remain competitive in recruiting graduate students of the highest caliber.
No amount of alcohol is safe for driving, finds a study led by David Phillips of Sociology. Blood-alcohol levels well below the U.S. legal limit are associated with incapacitating injury and death.
Sacramento Bee column written by Stuart Leavenworth, the paper’s editorial page editor, on water feuds in San Diego cited research by Steve Erie of Political Science
Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters, writing about the newly drawn Congressional districts, referred to research by Political Science doctoral student Vlad Kogan; the piece also appeared in the San Luis Obispo Tribune
North County Times story on redrawn districts, Congressman Brian Bilbray and his campaign war chest for 2012 quoted Gary Jacobson of Political Science
LiveScience.com story wondering whether an NFL lockout start a crime wave referenced research by Gordon Dahl of Economics
The new superintendent in Lakeside, Brian Bristol, is an alumnus of Education Studies, reports the San Diego U-T; he has a doctorate in educational leadership
San Diego U-T ran a list from James Fowler of Political Science of “20 things that he's done over the years, moments that give us a better sense of the person”
Reuters ran story on Public Policy Institute of California report recommending that the state rely more on sales taxes and quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science; wire story appeared in numerous outlets
Baltimore Sun story saying that neither party’s proposals address the $1 trillion in unnecessary annual spending on health care quoted Rick Kronick, adjunct in Political Science
Associated Press reported on Political Equator 3 conference and border crossing, quoting co-organizer Oscar Romo of Urban Studies; the story appeared in theWashington Post and other prominent outlets
KUSI story reporting that private sector is recovering at the expense of the public sector quoted James Hamilton of Economics
Grist reported on startling finding by Mark Jacobsen of Economics that different fuel-efficiency standards for cars vs. SUVs/trucks are increasing highway fatalities (by increasing size disparities in vehicles)
USA Today story on Max Planck Institute findings that human ancestors were “mama’s boys,” with the females moving out of their birth communities and the males staying put, quoted Margaret Schoeninger of Anthropology. Agence France Press story, appearing in Yahoo News, FOX and elsewhere, did too, as did Discovery News andScience News.
San Diego U-T reported on the launch of a still unnamed UCSD program, a joint effort of the UCSD Center for Community Well-Being and the San Diego Workforce Partnership, to offer classes to schoolchildren in Southeastern San Diego
Associated Press story on gas prices draining family budgets, quoting James Hamilton of Economics, appeared in many outlets around the country
San Diego.com quoted Margaret Schoeninger of Anthropology in story about the controversy over the ancient skeletons found in 1976 at University House
KUSI story on the battle over the U.S. debt ceiling featured explanations by James Hamilton of Economics
The Atlantic ran a feature on U.S. intelligence agency building a “Metaphor Program” in an attempt to understand how people’s language reveals their mindset, quotingBenjamin Bergen of Cognitive Science, who is one of a dozen lead researchers expected to apply for a grant potentially worth tens of millions
Wired reported on scientists, led by Margaret Schoeninger of Anthropology, fighting the University of California for the right to study ancient skeletons found on the grounds of UCSD’s University House; the story follows up on a letter published in Science
Daily Mail (UK) story on research finding that people who check into hospitals on the weekend are more likely to die than those checked in during the week mentioned the “July spike” findings of Sociology’s David Phillips
Los Angeles Times story reporting on admission by government official of predecessor’s misconduct in Japanese-American internment cases during WWII cited the research of Peter Irons of Political Science
An independent audit of Compton questions whether the city can remain solvent; Los Angeles Times story on this, and on council-approved layoffs, quoted Steve Erie of Political Science
Huffington Post asked whether there’s an “affair epidemic” among the country’s rich and famous and cited the “contagious divorce” work of James Fowler of Political Science
UK Guardian story on China’s use of prisoners in lucrative internet gaming quoted Jin Ge of Communication, who has been studying the “gold farming” phenomenon
Fortune/CNN Money published opinion piece by James Hamilton of Economics: “Next Up on the Bailout List: The Mailman?”
John Skrentny of Sociology and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies published opinion in the The Hill’s “Congress Blog”: “Immigration Reform: From Distrust to Direction”
El Cerrito Patch reported on Valerie Ramey of Economics’ analysis, sparked by controversy around the claims made by “Tiger Mother” Amy Chua, showing that Asian students study more than twice as much as others
A Q&A with author of the book “Why Arnold Matters: The Rise of a Cultural Icon” appearing in CNN’s “In the Arena” blog cited Thad Kousser of Political Science in a question
NBC San Diego story on Calif. Gov. Brown getting closer to balancing the budget quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science
San Diego U-T, in ongoing reporting on terrorism threat in wake of Bin Laden’s death, quoted Eli Berman of Economics and IGCC
U-T previewed Autism Update community conference, presented by International Meeting for Autism Research at UCSD, geared toward the public and featuring several Social Sciences faculty; reporter also attended and reported on some of the presented research
Orange County Register story on President Obama’s attempt to woo Hispanic voters quoted Marisa Abrajano of Political Science
U-T story on the California Citizens Redistricting Commission, charged with redrawing state political boundaries, quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science
San Diego U-T published two opinion pieces by Social Sciences faculty members in the aftermath of Osama Bin Laden’s death:
“Counterterrorism: The Task Remaining” by David Lake of Political Science
“Bin Laden: Fugitive and Failure” by Eli Berman of Economics
CNN.com published op-ed by James Hamilton of Economics: “Will Gas Prices Trigger Another Recession?”
Eli Berman of Economics commented to UK Guardian, San Diego U-T and KPBS about Bin Laden’s death and the possible consequences for Al Qaeda and counterterrorism efforts
Scientific American story considering how obesity spreads in social networks – the transmission of norms or another mechanism – cited the 2007 research of James Fowler of Political Science and quoted him
Los Angeles Times covering annual convention of California Democrats and looking ahead to 2012 quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science
San Diego Daily Transcript previewed a May 5 and 6 conference on legal pluralism co-hosted by CILAS, the Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies
NPR report advising we get used to $4/gallon gas prices, in part because of rising demand from China, quoted James Hamilton of Economics
Bloomberg story considering the effect of rising gas prices on President Obama’s popularity (and whether there are echoes of Carter’s experience) quoted James Hamilton of Economics; the piece appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle and other outlets
Reuters story on California pension battles quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science; the story was carried by CNBC and others
Close Up: Economist James Hamilton
The oil-markets expert tells UCSD News he expects to see a decrease in gas prices in the coming months. But over the long run, prices will remain high.
Twelve of this year’s Hellman Fellows are from the Social Sciences. The program provides financial support and encouragement to young faculty striving for tenure who show capacity for great distinction in their research.
Is There a 'Tiger Mother' Effect?
Valerie Ramey of Economics analyzed data in the American Time Use Survey and discovered that Asian high school and college students out-study all other groups. But their mothers spend only about a half hour a week more in educational activities with their children.
Wall Street Journal story on “Our Social Networks, Ourselves” cited the research ofJames Fowler of Political Science
Washington Post blog post wondering why gas prices are rising and whether voters care quoted James Hamilton of Economics
San Diego U-T published op-ed by Political Science doctoral student Vlad Kogan on the City’s pension crisis. Kogan is a coauthor with Steve Erie of the book “Paradise Plundered: Fiscal Crisis and Governance Failures in San Diego,” forthcoming from Stanford UP. Voice of San Diego published a piece by Kogan on the County’s fiscal policies and core public services.
Wall Street Journal story reporting that U.S. drivers are starting to ease up on the gas pedal as gas prices continue to rise (but that that might not make much of a difference to global economy as industrializing nations play an ever-bigger role) quoted James Hamilton of Economics
V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology was named by TIME Magazine to its TIME 100 list for 2011; San Diego U-T reported on the honor
Los Angeles Times story saying Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are now crucial to presidential campaigns quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science
TIME.com’s “Healthland” blog post on why looking at overweight people makes one eat more not less cited the social-contagion research of James Fowler of Political Science
Los Angeles Times story on the California controller ordering an audit of Montebello finances quoted Steve Erie of Political Science
New Yorker story on rising gas prices and the threat to consumer confidence and double-dip recession cited James Hamilton of Economics
Bloomberg story on the compromise budget President Obama struck with Congress quoted Gary Jacobson of Political Science. A separate USA Today story on the budget also quoted Jacobson.
TIME “Healthland” blog post on study about the differences between liberal and conservative brains also mentioned work by James Fowler of Political Science on the “liberal gene”
San Diego U-T story on the U.S.-Mexico border as the main battleground in the drug war quoted David Mares of Political Science
Seattle Times article on the latest OECD estimates showing that Americans pay much less in taxes than other developed nations (though more in income tax) quoted Valerie Ramey of Economics
One of World's 'Most Influential'
V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology has been named to the TIME 100 list, an annual compilation of the people TIME Magazine considers to be the world's most influential. Others on the 2011 list include President Barack Obama, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and rock legend Patti Smith.
ABCNews.com reporting that rising oil prices are beginning to hurt the economy quotedJames Hamilton of Economics; similar Financial Times story also quoted Hamilton. As did the Wall Street Journal and an Associated Press story, which appeared onNPR.com among other outlets
KPBS “These Days” featured V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology in segment on the neuroscientist and his new book, “The Tell-Tale Brain”
Xconomy San Diego post on the role of social media in the Middle East’s revolutions cited James Fowler of Political Science and included link to his CNN op-ed and to upcoming talk on the uses of social network analysis to predict epidemic outbreaks
San Diego U-T story on Japan’s nuclear crisis fanning primal fears here in San Diego quoted Nicholas Christenfeld of Psychology
San Diego U-T: Roger Showley is covering the “Advanced Topics in Urban Politics" class led by Steve Erie of Political Science and Urban Studies and Planning; in the first installment, he solicited readers’ ideas on what problems the students should tackle
Wall Street Journal opinion on oil prices and the threat they pose (or don’t) to the economic recovery cited James Hamilton of Economics
ABCNews.com analysis of why Elizabeth Taylor was called “the most beautiful woman in the world” quoted Stephen Link of Psychology
San Diego.com previewed Japan tsunami discussion at Museum of Man that featured, among others, Joseph Hankins of Anthropology
Los Angeles Times story on “legislative assault” against illegal immigration quoted at length Wayne Cornelius of Political Science and the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies
NBC Los Angeles “Prop Zero” blog on California’s budget impasse quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science
San Diego U-T previewed the start of the New Frontiers in Global Justice conference featuring Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and the launch of the new UCSD Center on Global Justice, in the Division of Social Sciences, quoting founding co-directors Fonna Forman-Barzilai and Gerry Mackie of Political Science. U-T also solicited the opinion of former President Clinton on Sen and conference, in its story about the concurrent Clinton Global Initiative University on campus, and, separately, reported on Sen’s lecture.
Boston Globe, in a feature about work-life balance and the guilt mothers feel, quoted at length Mary Blair-Loy of Sociology, director of the Center for Research on Gender in the Professions
Xconomy San Diego ran an in-depth Q&A with James Fowler of Political Science on his work at “the intersection of the natural and social sciences”
Mercury News ran Santa Cruz Sentinel story on Central Coast lawmaker Sam Blakeslee, one of five Republicans in budget talks with Calif. Gov. Brown , quoting Thad Kousser of Political Science
Wall Street Journal reported on research identifying the three biggest “ballhogs” and “overshooters” in the NBA by graduate student Matt Goldman of Economics
Los Angeles Times story reporting on state Republican leaders attempting to hold onto their clout despite the “top-two” open primary system passed by voters last year quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science
The Smart Set asked if “neuroscience can explain art?” in its review of latest book byV.S. Ramachandran of Psychology, “The Tell-Tale Brain”
San Diego U-T ran feature on alumna Kathryn Herrera and her Higher Learning Navigator, a program at the International Rescue Committee that tutors and mentors incoming and current refugee college students. IICAS and the Human Rights Minor Program awarded Herrera the 2010 Marlene King Human Rights Fellowship when she was an International Studies/Political Science undergraduate to help with the program
Economist James Hamilton’s “Econbrowser” was among TIME magazine’s “25 Best Financial Blogs”
San Diego U-T reported on the 21st annual Urban Studies EXPO, which featured the senior research projects of 93 students. The projects, the story said, “questioned the efficacy of smart-growth planning, historic designation as an economic-improvement tool and many other assumptions.” The U-T also covered the EXPO address given by former San Diego City Manager Jack McGrory
La Jolla Light ran preview of Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen’s March 31 lecture at UCSD on “Justice: Local and Global,” co-sponsored by the division and the new Center on Global Justice
Forbes’ “Invested Interest” blog cited James Hamilton of Economics and his “Econbrowser” blog in a post on oil prices
TIME’s “Curious Capitalist” blog wondering if the gas price spike is a long-term job killer cited research by Valerie Ramey of Economics
Sydney Morning Herald ran feature on research by James Fowler of Political Science showing possible genetic factors in friendship
Washington Post story on census data showing change in California demographics quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science. FoxNews.com repurposed Kousser’s quote in story saying the state is “losing its political punch”
San Diego U-T census story on the previous decade being the county’s slowest in population growth despite gains among Hispanics and Asians quoted Marisa Abrajano of Political Science
San Diego U-T piece questioning the Building Industry Association’s leadership role in Oceanside housing panel quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science
San Diego U-T ran its regular “EconoMeter” column which features answers to a single question from eight local experts, including James Hamilton of Economics. This week’s question: “Does the potential shutdown of the federal government have an impact on the economy and consumer confidence?”
Arizona Republic story, considering whether rising gas prices pose a threat to the recovering economy, cited the research of James Hamilton of Economics
North County Times piece on the announcement by County DA Bonnie Dumanis that she’ll run for San Diego mayor in 2012 quoted Gary Jacobson of Political Science
NBC San Diego story on the California budget, Gov. Brown and the blown deadline quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science
New Center on Global Justice Seeks to Take a Practical Path
The center, co-directed by Fonna Forman and Gerry Mackie of Political Science, will connect moral theory and social science to real human problems.
Crime and Football
Domestic violence rises 10 percent after NFL upsets, reports Gordon Dahl of Economics. The study, published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, suggests unexpected disappointment may underlie loss of control and violent behavior.
Faculty Excellence
Gail Heyman of Psychology is being honored for undergraduate teaching at the 2011 Chancellor’s Associates Faculty Excellence Awards.
Los Angeles Times story on the restoration plans for Shanghai’s Holy Trinity church quoted Richard Madsen of Sociology
The Economist cited research by James Hamilton of Economics in its analysis of connections between the unrest in the Arab world, oil markets and recession
Many outlets ran stories on rising price of oil and the threat that might pose to economic recovery in the U.S. and elsewhere quoting James Hamilton of Economics, including the Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, The Globe and Mail and San Diego U-T
ScienceNews story, appearing in U.S. News & World Report, on how brains guesstimate quoted Ed Vul of Psychology
USA Today story on National Journal report finding that Congress is the most polarized since 1982 quoted Gary Jacobson of Political Science
Cristin McVey of Sociology was quoted in a San Diego U-T story about the history project currently underway at the San Diego History Center: identifying photographs of the region’s African American community taken by Norman Baynard
KUSI covered the tracking-trash-with-trash project in the Tijuana River watershed by Urban Studies’ Oscar Romo
San Francisco Chronicle story on the naming of John Williams as the CEO of the SF Federal Reserve quoted James Hamilton of Economics
New York Review of Books featured “The Tell-Tale Brain” by V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology
CNNMoney/Fortune ran piece written by James Hamilton of Economics, “How the Fed Prints Money Without Any Ink”
NPR story on “quiet people,” pegged to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s five-year silence on the bench, cited the research of and quoted Nicholas Christenfeldof Psychology
Scientific American ran guest blog on “The Great Debate: What Is Life?” panel at Arizona State University, including mention of Roger Bingham, director of The Science Network and an affiliate of Psychology
FOXBusiness.com story on whether the Federal Reserve is caving to political pressure against further monetary easing quoted James Hamilton of Economics
San Diego U-T story on Vista Republican. Rep. Darrell Issa’s power as the new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee quoted Gary Jacobson of Political Science
North County Times story suggesting that California budget cuts are based on “Sacramento math,” which is “foreign to the typical family and most local governments” quoted Ross Starr of Economics
MSNBC.com and others ran TechNewsDaily story on RUBI Project: “Future of Education? Droids Teaching Toddlers”
Reuters story picked up by numerous outlets saying that oil spike of 2008 will not repeat with Libya unrest and will not halt U.S. economic recovery quoted James Hamilton of Economics
Wall Street Journal story worrying about the prospect of double-dip recession as a result of rising oil prices quoted James Hamilton of Economics; a similar story on NPRalso quoted Hamilton
The Hill story on Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) leading the charge against the Republican platform in her new role as minority leader quoted Gary Jacobson of Political Science
San Diego U-T ran front-page feature in its Sunday paper on innovative project byOscar Romo and student, intern Jennifer Leonard of Urban Studies to track cross-border trash in the Tijuana River watershed
NPR’s “Fresh Air” aired segment with V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology on his new book, “The Tell-Tale Brain”
Psychology Today blog post by Mike Alvarez of Caltech featured Q&A with James Fowler of Political Science on his research into genes and friendship networks
Inside Higher Ed published opinion piece coauthored by Vicki Park of Education Studies, a member of the Pathways to Postsecondary Success project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, asking “Where Are the Student Voices?” in the debate about increasing graduation rates
Los Angeles Times “Chatter” blog on Sheril Kirshenbaum’s “Science of Kissing” cited theories of V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology
Cincinnati Enquirer story on city being set to pay out $93 million to retirees for unused holiday, vacation and sick days quoted Steve Erie of Urban Studies
Huffington Post asked its readers to tweet their favorite acts of random kindness on Feb. 17, the unofficial celebration of same, and the prefatory story cited the “pay-it-forward” research of James Fowler of Political Science
Orange County Weekly blog ran Q&A with Alan Houston of Political Science on Benjamin Franklin, in connection with the exhibition of the man’s life at the Bowers Museum
Wall Street Journal story on the search for alcoholism genes mentioned research byJames Fowler of Political Science
Chronicle of Higher Education ran a “My Daily Read” Q&A with Donald Norman, emeritus of Cognitive Science and Psychology
San Diego Daily Transcript ran preview piece on lecture by Kwai Ng of Sociology at California Western School of Law on “The Globalizers in the Common Law World”
NBC’s Today show ran segment with author Sheril Kirshenbaum on the “science of kissing,” citing research by V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology
Bloomberg BusinessWeek story on innovator Alberto Cavallo and his Billion Prices Project quoted James Hamilton of Economics
San Diego U-T ran item previewing global justice talk by Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen March 31, co-sponsored by Social Sciences
NPR’s “All Things Considered” ran story on PNAS study, by James Fowler of Political Science, finding that genes play a role in selecting friends
UK Guardian profiled V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology, “Marco Polo of neuroscience,” in light of his new book, “The Telltale Brain”
Fortune/CNN.com ran “Econbrowser” blog post by James Hamilton of Economics on geopolitical unrest and the impact on world oil markets; CBS Moneywatch blogger cited the post too
FOX News story on security concerns about Suez Canal shipping route, amid growing unrest in Egypt, quoted James Hamilton of Economics
Wall Street Journal “Real Time Economics” blog on what surging commodity prices will do the modest U.S. recovery quoted James Hamilton of Economics
Bennetta Jules-Rosette of Sociology was a signatory to an open letter published inForeign Policy on Ivory Coast’s “war against civilians”
McClatchy story on final finance statements filed by California gubernatorial candidates, quoting Thad Kousser of Political Science, appeared in the Miami Herald and Kansas City Star, among other papers
Several pieces on California Gov. Jerry Brown’s State of the State address quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science: Sacramento Bee, Orange County Register and Christian Science Monitor
Nature News story on biggest challenges for social science, as conceived in parallel efforts at NSF and Harvard, included mention of James Fowler of Political Science
New York Times ran a book review of “The Telltale Brain” by V.S. Ramachandran of Psychology
San Francisco Chronicle story on pronouncement that GOP brand is dead in “deep-blue” California quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science
New York Times story on lawmakers turning their attentions to the effects that iPods and cell phones have on pedestrian safety quoted Hal Pashler of Psychology
Sacramento Bee analysis that Meg Whitman has herself to blame for Calif. gubernatorial race (and not the state’s Democrat leanings) quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science
Nature News story on cognitive science findings about the role of longer words in languages quoted Roger Levy of Linguistics
Bay Area NPR affiliate KQED quoted James Hamilton of Economics in a story about California Governor Brown being locked in a fight with cities over redevelopment funds
New Hampshire Public Radio “Word of Mouth” ran a segment on research co-led byDean Jeff Elman, about babies processing language sooner and in a more “grown-up” way than previously thought
James Fowler of Political Science published a study in PNAS – finding that there are genetic similarities and compatibilities between friends, as well as suggesting that your genes may help you choose your friends – and the paper received major worldwide coverage, including: ABC.com, CNN, MSNBC, Scientific American, TIME Magazine, USA Today, HealthDay (appearing in BusinessWeek and others), Nature,Sydney Morning Herald, FOX, KPBS.
UK Telegraph ran piece by V.S .Ramachandran of Psychology on “intriguing case studies that are revealing the powerful, adaptive potential of the human brain”
Ethnic Studies student Jorge Narvaez and his 6-year-old daughter, who have become YouTube sensations, continued to garner media interest: U-T twice and NBC San Diego
Bloomberg cited James Hamilton of Economics in reporting that rising gasoline prices threaten U.S. consumer optimism about the economy in general
Wall Street Journal “Real Time Economics” blog on the Fed’s bond-buying quotedJames Hamilton of Economics
San Diego U-T story on visit by Arizona’s Sherriff Arpaio quoted Thad Kousser of Political Science
Education Studies, ‘Champion of Diversity’
The Education Studies program was honored at the 16th Annual Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action and Diversity Awards for commitment to diversity – in service learning, community outreach and recruitment.
Babies Process Language in a Grown-Up Way
Babies, even those too young to talk, can understand many of the words that adults are saying – and their brains process them in a grown-up way – finds research co-led by Dean Jeff Elman.
2010
Not a happy holiday thought, but an important one: The number of babies who die of sudden infant death syndrome surges by 33 percent on New Year’s. UC San Diego study suspects alcohol consumption by caretakers may be at fault.
Arsenic Toxic to Bangladesh Economy
An international research team led by Richard Carson of Economics is the first to report on dramatic and immediate economic effects of “mass poisoning” in Bangladesh: Arsenic-polluted drinking water is reducing labor supply by 8 percent.
Levy in the Levant
A new television documentary called “Quest for Solomon’s Mines,” by National Geographic/NOVA, features research by Anthropology professor Tom Levy, showing that extensive copper production took place in Jordan during what is believed to be the Biblical era of David and Solomon. Watch the full episode. See more NOVA.
Ethnic Studies Alumna Leads Innovative School
EnCompass Academy in east Oakland, Calif., is an innovative public school that serves predominately low-income and minority students. Its founding principal is Minh-Tram Nguyen, a 1996 graduate.
Researchers Find a 'Liberal Gene'
Liberals may owe their political outlook partly to their genetic make-up, according to research by James Fowler of Political Science. Ideology is affected not just by social factors, but also by a dopamine receptor gene called DRD4.
A MacArthur for Padden
Carol Padden — professor of Communication, associate dean of Social Sciences and an alumna of Linguistics — has won a "genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation for her work on sign languages. The prestigious award comes with $500,000, no strings attached.
Sustainable Connections
Keith Pezzoli, of Urban Studies and Planning, created the non-profit Global ARC to connect educators, researchers and community organizers who are working to develop community-based solutions concerning water, food and energy sustainability.
UCSD@50 Features CCWB
The Center for Community Wellbeing, a university-community collaborative project that involves numerous faculty and students from the Social Sciences, leads a yearlong, 50th-anniversary series from UCSD-TV; segment available online now.
The Friendly Way to Catch the Flu
The "friendship paradox," a basic feature of social networks, may help public health officials to detect epidemics earlier and respond sooner, according to research coauthored by James Fowler of Political Science.
New Docs Linked to Death Spike in July
Study by David Phillips of Sociology suggests inexperienced medical staff make fatal medication errors.
California in Crisis
UCSD Social Sciences professors Marisa Abrajano, Thad Kousser, Isaac Martin and Bud Mehan discussed the California budget crisis, its effect on the state and possible solutions for recovery on May 25, 2010, at the Natural History Museum in Balboa Park. The discussion was moderated by Dean Jeff Elman. You can view the UCSD-TV video.
Faculty Excellence
Keith Rayner of Psychology has won a Chancellor's Associates Faculty Excellence Award in the humanities and social sciences research category. You can view video about Rayner's research.
California's Education Crisis
The California budget and several other factors have combined to put the Golden State.s once-shining public education system into one of its deepest crises. Division faculty are responding with an innovative, team-taught course, offered through Ethnic Studies and open to the public.
Caught Up in the 'Rug Rat Race'
College-educated mothers in the United States have dramatically increased the time they spend on childcare, especially on "chauffeuring" to organized activities — in the hopes of getting their kids into elite colleges, say Garey and Valerie Ramey of Economics.
One Good Deed Begets Another and Another and Another...
Cooperation cascades through a social network, according to the first experimental findings on the contagion of cooperative behavior, by James Fowler of Political Science.
You'll Shun the New If You're Feeling Blue
A negative mood imparts a warm glow to the familiar, while happiness makes novelty attractive, according to work by Piotr Winkielman of Psychology.
School Improvement Study Funded
Alan J. Daly of Education Studies has won a William T. Grant Foundation grant for a study of how schools use research evidence in the service of school improvement.
Calling on Colbert
James Fowler of Political Science appeared on The Colbert Report to discuss his bookConnected: The Surprising Power of Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives.
Watching the Border
CCIS Director Emeritus Wayne Cornelius was featured in a 60 Minutes story on the "virtual fence" at the U.S-Mexico border.
Book Award
Globalizing L.A. by Urban Studies Director Steve Erie has won a book award from the honorary land economics society.
2009
The Measure of Woman?
Psychology researchers discover new "golden ratios" for female facial beauty.
Stimulus Grant
Nearly $9 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will help Terry Jernigan, of Cognitive Science and the Center for Human Development, and colleagues search for links between genetic variation and developing brains.
Houston to Head ERC
Alan Houston, of Political Science, has been named provost of UCSD's Eleanor Roosevelt College.
Chichen Itza in 3-D
Anthropology Department faculty and a graduate student are using a free Google download to model the ancient Maya city.
Lies My Parents Told Me
Parents say that honesty is the best policy, but they regularly lie to their children to influence their behavior and emotions, according to Gail Heyman of Psychology.
'Apples-to-Apples' Analysis of Arab Development Yields Fresh View
The Arab world is not the socioeconomic basket case that conventional wisdom holds, says James Rauch of Economics.
Believing Is Seeing
Psychology professor Piotr Winkielman and colleagues in New Zealand and France show that our initial interpretations of other people.s ambiguous facial expressions bias subsequent memory and perception.
HUD Highlight
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recognized the innovative efforts of social sciences students, Communication Professor Mike Cole and many others at an affordable housing project in southeast San Diego in a national webcast.
Obituary: Nobel Prize Winner Granger
One of the globe's leading economists, Nobel Prize-winning econometrician Clive Granger died May 27.
Key to Perfect Pitch
A rare musical skill is more common among fluent speakers of such tonal languages as Mandarin and Vietnamese, says Diana Deutsch of Psychology.
Humboldt Honor
Psychology professor Keith Rayner has been selected as a recipient of the prestigious international Humboldt Research Award.
Franklin Find
Alan Houston of Political Science has discovered a trove of letters by, to and about Benjamin Franklin. The correspondence, copied by one Thomas Birch, was "hiding" in the British Library amid Birch's voluminous papers.
Grades Trump Admission Tests
Richard Atkinson, UC president emeritus and emeritus professor of psychology, argues that the SATs are still poor predictors of college readiness.
Hail Fellow
Hugh "Bud" Mehan is an inaugural American Educational Research Association Fellow.
And the Faught Goes to...
Shelley Marquez of the CRL, INC and KIBM has been named the recipient of an award recognizing "excellence and outstanding achievement in the management of general campus academic units."
Bright Ideas
The San Diego Union-Tribune reports on the research of 54 Urban Studies and Planning students.
Faculty Excellence
Yen Espiritu of Ethnic Studies and Gerry Mackie of Political Science are honored with 2009 Chancellor's Associates Faculty Excellence Awards.
Choreography and Cognition
Innovative dance company benefits from interdisciplinary study with Cognitive Science.
Economic Stimulus
Economist Valerie Ramey shows spending more valuable than tax cuts to stimulating the economy.
The Genes in Your Congeniality
Researchers identify genetic influence in social networks.
2008
Gates Funds Education Research
Amanda Datnow of Education Studies will co-direct a five-year study, funded by the Gates Foundation, aimed at discovering how to improve access to college and the job market for low-income youth.
James Fowler of Political Science and a Harvard colleague document the contagious power of happiness in social networks.
Psychology professors Hal Pashler and John Wixted report on how to improve long-term learning.
Honoring Professor Emeritus and 2003 Nobel Laureate Robert Engle, the university has created the first named endowed chair in economics.
King Solomon's (Copper) Mines?
Did the Bible's King David and his son Solomon control the copper industry in present-day southern Jordan? Though that remains an open question, the possibility is raised once again by the recently published research of archaeologist Tom Levy.
Computer and Social Scientists
Mathew McCubbins, of Political Science, is founder of a popular Calit2 lecture series that aims to bridge the gap between computer and social scientists. Next to speak is James Fowler.
UCSD Political Scientists on Election '08- Beginning Oct. 20 and up through Election Day, UCSD-TV will be airing discussions by faculty, in two different programs, about issues in the presidential race. Click here and here for schedules.
Experts from the division and the Rady School assessed the U.S. economy and the nation.s current financial crisis in a special presentation on Oct. 3. If you weren't among the 600 who attended, you can read what they had to say or watch an online video.
UC San Diego has one of the nation's most highly regarded departments of political science
The faculty includes top experts in the field including many scholars who study elections and politics. Click here for a list of faculty authorities on the 2008 elections.
Unconvinced by Economic Growth? Blame the Deflator
Economic growth doubled in the second quarter, but in case it doesn't feel like the economy is expanding robustly, blame the deflator.The Challenges Facing Mainland China
As the futurologists ply their discredited trade and write books on a resurgent communist China, there have remained some skeptics who have interesting and pointed remarks to make on the emperor's new attire. Susan Shirk, a UCSD political scientist, is one of them and her book "China: Fragile Superpower" is a welcome corrective to much nonsense.
The number of Americans who died at home after ingesting toxic combinations of prescription medications, alcohol and street drugs such as marijuana exploded by more than 3,000 percent during the past two decades, as shown by new research led by a David P. Phillips, professor of Sociology at UCSD.
East Does Not Meet West on China's Self-Image
Chinese people are overwhelmingly satisfied with the direction of their country, a Pew Centre survey published yesterday shows.
Another Peek Inside the Brain of the Electorate
How much has the American voter changed over the past 50 years? According to a group of academics who has spent a year studying this very question, the voter is pretty much the same dismally ill-informed creature he was back then.
Fire Plan Dividing Jacob, Roberts
A plan to radically change how wildfires are fought in San Diego County has pitted one supervisor against the other.
Two social scientists, Roger Gordon of Economics and Thomas Levy of Anthropology, are among seven faculty members from UCSD to be named fellows of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences.
Professor Emeritus David Jordan, Anthropology, has been named a top recipient in the UCSD Alumni Association’s 30th Annual Awards for Excellence, to be held June 7.
2007
“Meet the Scientist Nurtured in a Bread Warmer”: San Diego U-T profile of Marta Kutasof Cognitive Science
Los Angeles Times reported on presentation given by Laura Case of Psychology at Society for Neuroscience's annual conference suggesting that mirror therapy originally developed by UC San Diego’s V.S. Ramachandran for phantom-limb pain might be successful in reducing pain from arthritis; also reporting on the yet-to-be-published study were the Guardian (UK), Telegraph, Daily Mail, among others
Last week’s NYT story on the study of gender and humor led by Laura Mickes of Psychology, with Nicholas Christenfeld, prompted additional coverage and public conversation: Round 2, this time critical-satirical, on Huffington Post, as well as round 2 on Forbes, plus pieces in ThinkProgress, United Academics and others
The administration’s plan to hire faculty in the key research areas of biology, design and energy was outlined in the San Diego U-T and included mention of the social sciences and the arts/humanities in the design component of the vision
Associated Press story on the sale of the U-T to local developer Douglas Manchester quoted Steve Erie of Urban Studies and Political Science; the piece was used extensively by numerous outlets
2006
Groups and Grumps: Study Identifies ‘Sociality’ Neurons
A UC San Diego study has for the first time identified brain cells that influence whether birds of a feather will, or will not, flock together.
The phrase “easy on the eyes” may hit closer to the mark than we suspect.
UCSD Cognitive Scientist Wins $100k Rumelhart Prize
Psycholinguistics and artificial neural networks pioneer Jeff Elman has been named the seventh recipient of the David E. Rumelhart Prize.
$2.2 Million for Latin American Studies
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a $2.2 million research grant to UCSD’s Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies and its counterpart at SDSU.
Backs to the Future: Aymara Language and Gesture Point to Mirror-Image View of Time
Tell an old Aymara speaker to “face the past!” and you just might get a blank stare in return — because he or she already does.
Sectarianism Is Problem for Religious Right Political Partnerships
Members of groups that comprise the “religious right” exhibit negative attitudes toward other religious groups on the right, making the building of political coalitions more difficult, according to first national survey of “sectarianism.”
UCSD Receives Largest Social Sciences Gift from an Alumnus
Jerri-Ann and Gary E. Jacobs (’79) have made a $1 million gift to the Division of Social Sciences in support of graduate fellowships.
Ethnic Studies professor Ross Frank has created a virtual, public collection of rare and precious Plains Indian ledger art.
Policy Defaults Are Seen as Recommendations on Important Issues
New research indicates that people perceive the default option as a recommendation by policymakers and that this helps explain why few people request a change in their organ-donation status or retirement plan participation.
David Swinney, 59 Psychology professor David Swinney has died; a fellowship established in his name will support doctoral students in cognitive psychology.
The Birds and the B’s: Challenging Chomsky, Starlings Learn ‘Human-Only’ Syntax Patterns
The European starling — long known as a virtuoso songbird and as an expert mimic too — may also soon gain a reputation as something of a “grammar-marm.”
American Academy of Arts and Sciences Elects Fellows
Six scholars from UCSD, including two from political science, have been named fellows of the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Kavli Institute at UCSD Announces Innovative Research Awards
Investigations into the persistence of mistaken political beliefs, the surprising cognitive inflexibility of children and whether sleep requires a brain are among nine projects selected.
Q&A with Steve Erie on Water Politics
Director of the Urban Studies program and a professor of political science, Steve Erie discusses the issues raised in his new book Beyond Chinatown.
Pellow on California Cultures
David Pellow, of Ethnic Studies, discusses the interdisciplinary program he heads up, California Cultures in Comparative Perspective.