DSS Home | News and Events | Notables | Newsletter
Upcoming Events
Social Science Supper Club
Political scientist Gary Jacobson, an expert on American national politics, will consider the “2008 Presidential Primaries” when he addresses the Social Sciences Supper Club on Jan. 30, 2008, beginning at 5:30 p.m., at the UCSD Faculty Club.
PDF reader required to view flyer. Free download from Adobe here.


Economics Roundtable
Gordon Hanson, director of the Center on Pacific Economics and professor of international relations and economics at UCSD, discusses “Why Does Immigration Divide America?” on Feb. 13, 2008, beginning at 7:30 a.m., at the UCSD Faculty Club.
Two of Seven- 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.
Tops in Teaching- 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.
Chimps Dig Up Clues to Human Past- Our closest living relatives use tools to forage for underground food in Tanzania, finds research coauthored by anthropologist Jim Moore, suggesting what our ancestors might have done as well.
New Chief Academic Officer- Paul Drake, dean of the Division of Social Sciences for the past 12 years and a member of the UC San Diego faculty since 1984, has been appointed the university's Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.


Failure of Telecom Reform in South Africa- Research by Robert Horwitz, of Communication, says that promised liberalization by the African National Congress government was sacrificed to privatization of the national telephone monopoly.
Obesity Is ‘Socially Contagious’- Are your friends making you fat? Or keeping you slender? According to research coauthored by James Fowler of Political Science, the short answer on both counts is “yes.” The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, has gained national and international attention.
Journey to the Copper Age- Featuring the research of UCSD archeologist Thomas Levy, San Diego's Museum of Man traces the evolution of human society in the Middle East after the birth of metal technology.
Family History of Autism and Social Behavior- The baby brothers and sisters of autistic children do not seek emotional cues from adults as often as other toddlers do, study finds.


Level-Headed- An experiment finds that people have a taste for equality, which motivates them to spend their own money to make the poor less poor and the rich less rich.
Stop Signs- The ability to stop quickly may depend on a few “cables” that are part of the brain’s “braking” mechanism.



Through Deaf Eyes- Two UCSD authors, Tom Humphries and Carol Padden, appear in a national PBS documentary on Deaf history and culture.
Faculty Excellence- Psychology professor Sandra Brown was recognized recently with a Chancellor's Associates Faculty Excellence award for her work on adolescent substance abuse.
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.




Beauty and the Brain- The phrase “easy on the eyes” may hit closer to the mark than we suspected.
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.
Drawing on Tribal History- 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.
More Social Sciences News Releases ...