Welcome to the October 2011 issue of the Social Sciences
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New UCI research center links economics-related research with public policy

Center for Economics & Public Policy, housed in the School of Social Sciences, is directed by economist David Neumark

A new UCI research center has been created in the School of Social Sciences to focus on the use of economics-related research in the development and improvement of public policy. Directed by David Neumark, economics professor and widely noted labor market policy expert with extensive work experience in public policy, the Center for Economics & Public Policy will focus on key policy issues important to federal, state and local policymakers in the United States, as well as those in other countries and the communities policymakers serve.

Expert Series 2011-12

Social Sciences 2011-12 Expert Speaker Series focuses on social media, sustainability and the future of healthcare

How do people get from home to work to play, and what kinds of communities do our transit decisions and policies produce? What does the changing landscape of the Internet, social media and virtual worlds mean for education, culture and industrial design? What is the current state and possible future of healthcare in the United States? In the third annual Social Sciences Expert Speaker Series, UCI social scientists and industry experts investigate these and other issues that impact the daily lives of Californians and global citizens. Join us on October 19 as we kick-off the series with a talk on transit and the urban landscape.

Clothes make the man and his race, study shows

New multi-university study finds racial classification linked to status cues in clothing

If Mark Twain was right, and clothes really do make the man, do they also make his race? According to new research from UCI sociologist Andrew Penner, it would appear so. In a study published online Sept. 26 in PLoS ONE, Penner and co-authors report that a person clothed in business attire is more likely to be seen as White whereas that same person, dressed as a janitor, is more likely to be perceived as Black. This pattern grew more pronounced as faces became more racially ambiguous.

Social sciences welcomes four new faculty in fall 2011

Research interests span game theory, political behavior, social inequality and computational modeling

The School of Social Sciences is happy to welcome four new professors to its fall faculty lineup. With research interests in game theory, political behavior, social inequality and computational modeling, their scholarly contributions will further expand the diversity and interdisciplinary research strengths for which the School of Social Sciences is known.

Lee is selected as a Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholar

Honor includes funding for one-year in-residence at foundation's New York headquarters

Jennifer Lee, sociology professor, has been named a 2011-12 Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholar In-Residence. One of only 19 professors selected from a nationwide applicant pool, Lee will spend the academic year in New York at the foundation's headquarters working on a new book about adult children of immigrants' varying definitions of, and pathways to, success. The book will bring together her previously conducted research on the topic which was funded by the Russell Sage Foundation. The honor includes $101,000 in grant funding.

Vargas receives grant to study role of musical sound and sociality in relation to racialized gender, sexuality

Funding provided by the UC Center for New Racial Studies

Deborah Vargas, Chicano/Latino studies associate professor, has received a $12,500 grant from the UC Center for New Racial Studies to study how music and images from the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries have contributed to constructions of racialized gender and sexuality of Chicanas/Mexicanas. Her findings will serve as a resource for scholars studying how art, music and literature create racialized and class constructions of gender and sexuality.

Greece needs to default on its debt and exit the eurozone

Check out this article by UCI economics professor Stergios Skaperdas as featured in The Guardian September 26, 2011

The demands of the EU, European Central Bank (ECB), IMF troika and the political climate in the northern parts of the eurozone have sent a clear message to the Greek people and the government of George Papandreou: "Do as we say, regardless of the consequences for you - or even for us." The demands go well beyond those prescribed by conventional economics. They will deepen the depression and make full debt repayment even less likely than it now is. Therefore, the clear, strong nudge is for Greece to default as soon as practicable.

Looking beyond 9/11

Lynch and Skaperdas on the aftermath of 9/11, courtesy of KUCI's Ask A Leader

Listen in as Cecelia Lynch (pictured), political science professor, and Stergios Skaperdas, economics professor, discuss the aftermath of 9/11 and the forecast for the next 10 years.

Shorette receives NSF grant to study global fair trade organizations

Funding period began in August and runs through July 2012

Kristen Shorette, sociology graduate student, has received a $10,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study how fair trade organizations impact the global market place. Focusing on inequalities between the northern and southern hemispheres, she will examine how new fair trade organizations are formed, why they seem to be concentrated in some areas as opposed to others, and how they may be used to benefit producers in the developing world and reduce global inequality.

Salas receives grant to study consequences of family planning program funding disruptions

Funding provided by the UC Pacific Rim Research Program

John Michael Ian Salas, economics graduate student, has received a $12,250 grant from the UC Pacific Rim Research Program to study the impact of discontinued U.S. government-sponsored contraceptive programs on fertility and health in the Philippines and Peru. Findings from this study have the potential to impact currently proposed legislation in the Philippines that is seeking to mandate the provision of reproductive health care services in all health facilities and be fully-subsidized for the poor. Findings may also be used to better understand the impact of donor-supported family planning programs in other developing countries, such as those in Africa, and the consequences that may arise when funding is withdrawn.

Peria receives NSF grant to study impact of new affirmative action policies in Brazil

Study began in July and runs through June 2012

Michelle Peria, sociology graduate student, has received a $12,100 National Science Foundation fellowship award to study how newly enacted affirmative action policies aimed at addressing racial inequality of Afro-Brazilians are impacting racial identification on individual and group levels. She will travel to Brazil during the 2011-12 academic year where she will observe and interview participants enrolled in a college prep program for low-income students of all races to learn how lessons on racial discrimination and exclusion faced by Blacks help shape participants' understandings of their own and others' racial identities.

Gillespie receives grant from NSF to study impact of parent-child cohesion on residence choices

Funding begins in September and runs through August 2012

Brian Joseph Gillespie, sociology graduate student, has received a $14,900 grant from the National Science Foundation to study how early parent-child cohesion impacts later residential proximity of young adults and their parents. Gillespie will compare these dynamics in two socially and culturally distinct settings using data collected over more than ten years in the U.S. National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study. Findings will help researchers better understand how intergenerational cohesion impacts residence decisions among young adults.

Dingeman-Cerda receives NSF grant to study impact of deportation on El Salvadoran immigrants

Study began in August and runs through July 2012

M. Kathleen Dingeman-Cerda, sociology graduate student, has received a $9,500 grant from the National Science Foundation to study how current U.S. immigration and deportation policies and practices impact the lives of Salvadoran immigrants. Through life history interviews with deportees and their family members living transnationally in Los Angeles and El Salvador, Dingeman-Cerda will analyze how individual trajectories, family relations and family structures are transformed through deportation. Her work will draw on her previous career experience as a social worker for Central American youth in immigration detention and will take her to non-profits throughout LA and San Salvador.

SPOTLIGHT EVENT: Age Discrimination and Social Security Reforms

Do stronger age discrimination laws make Social Security reforms more effective? UCI economist David Neumark weighs in

The Department of Economics Applied Microeconomics Seminar Series presents "Age Discrimination and Social Security Reforms," with David Neumark, Department of Economics, UC Irvine.

SPOTLIGHT EVENT: Fall Hot Topics Debate

Resolved: America has become a self-indulgent nation

The Social Sciences Dean's Ambassadors Council invites you to come hear political science professors Mark Petracca and William Schonfeld as they engage in debate over the ongoing debt crisis and recession in the United States. Political science professor Wayne Sandholtz will moderate. Positions taken by the professors do not necessarily reflect personal views.

SPOTLIGHT EVENT: Managing a 21st Century Security Agenda: U.S. Foreign Policy Beyond Iraq and Afghanistan

ISPF with Ambassador Christopher Hill, Dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver

The International Studies Public Forum presents "Managing a 21st Century Security Agenda: U.S. Foreign Policy Beyond Iraq and Afghanistan," with Ambassador Christopher Hill, Dean of the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver. Hill served as the U.S. ambassador to Iraq from April 2009 until August 2010. He joined the Josef Korbel School of International Studies in September 2010. He is a career member of the Foreign Service whose prior assignment was assistant secretary of state for east Asian and Pacific affairs. He also served as ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Poland, and the Republic of Macedonia. This event opens the 2011 ISSS/ISAC Conference which is being hosted this year in Irvine.

SPOTLIGHT EVENT: Celebrities, students to celebrate regional debut of "Women, War & Peace"

Panel discussion on a new five-part PBS television series

Appearances by Academy Award winner Geena Davis and documentary filmmaker Abigail Disney, as well as a "Day of Service," will mark the Southern California debut of "Women, War & Peace," a bold, five-part PBS television series challenging the conventional wisdom that war and peace are men's domain. PBS SoCal, the Center for Living Peace and UC Irvine are co-sponsoring the events as part of the ongoing Living Peace Series. Kelly Smith, founder of the Center for Living Peace, will moderate a panel featuring Geena Davis, Abigail Disney and UCI associate professor of anthropology Roxanne Varzi discussing the making of "Women, War & Peace," set to begin airing at 10 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, on PBS SoCal (formerly KOCE-TV).