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UCI Social Sciences E-News


Welcome to the October issue of the Social Sciences E-News


Upcoming Events

Innovation, Firm Dynamics, and International Trade
10/6/2009

Racial Boundaries Among Latinos: Internet Daters' Racial Preferences
10/6/2009

Meet the Diplomats: Senior Diplomat, Azerbaijan and Principal, Tool Shed Group
10/6/2009

Invisible Children "Schools for Schools" Documentary Viewing
10/6/2009

On the Coevolution of Theory and Language
10/8/2009

Rwanda During the Genocide: A First-Person Account
10/9/2009

The Role of Sleep in Cognition: From Perception to Creativity
10/12/2009

C-DASA Update: NICHD Population Center Proposal and the Computer Servers
10/13/2009

Toward a Fiscal Social Science
10/14/2009

Entailment in Conditional Probability Logics
10/15/2009

The Future of US Iran Relations
10/15/2009

Bankers into Populists: The Texas Tax Clubs and the Mellon Plan, 1924-1928
10/20/2009

Does Cheap Talk Matter: An Experimental Approach
10/22/2009

Exchanging Words: A Bilingual Reading of Contemporary Korean Fiction
10/23/2009

Health Care Forum - Making Sense of the Health Care Debate
10/27/2009

Comparative Economic Status of Mexican-origin and White Populations in U.S.
10/27/2009

California Attorney General to discuss future of the state in public talk at UCI
10/29/2009


See more events


Social Sciences
in the Media

UCI awards $230,000 in grants

Invisible immigrants, old and left with nobody to talk to’

Asian American concert showcases O.C. stars

Scholars discuss immigration

UCI’s Walker earns three accolades

As immigrants move in, Americans move up

Demoted Lambert bodes ill for city

Second Life

Mathematics expert: IRV not the answer

Can poor voting record hurt a candidate? Sometimes

Lynn’s immigrants and police share a gulf

California’s budget crunch: The universities protest

Dispelling bias against Latinos




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Welcome from Social Sciences Dean Barbara Dosher

The fall quarter is now in full swing at UCI and nowhere is this more evident than in the School of Social Sciences. In September, we officially welcomed more than 1,300 new freshmen, transfer and graduate students, bringing our total student population to more than 7,000 - the largest on the UCI campus. We also welcomed four new faculty members whose interests in hearing, population studies, social networking, and economics in developing countries further expand the interdisciplinary research strengths for which the School of Social Sciences is widely known.

-Check out photos from Welcome Week
-Learn more about Social Sciences’ four new faculty members

Read the rest of Dean Dosher’s fall 2009 welcome message online...


UCI sociologist studies effects of social status on perceptions of race

Study is funded by recent $35,000 grant from the Russell Sage Foundation

In a study published in the December issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, sociologists Andrew Penner, UCI, and Aliya Saperstein, University of Oregon, found that over time, changes in a person’s social status - such as income level, employment status and incarceration status - alter both the way people racially categorize themselves and others. Read their full report online. With a recently awarded $35,000 grant from the Russell Sage Foundation, Penner and Saperstein are expanding the study to explore how thinking about race as changeable provides insight into inequality.

Read On...


UC researchers to use robotics to study brain processes involved in decision making

Study is funded by $1.6 million grant from the National Science Foundation

How we recognize and adapt to change will be the focus of a $1.6 million joint study between researchers at UC Irvine and UC San Diego. Findings will provide insight down to the neuron level about the specific areas of the brain responsible for decision making and attention, which could lead to a better understanding of human behavior as well as improvements in the design of robotic systems that can adapt to changes in the environment. “Little is known about the areas of the brain involved in making decisions when faced with uncertainty,” says Jeffrey Krichmar, a cognitive scientist in UCI's School of Social Sciences and one of the study's lead researchers. He specializes in neurorobotics, using real-life biological and neural data to program robots to simulate a thinking, moving being.

Read On...


UCI profs weigh in on growth of network analysis in special edition of Science

Papers appear in July 24 issue

In a special network analysis-focused issue of Science magazine, papers by UCI School of Social Sciences professors Carter Butts, sociologist, and Douglas White, anthropologist, highlight implications, applications and potential growth areas of this rapidly expanding field.

Read On...


Garcia receives Stirling Prize from Society for Psychological Anthropology

Honor recognizes drug addiction study as “best published work in psychological anthropology”

Angela Garcia, anthropology assistant professor, has been awarded the Stirling Prize for Best Published Work in Psychological Anthropology by the Society for Psychological Anthropology of the American Anthropological Association. The award recognizes her study, “The Elegiac Addict: History, Chronicity, and the Melancholic Subject,“ in which she took an in-depth look at drug addiction and its root causes in the rural New Mexican landscape. Her findings, based upon five years of interviews, surveys and anthropological research in the area, indicated a strong tie between elevated levels of heroin use and the local Hispanos’ lost connections to the land and historical culture. The study was published in the November 2008 issue of the society’s journal, Cultural Anthropology.

Read On...


Boellstorff’s Coming of Age in Second Life receives MEA book award

2009 Media Ecology Association’s Dorothy Lee Award recognizes outstanding scholarship in the ecology of culture

Tom Boellstorff, anthropology professor, has received the 2009 Dorothy Lee Award for Outstanding Scholarship in the Ecology of Culture from the Media Ecology Association for Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human. Published in 2008, the book is an anthropological exploration of the online virtual world “Second Life” in which Boellstorff “lived” for two years observing its residents to learn how commonly held ideas of identity and society are being reshaped. The book was also recently recognized with an Honorable Mention for the PROSE Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence in Media and Cultural Studies from the Association of American Publishers.

Read On...


Standout scholar Dalar Abolian

Recipient of the 2009 Nicholas Aeberhard Award for Outstanding Freshman at UCI

Armineh “Dalar” Abolian, political science major, discusses why she chose UCI, her first year experiences as an Anteater freshman, and her recently received Outstanding Freshman honor.

Read On...


Kari Pestolesi named the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week

Pestolesi becomes first Anteater to receive weekly honor from AVCA

UC Irvine’s Kari Pestolesi, sociology major, was named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week after leading the No. 22 Anteaters to a 3-0 start at the Nevada Courtyard Marriott/Fairfield Invitational last weekend. Pestolesi becomes the first Anteater to win the AVCA National Player of the Week honor.

Read On...


SPOTLIGHT EVENT - Health Care Forum: Making Sense of the Health Care Debate

Tuesday, October 27, 2009 @ 7:30-9:00 p.m.
Social Science Plaza A, Room 2112

The UCI Interdisciplinary Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality presents a round table discussion on health care reform with C. Ronald Koons, Felicia G. Cohn, Senator Joseph Dunn, and Leslie Lindgren. This lecture is free and open to the public. Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Public parking is available for $7 in the Social Science Parking Structure.

Read On...



SPOTLIGHT EVENT - California Attorney General and former Governor Jerry Brown to discuss future of the state in public talk at UCI

Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 2:00-3:20 p.m.
Crystal Cove Auditorium, UC Irvine Student Center


Edmund “Jerry” Brown Jr., Attorney General and former two-term Governor of California (1975-83), will be the featured speaker at a public talk hosted by the School of Social Sciences' Center for the Study of Democracy. Brown will discuss his more than 40-year career in politics and address questions regarding the future of the state of California. This lecture is free and open to the public. Seating is on a first come, first served basis. Public parking is available for $7 in the Student Center Parking Structure.

Read On...


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School of Social Sciences
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697-5100




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