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Welcome to the May 2013 issue of the Social Sciences eNews!

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Learning on the go

Online math and science learning program developed by UCI cognitive scientists goes mobile

With summer break just weeks away, parents scrambling to find options to keep young learners educationally engaged needn't look far. ALEKS, a web-based learning program started by cognitive scientists at UCI, is gaining popularity in markets from kindergarten to college as a great way for students to fill skill gaps in math and science.

The online adaptive assessment and learning software program ALEKS – short for Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces – just reached a milestone as student users topped one-million for the year, and that number is only expected to grow. On March 5, ALEKS Corporation launched an iPad and tablet version so that students who use the program in class or on desktops can now take their learning on the road, to the beach or home for the summer months.

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Social sciences alumna and student athlete earn 2013 Lauds & Laurels honors

Formal banquet to be held May 16

The School of Social Sciences is pleased to have among its faculty, staff, students, alumni and community friends two recipients of the UCI Alumni Association's Lauds & Laurels awards for 2013. Established in 1971, the awards have recognized and celebrated the accomplishments of more than 800 outstanding anteaters who have prominently contributed to and supported the advancement of UCI's fundamental mission of teaching, research and public service.

Janice Cimbalo
Outstanding Social Sciences Alumna
UCI Psychology and Economics, '87 | Biology, '92
Pepperdine J.D., '91
Senior Vice President, Jones Lang LaSalle Real Estate

Janice Cimbalo began her legal career as a litigation attorney, focusing on cases related to real estate, corporate, international, antitrust, bankruptcy, product liability, and medical malpractice law. She then spent a period of time with Studley, Inc. in Los Angeles engaged in tenant representation before joining Cushman & Wakefield in 2005. By 2007, she was promoted to senior director of brokerage services at the downtown LA office where she specialized in representing tenants from a variety of local and national industries. She joined John Lang LaSalle in 2009 as senior vice president of one of the nation's most prestigious financial and professional services firms specializing in real estate. Headquartered in Chicago, LaSalle has global revenue exceeding $3 billion, serves clients in 60 countries from 750 locations worldwide, including 180 corporate offices. As senior VP, Cimbalo is responsible for strategic planning and implementation for portfolio tenants across Southern California, the nation and internationally. Throughout her successful career in real estate, Cimbalo hasn't forgotten her UCI roots. She continually returns to campus to participate in alumni career panels, sharing her story of success to future anteater alumni. She has served as a judge for Mock Trial competitions and as an advisor for the UCI Law Forum. "She plays a pivotal role as a social sciences volunteer and demonstrates her passion for encouraging students to reach their academic goals," says Rosemarie Swatez, social sciences associate director of development. For her contributions, Cimbalo was named the 2013 Lauds & Laurels Outstanding Social Sciences Alumna.

Kevin Tillie
Outstanding Student Athlete
UCI Sociology Senior

Kevin Tillie was born to play volleyball; his father was a member of the 1992 French Olympic team and his mother played professionally in Holland. A French native from the Mediterranean coastal town of Cagne-sur-Mer, Tillie didn't meet NCAA eligibility requirements to play in the U.S. after graduating from high school, so he enrolled in Thompson Rivers University in British Columbia. After two years, he transferred to UCI where he's known as "Air France." The 6'6" outside hitter was a 2012 First Team All-American, a 2012 NCAA All-Tournament team member and a member of the 2012 All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation First Team. As a junior last year, Tillie was second on the men's team in kills with 342. In 2012, he helped the anteaters bring home the NCAA Men's Volleyball National Championship, a feat he hopes to repeat in 2013. He also plays on the French National team and has competed in the FIVB World League, a concentration of the top national teams from around the globe. "Kevin has become a highly respected leader amongst his peers and has proudly represented UCI in the global spotlight," says Mike Izzi, UCI athletics director. "His talents put him neck and neck against the world's most elite athletes, yet he still finds time to exemplify the true meaning of 'student-athlete.' He harnesses his energy to focus on the task at hand and dedicates numerous hours to his studies." This year, Tillie is recognized as the Lauds & Laurels Outstanding Student Athlete.

Join the School of Social Sciences in honoring our two award winners at the 43rd annual UCI Alumni Association Lauds & Laurels Banquet to be held May 16 at the UCI Student Center Pacific Ballroom. Tickets are $250, with 10-person tables available. For more information, call (949) 824-2586.

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UCI 2013 spring magazine

Highlights include features on soc sci undergrads, alumni and academic programs

Check out the spring issue of the UCI magazine for features on:

• Kaba Modern, a dance crew that helped propel Mike Song, economics '09, to fame and a career as a renowned hip-hop dancer and choreographer.
• Jose Quintana, political science and sociology major, who, as president of the College Democrats, helped bring former President Bill Clinton to campus last fall.
• The School of Social Sciences' Summer Academic Enrichment Program, a five-week on campus residential research program tailored to helping first-generation university students succeed.

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Monroe receives Sanford award

Honor recognizes political scientist's contributions to the field of political psychology

Kristen Monroe, political science professor and director of the UCI Interdisciplinary Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality, is the recipient of the 2013 Nevitt Sanford Award. The honor, awarded annually by the International Society of Political Psychology since 1979, recognizes a faculty member for distinguished professional contributions to the field of political psychology.

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The physics of Wall Street

Listen in to an interview with Jim Weatherall, logic & philosophy of science assistant professor, courtesy of ABC Darwin

Throughout the history of stock markets around the world, share traders have been looking for a magic formula to predict and understand the movement of the stock market. Mathematical models have been used to predict this in the past and overreliance on them has led to problems, as physicist James Owen Weatherall from the University of California, Irvine, has written about in his book The Physics of Wall Street.

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The whole world blind

Check out a sound installation created by Roxanne Varzi, anthropology associate professor, courtesy of Public Books

The Whole World Blind is a self-contained ethnographic sound performance/installation/soundwalk. Blindfolded and wearing headphones, the audience listens to a narrative loop of a curator describing a slide show of war photography. The unidentified photographs used in the project are from actual museum shows of war photographs taken from the Second World War to the present. The Whole World Blind premiered at Soundwalk, an annual sonic art event held in Long Beach, CA, in October of 2011, and was also exhibited in Berlin, Germany in December 2011 and at SomArts in San Francisco, CA in 2012 in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association. It was created by Roxanne Varzi, a writer, anthropologist, filmmaker and associate professor of anthropology and film and media studies at UCI.

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UCI students attend Clinton Global Initiative University conference

Leadership development sessions help hone commitments to action

UC Irvine students Elaine Truong, materials science engineering; Deshani Senewiratne, political science; Nithin Jilla, computer science; and Michelle Le, business administration recently attended the sixth annual Clinton Global Initiative University conference, held April 5-7 in St. Louis. The event draws students, youth organizations, topic experts and celebrities to discuss and develop innovative solutions to pressing global challenges. Nearly 1,200 people attended this year's conference, which focused on five areas: education, environment and climate change, poverty alleviation, peace and human rights, and public health. Students were given the chance to meet hundreds of leaders from business, nonprofit and government agencies and attend plenary sessions hosted by former President Bill Clinton.

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Feintzeig and O'Connor receive 2013 Lambert Prize

Honor includes $1,000 prize

Benjamin Feintzeig and Cailin O'Connor, logic & philosophy of science graduate students, have been named 2013 recipients of the Justine Lambert Graduate Prize in the Foundations of Science. The honor, established by a generous bequest from the sons and friends of Justine Lambert, is awarded every other year to the best submitted graduate paper dealing with the foundations of the formal, natural or social sciences. The students will each receive $1000. O'Connor is a third year graduate student; Feintzeig is in his second year of graduate study at UCI.

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SPOTLIGHT EVENT: Category-Theoretic Foundations of Mathematics

May 4-5, 2013 | Social & Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Room 1517

The aim of this 2-day workshop is to provide a forum in which researchers from philosophy, mathematics, computer science, and allied disciplines can discuss the aims and significance of category-theoretic foundations of mathematics. The interdisciplinary character of this workshop provides a unique opportunity to discuss and deliberate upon what is specific to the success of category-theoretic foundations within the various disciplines. Sponsored by the Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science.

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SPOTLIGHT EVENT: First Annual Interdisciplinary Encounters in Religion, Law and Ethics Conference

May 10, 8:30 a.m.-7:00 p.m.
Social & Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Room 1517

The International Studies Program presents the first annual Interdisciplinary Encounters in Religion, Law and Ethics conference. The keynote address will be delivered at 5:00 p.m. by Mark Juergensmeyer, professor of sociology and director of the Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, UC Santa Barbara. For further information, please email religion.law.ethics.conference@gmail.com.

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SPOTLIGHT EVENT: The Future of American Foreign Policy in the Middle East

May 19 @ 6:00 p.m. | The Center Club, Costa Mesa

The Olive Tree Initiative presents "The Future of American Foreign Policy in the Middle East," with Robert Malley, program director for Middle East and North Africa, International Crisis Group, Washington, D.C. Robert Malley has been director of the International Crisis Group's Middle East and North Africa Program since January 2002. In that capacity, he directs teams of analysts in Israel, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia, Libya, Morocco and the Gulf. Prior to that, he was a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations as well as special assistant to President Clinton for Arab-Israeli Affairs. Tickets: $150 per person - sponsorship opportunities are available. All money raised at the gala goes toward the cost of students' trips to the Middle East and Turkey/Armenia. To RSVP, please contact Susan Seely, sseely@uci.edu or 949-824-9062.

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