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June Headlines Social Sciences welcomes nearly 2,000 new alumniThe School of Social Sciences said farewell this month to the graduating class of 2008. Commencement exercises, the 43rd in UCI's history, featured three ceremonies in order to accommodate the university's largest graduating class. View photos online! Read On... 
7th annual Dean's Day bbq hits another homerunThe Social Sciences Dean's Ambassadors Council hit another homerun with their seventh annual Dean's Day barbeque. Dean Barbara Dosher, associate dean Caesar Sereseres, assistant dean Dave Leinen, graduate office manager John Sommerhauser and the entire Social Sciences facilities crew were among the days' chefs who took a turn flipping burgers and dishing out dogs to Social Sciences students, faculty and staff who packed the plaza on Wednesday, May 28. Read On... 
Trouble paying attention?Listening and learning, walking and working - the ability to concentrate underlies all that and more. A $1.6 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to the UCI Department of Cognitive Sciences and USC's Department of Psychology will fund research that could lead to a better understanding of human concentration and suggest ways to improve it. Barbara Dosher, UCI cognitive sciences professor and Social Sciences dean, leads a research team with collaborator Zhong-Lin Lu of the University of Southern California that will study normal attention processes in order to gain insights into attention deficits in those who exhibit abnormalities. Read On... 
Snow receives Founders Award for career-long work on social problemsDavid Snow, chancellor's professor of sociology, is the 2008 recipient of the Lee Founders Award from the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP). The honor, established in 1982, recognizes his career contributions to the study of social issues. Read On... 
Instant messaging and Web surfing on company dime good for business, studies sayEmployers who worry that instant messaging causes disruptions at work may want to reconsider. A new study co-authored by UC Irvine political science professor James Danziger shows instant messaging has the opposite effect and actually lowers workplace interruptions. In a related study, Danziger also offers some surprising findings about which employees spend the most time surfing the Web on company time. Read On... 
Study finds continuing gender discrimination in academia; provides solutionsA new study by researchers at the University of California, Irvine reveals a troubling picture of gender discrimination in academia. Published in the June 2008 issue of the American Political Science Association's Perspectives on Politics, the qualitative study finds that female faculty, from non-tenure track professors through senior administrators, continue to contend with a culture that devalues the authority of women in high level positions and leaves little room for flexible work-family alternatives. Read On... 
Academic Senate awards Leonard and Patel $16,000 grant Karen Leonard, anthropology professor, and Alka Patel, art history assistant professor, have received a $16,000 grant to study the social and architectural history of banking and merchant communities in Hyderabad, India. Through interviews, archival research and in-country travel, the pair of researchers will document how the internal migration of banking communities to Hyderabad city has changed India's social and material culture. Read On... 
Beckmann & Martinez receive Chancellor's Excellence in Undergrad Research awardMatthew Beckmann, political science assistant professor, and Cristian Martinez, political science and international studies major, are the School of Social Sciences' recipients of the 2008 Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research. Presented at the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program's (UROP) 12th annual symposium, the awards recognize Beckmann's efforts to foster research among undergraduates and Martinez's excellence in academic research. Read On... 
Varzi's "Plastic Flowers Never Die" to air at Boston International Film FestivalA film by anthropology assistant professor Roxanne Varzi is one of only 102 films that has been selected for screening at the sixth annual 2008 Boston International Film Festival. In "Plastic Flowers Never Die," she explores postwar Iranian culture nearly 20 years after the country's bloody war with Iraq. She addresses the issue of an Iranian society - still in mourning - that must deal with a state controlled and produced public image and perception of the war and its aftermath. Read On... 
Zhan awarded grant to publish work on traditional Chinese medicineMei Zhan, anthropology assistant professor, has received a Book Publication Award from Taiwan's Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation (CCKF). The $5,000 award will support publication of her forthcoming book, Other-Worldly: Making Chinese Medicine through Encounters, in which she explores traditional Chinese medicine as a transformative, "worldly" practice rather than one rooted solely in age-old traditions only now caught up in globalization. Read On... 
Associate dean Linda Cohen means businessFor some university faculty, the transition to administrative roles may be viewed as an arduous task, one that takes them far from their research responsibilities and more familiar faculty functions. For economics professor Linda Cohen, the transition two years ago to her new position as Social Sciences associate dean for graduate studies and research was not so much a transition as it was an extension of her research. Read On... 
UCI anthropologist receives grant to study science, ethics behind drug trialsThe ethical and scientific issues surrounding international clinical drug trials have long been debated. A newly funded National Science Foundation study, led by a UC Irvine anthropologist, may potentially impact the way such trials are approved, carried out and perceived around the world. Kristin Peterson, anthropology assistant professor, will perform a three year study on the implementation, effectiveness and perception of one such trial carried out in four African countries for the potentially preventative HIV drug, Tenofovir. Read On... 
UC Irvine anthropologist explores life in a virtual worldFor centuries, anthropologists have studied the science of human beings - how people interact with others in their "native" environments, how they make money, eat, play and so on. In his new book, Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human, UC Irvine anthropologist Tom Boellstorff applies this traditional field of study to a new world where businesses, homes, money - even relationships - are created and lived completely online through the click of a mouse. Read On... 
Study by DASA graduate finds cleaning up environment could save lives in RussiaIn Russia, more than 400,000 people die each year from cardiovascular-related diseases and the number is only expected to grow. Using demographic research methods and models, Natalia Milovantseva, a recent graduate of UC Irvine's Demographic and Social Analysis master's program, estimates that nearly 5% of deaths by the year 2025 could be avoided if Russia steps up its environmental standards. Read On... 
Budz awarded fellowship to study refugee and asylum policyMichele Budz, seventh year political science graduate student, has received an $18,000 fellowship to support her research on international refugee and asylum policy. Read On...  Research close to homeHours spent writing and rewriting proposals: 100+. Travel time one-way to Vietnam: 16 hours. Temperature and humidity levels endured for five weeks: 90s. Mosquito bites accrued: countless. For psychology major Leyna Vo, the opportunity to spend a summer studying in the Vietnamese village of her birth was indeed: priceless. Read On... 
Would you invest in...Customizable cell phones? "Green" construction? GPS medical tracking bracelets? This year, more than 150 UCI students got the inside scoop on a number of "new start-up companies" looking to strike it rich in the public sector. The catch: the companies, the executive boards who presented their innovative ideas and the products themselves were all the creative genius of the entrepreneurial students enrolled in the School of Social Sciences' new Global Entrepreneurship course. Read On... If you have a good idea for a feature story or would like to post a news item to the School of Social Sciences website, please contact your department manager or Heather Wuebker, hwuebker@uci.edu. |
Social Sciences in the MediaMore immigrant detentions, more deathsLouis DeSipio, political science associate professor and Chicano/Latino studies department chair, is quoted in the Chicago Tribune on June 1, 2008. Read On... You know you're a political junkie if... Mark Petracca, political science department chair and associate professor, is quoted in the OC Register on June 3, 2008. Read On... UCI's comedy team The following Social Sciences undergraduates are featured in the Daily Pilot on June 4, 2008: Ollie Linton, sociology major; Tyler Hoechlin, sociology major; Dillon Bell, political science major. Read On... Democratic challenger to Rohrabacher hopes for an upset Mark Petracca, political science department chair and associate professor, is quoted in the LA Times on June 6, 2008. Read On... Sandra Hutchens is named Orange County sheriff Mark Petracca, political science department chair and associate professor, is quoted in the LA Times on June 11, 2008. Read On... 'Quiet desperation' of academic women Kristen Monroe, political science professor and Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality director, is featured in Inside Higher Ed on June 12, 2008. Read On... Trouble concentrating? UCI wants to help Barbara Dosher, cognitive sciences professor and School of Social Sciences dean, is featured in the Daily Pilot on June 12, 2008. Read On... 6 UCI students earn Fulbright Fellowships Denise Sandoval, senior economics and international studies major, is featured in the Daily Pilot on June 12, 2008. Read On... He's a brand, he's a star, and he's running for president David Meyer, sociology professor, is quoted in The Sunday Paper (Ga.) on June 15, 2008. Read On... Study shatters myths on personal Net use at work A study co-authored by James Danziger, political science professor, is featured by the Associated Press on June 18, 2008. The article appears in 49 news outlets. Read On... None of the candidates can help people Mark Petracca, political science department chair and associate professor, is featured in Rosbalt (Russian news outlet) on June 18, 2008. Read On... Women professors at UCI face discrimination Kristen Monroe, political science professor and Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality director, is featured in the Orange County Register on June 19, 2008. Read On... The real Blackwater controversy Deborah Avant, political science professor and international studies director, is featured in the San Diego Tribune on June 20, 2008. Read On... UCI study pays attention to our distractions Barbara Dosher, cognitive sciences professor and Social Sciences dean, is featured in the OC Register on June 21, 2008. Read On... Globalized higher education in the United Arab Emirates - unexpected outcomes Neha Vora, 2008 anthropology Ph.D. graduate, is featured on GlobalHigherEd.com on June 25, 2008. Read On... Minutemen leader laments path of anti-illegal immigration groups Louis DeSipio, political science associate professor and Chicano/Latino studies department chair, is quoted in the OC Register on June 25, 2008. Read On... A tough spot for Obama Mark Petracca, political science department chair and associate professor, is featured on globeandmail.com (Canada) on June 27, 2008. Read On... UCI scientist to scrutinize ethics of HIV drug trial Kristin Peterson, anthropology assistant professor, is featured in the OC Register on June 27, 2008. Read On... |
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