View in browser: https://www.socsci.uci.edu/files/newsletters/2025/ne_062025.html

 
 
 
 
 
sbsg
 
 
 
Irene Vega
 
 
featured:
Bordering on Indifference: Immigration Agents Negotiating Race and Morality
 
New book by UC Irvine sociologist Irene Vega explores how a largely Latino/a workforce of immigration agents reconciles the moral ambiguities of its work

 
Read | Watch
 
Eve Darian-Smith
 
 
featured:
Policing Higher Education: The Antidemocratic Attack on Scholars and Why It Matters
 
New book by Eve Darian-Smith, UC Irvine global and international studies and law Distinguished Professor, explores on-going, increasing threats to academic freedom worldwide

 
Read | Watch
 
Leo Chavez
 
 
featured:
The Latino Threat
 
Third edition of award-winning book by Leo Chavez, UC Irvine anthropology Distinguished Professor emeritus, examines how alarmist rhetoric misrepresents immigrants, citizens, and the nation

 
Read
 
 
Richard Futrell
 
 
Futrell receives grant for large language model study
 
Findings will advance understanding of human language processing and production
 
 
David Meyer
 
 
A lesson in social movements, protests and polarization
 
Sociologist David S. Meyer shares his expertise in The UC Irvine Podcast
 
 
child at playground sweating
 
 
Heat exposure in California schools prompts multi-campus research project
 
UC Irvine efforts to be led by professors Andrew Penner, sociology, and Emily Penner, education
 
 
 
Kubrin and Vega
 
 
Kubrin and Vega named to inaugural UCDC Presidential Faculty Fellows cohort
 
Program prepares select group of immigration, health and climate-focused faculty researchers with skills to engage Capitol Hill legislators
 
 
Kai Wehmeier
 
 
Kai Wehmeier named Fulbright-Tocqueville Distinguished Chair
 
Honor includes semester-long appointment for the UC Irvine logic and philosophy of science professor at the Université de Lorraine in France
 
 
Chernyak, Martinez-Aranda
 
 
Chernyak and Martinez-Aranda named as recipients of Dean's Awards for Outstanding Research
 
Awards carry $5,000 prize
 
 
 
Isabel Almeida
 
 
Almeida named Dynamic Womxn Faculty Academic Achievement Award recipient
 
Honor recognizes the Chicano/Latino studies assistant professor for research accomplishments
 
 
Lauron and Fermin
 
 
Legal power couple
 
UC Irvine alumni Michael Fermin '91 & Michelle Lauron '91 support and mentor new generations of Anteaters
 
 
Santiago Campos Rodriguez
 
 
Campos-Rodríguez receives competitive UCLA research award
 
Economics doctoral student's work focuses on how racial and language-based disparities combine to shape the experiences of Latinos in the criminal justice system
 
 
 
Kyla Duong
 
 
Seeds for success
 
UC Irvine School of Social Sciences' commencement speaker Kyla T. Duong aims to help those facing barriers
 
 
Matt Garcia-Ramirez
 
 
Supporting the next generation of college students
 
UC Irvine School of Social Sciences undergraduate commencement speaker Matthew Garcia-Ramirez focuses on the assets that first-gen students bring
 
 
Vanessa Leong
 
 
A world of insight
 
Graduating UC Irvine senior Vanessa (Weng Ian) Leong's global upbringing and experiences have prepared her for a career that spans borders
 
 
 
Healing Through Art
 
 
Healing through Art: Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of the End of the Vietnam War
 
May 15 event hosted by UC Irvine Department of Global & International Studies Global Forum and UCI Illuminations examines the legacy of war and the power of cultural memory
 
 
Comic book
 
 
Comics as a Force of Collective Change
 
June 5 event hosted by UC Irvine social sciences examines comics as a tool for empowering communities and advancing social justice
 
 
 
 
 
soc sci
in the media
 
Social sciences faculty and graduate students are consistently sought by media for their expertise in areas ranging from digital play to gender pay. Check out some of our top hits, self-authored pieces, and on-air interviews below, or visit us online for the full run down.
 
Katelyn Kong

UCI freshman Katelyn Kong headed to U.S. Women's Open

Jill Painter Lopez talks with UC Irvine's Katelyn Kong about her golf journey and qualifying for the 2025 U.S. Women's Open. Watch, courtesy of KCBS.
 
Claire Jean Kim
 
Kim on race
 
Smithsonian Magazine
 
Bill Maurer
 
Maurer on loans
 
U.S. News & World Report
 
 
 
Brian Jenkins
 
Jenkins on
inflation
 
Marketplace
 
Kelley Fong
 
Fong on
foster system
 
News Tribune
 
 
 
 
mark your
calendar
 
 
 
 
 
 
03
 
JUNE
 
   
 
Bureaucratic Entrapment and Prosecuting Disappearance
 
12:30-1:30 p.m. | Social Science Tower, Room 777

featuring MacKenzie Bonner, Department of Sociology, UCI (Winner of the 2025 Etel Solingen Award for Outstanding Paper in International Cooperation), and Muhammad Raqib, Department of Anthropology, UCI

 
 
 
 
 
 
05
 
JUNE
 
   
 
Racial Differences in Nursing Home Value-Added
 
12:30-1:30 p.m. | Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Room 1517

featuring Neale Mahoney, Trione Director, Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) and Professor, Economics, Stanford University

 
 
 
 
 
 
05
 
JUNE
 
   
 
Out and Down: The Reputational Damage of Exiting International Organizations
 
12:30-1:45 p.m. | Social Science Tower, Room 777

featuring Felicity Vabulas, Blanche E. Seaver Associate Professor of International Studies, Pepperdine University; Discussant: Heidi Hardt, Political Science, UCI

 
 
 
 
 
 
05
 
JUNE
 
   
 
Battling Monsters: Comics as a Force of Collective Change
 
5:00-6:20 p.m. | Social Science Plaza A, Room 1100

featuring artist-scholars Christine Peralta, Amherst College Assistant Professor of History and Sexuality, Women's and Gender Studies, and Krystal Gayle O'Neill, Babson College Adjunct Lecturer and Lead Volunteer Coordinator, Comic Con | Organizer and Moderator: Long T. Bui, UCI Professor of Global and International Studies
 
 
 
 
 
 
06
 
JUNE 
 
   
 
Visions of Global Environmental Justice: Comunidades Negras & the War on Drugs in Colombia
 
12:00-1:15 p.m. | Humanities Hall, Room 303 Alexander

featuring David Huezo, UCI Department of Global and International Studies
 
 
 
 
 
 
13
 
JUNE
 
   
 
UCI Social Sciences Commencement Ceremony 1
 
8:30-10:30 a.m. | Bren Events Center

 
 
 
 
 
 
13
 
JUNE
 
   
 
UCI Social Sciences Commencement Ceremony 2
 
12:45-2:45 p.m. | Bren Events Centers

 
 
 
 
 
 
16
 
JUNE
 
   
 
UCI Graduate Hooding Ceremony
 
5:30-7:30 p.m. | Bren Events Center
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
about
uci soc sci
 
We are not your standard school. Like Peter, our beloved Anteater mascot, we're quirky and different. We're on a mission to create positive change in society, economies and human well-being by breaking down traditional barriers and pushing the limits in teaching, research and service. Doing so requires a different attitude, aim and set of actions.
 
Learn more about ours...