Social Sciences launches outreach campaign

Social Sciences launches outreach campaign

BY FRANZ BROTZEN
Rice News Staff
 
From advances in neuroscience to research on prehistoric cities, the School of Social Sciences has launched a campaign to re-introduce itself to the Rice community and the world beyond it.
 

With a brochure titled “Eye on People,” the campaign offers a glimpse of the school and what its faculty members are working on. With 70 full-time faculty, Social Sciences is the smallest of the main divisions at Rice, but it serves the largest number of undergraduates. Three of the top five majors on campus are in one of the social sciences: economics, political science and psychology.
 
“This is the very first brochure for the School of Social Sciences,” said Lyn Ragsdale, dean of the School of the Social Sciences, “and we are thrilled to be able to capture the essence of the research accomplishments of our faculty.”
 
“Eye on People” includes descriptions of social scientists’ research, ranging from autism, to the decision-making process of U.S. presidents, to the impact of Katrina evacuees on Houston and the impact of Houston on its new arrivals.
 
The new brochure breaks down research into seven themes across the school’s five departments (Anthropology, Economics, Political Science, Psychology and Sociology): Understanding the Brain, Interpreting Day-to-Day Decisions, Addressing Health-Care Needs, Recognizing the Changing Face of American Life, Bringing Politics Closer to Home, Examining How Culture Shapes Societies and Confronting Issues Facing the World.
 
The brochure also describes the purpose of the four centers that operate within the School of Social Sciences: The Center on Race, Religion and Urban Life (CORRUL), the Houston Area Survey, the Shell Center for Sustainability and the Social Sciences Research Institute (SSRI). Similarly, all four of the School’s interdisciplinary programs (Cognitive Sciences, Managerial Studies, Policy Studies and Social Sciences Undergraduate Research Enterprise) are explained.
 
For more information on the campaign, go to http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~dssc/ and click on “Social Sciences Brochure (PDF).”