During Summer Quarter, faculty and students in the Division of the Social Sciences embark on research travel, assistantships, courses, events, and other happenings. This issue of Dialogo – our second summer edition – provides a glimpse into those activities.
Among many examples, this quarter marked the launch of an innovative program, the Summer Institute in Social Research Methods, offered by the Division of the Social Sciences. As you’ll see in articles and video clips, University of Chicago College students and early career graduate students trained in cutting-edge methodologies through courses, daily workshops, and for many, research assistantships with UChicago faculty, putting their newly learned skills and knowledge into practice on current research. Plans are already underway for a methods institute next summer, and Paul Poast, the institute’s faculty director and associate professor in the Department of Political Science, and I look forward to announcing those details in the coming months.
In addition to work accomplished as part of the institute, Division faculty and students across disciplines advanced their research programs as well. Among the many initiatives underway, efforts led by the Chicago Project on Security and Threats (CPOST) and the Center for Democracy are examples of the pioneering projects social scientists are advancing. Onursal Erol, a dissertation fellow with the Center for International Social Science Research, embodies the passion for research and knowledge at the core of our mission.
This issue’s editor, Bianca Munguia, is a rising second year in the College whose summer internship with the Division’s communications team took the stories on these pages from concept to final piece. As her editor’s note discusses, the quarter was an opportunity to focus on writing skills as well as a chance to see the university from a different perspective.
June, July, and August also afforded moments for the division community to gather and celebrate. In June, we gathered for the annual staff appreciation picnic, and at the end of August we welcomed our newest master’s and doctoral alumni at our summer degree celebration.
With almost a month until the start of the Fall Quarter, there is much left to do in our summer break. In addition to the updates in Dialogo, please keep up-to-date on our latest news, research findings, events, and other accomplishments by following us on Twitter and Facebook.
With best wishes,
Amanda Woodward
Dean, Division of the Social Sciences
William S. Gray Distinguished Service Professor of Psychology
PS - For alumni and friends in the Los Angeles area, a quick reminder to RSVP for Sunday, September 15. Greg Kaplan, professor in the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics, will discuss his pioneering work on economic inequality.
