Social science explains why K-12 integration efforts should continue
Jul 12, 2023
BY GENEVIEVE SIEGEL-HAWLEY AND ERICA FRANKENBERG, for The Hill The Supreme Court’s recent ruling to overturn affirmative action in higher education comes at a time when racial inequality in K-12 schools is deep and growing. The court’s decision immediately curtails what was an already limited but…
Why Social Science? - Because Social Scientists Must Have a Seat at the Table: Reflections from COSSA’s 2023 Social Science Advocacy Day
Jun 5, 2023
By Dr. Deborah Carr, Boston University; Dr. Nicole R. Stokes, Penn State University; and Brenna Tosh, Cornell University On April 24-25, 2023, over 50 social and behavioral science researchers, students, and advocates from 11 different states participated in Social Science Advocacy Day. This annual…
Penn State sixth in COSSA rankings for social and behavioral science R&D
Feb 13, 2023
COSSA recently released its annual College and University Rankings for Federal Social and Behavioral Science R&D, which highlight the top university recipients of research dollars in the social and behavioral sciences. In their rankings, Penn State came in sixth place with over $38 million in…
SSRI's Dr. Frances Keesler Graham Early Career Professorship RFA deadline Sept. 9
Jun 27, 2022
The Social Science Research Institute’s Dr. Frances Keesler Graham Early Career Professorship provides supplemental funding to social and behavioral science faculty members in the interdisciplinary fields of psychological and brain science whose research is focused on relationships between the…
Firearm injuries undermine mental, physical, and financial health
Jun 7, 2022
By Keren Landman for Vox In his speech last Thursday about the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Texas, President Joe Biden spoke about a young student who’d averted the shooter’s attention by smearing her classmate’s blood on her face. “Imagine what it would be like for her to walk down…
Community-Engaged Researcher Survey
Mar 28, 2022
Penn State faculty are invited to participate in a survey as part of a collaborative Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) and Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) initiative to strengthen existing and foster new community-academic partnerships in community-engaged…News Topics: Social ScienceCTSI
Why Social Science? Because Changing Behavior is Essential to Addressing Climate Change
Mar 22, 2022
This week's Why Social Science? post comes from Corbin Evans, Senior Director of Congressional and Federal Relations at the American Psychological Association, who writes about human behavior and its relationship to the changing climate. Scientists across a wide range of disciplines agree that…
Panel will explore the promise and peril of dialogue
Mar 8, 2022
As political polarization increases, organizations across the United States are trying to figure out how to help citizens have conversations across divides. While that sounds good in theory, having a dialogue that is both meaningful and useful for democracy is something else entirely. A panel of…
COSSA 2022 rankings of college and university social science R&D
Feb 28, 2022
The Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) recently released its annual College and University Rankings for Federal Social and Behavioral Science R&D, which highlight the top university recipients of research dollars in the social and behavioral sciences. Penn State was ranked in 6th…News Topics: COSSASocial Science
Penn State social sciences research expenditures receive top ranking
Jan 24, 2022
Penn State social sciences are among the top universities in the nation in research expenditures, according to the latest National Science Foundation rankings of Higher Education Research and Development (HERD) research expenditures, released in January 2022. The rankings, for the 2020 fiscal…News Topics: Social SciencePsychology
Astrophysicists, social scientists to probe the universe's deepest mysteries
Aug 23, 2021
The LSST Corporation (LSSTC), a nonprofit consortium of approximately 30 research Institutions including Penn State, has received $7 million to establish the LSSTC Catalyst Fellowship funded by the John Templeton Foundation. The fellowships will support early-career researchers in astrophysics and…
Penn State participates in virtual social science advocacy day
May 4, 2021
Penn State researchers recently participated in the Consortium of Social Science Association’s (COSSA) Annual Social Science Advocacy Day, meeting virtually with Congress and their staff during this annual event. Penn State social and behavioral scientists and stakeholders were teamed up with other…News Topics: COSSASocial Science
Why Social Science? Because It Can Help Fight Stereotypes in the World of Science
Jan 3, 2021
By Kellina Craig-Henderson, PhD, Deputy Assistant Director, Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate, National Science Foundation The insidious negative effects of racist stereotypes on African Americans’ academic performance was described in The Atlantic in 1999 by former National…News Topics: Social JusticeSocial Science
Penn State participates in virtual social science advocacy day
May 14, 2020
The Consortium of Social Science Association’s (COSSA) Annual Social Science Advocacy Day looked a little different this year due to COVID-19 and the response of social distancing. However, for Penn State researchers, the numerous ways social and behavioral science is helping to combat the pandemic…
Why Social Science? - Because Money Makes The World Go ’Round
Apr 1, 2020
By Bill Maurer, PhD, Dean, School of Social Sciences, University of California, Irvine I often get asked questions like, “What is an anthropologist like you doing studying money? I thought that was the domain of economists!” The archaeological and ethnographic record is full of objects, texts, and…
Mood of the Nation Poll examines gun control as case reaches Supreme Court
Dec 5, 2019
The Supreme Court’s decision on a New York City gun regulation could mean the first significant judicial action on gun reform in nearly a decade — at a time when the McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s Mood of the Nation Poll finds that a majority of Americans support stricter regulations for gun…
Progressive gender views may protect health of financially dependent men
Nov 26, 2019
As it becomes more common for women to be the breadwinner of their family, men’s health may be affected depending on their views on gender ideology, according to Penn State researchers. The researchers found that men who were financially dependent on their wives and who also had more traditional…
NIH Requests Public Comment on a Draft Policy for Data Management and Sharing and Supplemental Draft Guidance
Nov 26, 2019
NIH recently released a Draft NIH Policy for Data Management and Sharing and supplemental draft guidance for public comment. The purpose of this draft policy and supplemental draft guidance is to promote effective and efficient data management and sharing that furthers NIH’s commitment to making…
The RISE Network: Towards a New Framework for University Interventions in Disasters
Nov 25, 2019
In the era of climate change—where the frequency of extreme weather and disaster events is increasing and social inequality magnifies their impact—universities are acting as first responders without being designed or organized to serve in this role. Immediately after major events such as Hurricane…
Why Social Science? - Because It Makes Informed Democracy Possible
Nov 19, 2019
By Rush D. Holt, Ph.D., CEO Emeritus, American Association for the Advancement of Science Einstein said famously, “The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility.” It gives scientific optimists like me encouragement that great thinkers have concluded it is possible to understand the…
Why Social Science? - Because It Tells Us How to Create More Engaged Citizens
Sep 25, 2019
By Adam Seth Levine, PhD, Associate Professor of Government, Cornell University; President, research4impact Engaged citizens are not born. They are made. Leaders of voluntary civic associations play a critical role in this process. They offer people opportunities to exercise their voice on issues…
Team wins 5-year, $1.98 million NSF grant to improve teacher preparation
Sep 10, 2019
A team of Penn State College of Education faculty led by P. Karen Murphy has won a five-year, $1.98 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to improve the preparation of undergraduate preservice elementary teachers. Murphy, distinguished professor of education (educational…
Examining the link between puberty and functional brain development
Sep 10, 2019
Puberty causes significant physical and psychological changes, especially in brain development, changing the way adolescents think and behave. Despite this, the effects of puberty on brain development is not well known. To gain a better understanding, two Penn State researchers reviewed published…
Evidence lights the way
Sep 5, 2019
By Adam Gamoran, Science Magazine These are dark times for science and public policy in the United States. In June, it was revealed that the White House suppressed the congressional testimony of a State Department scientist on the implications of climate change for national security—just the latest…
Why Social Science? - Because Social Science Is a Form of Service that Improves Quality of Life for People Around the World
Aug 29, 2019
By Arthur Lupia, PhD, Assistant Director for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences, National Science Foundation If you are reading these words, chances are you are a social scientist or someone who cares about social science. Either way, I am grateful to you and everyone who devotes…