UChicago Social Sciences

Congratulations to Asst. Prof. Zhaotian Luo and PhD Candidate Shuyi Yu for winning the Best APSA Paper award in the 2026 APSA Formal Theory Section awards for "A Relational Theory of Power Alternation," (Presented at the 2025 APSA meeting) along with co-authors Zanhui Liu and Yucheng Qui!

Learn more:
https://apsanet.org/membership/organized-sections/organized-section-awards/past-awards/section-52/ %20paper

Asst. Prof. Jeremy Simmons' new book 'Sea of Treasures' goes beyond the mechanics of long-distance travel or the economics of trade to offer a new perspective on Indian Ocean commerce, refocusing a historical lens on the commodities involved and the resulting patterns of their consumption.

Learn more in our latest faculty book profile!
https://ow.ly/bNgL50ZtYcs

A new study from Asst. Prof. Akram Bakkour in The 'Journal of Neuroscience' finds that while the cognitive machinery individuals with anorexia nervosa use to make decisions about what to eat are remarkably similar to that of healthy eaters, there are differences in the regions of the brain utilized during those decision-making processes.

Learn more in our latest research profile:
https://socialsciences.uchicago.edu/news/research-points-potential-new-focus-treating-eating-disorders

Congratulations to our new social sciences grads and the entire class of 2026!

Family, friends, or anyone else who can't make it to convocation? We'll be live-streaming the SSD Diploma and Hooding Ceremony, Saturday, June 6th from 2:30-4PM (CDT)!

More info and stream links here:
https://socialsciences.uchicago.edu/academic-development/convocation

Get ready for convocation by looking back at our archive of faculty remarks! Each year a member of the SSD faculty delivers an address at the diploma and hooding ceremony, offering congratulations, encouragement, and gratitude with our graduating students and future alumni.

Learn more:
https://ow.ly/keyQ50Z6pSa

Episode 5 of the second season of 'Dialogo' is out now, featuring Tara Schwegler (AB'93, AM'94 MAPSS, PhD'04 Anthropology), a corporate anthropologist and consultant specializing in research-driven leadership development.

Dialogo is the alumni podcast of the Division of the Social Sciences. Our hosts, Dean of Students Kelly Po***ck and Assoc. Prof. and Deputy Dean for Doctoral Education Paul Poast, sit down with alumni to discuss what led them to UChicago, their experiences as grad students in the social sciences, and the career paths they've been on since graduating.

Listen here (also available wherever you listen to podcasts!):
https://ow.ly/wbsy50Z1LM8

Interested in an MA in the Social Sciences, but missed our round one deadline? There's still time to apply! The round two deadline to apply to our CIR, MAPSS, and MACSS master's programs has been extended to June 30th.

Learn more about our programs and how to apply:
https://socialsciences.uchicago.edu/admissions

"Authoritarianism 101," an American Historical Association effort helmed by Prof. Mark Bradley, aims to bring historians into the conversation on democratic backsliding, creating modules designed for college, university, and high school teachers to drop into their existing courses or use to develop their own courses on authoritarianism.

30 historians were invited to participate and contribute modules to the project, including Prof. Mark Bradley and Assoc. Prof. Samuel Fury Childs Daly of the Department of History.

Learn more in our recent profile:
https://socialsciences.uchicago.edu/news/new-history-project-helps-educators-make-sense-democratic-backsliding

New research from Prof. James Evans and co-authors at the University of Pittsburgh finds that innovation may be stymied by an aging core of scientists.

"As scientists grow older, their science ages, too – the work to which they anchor, and draw inspiration and expectation," says Evans.

Learn more in our most recent research profile:
https://ow.ly/Lc5350YWglN