Oct. 18 Scientia to look at past, future of social sciences at Rice

FROM RICE NEWS STAFF REPORTS

Although the School of Social Sciences wasn’t established until 1979, the history of social science at Rice goes back to the university’s founding. A panel of past and present deans of the School of Social Science will discuss this history at the next Scientia lecture, “100 Years of Social Science at Rice and the Next 100 Years.”

The talk, which will be held at 4 p.m. in Sewall Hall, Room 301, will feature Joseph Cooper, the first dean of the school and now a professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University; James Pomerantz, professor of psychology; Robert Stein, the Lena Gohlman Fox Professor of Political Science; and Lyn Ragsdale, dean of social sciences, the Radoslav Tsanoff Chair of Public Affairs and professor of political science. Special presentations will be given by Stephen Klineberg, professor of sociology and co-director of the Kinder Institute for Urban Research, and Rick Wilson, the Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Political Science and professor of statistics and of psychology. The theme of this year’s Scientia lecture series is “Rice: A Century of Change.” The evolution of Rice from a small, regional institute to a major research university is rooted in the vision of its various presidents and trustees, the ingenuity and insight of its faculty and the generosity of its supporters. In this centennial series, Scientia is looking at the decisive events that shaped the university in its first century and exploring the emerging fields of research that will shape the future of Rice.

For more information on Scientia, visit http://scientia.rice.edu.