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Upcoming Events
Economics Roundtable
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former chief economist of the White House Council of Economic Advisors, will discuss “Five Steps Toward American Competitiveness” at the next Economics Roundtable, July 18, 2007, beginning at 7:30 a.m.
Level-Headed- An experiment finds that people have a taste for equality, which motivates them to spend their own money to make the poor less poor and the rich less rich.
Stop Signs- The ability to stop quickly may depend on a few “cables” that are part of the brain’s “braking” mechanism.



Through Deaf Eyes- Two UCSD authors, Tom Humphries and Carol Padden, appear in a national PBS documentary on Deaf history and culture.
And the Padma Goes to…- Neuroscientist Vilayanur Ramachandran has been awarded one of India.s top civilian honors.
Faculty Excellence- Psychology professor Sandra Brown was recognized recently with a Chancellor's Associates Faculty Excellence award for her work on adolescent substance abuse.
Groups and Grumps: Study Identifies ‘Sociality’ Neurons- A UC San Diego study has for the first time identified brain cells that influence whether birds of a feather will, or will not, flock together.




Beauty and the Brain- The phrase “easy on the eyes” may hit closer to the mark than we suspected.
Political Science Profs Honored- Members of the political science faculty were honored at the 2006 meeting of the American Political Science Association.
UCSD Cognitive Scientist Wins $100k Rumelhart Prize- Psycholinguistics and artificial neural networks pioneer Jeff Elman has been named the seventh recipient of the David E. Rumelhart Prize.




$2.2 Million for Latin American Studies- The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a $2.2 million research grant to UCSD’s Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies and its counterpart at SDSU.
Backs to the Future: Aymara Language and Gesture Point to Mirror-Image View of Time- Tell an old Aymara speaker to “face the past!” and you just might get a blank stare in return — because he or she already does.

Economist Receives National Academy of Education Fellowship- Nora Gordon, assistant professor of economics, has won a highly selective National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral fellowship.
Sectarianism Is Problem for Religious Right Political Partnerships- Members of groups that comprise the “religious right” exhibit negative attitudes toward other religious groups on the right, making the building of political coalitions more difficult, according to first national survey of “sectarianism.”
UCSD Receives Largest Social Sciences Gift from an Alumnus- Jerri-Ann and Gary E. Jacobs (’79) have made a $1 million gift to the Division of Social Sciences in support of graduate fellowships.
Drawing on Tribal History- Ethnic Studies professor Ross Frank has created a virtual, public collection of rare and precious Plains Indian ledger art.


Policy Defaults Are Seen as Recommendations on Important Issues- New research indicates that people perceive the default option as a recommendation by policymakers and that this helps explain why few people request a change in their organ-donation status or retirement plan participation.
David Swinney, 59- Psychology professor David Swinney has died; a fellowship established in his name will support doctoral students in cognitive psychology.
The Birds and the B’s: Challenging Chomsky, Starlings Learn ‘Human-Only’ Syntax Patterns- The European starling — long known as a virtuoso songbird and as an expert mimic too — may also soon gain a reputation as something of a “grammar-marm.”



American Academy of Arts and Sciences Elects Fellows- Six scholars from UCSD, including two from political science, have been named fellows of the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Another Top Book Award for Communication Professor- Comparing Media Systems by Daniel C. Hallin has been named the Outstanding Book of the Year by the International Communication Association.
Kavli Institute at UCSD Announces Innovative Research Awards- Investigations into the persistence of mistaken political beliefs, the surprising cognitive inflexibility of children and whether sleep requires a brain are among nine projects selected.
Q&A with Steve Erie on Water Politics- Director of the Urban Studies program and a professor of political science, Steve Erie discusses the issues raised in his new book Beyond Chinatown.
Pellow on California Cultures- David Pellow, of Ethnic Studies, discusses the interdisciplinary program he heads up, California Cultures in Comparative Perspective.
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