Fentanyl and COVID-19 pandemic reshaped racial profile of overdose deaths in US
For as long as statistics about opioid overdose deaths have been collected in the United States, white individuals have been much more likely to die than Black individuals of the same age. With the rapidly increasing rate of fentanyl overdoses in the late 2010s, that trend began to…
Midcareer Faculty Advancement Program offers pathway to promotion
Like many tenured faculty members at Penn State, José Soto took some time before deciding to take the necessary steps to achieve his next big career goal — a promotion to full professor.
“Promotion was something I had thought about, but had made a conscious decision to not worry about…
Climate change may affect kinship care patterns in Africa
Shifting weather caused by climate change, especially drought and heat, is linked to a rise in the number of children being raised outside of their biological parents’ households in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a study led by researchers at Penn State. The findings highlight the effects climate…
19th De Jong Lecture in Social Demography to be held on Oct. 15
Penn State’s 19th annual De Jong Lecture in Social Demography will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. in the HUB-Robeson Center Room 233B and on Zoom. “The World’s Population May Peak in Your Lifetime. What Happens Next?” will be presented by Dean Spears.
Spears is an associate…
Three Penn State faculty members collaborate on immigration initiative
By Rachel Keller, The Daily Collegian
At the centennial of the 1924 Johnson-Reed Immigration Act, A K Sandoval-Strausz, Tobias Brinkmann and Jennifer Van Hook, faculty members for Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts, shifted their focus to educating the community on the impacts of immigration…
Survey Research Center adds MetricWire to TRACE Portfolio
Penn State's Survey Research Center (SRC) at Penn State recently acquired an enterprise-level MetricWire license to enhance its research capabilities and remain at the forefront of mobile data collection methodologies. This addition will allow researchers to conduct sophisticated…
COSSA’s Social Science Rankings place Penn State at #6
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 $46 million…
Project reveals pandemic perceptions in Alaskan fishing community
When the COVID-19 pandemic spread across United States in early 2020, people’s perceptions of the disease varied widely. Penn State researchers examined those perceptions in Bristol Bay, Alaska, home to the world’s largest commercial salmon fishery, and found people’s perceptions of risk due to…
Why Social Science? - Because It Makes An Outsized Impact on Policy
The new "Why Social Science?" post comes from Camille Gamboa from Sage who interviews Euan Adie, Overton's managing director, to learn more about the large impact that social science makes on policy and his work creating tools to connect the scholarly and policy worlds.
We know that…
SSRI cofounds participate in Capitol Hill Research and Policy Briefing
On March 13 from 11:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., a Capitol Hill Research and Policy Briefing will take place featuring two SSRI cofounds: Erica Frankenberg and Jennifer Van Hook.
The event will be hybrid with the in-person option located in the Russel Senate Office Building, Room 118, 2…
Obesity research seed grant now available
Penn State’s Center for Childhood Obesity Research (CCOR) in collaboration with the Social Sciences Research Institute (SSRI) announces the Interdisciplinary Obesity Research Seed Grant Program to fund innovative, interdisciplinary research related to obesity and obesity-related health outcomes…
Van Hook named distinguished professor
Jennifer Van Hook, Roy C. Buck Professor of Sociology and Demography, College of the Liberal Arts, was recently named distinguished professor by Penn State's Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs.
The distinguished professor or distinguished librarian title recognizes outstanding…
Suicidality among individuals with substance use disorders increased in 2020
Individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) were significantly more likely to consider, plan and attempt suicide than those without SUDs in 2020, according to a new study by researchers at Penn State. Adolescents and women with SUDs were also more likely to experience suicidality — the term for…
Inter-Institutional Program for Diversifying Research (IPDR) opens call for proposals
The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences in collaboration with the Social Science Research Institute, Materials Research Institute, the Institute of Energy and the Environment, the Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, the Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and…
Dear Colleague Letter: The Social and Behavioral Science of Bias, Prejudice and Discrimination
Dear Colleague:
Research supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation's (NSF) Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences (SBE) directorate has significantly advanced understanding of the science of bias, prejudice, and discrimination. SBE programs have supported transformative projects on many…
Consortium on Moral Decision-Making Call for Seed Grants
The Consortium on Moral Decision-Making is seeking proposals for seed grants to support interdisciplinary research related to the conceptual and empirical study of human morality and ethical decision-making. How do people decide whether to help or harm others, whom to trust and cooperate with, and…
Race and ethnicity may affect whether and where hospitals transfer patients
Black patients in Florida are transferred to public hospitals more often than white patients, even when comparing patients from the same hospital with similar health conditions and the same insurance, according to new research led by Charleen Hsuan, assistant professor of health policy and…
Mortality rates among rural US residents vary based on race, ethnicity, region
Rural Black residents of the South have higher mortality, or death, rates than rural Black residents elsewhere, and so did Hispanic residents of the rural South and West, according to a new study by two researchers in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development.
These populations have…
Liberal Arts initiative to explore historical, societal impacts of immigration
Immigration is the focus of the current offering in the College of the Liberal Arts’ “Moments of Change” initiative — an undertaking that brings students, faculty, staff and alumni together to explore what it means to live through historic and contemporary times of change.
Through…
SSRI names new unit directors
Penn State’s Social Science Research Institute recently announced new directors for two of their units, the Social, Life, and Engineering Sciences Imaging Center (SLEIC) and the Consortium on Substance Use and Addiction (CSUA), effective July 1.
Xiaoxiao Bai and Emma Jane Rose will succeed Michele…
Rural health symposium being held Jan. 24
The Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) is hosting a Symposium on Social Science Research on Rural Health at Penn State on Jan. 24, 3 - 5 p.m., in 110 Henderson Building.
According to symposium organizer Danielle Rhubart, assistant professor of biobehavioral health and demography and…
70 years after Brown vs. Board of Education, public schools still deeply segregated
In this article for The Conversation, author Erica Frankenberg, SSRI associate director and professor of education and demography, writes that the upcoming Brown vs. Board of Education anniversary comes at an especially uncertain moment for public education and efforts to make America’s schools…
Extreme Weather Has Long-Term Health Consequences
In this Scientific American article, author and PRI associate Asher Rosinger explains how extreme climatic events affect health and human biology and the need for solutions.
When Hurricane Otis smashed into Acapulco, Mexico, in October, the Category 5 storm left a trail of…
PRI / CSA Troubleshooting Sessions
The Population Research Institute (PRI) and the Computational and Spatial Analysis (CSA) Core are launching a Troubleshooting Team to provide consultation to PRI associates to help address their data and/or computational challenges. This service is particularly…
Daw and Shenk complete Penn State Emerging Academic Leaders program
The Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs has recognized a select group of faculty members for completing the Penn State Emerging Academic Leaders (PSEAL) program. This initiative, a collaborative effort between Faculty Affairs and Penn State Human Resources Talent Management, is…