UC Irvine School of Social Sciences

Back to her roots

Back to her roots | At 24 years old, @ucirvine.bsky.social economics alumna (’23) and current Merage master's student Jessie Zheng, founder of Paper Sutekka, already has business cred under her belt

@uofcalifornia.bsky.social

TODAY! Join us for @ucirvine.bsky.social's annual Lunar New Year celebration! Festivities kick off at 1:30 p.m. - more details below and online ⬇️

A special shoutout to our sponsors:
Janet Yang • South Coast Plaza • Long Family Foundation • Lisa Iannini • Choi Family • UC Irvine Long U.S.-China Institute

www.socsci.uci.edu/files/announ...

the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, UCI Libraries, Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health, School of Humanities, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Social Ecology, Center for Critical Korean Studies, and the Office of Vice Chancellor Brian Hervey.

UCI's Lunar New Year Celebration is made possible through the generous support of the UC Irvine Long U.S.-China Institute, in partnership with the School of Social Sciences, School of Law, and The Paul Merage School of Business, in collaboration with ...

Then, at 3:30 p.m. the Dragon Dance & Feeding of the Lions kicks off the festival. Listen to the powerful rhythms of UCI Hansori, Hikari Taiko Drummers & UCI KKAP and write wishes for health, prosperity, and good fortune at the Wishing Tree.

Award-winning Hollywood producer and global cultural bridge-builder Janet Yang opens the day's festivities at 1:30 p.m. with "A Celebration of Story, Society & the Collective Journey," a conversation with Bill Maurer, Dean, @ucirvine.bsky.social School of Social Sciences.

Join us Monday, February 9 at The Irvine Barclay Theatre for @ucirvine.bsky.social's 11th annual Lunar New Year Celebration! In the Year of the Horse, a symbol of vitality, momentum, and renewal, the celebration reflects the energy and spirit that have defined this tradition for more than a decade.

Three UC Irvine professors named co-editors of prestigious Law & Society Review

Three @ucirvine.bsky.social professors named co-editors of prestigious Law & Society Review | Bill Maurer and Justin Richland, anthropology, and Lee Cabatingan, criminology, law and society, to lead Law and Society Association’s flagship journal

@uofcalifornia.bsky.social

Reimagining child care in California | New research from the @uofcalifornia.bsky.social charts a path forward

education.uci.edu/zero-to-thre...

@ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social @ucirvine.bsky.social

We’re looking for standout students for the September 2026 cohort. Learn more about the program online below. Check us out and apply today!

YouTube video by UC Irvine School of Social Sciences Consider an M.A. in Demographics and Social Analysis (DASA) | UC Irvine, School of Social Sciences

Are you interested in tackling real-world challenges facing society, business, government, and non-profits? The Demographic and Social Analysis (DASA) master’s program at @ucirvine.bsky.social offers a fast-paced, nine-month experience grounded in research and hands-on, applied learning.

Can parents overinvest in their kids? Nina Bandelj, Chancellor’s Professor of sociology at the University of California, Irvine, joins CBS LA to share tips from her new book, "Overinvested: The Emotional Economy of Modern Parenting."

Nina Bandelj, @ucirvine.bsky.social sociologist, recently joined CBS LA to share insights from her new book, Overinvested: The Emotional Economy of Modern Parenting (@princetonupress.bsky.social).

Tune in: www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/v...

@ninabandelj.bsky.social

The Money Signal

The Money Signal | New book by @daniellethomsen.bsky.social, @ucirvine.bsky.social political science professor, explores how fundraising matters in American politics

@uchicagopress.bsky.social @uofcalifornia.bsky.social

Overinvested: The Emotional Economy of Modern Parenting by Nina Bandelj

Nina Bandelj

Tomorrow (Jan 22) at 1:00pm PST, @ucisocsci.bsky.social hosts a virtual event with @ninabandelj.bsky.social, author of Overinvested! With Viviana Zelizer, Bandelj will explore what happens when children become investment projects and child-rearing becomes exhausting labor.

Register: buff.ly/ThsYgv2

Coauthors include @cailinmeister.bsky.social, @ucirvine.bsky.social, and @uofwa.bsky.social's Joseph Bak-Coleman, Jevin West, and Carl T. Bergstrom.

These ties may be skewing the research, the authors say. The industry-linked studies appear more likely to focus on topics such as why individuals share misinformation than on the role of the platforms and their algorithms.

A new preprint reports that in nearly 1/3 of studies on social media appearing in major interdisciplinary journals, the authors have ties to industry that should be disclosed but aren’t. Some received funding from a social media company, others previously co-authored work with industry employees.

Nearly one-third of social media research has undisclosed ties to industry, preprint claims Industry-linked studies were also more likely to focus on particular topics, suggesting these ties may be skewing the field

Researchers studying the impact of social media on society—everything from effects on teenagers’ mental health to the spread of misinformation—often work with the companies that run these platforms. But these ties evidently run much deeper than the scientific record acknowledges.

An optimistic academic

An optimistic academic | After transforming groundbreaking mathematical psychology theories into practical applications used by millions of students, Jean-Claude Falmagne has established a legacy to advance the field at UC Irvine
 
@ucirvine.bsky.social @uofcalifornia.bsky.social

Yoo named Social Sciences Alumni Academic Excellence Scholar

Congrats to Claire Yoo, @ucirvine.bsky.social international studies undergrad, who’s been awarded the Social Sciences Alumni Academic Excellence Scholarship! The honor annually recognizes students for outstanding academic performance and campus service 👏

Overinvested: The Emotional Economy of Modern Parenting

Overinvested: The Emotional Economy of Modern Parenting | New book by @ucirvine.bsky.social sociology professor @ninabandelj.bsky.social explores what happens when children become investment projects and child-rearing becomes exhausting labor

@princetonupress.bsky.social @uofcalifornia.bsky.social

Study: No link between foster care entry rates and child maltreatment deaths

Study: No link between foster care entry rates and child maltreatment deaths | Rutgers and @ucirvine.bsky.social researchers’ analysis of national data shows no evidence that higher foster care placements correlate to a drop in child abuse- or neglect-related deaths

@kelleyfong.bsky.social

Lopez-Rodriguez awarded Educational Enhancement Scholarship

Welcome back, Anteaters! We’re kicking off 2026 with congratulatory news for Alexis David Lopez-Rodriguez, a third-year psychology B.S. major, who's the recipient of a Social Sciences Education Enhancement Scholarship! #zotzotzot

@ucirvine.bsky.social

Bringing scientific insight to the causes of individual events

Congrats to @laurennross.bsky.social, @ucirvine.bsky.social logic & philosophy of science Dean's Professor and Chancellor's Fellow, who’s received research funding from the John Templeton Foundation to study token causality, which concerns explanations for specific events!

Policy Responses to Tax Competition

David R. Agrawal

Policy Responses to Tax Competition | New book by @ucirvine.bsky.social economist David R. Agrawal with James M. Poterba and Owen M. Zidar offers a critical examination of the effects of tax competition

www.socsci.uci.edu/newsevents/news/2025/2025-12-16-agrawal-policy-responses-to-tax-competition

The Assault on the State named among best books of 2025 by Foreign Affairs

The Assault on the State named among best books of 2025 by Foreign Affairs | Work by political scientists Jeffrey Kopstein, @ucirvine.bsky.social, and Stephen Hanson, William & Mary, examines causes, consequences of the erosion of modern government institutions

@uofcalifornia.bsky.social

Policing Higher Education named among Forbes’ ten best higher ed books of 2025

Congrats to Eve Darian-Smith, @ucirvine.bsky.social global and international studies and law Distinguished Professor and author of Policing Higher Education, which has been named among @forbes.com' ten best higher ed books of 2025!

@ucirvinelaw.bsky.social @uofcalifornia.bsky.social

Notes from a future professor

Notes from a future professor | @ucirvine.bsky.social political science major Ngoc Le is fast-tracking her way to a Ph.D. while discovering the joy of research

www.socsci.uci.edu/newsevents/n...

@uofcalifornia.bsky.social

Fei Yuan named one of ten global China Times Young Scholar Fellows

Congrats to @ucirvine.bsky.social anthropology Ph.D. student Fei Yuan who has been selected as one of only ten scholars worldwide to receive the 2025 China Times Young Scholar Fellowship, an honor that recognizes groundbreaking doctoral research!

@uofcalifornia.bsky.social