Message from the Chair

Exciting Year for Social Sciences Department

2015-16 was by far one of the busiest and most exciting academic years in a long time for the Social Sciences Department. With the economic downturn solidly behind us and, in the wake of multiple faculty retirements, the department has started re-staffing in earnest. Three searches for new sociologists were conducted in the past year, and more are planned for 2016-17. I am very excited about the new young scholars who have joined us.

The past year also featured major faculty and staff awards for the department; receipt of a prestigious National Science Foundation grant by anthropologist Coleen Carrigan; and an international conference, which led to a trip to the White House for sociologist Ryan Alaniz. 

Students continue to pursue Learn by Doing opportunities with internships all over California and elsewhere in the country – as evidenced by notes we’ve received from seniors and recent graduates. As you can see from the range of experiences they describe, Cal Poly social sciences graduates are putting their academic experiences to use in ways that few of us could have foreseen when they entered Cal Poly as first-year students in 2012. 

Best,

Terry Jones, Ph.D.
Chair