The Division pioneered the development of graduate-level workshops to support research by faculty and doctoral students. The workshops began in Economics in the 1940s; now divisional faculty sponsor about four dozen, including The Council on Advanced Studies and the Department of Economics.

Fulbright Grants

Year in and year out, SSD graduate students receive more Fulbright grants than students in the social sciences in any other institution. In 2006, 15 students received Fulbrights in four different fields.

Nobel Prizes

Within the SSD departments, 23 faculty, graduates, and affiliates have received Nobel Prizes in Economics, Literature, and Physiology–most recently, Roger Myerson in Economics. The Nobel laureates have associations with four SSD departments—Economics, Social Thought, Psychology, and Political Science. Five Nobel Laureates are currently faculty and faculty emeritus.

Chicago School

Four Social Sciences Departments are renowned for the creation of a “Chicago School” in their disciplines:  Anthropology, Economics, Political Science and Sociology. All of our programs are among the most renowned in their fields. Anthropology, Economics, and Sociology are often ranked first. See the University of Chicago Accolades for additional University distinctions.

Undergraduates in Social Sciences

Typically half of all students in the College major in a discipline in the Social Sciences. Economics is the largest concentration in the College, and all seven Departments with undergraduate concentrations number in the top 20 concentrations in the College.

Master’s Programs

The Division’s interdisciplinary master’s degree programs are among the nation’s oldest and most renowned. The MA Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS) and the Program in International Relations both date to the early 1930s.

Committee on Social Thought

The Division’s Committee on Social Thought is one of the most famous experiments in rigorous, cross-disciplinary intellectual inquiry. Hannah Arendt, Saul Bellow, F.A. Hayek, Leszek Kolakowski, and Paul Ricoeur are only a few of its illustrious faculty.

Journals

SSD Departments edit and produce leading journals in economics, history, and sociology, including the Journal of Political Economy, Journal of Modern History, and the American Journal of Sociology.

Recent Faculty Honors

Gary Becker (Economics) received a 2007 Presidential Medal of Freedom, a 2008 Bradley Prize for original research in economics and sociology, and was named by the White House to the committee that recommends nominees for the National Medal of Science. Jessica Cattelino (Anthropology) and Andreas Glaeser (Sociology) received 2007 Quantrell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. Shannon Dawdy (Anthropology) received the Society of Historical Archeology’s John Cotter Award for achievement by a junior scholar.  Rachel Fulton (History) received 2008-2009 Fellowships from both the Guggenheim Foundation and the ACLS.  David Galenson (Economics) was named a Guggenheim Fellow for 2008-2009. Michael Geyer (History) and Glenn Most (Social Thought) were elected to the AAAS. Hanna Gray (History, emerita) received the 2008 Robert Maynard Hutchins History Maker Award for Distinction in Education from the Chicago History Society. James Heckman (Economics) was elected to both the American Philosophical Society, and the International Statistical Institute. He will deliver the Marshall lecture this summer at the European Economics Association meetings. Janellen Huttenlocher (Psychology) was awarded APA’s 2007 Distinguished Scientific Contribution prize. Bob Lucas (Economics) delivered the 2007 annual World Bank Development Economics Lecture. Roger Myerson (Economics) was a co-winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, and was elected first VP of the Econometric Society for 2008. Robert Pippin (Social Thought) was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Humanities Institute, and will hold the 2009 Spinoza Chair next spring at the Universiteit Van Amsterdam. Steve Raudenbush (Sociology) was tapped to give the 2008 AERA Brown Lecture in educational research.  Michael Silverstein (Anthropology) was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society. Lisa Wedeen (Political Science) received a 2008 Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching.