political science
sociology
communication
the
2009 Annual Report
geography speech and hearing science
anthropology
economics
psychology
Organizational communication. Media use and media effects. Fighting ageism. Behavioral decision making.
Mass media. Inflation.
Evolution. Economic growth. Land and oil dispute. Resource conflict. The global economy.
Communication.
Global climate change. Mind, brain and behavior.
Speech, hearing and language disorders. Autism.
GPS.
Population and health. Urban renewal.
The aging brain.
International relations.
Psychology and financial markets.
Anxiety.
Differential access to health care.
Foreign policy. Geographies of racism. Work and labor movements.
Ethnic inequality.
Unemployment.
Social media.
Forensics in the classroom. Global history of health.
National longitudinal surveys.
Loss of speech from strokes.
Bioterrorism preparedness.
Obesity among adolescents. The roots of hearing loss. Household migration and foreclosure patterns.
Neighborhood density and crime.
What exactly are the social and behavioral sciences? While the term “social and behavioral sciences” may not easily roll off the tongue, perhaps we’re better recognized by the modern-day challenges we’re addressing. A number of these challenges are listed on the opposite page. Consider today’s single most pressing issue—the economy. The president stated the obvious during an address to the joint Congress: “Many of us are stressed out about the economy. You don’t need to hear another list of statistics to know that our economy is in crisis, because you live it every day.” The question before us—and before every SBS student and scholar—is quite simply, what can we do about it? The answer may surprise you. Across every discipline we’re addressing the economic problem that exists and analyzing how our efforts will be useful in weighing future action. Anthropologists warn of the cultural conflicts that arise when industrialized nations and non-industrialized societies collide. Economists help predict the incentives and deterrents to criminal activity during stressful economic conditions and the impact of a weak economy on collective bargaining, wages, unemployment, and trade unionism. School of Communication faculty examine the role and impact of the mass media and interpersonal communication in an economic downturn. Geographers analyze the economic and social issues around population, urbanization and immigration. They look at the impact of the economy on our efforts to support a sustainable environment and confront climate crises. Political scientists explore the impact of the economy on globalization and political change. Our psychology faculty study the impact of an aging workforce, the psychological fall-out from an economic downturn, and the psychology of judgment and decision making in an uncertain economic arena. Sociologists alert us to the impact of a weak economy on the stability of our neighborhoods and the strength of our relationships. And speech and hearing scientists work to ensure that anyone who is impaired can overcome these obstacles and make meaningful contributions to work, society and economies.
We see the social and behavioral sciences as the convergence of science and the study of what makes us human. This convergence gives us an informed, multi-dimensional perspective regarding topics such as the economic climate, as well as hundreds of other issues that affect us and our planet. In SBS, we are transforming academic research culture so that interdisciplinary approaches and team science are a normal mode of conducting research. With that as a backdrop, I invite you to read about our achievements in this report, meet some of our outstanding students and faculty, and learn how the social and behavioral sciences are coming together to shape, solve and improve the world in which we live.
Gifford Weary, Interim Dean
1
Anthropology undergraduate student Kristen Ritchey in West Africa with a herder in a traditional pastoral dance.
Department of Anthropology areas of study Anthropology Anthropological Sciences Cultural Anthropology Physical Anthropology Archaeology
department of anthropology
Diversity. Anthropologists at Ohio State study it like no other discipline, focusing on all people and their nearest biological relatives, all cultures, in all places and in all times. Like no other discipline, we dig deep in helping the world understand humanity’s origins and the journey leading to today’s world. From archaeological excavations in the Near East to the jungles of Africa, to the plains of Hungary and the islands of the Pacific, Ohio State anthropologists build the big picture, traveling through time to tell the story of what it means to be human.
The past has made the present. In the present, these are some of our stories.
Social and Behavioral Sciences 2009 Annual Report
Enrollment has increased in the last 3 years
23%
6,000
More than students enrolled in Anthropology classes in 2009
Tenured and tenure-track faculty has grown from in the last 5 years
13 to 18
OSU anthropologist wins NSF award for study of primate behavior Scott McGraw, associate professor, was awarded a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation for research on the morphology of primate jaws in western Ivory Coast. Understanding how a monkey feeds allows us to infer the behavior of fossil primates, including humans. 3
Undergraduate examines changing
Graduate student sinks her teeth
landscape of herders in West Africa
deep into forensics
On the West Coast of Africa, Kristen Ritchey
Robin Feeney traveled from England to enroll in Ohio
is known as “Kelly Kelta mo lesdi America”—
State’s department of anthropology graduate program
swinging Kelly from America—after she participated
because of its reputation in the field of biological
in the dances of the WoDaaBe pastoralists.
anthropology. Feeney is fascinated with teeth. “Teeth are usually the best preserved remains—they can
Funded by an SBS Undergraduate Research Grant
provide us with information about ourselves and our
and an Undergraduate Student International Travel
ancestors,” she said. She is particularly passionate
Grant, Ritchey conducted ethnographic fieldwork
about her research on the development of a
in Cameroon, working alongside traditional and
forensic method to determine the sex of individuals
hired herders in the Logone floodplain. Over several
represented solely by their dental remains.
The Global History of Health Project Ohio State’s Departments of Anthropology and Economics are leading one of the first—and the largest— international studies on the health of Europeans during the past 10,000 years on indicators including skeletal remains, stature, dental health, degenerative joint disease, anemia, trauma, and diet. By understanding how disease and malnutrition spread in the past, Ohio State researchers hope to apply those lessons in the future.
Relevance
Bringing the study of humankind to life
months, she interviewed absentee owners Feeney was awarded the Albert Dahlberg
to better understand the impact on the economic
student research prize by the Dental Anthropology
well-being among the laborers and rangeland
Association and selected for a predoctoral
management. Ritchey’s research project is the
fellowship at the internationally acclaimed Max
first to systematically examine the assumptions
Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
about contract labor in African pastoral systems.
in Leipzig, Germany.
Hired herders used to be ‘paid’ for their work in
After completing her fellowship at the Max Planck
cows, not cash. However, changes over the last
Institute, Feeney co-authored journal submissions
several years have led to herders being compensated
with Dr. Debbie Guatelli-Steinberg, her department
in cash—approximately $20 a month, an amount
advisor, and researchers from the Max Planck
well below the international poverty line. “Having
Institute. One of her co-authored pieces, published
a cow is like having a savings account,” Ritchey
in the Journal of Human Evolution, establishes
explained. “Cows provide sustenance as well as
clear differences between Neandertals and modern
a means of trade for hired herders and their families.”
humans in the proportions of hard tissues that
Cash payments transformed a sustainable way of life
compose their teeth. Another piece analyzes tooth
for contract laborers into a barely sustainable one.
composition differences between humans and the so-called “robust” australopithecines, a 1.5 million-
Ritchey will be graduating in 2010 with
year old side-branch of the human evolutionary
plans to attend graduate school to pursue a
tree. With three years of teaching experience at
PhD in anthropology.
Ohio State, Feeney is well on the way to achieving her goal of becoming a university professor.
Watch Ritchey at work in Cameroon at http://anthropology.osu.edu/action/videos.php Want more anthropology? Dig deeper at http://anthropology.osu.edu
The Department of Anthropology’s “Forensics in the Classroom” is a pioneer STEM outreach program targeted to urban high schools with a model curriculum to educate a new generation of students in the fields of forensic archaeology and anthropology.
Pioneering Research on Reproduction and Nutrition Barbara Piperata, an assistant professor in anthropology, is conducting groundbreaking research in the Brazilian Amazon that suggests social support can make a substantial difference in how much energy new mothers can conserve while they are breastfeeding, thus enabling them to reproduce more rapidly than other primates.
Recognition
who employ hired herders to take care of their animals
Moritz earns NSF most prestigious award Mark Moritz, assistant professor in anthropology, was awarded a fiveyear, National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development award (CAREER), the NSF’s most prestigious award in support of junior faculty. Moritz’s research focuses on how pastoralists who share the floodplain of Cameroon manage resources without conflict, a common culture, centralized authority or environmental damage.
OSU Communication students get hands-on experience and can test theories and emerging technology applications in the new state-of-the-art communication lab.
school of
With the explosion of new communication technologies, social media tools and a new journalism landscape, the study of communication is of paramount importance to our understanding of human interaction. Nationally ranked in the top five among high impact communication programs, the School of Communication at Ohio State equips both undergraduate and graduate students with the competencies needed to effectively compete in both industry and academia. Students benefit from our rigorous curriculum, state-of-the-art facilities and the expertise of our internationally
renowned faculty. Graduate studies
Undergraduate studies:
Mass Communication
Communication Analysis and Practices
Health Communication and Social Influence
Communication Technology
Political Communication and Public Opinion
Public Affairs Journalism
New Communication Technologies
Strategic Communication
Social and Behavioral Sciences 2009 Annual Report
Our Communication PhD students are being placed at research universities
tier 1
2011
, the School will be launching By new undergraduate curricula in communication and multi-media journalism
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undergraduate Top major at Ohio State
5
From research to scholarship, the School of Communication keeps pace and sets the bar in today’s dynamic, innovative communication landscape
Gaming research on student behavior launches interest in communication technology
After becoming hooked on research as an
Undergraduate senior Grant Holzen transferred
undergraduate, Myiah Hutchens decided to pursue
to Ohio State because he wanted a better education
a graduate degree. She explored a number of
and to be on Ohio State’s fencing team. He went
programs across the country that provided strong
to work to find a major that would position him for
social science perspectives, especially those that
what he says was “not just any information
had faculty that would support both her political and
technology career.” After taking classes in the School of
health communication interests.
Communication he decided on the communication technology major stating, “I am fascinated how
“Ohio State’s School of Communication was one of
certain technologies have an effect on communication
the few schools that met those requirements by
habits and how they affect the way we evolve in
having outstanding faculty who provided me with
our day-to-day communication.”
outstanding personal attention,” Hutchens said. “I never considered how interesting the theories Her research focuses on how people use
and studies of the effects of communication on
interpersonal communication and the mass
the world could be,” Holzen said. “I just finished
media to form their beliefs and knowledge
conducting a small scale experiment with the effects
about health and political issues. Her most recent
of gaming on students’ attitudes and behaviors. It got
work, published in Political Communication,
me interested in doing more work in the field and I
examined how high school students’ views about
am now working with COMM faculty on research.” He
politics are shaped by the information they
said a lot of the communication faculty are “pretty cool.”
receive from the media and at home. Holzen said that because of this research experience After she completes her PhD, Hutchens plans on
as well as encouragement from School faculty, he
pursuing an academic career as a professor. “I love
now plans to go to graduate school to further his
teaching and conducting research,” she said. “Being a
expertise in the field of communication technology.
professor provides me with the best of both worlds in both of these areas.” Get connected to what’s happening at the School of Communication at www.comm.ohio-state.edu
Top Three The School of Communication ranked in the top three most prolific research programs in the field of communication over the last five years. (scienceWATCH.com).
The number of majors in the School of Communication has grown by more since 2000 than
68%
70%
More than of our undergraduates participate in internships to help develop professional skills
The School of Communication is ranked #1 in faculty productivity in Broadcasting & Media and in Race & Ethnicity; #2 in Television, Media & Children and Technology; and in the top five in Cognition, News, Public Opinion, and Political Elections based on a quantitative study of faculty productivity by the Communication Institute for Online Scholarship (CIOS). The current value of new endowments to the School since 1998 is more than five times larger than the total value of all endowment funds for the years prior to 1998.
Points worth Communicating
Communication becomes the key link for student’s health and political interests
Our graduate students regularly win awards at major academic conferences including the National Communication Association, International Communication Association, and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Our faculty have received numerous awards including the AEJMC Kreighbaum “Under 40 award”, the International Communication Association Young Scholar award, and the International Communication career productivity award and have received honorary titles such as the International Communication Fellows and Distinguished Professor awards.
Department of Economics areas of study: Econometrics Economic History Economic Theory International Economics Labor Economics Money and Macroeconomics Applied Microeconomics Public Finance and Urban Economics Structure and Regulation of Industry
department of
Highly Distinguishable: In addition to his University Distinguished Professor award, Richard Steckel also has earned the University Distinguished Lecturer Award (1998) and the Distinguished Scholar Award (2000).
“How tall are you?” is a fairly common question. Asking “how tall were people in the past?” is not only uncommon, but is made all the more intriguing when the question is coming from Richard Steckel, professor of economics and Ohio State’s 2009 Distinguished University Professor. Steckel has conducted pioneering research into the relationship of height to economic health and welfare, basically creating a new, interdisciplinary field. His work on the project spans several continents as well as a variety of disciplines including economics, history, demography, biology and physical anthropology. His 1986 paper, “A Peculiar Population,” on how slaves’ unusual growth patterns were tied to their nutrition and the economics of slavery, is one of the most widely cited works ever
published by The Journal of Economic History. Superlatives such as “path-breaking,” “sets the standard” and “Nobel Prize-quality” have since become synonymous with Steckel’s research. However, Steckel’s greatest achievement is far more subtle but equally as important—it’s the passion for research and discovery he conveys to undergraduates in his classroom. This is the dual sense of purpose that runs through all 35 faculty members in economics who put the interests of 500 undergraduate and 100 graduate students first. This is the model of teaching and leadership that is igniting interest among the next generation in economics. This is what sets the Department of Economics at Ohio State apart from its peers.
Southern Economic Journal (2010) ranks the Department of Economics publication rate and placement: Among all universities: • 13th in Mathematical and Quantitative Methods • 13th in Health, Education and Welfare • 13th in Microeconomics Social and Behavioral Sciences 2009 Annual Report
Among all public universities: • 6th overall
• 17th in Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy • 17th overall
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Analyzing the trends and policies that fuel market success, stagnation and collapse
An Economy’s Impact on Terrorism When Kathleen Deloughery started graduate
answer is yes. His moment of clarity and purpose
school in economics in 2004, her plan was to
became clear during his junior year of high school
become a college professor. Her career choice
when he read Thomas Sowell’s Basic Economics.
was a departure from her family’s strong military
After reading Sowell’s common-sense guide to the
tradition. Her sister, father and grandfather served
economy, Staudt mapped his plan to study technical
in the military and each earned a Bronze Star
economics and, ultimately, to work toward a PhD.
Medal during active conflicts.
Today, Staudt is an honors student working
Deloughery was able to align her family tradition
toward his degree in economics with minors in
with her interests when she was selected as one of
mathematics and statistics. He also is working on
100 U.S. Department of Homeland Security Fellows
his honors thesis that analyzes the relationship
nationwide for a three-year fellowship to further
between national investments in research
her research on the relationship between terrorist
development and scientific productivity. Funded by
attacks and a country’s policies.
grants from the College of Arts and Sciences and Her research focuses on whether the political
will be presented at the Denman Undergraduate
makeup of the leaders of a country determines its
Research Forum in Spring 2010.
likelihood of being attacked and, in turn, whether the level or intensity of past attacks affects future
Beyond the classroom, Staudt volunteers as a
elections. Despite prior theoretical work stating that
tutor in the Economics Learning Center and works
countries with centralized governments should face
as a research assistant for Dr. Bruce Weinberg. He
more terror attacks, her research uses a cross-country
is also a member of the Undergraduate Economics
analysis spanning more than 37 years and finds
Society, The Phi Beta Kappa Society and Golden Key
that countries with more decentralized economies
International Honor Society.
experience a greater number of terror attacks.
Staudt plans to attend graduate school in Fall 2010.
Deloughery recently finished her fellowship and
And who knows, perhaps those plans will include
received her doctoral degree. And, true to her plan,
some influential and common-sense writing about
she became an assistant professor at SUNY-Albany,
economics that will inspire a whole new generation.
teaching microeconomics and statistics classes for graduate and PhD students in public policy.
OSU Economist Wins NSF Career Award Paul J. Healy, assistant professor in economics, was awarded $514,970 as part of the National Science
U.S. News & World Report (2010) ranks OSU’s Department of Economics 10th among public universities and 28th among all universities. Economics ranks third among all university departments in Graduate Student Fellowships awarded for the 2009-10 academic year (40). Economics is categorized as a “strong doctoral program” as part of OSU’s doctoral assessment. The American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association’s president is Don Haurin, department chair and professor.
insights about human behavior in strategic settings, and then use those insights to develop and test new mechanisms such as auctions, voting systems and procurement processes that achieve socially desirable outcomes in real-world settings.
From micro to macro, get our perspective on economics at http://web.econ.ohio-state.edu
John Kagel, economics professor and University Distinguished Scholar, has been awarded 17 grants from the National Science Foundation.
Reward
Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER), the NSF’s most prestigious award in support of junior faculty. The goal of Healy’s “Behavioral Mechanism Design” project is to discover new
Recognition
the Social and Behavioral Sciences, his research
The number of economics majors at Ohio State has increased 40 percent over the last three years—more than three times the national average—and is up 120 percent in the last eight years.
Relevance
Making Sense of Economics Can a book change your life? For Joey Staudt, the
Ohio State geographers reconstruct Earth’s climate history and examine atmospheric systems in order to better predict future global climate change.
Today’s geography is unlike that of previous generations. It is political and territorial. It has economic and social impacts. It underscores the human relationship to the world in which we live—and how we choose to live in it. It is at the forefront of our most pressing global issues—from climate change to border control. Geography casts a net that is as broad in scope as it is specialized in focus. And because of our discipline’s worldview,
today’s geographers are the ones with a finger on the pulse of a changing planet. Department of Geography areas of study: Environment and Society Atmospheric and Climatic Studies GIS and Spatial Analysis Urban, Regional and Global Studies
department of
Social and Behavioral Sciences 2009 Annual Report
300+ undergraduate and graduate students
9:1 student-to-faculty ratio
OSU geographer appointed to two prestigious positions
Ellen Mosley-Thompson, University Distinguished Scholar in geography and world-renowned expert in global climate change, was elected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences and is the new director of Ohio State’s Byrd Polar Research Center.
9
Ground view
Aerial view
Beth Morrison is perhaps the prototype of what
Kyung In Huh, a PhD student, has taken
“undergraduate achievement” really looks like.
to the air to conduct research thanks to a NASA-funded project entitled, “Assessing
As a geography student with an urban and regional
the Volume and Topographic Context of
systems specialization, Morrison is customizing her
Tropical Glacier Recession.”
own research project that combines her interest in geography with her major in international studies
In Huh is further developing expertise in remote
and Spanish minor.
sensing, GIS and photogrammetry, skills she began acquiring as an undergraduate earth sciences major.
Working closely with geography’s Dr. Mathew
She has found a new passion for the integrated
Coleman, Morrison’s research focuses on towns
perspective of geography where she sees more
along the U.S.-Mexican border to study the effects of
direct connections to human welfare.
U.S.-led Border Industrialization Program, NAFTA, and Last summer, In Huh participated in a novel
socioeconomic conditions in border communities.
mission to fly a LiDAR (light distance and range) over Peruvian glaciers, in collaboration with
Thanks to an SBS Undergraduate Research
Canadian researchers and a Peruvian aerial mapping
Scholarship and a College of Arts and Sciences
company, where she maintained GPS ground
Undergraduate Research Award, Morrison will
control. She is now processing the high-resolution
be able to interview maquila workers firsthand
topographical data in combination with aerial
in Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana, with the goal of
photogrammetry from 1962. Together, these data
understanding whether or not the hardships associated
points will help quantify the volume of glacier
with maquiladora employment for female workers
recession over the past half century of accelerated
leads women to seek undocumented work experience
climatic change.
in the U.S. She also will spend time as a visiting researcher at the Center for Inter-American and Border Studies at UTEP and the Center for
Learn more about the groundbreaking work
Comparative Immigration Studies at UCSD.
our students and faculty are engaged in at www.geography.osu.edu
Our Center of Urban and Regional Analysis (CURA) was recently selected as a partner in Ohio State’s State, Regional, And Urban Development Center Of Excellence, based upon CURA’s interlocking fields of excellence and innovation, and its contributions to cohesive urban and regional policy. OSU’s geography is ranked as a top five program in the country…again. Faculty excellence and achievement in geography • Five Distinguished Teaching Award winners • Four University Distinguished Scholars • Three Guggenheim Fellows • Two Distinguished University Professors • Two Distinguished Service Award winners • One National Academy of Sciences member • One AAG Lifetime Achievement Award winner CURA is one of the nation’s foremost urban public policy and research centers, collaborating with partners around the country to study the dynamics of urban housing foreclosures, bioterrorism preparedness and response planning, environmental impacts of accelerated urbanization, and the implications of pervasive surveillance.
Geographical Analysis, the premier journal on spatial-analytic methods, is published on behalf of the Department and has an international editorial board. Geography hosts the Ohio Geographic Alliance, a network of more than 4,000 K-12 social studies and science teachers throughout Ohio advancing the study of geography.
The Ohio Severe Weather Symposium, a collaboration between the undergraduate Meteorology Club and the National Weather Service, presents groundbreaking research and scholars from around the country. Hudson McFann, an undergraduate major in geography, is one of only 22 students selected nationwide to be named a 2009 Beinecke Scholar.
Recognition
the proliferation of export processing factories on the
The Department of Geography hosts the Colloquium Series, a program that attracts researchers and guest scholars from across the country to share their passion and research expertise in the field of geography.
Relevance
Geography’s hands-on field work changes lives, impacts the way we live
While students at other schools read Ohio State professors’ works, our students learn directly from the sources of cutting-edge scholarship.
department of
With all of the political theories, approaches and perspectives we interpret, there is one common and unwavering perspective the Department of Political Science shares: Combine our teaching expertise, research excellence and national stature as one of the top political science departments in the nation with a commitment to providing unparalleled student instruction and hands-on opportunities.
That’s our political (science) statement. Department of Political Science areas of study: • American Politics
• Comparative Politics
• International Relations
• Formal Theory
• Political Economy
• Political Methodology
• Political Psychology
• Political Theory
• Race, Ethnicity and Gender
Social and Behavioral Sciences 2009 Annual Report
Ranked 4th in the world for scholarly work (London School of Economics)
2010 U.S. News & World Report rankings among all university graduate programs: • Ranked in American Politics • Ranked in Internal Relations • Ranked in Political Methodology • Ranked overall
8th 11th
15th 17th
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Analyzing red states, blue states and the state of the world
Embracing the benefits
Moving from volunteer to the political sphere
of Parliamentary Procedure
Prior to entering Ohio State’s political science
For Emily Smart, Ohio State was an obvious choice
graduate program, Miryam Farrar was an AmeriCorps
once she decided to pursue political science as
VISTA volunteer in Minnesota. “The day I found out
a major. The Department had been recently ranked
I had been accepted to Ohio State, I did the most
fourth in the world by the London School of
unprofessional thing of my AmeriCorps career—I
Economics, and she was impressed by the variety
actually ran down the hall cheering,” she said. “That
and breadth of the course offerings along with the
was how much I wanted to come to OSU.”
friendliness of the faculty and staff she encountered. What drew Farrar to the political science graduate program at Ohio State was its extraordinarily strong
of hands-on internships with local attorneys and
faculty in Middle East studies. During the course of
participated in the Canadian Parliament Internship
her first year, she realized that her interests were
program. After studying Canadian politics for
actually more aligned with comparative politics
a quarter and a half, she traveled to Ottawa and
and switched to studying Latin America. Her work
worked closely with a Member of Parliament
focuses on how authoritarian leaders choose
for six weeks. With guidance and mentoring from
information sources prior to holding elections, both
professor Ripley, Smart and the other students
in Latin America and throughout the world. Recently
from Ohio State were by far the most prepared and
she traveled to Chile to research the PCC, the
knowledgeable of the entire group of interns from
communist party in Chile.
across the country. Farrar is just one of many graduate students in In addition to her internships, Smart has completed
political science who give credit to their advisors and
a senior honors thesis project titled “Expanding
mentors in the department. “Scholars like professors
Conceptions of Privacy: A Comparative Analysis of
Kurtz, Brooks and Nooruddin challenge me and
the United States Supreme Court and the European
expand my academic repertoire in ways I never
Court of Human Rights” under the guidance of
would have expected and poke holes so that my
Professor Larry Baum, a nationally recognized
work is stronger,” Farrar said. “They help me to think
expert on the Supreme Court. “I cannot overstate
my way out of the problems inherent in developing a
how helpful Professor Baum was to me during
dissertation on a theoretically new area.”
the whole process,” she said. “He met with me weekly for a year, guided me through the sometimes
Farrar plans to defend her dissertation in June 2012,
overwhelming task, and pointed me towards
following a year of field work in Latin America and
valuable research funding and grants.”
several years of teaching. Her dream job is to teach at Macalester College in Minnesota. When she isn’t
Smart recently graduated with a major in political
studying abroad, teaching or conducting research,
science and is preparing to tackle her next
she treasures time with family and friends and
goal—graduating from the University of Illinois
brushing up on her Spanish.
Law School. She hopes to one day work for the government in some capacity.
Ranked 10th among public universities (U.S. News & World Report 2010)
Get engaged in our political activities at http://psweb.sbs.ohio-state.edu
OSU is a leader in the Comparative National Elections Project (CNEP), one of the three largest research projects in the world focusing on elections across democratic nations. Doctoral programs ranked “best of the best” by Ohio State in terms of quality, planning, focus, and potential to enhance the standing to the university.
Political [Science] Clout
As an undergraduate, she completed a number
Received Ohio State’s award for Exemplary Graduate Teaching Associate Programs (2009). 30% of political science majors are Honors or Scholars students. Undergraduate program singled out as Ohio State’s “department of excellence” at the 2009 President’s Salute to Excellence. Department faculty recognized as scholars whose work has had the greatest influence on the field of international relations by the Institute for the Theory and Practice of International Relations.
department of
For the first time in its 100 year history, the Department of Psychology is under one roof—a state-of-the-art building with 30,000 square feet of research labs, a new undergraduate advising center, therapy rooms and clinics.
A Tradition of Excellence
Social and Behavioral Sciences 2009 Annual Report
Department of Psychology areas of study: Behavioral Neuroscience
Since the first psychology course was offered at Ohio State in 1879, and an independent department established in 1907, the Department of Psychology has become one of the major centers of psychology in the United States while fostering some of the most highly cited researchers in the world.
Clinical Psychology/Health Psychology Cognitive Psychology Developmental Psychology Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Quantitative Psychology/ Judgment and Decision Making Social Psychology
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Alumni Distinguished Teaching Awards
The opportunities for groundbreaking research, new life-experiences, and personal growth across seven specialized program areas are limitless for psychology undergraduates, graduate students, and post-doctoral fellows. With more than 2,000 PhD’s awarded in the last 100 years, the department continues to build a legacy that few institutions, if any, can match.
10 University Distinguished 4 University Distinguished Scholar Awards Lecturer Awards
Psychology is a University leader in: Grant dollars from the federal government and other sources; students receiving fellowships from the Graduate School and the National Science Foundation; and Honors students completing honors theses.
13
Psychology’s groundbreaking research helps us understand mind, brain and behavior relationships — in essence, the human condition
The Social Level
When Sam DeWitt took a class in abnormal
Fascinated by the “why” and “how” surrounding
psychology at the end of his freshman year, it
people’s behavior, Samantha Mowrer has become
triggered a desire to understand brain malfunctions
a mind reader of sorts.
and how to help those who struggle with severe and persistent mental illness.
Why do people behave in contradictory ways? Why are our judgments biased? These are
As a psychology major, DeWitt has successfully
some of the questions that Mowrer, a graduate
defended his honors thesis “Photoperiodic and
student studying social psychology, set out to
Housing Effects on Immune Response in Siberian
answer through research involving the interplay of
Hamsters,” under the guidance of Dr. Randy Nelson,
motivation and reward with her faculty advisor,
professor of psychology and neuroscience. His
Dr. William Cunningham. The research is intended
thesis examined the effects of how various lengths
to reveal how motivation and people’s specific goals
of exposure to light coupled with certain living
influence the way the brain responds to rewards.
Siberian hamsters, the best rodent models to study
In her research, Mowrer uses functional magnetic
when making comparison to humans.
resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine activity in different parts of the brain of people taking part in
DeWitt’s work has significant value in helping
her experiments. Although this doesn’t allow her
us better understand the aspects of human
to actually read people’s minds, she is able to see
immune responses, including determining optimal
how activity in different parts of the brain relates to
environments for recovering surgery patients as well
the tasks being conducted by her participants.
as nursing care environments for the elderly who are more susceptible to attacks on their immune system.
Her work is helping us understand how motivation can coordinate information processing in the brain
The study was awarded first place honors at Ohio
and how the processes in different brain regions
State’s 2009 Denman Undergraduate Research
come together to give rise to thoughts, feelings
Forum and recently has been submitted to the journal
and behaviors. Mowrer believes that “by studying
Brain, Behavior, and Immunity for publication.
psychological phenomena at multiple levels, we can come to a more complete understanding of
DeWitt plans to attend graduate school to further
the processes underlying the things we’re able to
study psychology or neuroscience and ultimately
experience and observe.”
earn his PhD in clinical psychology with a focus on schizophrenia. Learn more about psychology research and clinical studies being conducted by our students and faculty at www.psy.ohio-state.edu
2 Ohio Eminent Scholar Awards 8president faculty have served as 9 faculty members are Fellows of of one or more major the American Association for the disciplinary societies
Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Psychology doctoral programs ranked “best of the best” by Ohio State on quality, planning, focus, and potential to enhance the university’s standing. A psychology/arts and sciences joint initiative will bring to the Ohio State campus the only dedicated fMRI facility focused on social science in the State of Ohio. Psychology has been externally funded to research: • Attitudes and prejudice (does having a roommate of a different race affect college success?). • Self-control (how can people stick to their diets?) and social neuroscience. • Cardiovascular and endocrine responses to stress and enhancing the lives of breast cancer survivors. • Cognitive and biological changes that accompany aging, Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia. • Psycholinguistics research focusing on how listeners recognize spoken words, and how children and infants acquire concepts. • Visual neuroscience of processing 3D images (how does an outfielder catch a ball?) and the mathematical modeling of memory and decision making.
Research
environments affected the immune response in
In the 2010 U.S. News & World Report rankings of graduate programs, Ohio State’s psychology graduate programs ranked 10th among public universities and 17th among all universities and its Social Psychology program ranked 2nd among all universities.
Rankings
The Neurochemical Level
What makes people tick?
The department recently moved into its new building—Townshend Hall—originally dedicated in 1898 and the third oldest building on the Ohio State campus.
Why do some elements of society thrive while others crumble? In the words of sociologist C. Wright Mills, these are the questions that fuel “the sociological imagination.” As sociologists, we seek to understand social structures, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior. It involves a diverse range of topics spanning from the safety of neighborhoods to the success of marriage; the complex issues of race, class and gender to religious beliefs and behaviors.
Department of Sociology areas of study: Sociology Criminology Comparative Social Change Crime & Community Gender, Race, Work & Inequality Population, Health & the Life Course
department of
Social and Behavioral Sciences 2009 Annual Report
At Ohio State, our faculty consists of leading researchers, teachers and writers. Drawn from multiple disciplines within the field, they work closely with students to provide insights and skills that enable them to critically interpret social structures and apply theory to practice. They solve problems and present viable solutions—solutions with meaningful outcomes that help advance societies in positive, productive directions.
#1 in the nation for article production
17th among America’s 10th among best graduate programs in the public universities
Research Council, 2007)
field (U.S. News & World Report, 2009)
(National
(U.S. News & World Report 2010)
15
Sociology prepares students to become change agents for our communities and make a tangible difference in people’s lives
Education inequality fuels student research
Kevin Slaten has always been curious about the
Anne McDaniel is interested in educational
social world.
outcomes—hers as well as others. The thirdgeneration Buckeye has already earned her
“Sociology showed me a way to understand the
bachelor’s degree from Ohio State in sociology
world,” he said. ”More importantly, it has opened
and is a fifth-year PhD student pursuing her
my eyes to social problems and conflict. It has
interests in educational inequality.
inspired me to find solutions to these problems.” McDaniel considers herself a stratification As an undergraduate, Slaten had the opportunity
researcher working in the areas of gender and
to take a graduate-level class focusing on dissent
education. Her current research projects focus on
and the repression of dissent. The class initiated
why women earn more bachelor’s degrees than
a fruitful, yearlong period in which he worked on
men in the United States and other countries.
social movement research examining dissent and
Her dissertation, which will include more than 80
repression in the Middle East focusing on events in
countries, examines how a country’s education
Kuwait and Turkey.
system, labor market, work-family policies and gender ideology affect the amount of education
In 2008, Slaten became the first-ever OSU
men and women receive.
student selected as a Carnegie Junior Fellow. The one-year research position in Washington, D.C.
McDaniel also is engaged in other studies including
allowed Slaten to assist scholars who focused their
gender gap analysis in college completion among
work on China and East Asia. He also has helped
African Americans and Caucasians from 1940 to
organize the annual 2009 Junior Fellow Conference
2007; how expectations to complete college have
that focused on China, Brazil and India, and their
changed over time and how that may influence
positions and roles on pressing global issues.
educational outcomes for men and women; and how the differing ways and time investments
Slaten is currently in Kaohsiung, China teaching
fathers give to their sons and daughters impacts
English to primary school students. He plans
academic success in elementary and middle school.
to coordinate a pen pal program with a Chinese teacher before he leaves.
She plans on graduating in 2011 and pursuing a
Our Criminal Justice Research Center (CJRC) is the university’s focal point for interdisciplinary research on crime/delinquency and justice issues. Selected by Ohio State for a Distinguished Diversity Enhancement Award for significant commitment to enhancing diversity among its student constituencies. Our Center for Human Resource Research (CHRR) develops state-of-the-art survey software and survey instruments, and generates innovative applications to the field of survey methodology. The Initiative in Population Research (IPR) is a multidisciplinary research center of excellence dedicated to population studies and health, with a focus on children, youth and families. Our Crime & Justice Summer Research Institute is a first-of-itskind program dedicated to the advancement of minority scholars engaged in the academic study of race, crime and justice.
career as a university professor. She intends to continue her research on gender inequalities in education, in hopes that her findings will have an impact on policymakers and educators alike.
Professors Randy Hodson and Vincent Roscigno are editors of the American Sociological Review, the flagship journal of the American Sociological Association. Home to the two most popular majors on campus, sociology and criminology.
8th
nationally in the core subspecialty of social stratification
See how else we’re making a difference at www.sociology.osu.edu
Relevance & Research
Curiosity creates career path for undergraduate
The Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic offers services to people of all ages in the community while providing clinical training and education for the next generation of professionals.
department of
Speech and Hearing Science is an interdisciplinary study of speech-language and hearing. Both the normal processes and disorders of communication are studied with the goal of better scientific bases for the diagnosis and treatment of speech-language and hearing problems. From the international makeup of our research teams to our work right here at home providing clinical service to the community, faculty and clinicians in the Department of Speech and Hearing Science at Ohio State provide answers.
We research. We teach. We serve. We strive to revolutionize the assessment and treatment of speech, language and hearing disorders. Department of Speech and Hearing Science areas of study: Speech and Hearing Science Speech-Language Pathology Audiology
Social and Behavioral Sciences 2009 Annual Report
2010 U.S. News & World Report rankings among all universities:
• 18th in Speech Language Pathology
• 19th in Audiology programs
200% increase in
enrollment during the last four years
17
Enhancing how we articulate and process the complexities of language and sound • How do the ear and brain process sound? • How does hearing loss affect the aging process? • How does a child learn to speak and read? • How do adults use speech in different regions of the country? • What is the impact of stroke or Alzheimer’s disease on the ability to speak or listen?
induced hearing loss has been shown to have deleterious effects on the ability to resolve events in frequency and in time, Feth aims to show that simultaneous processing should be more susceptible to the effects of noise exposure than either selectivity measure in isolation.
Faculty Awarded $3.8 Million from National Institutes of Health Robert Fox, chair and professor, and Ewa Jacewicz, research assistant professor, were awarded
language and hearing develop and how they work
$1.8 million from the NIH to research and document
together. What are the linguistic, cognitive, biological,
dialect variations in Ohio, Wisconsin and the
and social variables that contribute their functioning?
Appalachian mountains of Western North Carolina.
These are some of the groundbreaking research
The study will likely have a profound effect upon
projects we’re leading to answer these questions.
the development of clinical instruments for the fair and accurate assessment of both speech-language
Understanding Aphasia Although scientists have studied the loss of language following stroke (aphasia) for well over a century, the mechanisms of aphasia recovery remain poorly understood. Lisa Milman, assistant professor, draws on research from linguistics, psychology, measurement theory, and neuroscience in her research on aphasia recovery. Understanding recovery in terms of mathematically defined variables has the potential to yield powerful new approaches to the assessment
and hearing disorders across different dialect
Providing state-of-the-art services to people with communication disorders since 1930. Is the only central Ohio facility to provide assessment of auditory processing disorders in adults.
regions and cultures in the United States. Eric Healy, associate professor, and Fred Apoux, research scientist, were awarded $2 million from the NIH to perform research aimed at clarifying how humans process speech, and how this process is
Offers accent reduction services. One of a handful of sites around the country to provide pioneering treatment for tinnitus.
impacted by hearing loss or background noise. Of particular interest is the difficulty listeners often face understanding speech in noisy situations. The
THE SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING CLINIC
Our researchers aim to understand how speech,
Provides comprehensive speech-language pathology programs and consultation to central Ohio school districts.
and treatment of this disorder.
research has the potential to impact the lives of
The Roots of Hearing Loss
an old and intractable problem.
Offers services that support literacy in the realm of speech/language pathology.
Process more speech and hearing breakthroughs at http://sphs.osu.edu
Provides state-of-the-art loaner hearing aids for trial.
millions of Americans through a novel approach to
Lawrence Feth, professor of speech and hearing science, is spearheading a three-year project funded by the Office of Naval Research. Given that noise-
Offers services in the area of fluency (stuttering).
New PhD program in Language and Literacy launched in Fall 2009
Professors Bourgeois and McCauley recently published new textbooks
Faculty serve as editors or members of the editorial boards of major journals including Journal of the Acoustical Society of America and Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research
A foundation of excellence built on diverse perspectives, programs and people SBS is home to four world-class research
CENTER FOR URBAN AND
centers and a partner in two Ohio State Targeted
REGIONAL ANALYSIS (CURA)
Investment of Excellence (TIE) programs that
http://cura.osu.edu
promote interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation
CURA is one of eight university research centers
among faculty and students from all colleges and
in the Ohio Urban University Program (UUP),
departments across Ohio State. These four centers
the State’s foremost urban public policy and
support initiatives that dissolve academic boundaries,
economic development resource and a partner
increase cooperation between departments and
in The Ohio State University’s State, Regional and
colleges, and nurture researchers to cultivate
Urban Development Center of Excellence.
interdisciplinary efforts. CRIMINAL JUSTICE RESEARCH CENTER (CJRC) CENTER FOR
http://cjrc.osu.edu
HUMAN RESOURCE RESEACH (CHRR)
CJRC is the focal point for collaborative
www.chrr.ohio-state.edu
interdisciplinary research on crime/delinquency
CHRR was founded in 1965 to manage the
and justice issues. CJRC hosts the only annual
National Longitudinal Surveys of Labor Market
nationwide summer research institute for the
Experience for the U.S. Department of Labor,
advancement of minority scholars engaged in
a project that continues to this day. Since that
the study of race, crime and justice.
time CHRR has added other surveys such as the multilingual New Immigrant Survey, the bilingual Rio Grande Valley Health Survey, and the Consumer
INITIATIVE IN POPULATION RESARCH (IPR)
Finance Monthly Survey to its repertoire.
http://ipr.osu.edu IPR is a multidisciplinary research center with signature strengths in the study of family demography, population health, immigration and integration. IPR is the centerpiece of Ohio State’s Population and Health Targeted Initiative in Excellence (TIE).
Social and Behavioral Sciences 2009 Annual Report
SBS is home to five departments in the top 10 among all public universities: • Geography (5)* • Economics (10) • Political Science (10) • Psychology (10) • Sociology (8) (US News & World Report 2010) *1993 NRC ratings
SBS is home to three top 10 programs in the country: • American Politics (8) • Social Psychology (2) • Social Stratification (8) (US News & World Report, 2010)
19
DIVERSITY—enriching our experience, enhancing our worldview The Population and Health TIE. With the aging
Institutions of higher education are expected to
of the world’s population and the spiraling costs
prepare and train students for success in a diverse
of health care, issues of population and health have
global workforce. Fostering a diverse environment
moved to center stage of public awareness and
increases our knowledge base, encourages critical
attention. The Population and Health TIE unites an
discourse, and creates a culture that is creative,
unprecedented breadth and depth of experience—
innovative, and flexible…all with the goal of
more than 70 researchers from 20 departments—
providing our students with a competitive edge.
in psychology, sociology, anthropology, education, speech and hearing science, nursing, economics,
SBS is committed to developing and implementing
public health, communication and political science,
a comprehensive set of institutional strategies
to collectively examine and propose solutions to
designed to provide minority faculty, staff and
some of our most intractable health issues.
students with the resources necessary to successfully develop academically, professionally
The Climate, Water and Carbon Program TIE
and personally. The following Best Practices
addresses such critical issues as climate change,
exemplify SBS’ efforts to foster diversity:
the availability of fresh water to maintain the world’s population, and the impact of fossil fuel combustion on the Earth’s atmosphere. The program brings together faculty experts from geography; mathematical and natural sciences; food, agricultural and environmental sciences; as well as the Byrd Polar Research Center and the John Glenn School of Public Affairs.
• Hiring of a SBS director of diversity. • SBS’ leadership role in the National Science Foundation’s Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP-SBES) program to increase the number of underrepresented minorities obtaining graduate degrees in the social, behavioral and economic sciences.
SBS funds have been invested in a third interdisciplinary initiative in Behavioral Decision Making (BDM), which examines how individuals, groups and institutions make decisions in the contemporary world. Behavioral decision making
• SBS Diversity Postdoctoral Fellowships to encourage underrepresented minority scholars to enter tenure track faculty positions. • Launching the Cultivating Undergraduates for
draws together research from psychology,
Research & Academic Careers (CURAC) program
economics, political science, and related disciplines.
for underrepresented sophomores and juniors to prepare them for graduate school.
SBS is home to five Ohio State top-rated graduate programs: • Atmospheric Sciences • Economics • Geography • Political Science • Psychology
SBS is a top 10 unit at Ohio State in research award dollars: In FY09, SBS brought
$23.5 million
in in grant dollars
SBS is a top 10 unit at Ohio State in research expenditures: In FY09, SBS
$20 million
distributed in grant activity
SBS is home to two fellows of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and 18 fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
Since beginning my new position as Executive Dean and Vice Provost in the College of Arts and Sciences in July, my early impressions of Ohio State have been confirmed: this is truly a remarkable institution. Arts and Sciences is the academic heart and soul of this university with more than 1,000 faculty members, or roughly one-third of all faculty at Ohio State, and 60 percent of undergraduate student credit hours and 50 percent of all student credit hours. At the very core of the mission of the Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) at Ohio State lies research excellence, the hallmark of a research university. SBS contains an outstanding faculty, departments in the top 10 and top 20, a wide global and interdisciplinary reach, award-winning undergraduate teaching and outstanding graduate programs. SBS plays a vital role in preparing students to be influential members and leaders in society both locally and throughout the global community. I am looking forward to working with SBS and all of my colleagues in the College to further strengthen the arts and sciences and increase their visibility on campus and around the world. Over the next year, the arts and sciences will be working to transition to a single college to further promote and strengthen interdisciplinary teaching, learning and research opportunities between the 40+ departments within the College. I am looking forward to working with SBS and the university community to take Ohio State from
“excellence to eminence.�
Warmly, Joe Steinmetz, Executive Dean and Vice Provost
Social and Behavioral Sciences 2009 Annual Report
21
Gifford Weary
Patrice Dickerson
Interim Dean
Diversity Director
Weary.1@osu.edu
Dickerson.144@osu.edu
(614) 292-7689
(614) 247-4461
Michael Bourke
Tammy Parker
Assistant to the Dean
Director of Development
Bourke.8@osu.edu
Parker.465@osu.edu
(614) 292-7689
(614) 688-5660
Gene Mumy
Megan Koester
Associate Dean
Director of Development
Mumy.1@osu.edu
Koester.35@osu.edu
(614) 292-0482
(614) 688-6359
Pamela Paxton
Elizabeth Tarpy Alcalde
Associate Dean
Director of Communications & Alumni Relations
Paxton.36@osu.edu
Alcalde.1@osu.edu
(614) 688-3167
(614) 247-4462
Deborah Haddad
Tom Conrad
Assistant Dean
Fiscal and Human Resource Officer
Haddad.2@osu.edu
Conrad.1@osu.edu
(614) 247-7991
(614) 292-5999
Social and Behavioral Sciences sbs.osu.edu