The social sciences are groups of academic disciplines that study the human aspects of the world. They diverge from the arts and humanities in that the social sciences emphasize the use of the scientific method and rigorous standards of evidence in the study of humanity, including quantitative and qualitative methods.

The social sciences, in studying both inter-subjective and objective or structural aspects of society, are sometime referred to as soft sciences. This is in contrast to hard sciences, which may focus exclusively on objective aspects of nature.

Social scientists engage in research and theorize about both aggregate and individual behaviors.

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UC Davis News: General Interest

Beyond Hemp Sacks and Scratchy Socks
Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700
You have a hybrid in the garage, solar panels on the roof and drought-resistant native plants in your yard. But what's in your clothes closet? Join seven prominent sustainable fashion designers and consultants for a Sunday, May 18, symposium, "Designing with Conscience," sponsored by the UC Davis Design Museum. The symposium, intended for design students, design professionals, clothing retailers and environmentally conscious consumers, will explore major issues facing the emerging sustainable fashion movement -- including how much clothing we really need, how our desire for new things can be balanced with our concern for the environment, and how sustainability can be made attractive to the consumer. The symposium will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the Technocultural Studies Building on the UC Davis campus (just south of the Art Building). It is free and open to the public. Among other goals, green fashion designers seek to reduce the 2.5 billion pounds of post-consumer textile waste generated in the United States each year -- the equivalent of 10 pounds for every person -- and to find alternatives to commercial cotton, whose production consumes 25 percent of all pesticides used in this country. Some predict eco-fashion will go the way of organic foods and drinks, which, according to the Organic Trade Association, are now a $23 billion-a-year industry. Symposium speakers will be: Tierra Del Forte, former designer for Mudd Jeans in New York City and now owner of the Oakland, Calif.-based Del Forte Denim company, which features high-end organic cotton clothing. Elissa Loughman, environmental analyst at Patagonia in Ventura, Calif., which is pioneering the use of recycled polyester made from used soda bottles and has earned widespread praise for its Common Threads program, in which consumers turn in used clothes for recycling. Lynda Grose, of Muir Beach, Calif., a consultant for the Davis-based Sustainable Cotton Project, which promotes California-grown BASIC cotton, a crop that is farmed using techniques that reduce pesticide applications by as much as 73 percent. Grose has been quoted in articles about green chic in the New York Times, Newsweek and other major publications. Amanda Shi, a Los Angeles designer whose brand, Avita, relies on such innovative sustainable materials as recycled cashmere. Anna Blossom Cohen, former designer for Max Mara, Patrizia Pepe, Guess and Binicocchi in Florence, Italy, and now owner of the Portland, Ore.-based label Anna Cohen, which features sustainable fashion. Sasha Duerr, founding director of the San Francisco-based Permacouture Institute, a collaboration with the Trust for Conservation Innovation to encourage the exploration of fashion and textiles from the garden to the hanger. Tawny Holt, the Modesto-based owner of Armour sans Anguish, a line of garments constructed entirely from salvaged and recycled materials. Susan Taber Avila, professor of design at UC Davis, will moderate the discussion. For more information about the symposium or concurrent "Fashion Conscious" exhibit of sustainable garments, footwear and accessories at the UC Davis Design Museum, visit http://designmuseum.ucdavis.edu/.
UC Davis Experts: Sources on Food Shortages and Rising Food Prices
Thu, 08 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700
The United Nations recently warned that the world faces a global food shortage, brought on by high fuel costs, bad weather, an increasing allocation of farmland to biofuels rather than food crops, and rising demand from countries like China and India. The following UC Davis faculty members in the areas of agriculture, economics, engineering and transportation can discuss many of the issues related to this looming food crisis. For more information or for topics not listed here, contact Pat Bailey, News Service, (530) 752-9843, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu. Rice production systems Rice, biofuels and agricultural policies Improving global food availability Food and poverty in Mexico United Nations millennium report Crisis will spur innovation Sustainability via genetic engineering and organic farming Biomass in California's energy future Economics of transportation RICE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS -- Jim Hill, a UC Davis Cooperative Extension specialist, is an international authority on how rice crops are grown. His work focuses not only on increasing rice productivity but also on improving the environmental effects of rice-farming methods. For example, he and colleagues have conducted research and education programs that were instrumental in promoting irrigation systems designed to eliminate off-site flows of agricultural chemicals from rice fields. He recently spent three years at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, coordinating irrigated-rice research and outreach efforts throughout Asia's rice-production areas. Contact: Jim Hill, Agronomy and Range Science, (530) 752-3458, jehill@ucdavis.edu. RICE, BIOFUELS AND AGRICULTURAL POLICIES -- Daniel Sumner, director of the UC Davis-based University of California Agricultural Issues Center, specializes in national and international agricultural policy. Sumner, the Frank H. Buck Jr. Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics, can discuss international commodity markets and trade, rice economics, and biofuels policies. Contact: Daniel Sumner, Agricultural Issues Center, (530) 752-1668, dan@primal.ucdavis.edu. IMPROVING GLOBAL FOOD AVAILABILITY -- Montague (Tag) Demment is an agronomy professor and director of the UC Davis-based Global Livestock Collaborative Research Support Program. This global livestock program has done research that shows the value of animal-source foods for cognitive and physical development of children in developing countries. Ongoing research is directed at the role of animal-source foods in supplying the additional micronutrients and protein critical to the well-being of HIV/AIDS-infected mothers in Kenya. Demment also serves as associate vice president for international development for the National Association for Public Universities and Colleges, where he works on issues related to global food production. Contact: Montague (Tag) Demment, Plant Sciences, (530) 752-7757, mwdemment@ucdavis.edu. FOOD AND POVERTY IN MEXICO -- Agricultural and resource economics professor J. Edward Taylor studies migration and its impacts on Pacific Rim countries, specifically Mexico, Central America and Ecuador. He can discuss rising food prices and their impact on Mexico, as well as the reasons behind a transfer of rural poverty from Mexico into the U.S. His recent research has explored the draw of Mexican immigrants into California, where they have created pockets of poverty throughout the Central Valley. Taylor also is an expert on salary remittances as economic multipliers, how immigration promotes survival in native villages and other economic issues triggered by immigration. Contact: Ed Taylor, Agricultural and Resource Economics, (530) 752-0213, taylor@primal.ucdavis.edu. UNITED NATIONS MILLENNIUM REPORT -- UC Davis economist Wing Thye Woo, one of the world's leading experts on Asian economies, is the Asian economies adviser to the United Nations Millennium Development Reports, released in early 2005, about a plan to improve the living conditions for the world's poor. He has particularly deep knowledge of economic development in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Taiwan. He was special adviser to U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin in 1997-1998. Contact: Wing Thye Woo, Economics, (530) 752-3035, wtwoo@ucdavis.edu. CRISIS WILL SPUR INNOVATION -- Colin Carter, a professor of agricultural and resource economics and an authority on international trade, predicts that technological innovation and the adoption of improved techniques in agriculture will offset the 2008 food crisis. While American and European ethanol subsidies are wrong-headed and injurious to consumers at large, Carter argues that the artificial food crisis that these subsidies have spawned will spur innovation, including greater use of gene-splicing for the development of improved plant varieties. That, in turn, will boost farm incomes in developing countries and moderate the price of food worldwide. Contact: Colin Carter, (530) 752-6054, colin@primal.ucdavis.edu. SUSTAINABILITY VIA GENETIC ENGINEERING AND ORGANIC FARMING -- Pamela Ronald and Raoul Adamchak are co-authors of "Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics and the Future of Food," published in April 2008 by Oxford University Press. Together, they are exploring the juncture where genetic engineering and organic farming can meet to ensure environmentally sustainable food production. Ronald is a professor in UC Davis' Department of Plant Pathology. Her laboratory has genetically engineered rice for resistance to diseases and flooding. Her work has been published in Science, Nature and other scientific periodicals and has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Le Monde and on National Public Radio. She is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She also writes a blog at http://pamelaronald.blogspot.com/. Adamchak has grown organic crops for 20 years, part of that time as a partner in Full Belly Farm, a private 150-acre organic vegetable farm. He has inspected more than 100 organic farms as an inspector for California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) and served as a member and president of that group's board of directors. He is now coordinator of the Market Garden at UC Davis' Student Farm. Contacts: Pam Ronald, Plant Pathology, (530) 753-8003, pcronald@ucdavis.edu; Raoul Adamchak, Plant Sciences, (530) 752-7655, rwadamchak@ucdavis.edu. BIOMASS IN CALIFORNIA'S ENERGY FUTURE -- The UC Davis Energy Institute brings together campus faculty and other investigators on critical energy issues in California. Affiliated with the institute are a number of research centers and groups, including the Bioenergy Research Group. UC Davis also administers the state's California Biomass Collaborative, charged with identifying approaches for the sustainable management and development of biomass resources, and has prepared a development roadmap to guide state and industry actions. Energy Institute Director Bryan Jenkins, a professor of biological and agricultural engineering and past executive director of the California Biomass Collaborative, can discuss what biomass is (such as forest trimmings, rice straw, tree prunings, animal manures and urban waste). He also can talk about how biomass can be used to produce renewable fuels (ethanol, methanol, hydrogen, biodiesel, syngas, synfuels and biomethane) and basic materials for products (plastics, solvents, inks and construction materials), and how it can be sustainably employed to help meet state goals. Other UC Davis biomass experts include Steve Kaffka, a Cooperative Extension plant scientist and incoming executive director of the California Biomass Collaborative, and David Neale, a professor of plant sciences and co-chair of the Bioenergy Research Group. Kaffka can discuss agricultural sustainability and its extension to the production of bioenergy crops, and Neale can discuss plant biotechnology and new approaches to biomass production. Contacts: Bryan Jenkins, Biological and Agricultural Engineering, (530) 752-1422, bmjenkins@ucdavis.edu; Steve Kaffka, Plant Sciences, (530) 752-8108, srkaffka@ucdavis.edu; and David Neale, Plant Sciences, (530) 754-8431, dbneale@ucdavis.edu. ECONOMICS OF TRANSPORTATION -- UC Davis economist Christopher Knittel can talk about transportation economics, especially how the various markets relate to transportation function. A specialist in the economics of industrial organization, Knittel teaches about the various transportation industries: automobile, airline and oil. He also can explain the dynamics between demand for various autos and government regulation of the industry, and how consumers make decisions on cars with better mileage when gasoline prices skyrocket. Contact: Christopher Knittel, Economics, (530) 752-3344, crknittel@ucdavis.edu.
Proclamation, Event Honor Law Enforcement Officers
Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700
UC Davis will "acknowledge the heroic men and women who have dedicated their lives to safeguarding public safety" on Friday, May 9, with the proclamation of Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial Day and a small ceremony. Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial Day is held in conjunction with National Police Week, which recognizes the hazardous work, responsibilities and commitment of peace officers. The day commemorates those officers who have sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. "These special observances provide an opportunity for the community to acknowledge the heroic men and women who have dedicated their lives to safeguarding public safety," Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef said in the proclamation. Vanderhoef encouraged "all citizens to remember those law enforcement officers everywhere who gave their lives for the safety of their communities and those current officers who continue to dedicate themselves to making UC Davis a safer place to work, teach, learn, engage in research and provide patient care." The ceremony, to be held at 10 a.m. by the flagpole in front of the Fire/Police Building on the Davis campus, will include: the presentation of colors by the ROTC Color Guard at UC Davis; reading of the proclamation by Stan Nosek, vice chancellor for the Office of Administration; reading of the roll call/end of watch by Lt. Nader Oweis of the UC Davis Police Department; and rendering honor/Taps by the UC Band Bugler and UC Davis ROTC No UC Davis police officer has died in the line of duty, said Capt. Joyce Souza.

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