Newsletter: December 2023
Letter from the Director
Since its founding in 1999, CSSS has been devoted to the interface of statistics and the social sciences. Our interdisciplinary weekly seminars feature local and visiting scholars and are open to anyone interested in joining - online or in-person. Close to 300 social science and statistics doctoral students have completed CSSS' PhD tracks. Our free, one-week intensive Math Camp is designed to prepare social science graduate students for advanced courses in statistical methodology, and our Blalock Fellowship supports incoming PhD candidates with a passion for cutting-edge quantitative social science research.
CSSS also provides free statistical consulting to current UW faculty, staff, and students working on social science problems. The Center offers research support, including Seed Grants and Travel Awards, for aligned research work.
Looking back, I'm inspired by the collaboration and learning that CSSS has supported - and it's a joy to see what our alumni have gone on to do!
Looking ahead, we're excited to be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Center's founding with a two-day conference this coming May 16-17, 2024. I invite you to stay connected with CSSS and explore how we might support your research and learning.
Elena Erosheva
Director, Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences
Alumni Spotlights: Where are they now?
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Leontine Alkema: Bridging statistics and global health.
Now a Professor of Biostatistics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health & Health Sciences, hear about Leontine's training in statistics, to working in global child, maternal, and reproductive health. -
Junfeng Jiao: Transforming cities with technology.
Now an Associate Professor in the Community and Regional Planning Program at The University of Texas at Austin, ready what Junfeng enjoyed most about UW and how CSSS training shaped his career -
Siobhán Mattison: Demystifying things deemed paradoxical.
As Director of the Human Family and Evolutionary Demography Lab and Associate Professor of Anthropology at The University of New Mexico, Siobhán shares her current research, and gives advice for academia and life balance.
Center Highlights
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New CSSS core faculty Sasha Johfre researches unquestioned biases.
Sasha’s research interrogates things we take for granted, investigates how they come to be, and considers their impact on different kinds of people. From the social aspects of age to reference categories in statistics, she unpacks common assumptions and develops better analytical tools. -
Pandemic policies: CSSS group investigates state’s COVID outcomes.
How can we disentangle the effects of partisanship, demography, and state policies on pandemic outcomes? Hear how CSSS core faculty member Chris Adolph and his team explored these questions in a series of influential, collaborative papers.
Keep in touch!
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If you have news about an alumni or friend of the Center that you would like to share, reach out to us at csss@uw.edu.
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Gifts to the CSSS discretionary fund provide unrestricted support that can be directed where it’s needed more.
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For more frequent updates on events, news, and opportunities through CSSS, sign up for our weekly seminar mailing list.
Read a web version of the newsletter HERE.