Policy & Research Legislative Fellows Program Info Session

This session will provide more information regarding the Policy and Research Legislative Fellows Program run by the Center for Social and Behavioral Science. This non-partisan initiative, supported by the Office of the Chancellor-Public Engagement, matches graduate students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) with a state legislator representing Champaign-Urbana or a neighboring district.

QRI Storytelling Series – Dr. Melissa Ocepek

This session titled, There are Two Things I Love: Food and Talking, Mostly about Food, explored how an extroverted foodie (Dr. Ocepek) became a qualitative researcher working to understand the very complicated everyday information world of food. Dr. Ocepek provided an in-depth discussion of her approaches to qualitative research rooted in institutional ethnography and highlighted some of her favorite methods, including photo voice.

Professional Development Panel for Assistant Professors

This in-person event held at Levis Faculty Center on November 4th, offered assistant professors the opportunity to learn from experienced Illinois faculty in various disciplines on how to apply for and secure external funding. Four panelists had 10-15 minutes each to respond to a set of pre-determined questions. After all the panelist presentations, participants had the opportunity to ask questions and engage in a moderated Q&A. 

QRI Storytelling Series – Dr. Nikolai Alvarado

On Tuesday, October 18th, the Center for Social and Behavioral Science’s Qualitative Research Initiative (QRI) hosted the first session of the Storytelling Series featuring Dr. Nikolai Alvarado, Assistant Professor in Geography.

This session explored the Dr. Alvarado’s journey to his career as a geographer specializing in urban politics, environmental racism, and South-South migration. Dr. Alvarado also provided an in-depth discussion of his novel approach to using urban infrastructure as a method in migration research.

The Future of Work Symposium

The relevance of “The Future of Work” has been heightened by the global pandemic and rising inequalities. Automation. A growing skill gap. Work-life balance. The great resignation. Artificial intelligence in the workplace. Remote and hybrid work. Reskilling. Mental health. Workforce diversity. Employee well-being. These and other related topics will be at the forefront of the future of work for the years to come.

Social Network Analysis Workshop

In this virtual methods workshop hosted by the Center for Social & Behavioral Science, Prof. James Moody, Director of the Duke Network Analysis Center, reviewed the foundations of network analysis starting from data collection through modeling outcomes. Examples demonstrated within the R computing language with example code provided for those that were interested.

Assistant Professor Gathering

To support innovative social and behavioral science from diverse disciplines CSBS hosted this in person event held at the I Hotel and Conference Center in Champaign, Illinois. This event was an opportunity for Assistant Professors from different backgrounds to connect with one another and promote research collaborations among our social and behavioral science faculty.

Broader Impacts Workshop

In this virtual workshop, National Science Foundation’s Dr. Antoinette WinklerPrins, Acting Deputy Assistant Director of the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences, discusses NSF’s broader impacts approach and evaluation criteria for the social and behavioral sciences; the CSBS team discusses strategies for designing, implementing, and evaluating broader impacts activities; and social and behavioral scientists across campus shared their experiences with and insights into broader impacts activities.