Rice School of Social Sciences is an academic school on the

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a Private university, private research university in Houston, Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranke ...

campus. It serves the largest number of undergraduates, with over a third of Rice undergraduates choosing a major in the social sciences.Rice University School of Social Sciences
It is composed of seven departments:

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

, and

sport management Sport management is the field of business dealing with sports and recreation. Sports management involves any combination of skills that correspond with planning, organizing, directing, controlling, budgeting, leading, or evaluating of any organiz ...

. At the graduate level, five of the seven departments have Ph.D. programs. Each of these programs concentrates on selected areas for education and research. The School of Social Sciences also offers professional master’s programs in Energy Economics, Human Factors & Human Computer Interaction, Global Affairs, Industrial & Organizational Psychology, and Social Policy Evaluation. Rachel Tolbert Kimbro currently serves as the Dean of Social Sciences. Former deans include Susan McIntosh (interim, 2019-2021), Antonio Merlo (2016-2019),

Lyn Ragsdale Lyn Ragsdale was an American political scientist. She was the Radoslav A. Tsanoff professor of public affairs, professor of political science, and Dean of Social Sciences at Rice University. She specialized in the American presidency, the Unite ...

(2007-2016), Robert Stein (1996-2007), James Pomerantz (1988-1996), and Joseph Cooper (1979-1988).

Facilities

The School of Social Sciences opened its new headquarters, Kraft Hall, in February 2020, in conjunction with its 40th anniversary. The 78,000 square-foot Patricia Lipoma Kraft and Jonathan A. Kraft Hall for Social Sciences is named for Patti and Jonathan Kraft, the lead donors for the project. It houses nearly 250 faculty, staff, and graduate students and includes a large Dean’s Suite and meeting facilities. The Economics and Sociology Departments, and research institutes including the Kinder Institute for Urban Research; the Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC); the Texas Policy Lab; Religion and Public Life program and the Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance are all housed in the new building. The School is fundraising now to build a second building. The School of Social Sciences also occupies other buildings on campus include Sewall Hall, Herzstein Hall, Herring Hall, Tudor Field House, and the Biosciences Research Collaborative (BRC).

References

{{Authority control Rice University