News | Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences

09/12/2014

New Master of Student Houses Appointed

Kathy Svitil

Following Caltech tradition, the MOSH is a professorial faculty member who focuses on promoting a positive overall experience for Caltech undergraduates and acts as a liaison between students and faculty.

07/24/2014

New Division Chair for HSS

Jessica Stoller-Conrad

Jean-Laurent Rosenthal, the Rea A. and Lela G. Axline Professor of Business Economics, has been named the new chair of the Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences.

07/07/2014

Neuroeconomists Confirm Warren Buffett's Wisdom

Kimm Fesenmaier

Investment magnate Warren Buffett has famously suggested that investors should try to "be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful." That turns out to be excellent advice, according to the results of a new study.

07/01/2014

Frederick B. Thompson

Douglas Smith

Frederick Burtis Thompson, professor of applied philosophy and computer science, emeritus, passed away on May 27, 2014. The research that Thompson began in the 1960s helped pave the way for today's "expert systems" such as IBM's supercomputer Jeopardy! champ Watson and the interactive databases used in the medical profession. His work provided quick and easy access to the information stored in such systems by teaching the computer to understand human language, rather than forcing the casual user to learn a programming language.

Caltech Professor of Applied Science and Philosophy Frederick B. Thompson

06/30/2014

Sorting Out Emotions

Katie Neith

Building on previous studies targeting the amygdala, a team of researchers has found that some brain cells recognize emotions based on the viewer's preconceptions rather than the true emotion being expressed.

06/05/2014

Surprising Results from Game Theory Studies

Cynthia Eller

Researchers at Caltech found that chimps at the Kyoto University Primate Research Institute consistently outperform humans in simple contests drawn from game theory.

05/15/2014

Ditch Day? It’s Today, Frosh!

Andrew Allan

During this annual spring rite seniors ditch their classes and vanish from campus, leaving behind complex, carefully planned out puzzles and challenges—known as “stacks”—designed to occupy the underclass students and prevent them from wreaking havoc on the seniors’ rooms.

04/28/2014

An Autism Connection

Katie Neith

Building on their prior work, a team of neuroscientists at Caltech now report that rare patients who are missing connections between the left and right sides of their brain show a strikingly high incidence of autism.

04/11/2014

Caltech to Host the Society of Exact Philosophy Annual Meeting

Caltech's Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences will host the 42nd annual meeting of the ...

04/07/2014

An Archimedes Revival in Pasadena

Cynthia Eller

It is a banner spring in Pasadena for the classical Greek mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse. Exhibits at Caltech and the Huntington Library highlight the work of Archimedes, as it has made its way into the modern era. Lectures and conferences will complement the exhibits, helping viewers understand the historical and scientific significance of ancient Greek mathematics to later eras.

News Subscribe via RSS