Welcome to HSS
- Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Charles T. "Chip" Sebens
When students start learning philosophy, they often feel like the scenarios that philosophers discuss are outlandish and not worth taking seriously. An analysis of science fiction allows students to put these concerns aside and ultimately realize that philosophy is relevant to their lives and to other fields of academic inquiry."
- Professor of Economics
Luciano Pomatto
I am interested in how people think, or should think, in situations of uncertainty. This line of research tackles a basic problem: What are the consequences of accepting probability as a language for making predictions about the future?"
- Professor of Political Science
Alexander V. Hirsch
There are other institutions that are wonderful at teaching and wonderful at research. But at Caltech, it seems to me that to be wonderful at teaching means that you teach the students what the frontier of research is—that teaching and research are not different things."
- Professor of English and Visual Culture
Catherine Jurca
We live in a world of images and screens, and visual literacy is an important part of being an educated, thoughtful person in the world."
- Richard N. Merkin Professor of Mathematical Finance; Director, Ronald and Maxine Linde Institute of Economic and Management Sciences
Jakša Cvitanić
We create an environment in which interdisciplinary, original research involving the social sciences and quantitative fields can thrive. It boils down to two things, which are education and research. There are not many places like Caltech where students can learn from experts from so many different fields in a natural way."
- William D. Hacker Professor of Economics and Political Science
Charles R. Plott
Caltech’s continuing focus on the formalization, integration, and experimental testing of basic principles of economics and political science creates challenges, intellectual excitement, and an integrated body of science that continues to grow and find important applications that will span many decades."
- Eli and Edythe Broad Professor of English
Cindy Weinstein
Caltech is a wonderful place to pursue original research; it lets your interests determine the work you do. There is both a tremendous amount of freedom and an extremely high level of expectation, and these two combine to create a terrific intellectual environment that helps scholars generate their best work."
- Professor of Economics
Marina Agranov
There are good reasons to do experiments. Applying theories in the real world before testing them, and ruining someone’s real life, seems too high a cost."
- Rea A. and Lela G. Axline Professor of Business Economics and History
Philip T. Hoffman
Caltech is the one place where you really can do interdisciplinary work, whether you are a professor or a student. You never stop learning—or advancing the frontiers of knowledge."
- Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience; Allen V. C. Davis and Lenabelle Davis Leadership Chair, Caltech Brain Imaging Center; Director, Caltech Brain Imaging Center
Dean Mobbs
Caltech allows researchers to be risky. Risk is an important part of science. It's where discovery occurs."
- PhD '20, Social Sciences
Alejandro Robinson-Cortés
Caltech is a unique place. Characterized by its focus on theoretical reasoning and rigorous methods. And located at the heart of the lovely and multicultural San Gabriel Valley. It’s a tough combination to beat."
- Social and Decision Neuroscience Graduate Student
Sneha Reddy Aenugu
The drive to understand the nature of intelligence is what brought me to Caltech. Only with a vision of merging the disciplines of humanities, neuroscience, and AI, will we be able to build and deploy artificial intelligence in a safe and sustainable manner—and that happens to be my vision."
- PhD '18, Social Sciences
Lucas Núñez
The mix and interactions between multiple social science disciplines at HSS make it a uniquely enriching place to study."
- Social Sciences Graduate Student
Claudia Kann
I originally came to Caltech for mechanical engineering before realizing that that’s not where my passion lay. I’m really excited to use what I already know to new and exciting problems within the social sciences."
- Social Sciences Graduate Student
Peter Doe
After speaking with one of the students in the social sciences PhD program, I saw Caltech as a place where the faculty would invest in me as a student, rather than try to get things out of me."
- Social and Decision Neuroscience Graduate Student
Qianying Wu
Here in HSS, I'm able to apply multidisciplinary approaches to my research—to understand typical and atypical human social behaviors with functional neuroimaging, and to characterize those behaviors using computational models."
- Social Sciences Graduate Student
Ke Shi
I came to Caltech because I was drawn to its unique and rigorous social sciences program. I was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful campus and the tight-knit community after I arrived."
- Social Sciences Graduate Student
Shunto Kobayashi
Because the number of graduate students is relatively small, we all know each other well. I think this encourages us to discuss research frequently and support each other's endeavors."
- Ahmanson Postdoctoral Instructor in History of Biology
Charles A. Kollmer
I enjoy working with Caltech undergraduates to deepen their engagement with the history of science. Doing this at Caltech is doubly exciting because Caltech itself has been the site of so much fascinating research in the life sciences."
- Howard E. and Susanne C. Jessen Postdoctoral Instructor in Philosophy of Physics (2019–22)
Mario Hubert
Caltech not only nourishes curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking among students and faculty but also a community of solidarity and humility."
- Fletcher Jones Foundation Postdoctoral Instructor in Contemporary Literature (2020–21)
Julia Hori
I think coming from a different discipline or background, the questions that emerge are just different. Also, perhaps the students are a little bit less afraid to ask certain grounding questions that a student with a major in English might not ask. And these questions actually help to facilitate the conversation tremendously."
- Linde Institute Postdoctoral Instructor in Economics
Fedor Sandomirskiy
HSS is home to exceptional talents, distinct methods, and diverse tastes. This dissimilarity, along with an openness to ideas of others, makes HSS unique. Witnessing the magic of interdisciplinary work in action and, moreover, being a part of it is amazing."
- Linde Postdoctoral Scholar in Economic and Management Sciences (2017–19)
Teddy Mekonnen
We economic theorists come up with problems that are real and relevant, but some of our solutions are impractical, with implicit assumptions of infinite time, resources, or data. When you use computer science to approach economic questions, such as matching problems related to apps for ride-sharing or dating, those assumptions matter."
- Linde Postdoctoral Scholar in Economics (2020–21)
Joseph Root
The faculty and the research environment at Caltech are unique. It’s a place where people tackle the most challenging problems, crossing the traditional boundaries between disciplines to do so."
- Jessen Postdoctoral Instructor in the Humanities (2017–19)
Melanie Masterton Sherazi
I have found that the humanities are integrated seamlessly into Caltech’s curriculum. My students have expanded my own ideas about literature with their original interpretations, driven by their interests and areas of expertise."
- Senior Postdoctoral Scholar Research Associate in Neuroscience
Jeffrey A. Cockburn
Science and education isn't about filling buckets, it's about lighting fires. If you bring the gasoline, HSS will hand you the match."
- Postdoctoral Scholar Research Associate in Affective Neuroscience
Sarah M. Tashjian
Caltech is unique because it fosters creativity. Being at Caltech allows me to push the boundaries of my research and to tackle questions of how the human brain functions from new angles."
- Caltech-Huntington Humanities Collaborations Postdoctoral Instructor and Anne Rothenberg Postdoctoral Instructor in English (2020–22)
Jonathan Koch
I came to Caltech because of the wonderful opportunity to be part of the Caltech-Huntington Humanities Collaborations. Between these two institutions, I have access to the very best resources to develop as a scholar and teacher in early modern literature and history."