The Center for Innovation in Social Science celebrated its first anniversary and moved into its new office space on September 1, 2022.  Please join CISS staff, faculty, and interns in a two-day celebration of our first anniversary!  Events will take place on Tuesday September 27 and Thursday September 29 on the 5th floor of 704 Commonwealth Ave. We will feature informational sessions, a meet and greet with our new Center grants administrator Chris Chiofolo, exciting research presentations by our faculty, graduate student, and undergraduate funding recipients, and a networking reception. Come join us for food and friendly conversation, and a toast to the many offices and leaders at BU and the College of Arts & Sciences who made the Center possible. Please RSVP for the events  here by September 24.  Continue reading to learn more about the two-day agenda.

Detailed Agenda

Tuesday September 27, 2022

Noon to 1 pm. Center Information Session

Learn about who we are, what we do, and how you can get involved in Center programs or enlist Center supports. Meet Center director Deborah Carr (CAS/Sociology), administrator Diána Hughes, and communications intern Lily Belisle (CAS ’25). Tour our space and meet our visiting scholars and postdoctoral fellows.

1 pm to 2 pm. Undergraduate Research Showcase

Hear research presentations from some of our 2021-22 undergraduate interns, including Nikki Huang (CAS ’23) and Will Regan (CAS ’23), with mentor Jonathan Mijs (CAS/Sociology) and Kate Sandage (CAS 23), mentored by Wesley Wildman (STH/Theology and CDS). Celebrate the announcement of the 2022-23 cohort of interns and their mentors.

2 pm to 3 pm. Grants 101

Meet our new grants administrator Christopher (Chris) Chiofolo. Chris brings a decade of experience as a grants administrator, and joins us from Tufts University. He will discuss how CISS and Sponsored Programs can support seasoned and new investigators alike in their pursuit of foundation and federal grants.

Thursday September 29, 2022

Noon to 1 pm. Faculty Pilot Grant Recipient Presentation

Professors Daryl Ireland (STH) and Eugenio Menegon (CAS/History) will present on the China Historical Christian Database (CHCD), which quantifies and visualizes the place of Christianity in modern China.

1 to 2:30 pm. Lightning Research Talks

Graduate student recipients of Summer ’22 mini-grants will share their latest research findings. Presenters include:

• Zoe Albert (Biological Anthropology): What The Health?!  Quantifying Health via the Microbiome in Bornean Orangutans (Pongo Pygmaeus) Living in Forest Areas with Different Levels of Degradation
• Elinore Avni (Sociology): Cross-National Differences in Attitudes Towards Governmental Support for Elder and Child Care
• Elif Birced (Sociology): Workers or Students?: How Do Graduate Students Make Sense of Their Labor
• Amirah Fadhlin (Anthropology): Queer Activism, Quasi Visibility: Negotiation of Space, Bodies, and Islamist Politics among LGBTQ Youth in Yogyakarta, Indonesia
• Trevor Lamb (Anthropology): Looking for Plants in Kitchen Disasters: Creating a North Pacific Reference Herbarium to Identify Ancient Plant Foods
• Meghann Lucy (Sociology): Divestment as Investment: ‘Kondo-ing’ Selves in an Era of Overaccumulation
• Thao Nguyen (Sociology): Playing Cat-and-Mouse with a Platform: Attention Games under Algorithmic Management in the Creator Economy
• Ya-Ching Huang (Sociology): Masking Up: How Changes in Market Supply, Evolving Scientific Knowledge, and Public Health Policies Shape the Use of Masks in the Times of COVID-19

2:30 to 4:30 pm. Networking Reception

Meet and mingle with BU social science faculty and students, CISS affiliates, research interns, and staff. Join us for a 3 pm toast of gratitude to the many programs and administrators at BU who made the Center a reality.

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