Thursday, March 18
Population and immigration
Frank Bean, Chancellor’s Professor of sociology; Leo Chavez, anthropology professor; and Cynthia Feliciano, associate professor of sociology and Chicano/Latino studies, will discuss their research on immigration policy and racial and ethnic relations.

Thursday, April 29
California politics
Mark Petracca, political science chair; Matthew Beckmann, assistant professor of political science; Louis DeSipio, associate professor of political science and Chicano/Latino studies chair; and Tony Smith, assistant professor of political science, will talk about the state’s 2010 primary, general election and gubernatorial race.

Jeff Krichmar developed CARL, a robot with a biologically plausible nervous system controlled by a realistic model of the human brain. CARL is helping researchers discover how the brain is responsible for decision-making and attention. Krichmar will demonstrate how CARL is advancing robotic design and the understanding of human behavior.

Alyssa Brewer is a visual neuroscientist who studies brain functions related to eyesight through brain imaging and behavioral research. She designed left-right reversing prism goggles and uses fMRI technology to monitor changes in the brain as users adapt to a new perspective in which everything appears in reverse. Brewer’s findings may help people with visual disorders regain some of their lost sight.

UCI social scientists focus on a range of subjects with real-world implications: economics, transportation, family, social processes, the mind, international affairs, politics and culture. The school’s new speaker series is intended to show how social sciences research is making a difference in the areas of brain and behavior, population and immigration, and California politics.