Recent surveys and growing student interest confirm the high quality of academic programs and faculty in the social sciences. UCSD programs in economics, political science, anthropology, and psychology, in spite of their relative youth, have all been ranked alongside comparable programs at some of the most prestigious and established academic institutions in the country. Virtually all of the programs in the Division of Social Sciences rank in the top twenty in national surveys.

Some of the university's most highly regarded programs are in fact highly collaborative, interdisciplinary centers of academic excellence. In the social sciences, these centers include:

• International and comparative studies, with substantial expertise in the regions of Latin America and Asia. With the Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies and the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, UCSD has become one of the top universities in the country for the study of critical public policy issues of mutual concern to the U.S. and Mexico - including drug, trade, and immigration policy, and the Latin American region. In addition, social scientists in the division and at UCSD's Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS) are involved in teaching and researching economic and political issues of great interest to the U.S. and its evolving relations with China, Japan and the countries of Southeast Asia.
  

• The Center for Comparative Immigration Studies is the first program in immigration studies to be launched on the West Coast. In an increasingly mobile society, immigration patterns have an enormous impact on contemporary societies. Nowhere is this more true than in California, which has witnessed very high levels of immigration, especially from Latin America and Asia, having wide-ranging social, economic, and political repercussions.

• CREATE, the umbrella organization for the university's numerous K-12 outreach programs, including the Preuss School, is housed in the Division of Social Sciences. From programs designed to help middle, junior high, and high school students prepare for college eligibility to outreach efforts aimed at stimulating student interest in science and improving health awareness, CREATE coordinates more than 100 student outreach and teacher education programs.

• Psychologists, cognitive scientists, linguists, and neuroscientists, working under the auspices of the DSS-based Center for Brain & Cognition, the Center for Research in Language, and the Human Development Program constitute a truly impressive array of expertise in the areas of brain development, language processing, and cognitive perception. Especially noteworthy are current research efforts on child development and neural disorders in children, brain functioning and human nature, neural impact of drugs and drug addiction, and new techniques in brain imaging.

Other areas of particular academic strength include: American politics, especially electoral politics, voter behavior, public opinion, and the study of political institutions such as the U.S. Senate and California state government; Anthropological archaeology, including important archaeological excavations and findings in Turkey, the Middle East, and Africa; Communication and the mass media, including research on the news media, the globalization of telecommunications, social impacts of media programming, and media culture; and economic forecasting, including the study of financial markets.

Noteworthy programs within the DSS include:

• The Economics Roundtable, a quarterly forum that brings together top economists, key policymakers, and financial wizards with members of the San Diego business community. Recent speakers at the Roundtable have included Lawrence Summers, former secretary of the U.S. Treasury, and the chair of the U.S Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke.

• The Social Sciences Supper Club was launched in early 1999 to provide an enjoyable venue for members of the San Diego community to hear award-winning scholars discuss some of the most important and thought-provoking issues facing our society today. This forum also provides UCSD with an opportunity to showcase interesting faculty research and expertise.