Like Fabio Rojas, I have always believed in a unified social science curriculum. Perhaps unlike Fabio Rojas, and many other graduate students, marriage and family were not strong factors influencing where he decided to attend. But, they were for me. Therefore, I have taken the liberty of posting about places I where I would love to study, from the humanties and the social sciences, for at least, one year – in no particular order:
- George Mason University Economics – Though I can “do math,” although not quite intuit math, I would endure being mathematically-hazed for a while in order to be afforded the opportunity to learn price theory under Walter E. Williams, learn field methods under Virgil Storr, take courses with Dan Klein, Peter Leeson, Peter Boettke, Richard Wagner, Bryan Caplan, and have the opportunity to obtain a certificate in computational social science.
- Cornell Sociology – I get “giddy” about the thought of studying under Richard Swedberg, Michael Macy, and Douglas Heckathorn.
- New School Sociology – Though there a few, if any, opportunities for graduate students to teach, there are few sociology programs that delve into the Socialist Calculation Debate in the Sociological Theory Sequence.
- Brandeis University – The History of Ideas Program
- Rochester Political Science – This program is somewhat math-heavy. But, doesn’t everyone get excited about studying in the former home of William H. Riker, and learning rational choice – sans price theory and applications.
- Tennessee History – Robert Norrell is one of the most erudite late 19th and early 20th century historians around.
- Indiana Sociology – Home of one of the top young American sociologists, conversant in field and quantitative methods, Fabio Rojas.
- Indiana Political Science – Home of Vincent and Elinor Ostrom, The Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, and The Tocqueville Program.
Where would you like to attend for a semester or two?
Brian A. Pitt
Pleased to see we (Indiana) made the list, twice!
It’s also a good place to work, keep that in mind when you hit the job market.
1. Thanks for the shout out. You made me blush!
2. I think I’d want to hang out and do computational social science at Irvine for a semester or two. Qualitatively, I second the New School. There are times when American sociology needs to break out of the middle range tradition, and the New School has a lot of cool people who do that.
3. Evolutionary social science? Maybe a semster at UNC Soc?
SUNY Stony Brook, for a class with Charles Taber on experimental political psychology.