Social Sciences Divisional Overview

The departments and centers of the Social Sciences Division study diverse and complex questions about societies and human behavior, including how human communities develop, how they are organized, and how they shape and are shaped by individuals. Social sciences faculty engage in both disciplinary and interdisciplinary teaching and collaborative research to address significant social problems in local, national, and global contexts. In 2014 the UW Social Sciences were ranked as the sixth best in the world by the National Taiwan University Ranking based on academic performance. The division hosts many centers that accelerate teaching and research, but three cross-division research centers provide crucial research support services and methodology instruction to faculty and students across the University of Washington.