Faculty Research Groups

Joining a faculty research group is an effective way to get feedback on your research and helps you develop a network of like-minded scholars across disciplines. UMass and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences has many dynamic, active working groups that are open to new members:

Current Faculty Research Groups

UnitResearch Working Group TitleBrief Description of Group ActivitiesMeeting times/LocationCoordinator
SociologyOrgnetBrownbag for working papers on organizations and networksTypically biweekly / Machmer 32Anthony Paik
SociologyCluster BrownbagsWorking papers across subfieldsWeeklyJoya Misra & Anthony Paik 
Legal StudiesFive College Legal Studies SeminarResearch presentations (usually working papers)Typically monthlyPaul Collins 
CommunicationTechnology, Society and MediaInformation pending until coordinators selectedInformation pending until coordinators selectedPoint people are elected in fall
CommunicationMedia EffectsInformation pending until coordinators selectedInformation pending until coordinators selectedPoint people are elected in fall
EconomicsGender and Economics Working GroupResearch discussions of articles and members' work in progress, as well as presentations of work in progressCrotty Hall/Gordon Hall; Meeting time decided by mutual agreementNancy Folbre 
EconomicsCritical Agrarian Studies and Political Economy Working GroupResearch discussions of articles and members' work in progress, as well as presentations of work in progressCrotty Hall/Gordon Hall; Meeting time decided by mutual agreementMwangi Wa Githinji
EconomicsAnalytical Political Economy Working GroupResearch discussions of articles and members' work in progress, as well as presentations of work in progressCrotty Hall/Gordon Hall; Meeting time decided by mutual agreementPeter Skott  & Arslan Razmi
EconomicsEnvironmental Working GroupResearch discussions of articles and members' work in progress, as well as presentations of work in progressCrotty Hall/Gordon Hall; Meeting time decided by mutual agreementJames Boyce & Michael Ash
EconomicsPolitical Economy WorkshopPaper presentation series209, Crotty Hall, Tuesday 4 PM, dates listed on dept websiteDavid Kotz
EconomicsEconomic Theory WorkshopPaper presentation series209, Crotty Hall, Monday 4 PM, dates listed on dept websiteDonald Katzner
EconomicsEconomic History and Economic Development WorkshopPaper presentation series209, Crotty Hall, Wednesday 4 PM, dates listed on dept websitePriyanka Srivastava
EconomicsApplied Micro WorkshopPaper presentation series209, Crotty Hall, Wednesday 4 PM, dates listed on dept websiteIna Ganguli
ISSRSustainability and Social Science Research working groupCross college discussion of work and potential collaboration, building scholarly community, seed funding for external proposalstba--can sign up through Elisa Martinez to be added to email list, many events listed on websiteAnita Milman & Elisa Martinez 
Political SciencePolitical Economy Working Group (PEWG)Research discussions of work in progress by faculty, grad students and outside visitors working in political economyMonthly, usually in Machmer E23Kevin Young & Regine Spector 
Public PolicySPP Annual Faculty ColloquiumMonthly talks by UMass and 5-Collge faculty on policy-related research and works-in-progress. Designed to stimulate scholarly collaborations among policy-oriented faculty across campus.First Monday of every month during academic year, 12:15-1:15 pm in Thompson 620.Charlie Schweik & Al Roberts 
Public PolicyRacial Justice Working GroupCross-department discussion growing out of CRJUA grant planning processTBA for AY18Fred Rose
Public PolicyUMass AirCross-campus collaboration around the use and policy implications of unmanned aerial systems (UASs)TBA for AY18Charlie Schweik
Resource EconomicsExperimental Economics Reading Group (EERG)The group meets weekly to read and discuss papers in experimental economics. Papers are chosen by group members, and so topics vary by semester and interest. The meeting is open to other disciplines interested in experimental methods and to members of the 5-CollegesTBA for AY18, but typically Fridays 2-3PMAngela de Oliveira or John Spraggon
Resource Economics

Industrial Organization Reading Group

Presentations and discussions of research papers and members' works in progress.Fridays 12:00-1:15, 303 Stockbridge HallEmily Wang
Regional Planning (LARP)Climate & Infrastructure: Sustainable Adaptive Gradients reading groupRead and discuss current articles and public policy related to resilience and climate adaptationTBA for AY 18Elisabeth Hamin
Institute for Diversity Sciences (cross departmental)Climate & Infrastructure: Sustainable Adaptive Gradients reading groupFaculty interested in multidisciplinary collaborations in health disparities present their work, receive feedback, comment on others, and self-form into multidisciplinary research teams. Teams may apply for seed grants given out by the Institute to fund small projects that can be leveraged into future bigger external grants.Monthly meetings in AY 2017-18. Will be scheduled in late August. If interested please contact organizersBuju Dasgupta and cc. Tori Lundblad
Legal Studies/Political ScienceFive College Faculty Seminar in Migration StudiesThe purpose of the seminar is to bring together Five Colleges faculty working on issues of migration and citizenship, to promote teaching and research in the field, and to encourage constructive exchanges between faculty and local community groups active in defending the rights of vulnerable migrants. During the 2017-18 academic year, the seminar aims to organize a reading group on critical migration studies scholarship, to host one or two invited speakers, and to sponsor one colloquium to the discussion of Seminar participants’ work.TBA for AY 18Leila Kawar or Dávid Hernandez