This month’s theme is the environment—one of the most urgent and consequential areas of social science inquiry, and the site of profound human-driven change. As we close out Earth Month, we highlight how social science research can illuminate the impact of new environmental realities on society.
SSRC’s Just Tech program invites applications from researchers, artists, and practitioners working at the intersection of technology and society for the 2027 Just Tech Fellowship. The Just Tech Fellowship provides a one-year unrestricted award of up to $60,000 to support research, creative practice, or community-engaged work. The fellowship period runs from January 2027 through December 2027. Applications are due June 28.
The SSRC is excited to announce the launch of the SSRC-JF Next Generation Japan Studies Development Program, a new initiative in partnership with and supported by the Japan Foundation. Designed to foster cross-cultural scholarly engagement and collaboration, the program opens new opportunities for students, faculty, and institutions to deepen Japan-related research and teaching in the United States.
This month’s theme is religion—an important aspect of national and international politics, a pervasive sociocultural force, and a critical area of study for social science. In this month’s edition, we highlight social science research that illuminates how religion intersects with nationalism, race, international policy, the public sphere, and more.
Since 2007, The Immanent Frame has served as a central node for vibrant analysis of the role of religion and secularism in public life. The Council is thrilled to share a refreshed version of the TIF website, marking a new chapter and enhancing the visibility of TIF’s scholarly work. In TIF’s redesign, we’ve worked to maintain TIF as a flagship scholarly forum, as well as one that brings relevant research in religious studies to new audiences.
The Better Urbanism, Infrastructure, and Land-Use Decisions (BUILD) Research Network program, seeks proposals from researchers to recruit and supervise students to conduct high-quality case studies during the summer of 2026 on state legislative sessions that passed bills intended to legalize or encourage housing production.
The SSRC’s first-ever research committee was formed in response to the restrictive immigration laws of the 1920s. A century later, as enforcement and detention expand and public scrutiny of federal immigration operations increases, this issue of Items & Issues gathers social science research on immigration and its connections to labor, race, foreign policy, surveillance, and more.
The SSRC is pleased to announce the signing of a new memorandum of understanding with the Fondation Maison de Sciences de l’Homme (FMSH). The MOU affirms our shared values, mutual recognition, and alignment as like-minded institutions committed to fostering the global production of knowledge and the dissemination of high-quality social science research. We look forward to increased collaboration and opportunities to promote research, learning, and access in the social sciences and humanities.
The Social Science Research Council is relaunching Items & Issues, a monthly newsletter featuring curated social science readings from across SSRC platforms and the wider field. Each issue resurfaces legacy pieces and new work, spotlights SSRC fellows, and highlights timely scholarship shaping public understanding of today’s most urgent questions.
The 2026 Charles E. Lindblom Memorial Fellowship supports an interdisciplinary social science project that evaluates the efficacy of an intervention to reduce inequality. One fellowship of $7,500 will be offered to a doctoral candidate in economics, political science, sociology, anthropology, history, and/or interdisciplinary social science at one of the member institutions for the College and University Fund for the Social Sciences. Applications are due March 10, 2026.
