FEATURE
College of Social Sciences
By Julia Halprin Jackson
Stories that highlight experiential learning
The College of Social Sciences prepares students for work and life in Silicon Valley and a rapidly changing world. Faculty members offer hands-on experiences for students in forensic science, anthropology, economics, environmental studies and much more.
Learning From the Scene of the Crime
Content warning: This story mentions criminal activity, including homicide, and addresses end of life care.
This year, San José State University celebrates the 20th anniversary of its forensic science program within the Department of Justice Studies. Faculty members like Assistant Professor Shawna Bolton and Lecturer Mary Juno are among those leading the next generation of crime scene investigators and forensic scientists.
On the second floor of San José State University’s Health Building, a group of students in white lab coats and safety goggles analyze protein from porcine cartilage samples in one corner of the room while Dan Arashiro, ’24 Forensic Chemistry, assesses evidence provided from the Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention on his laptop. When Assistant Professor of Forensic Science Shawna Bolton walks in the room, she passes three lifelike mannequins perched behind lab equipment, their rubbery eyes and matted hair telling stories that her students must someday parse.
Video by Jim Gensheimer.
Just Around the Creek Bend
Climate Action and Leadership, a yearlong course taught by experts in environmental studies, communication studies and meteorology and climate science, offers Spartans the chance to explore the social and cultural impact of climate change in their own backyard.
One mile south of San José State, Selma Olinder Park gives way to Coyote Creek, a river spanning the 64 miles between Henry Coe State Park in Morgan Hill to the northern tip of Milpitas. The watershed is rich with biodiversity, home to steelhead salmon, badgers, turkey vultures, hawks, hummingbirds, a variety of Valley oaks, Fremont cottonwoods, wild berries, and, on a sunny Tuesday in November, 35 SJSU students enrolled in a Climate Action and Leadership class.
Photo by Robert C. Bain.
Photo by David Schmitz.
Anthropology From the Ground Up
The Culture, Economy and Environment Lab at San José State offers Spartans of any major the chance to develop social science research skills using real data, offering undergraduates and graduate students alike a type of hands-on experience that can be applied to a number of different careers.
Melissa Beresford grew up in an unincorporated area of San Luis Obispo County, the abundant stretch of California’s Central Coast encompassing the vineyards of Paso Robles, the rocky shores of the Pacific Ocean and the opulence of Hearst Castle. Her family shared a water well with the neighbors, effectively creating their own community infrastructure and economy.
Hands-On Economics
How can simulated games help students learn economics?
You wouldn’t know it, but there’s a classroom at San José State where students can earn money creating, testing and disproving economic theories, thanks to the Spartan Experimental Economics Lab (SEEL). SEEL is the brainchild of San José State Associate Professors of Economics Justin Rietz, ’12 MA Economics, and Aidin Hajikhameneh. Established in 2019, SEEL offers a space where faculty members, graduate students and undergraduates can program, design, facilitate and participate in experimental economics studies on any of the lab’s 18 desktop computers.
AI image illustrated by Arianna Rodriguez, '24 Graphic Design.
Top photo: Robert C. Bain.
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