There is No Place for Racism in SSPS

In the Social Science and Policy Studies Department our ethos is egalitarian. Racism has no place in our department. Celebrating diversity and cultivating an environment of inclusiveness and compassion are the ideals that guide all of our work regarding our students, staff, faculty, and the content of our programs; it is the culture of our department. In SSPS, we must commit to be anti-racist. That means standing up for what is right. It means seeking to confront our own biases and deliberately work to reduce them in our scholarship, our teaching, and our engagement with students, colleagues, and anyone we meet. It means hiring more people of color and giving their perspectives a platform, as we have our own, to permeate our courses, programs, and our teaching and learning. To read more and find resources click here.

Social science is a key component to a wider and more insightful global perspective.

WPI is internationally renowned as a distinguished engineering school that produces innovative thinkers. Courses in the Social Science & Policy Studies (SSPS) department prepare students to think as social scientists who understand the wide-ranging influence technology has on an incredibly diverse and always-changing human world that is full of social challenges. Through our hands-on teaching and research methods, we strive to inspire the development of professionals who have a deep understanding of social impacts of technology and innovation.

The renowned, dedicated, and passionate faculty in our department offer students unique opportunities to make connections between societal concerns and technology through research and project work. Many of our students double major in a technical field and a social science field, finding each complementary to the other. We also offer a variety of minors that can be uniquely paired with any major.

In the spirit of the wider WPI philosophy, our faculty encourages students to pursue the direction that appeals to them most. In our research-intensive environment, we teach students to look at the bigger picture of how to design and implement public policies, the reasons why economic policies are not a one-size-fits-all solution, and how and why human beings interact with technology in varied ways, among other wide-ranging critical topics relating to society.