Audrey Osler We know that Britain’s social scientists are world leaders in their fields, but why do we need them? Andif they weren’t around to analyse what’s going on, would you miss them? Audrey Osler suggests 10reasons why you need social science: Social scientists help us imagine alternative futures. Social science can open up debate…

Claude Steele An Introduction: At the Root of Identity I have a memory of the first time I realized I was black. It was when, at seven or eight, I was walkinghome from school with neighborhood kids on the last day of the school year—the whole summer in frontof us—and I learned that we “black”…

RJ Starr 1 The Hidden Structures of Human Experience Human beings live inside a continuous flow of psychological experience. Thoughts arise in response to events. Emotions shift as circumstances change. Memories return, sometimes with startling force. Expectations about the future form almost automatically. Interpretations appear so quickly that they often feel less like interpretations than…

In 1577, the king of Spain, Philip II, sent out a detailed questionnaire to gather information about his colonies in the Americas. Officials in regions like New Spain were asked to describe their lands, peoples, and communities. The responses, known as the Relaciones Geográficas, were written by local Spanish officials along with Indigenous scribes and…