Welcome to CLASS

The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) is the heart of the University, dedicated to spurring intellectual curiosity, creativity, and transformative education. Encompassing humanities, social sciences, and health sciences, CLASS is truly a mosaic of disciplines that broaden perspectives, inspire potential, and advance possibilities yet unimagined.

Latest News

News Archives

Helping Families Living in Unstable Housing
Fort Bend County commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding between CMAS and the Fort Bend County Social Services Division to explore how the lack of permanent housing is affecting academic outcomes and the correlation with food insecurity and behavioral outcomes such as substance abuse, poor nutrition and weight conditions. Photo credit: Pexels-Cottonbro
How Latinx Students Navigated Challenges of COVID-19
CMAS researchers surveyed 588 Latinx undergraduate students at UH who reported experiencing mental health issues, food insecurity, limited access to technology, lack of financial support and loss of loved ones from the coronavirus. Despite the difficult times, more than half were confident in their capacities to bounce back or recover. Photo credit: Getty Images
In Your Face: Children’s Expressions Tell the Story of Poor Sleep
When Shakespeare called sleep “nature’s soft nurse,” he was definitely onto something. Centuries later researchers have found that inadequate sleep in children affects their emotional functioning in ways that may predict longer-term social problems. A new study, published in Affective Science by University of Houston professor of psychology Candice Alfano, examined whether changes in children’s facial expressions of emotion after sleep restriction predict social problems concurrently and/or over time.
COVID-19 Conversations: A Deeper Dive into the Impact of COVID-19 on Minority Youth
Findings from the first study to directly examine the experiences and perspectives of children and young adolescents from racial and ethnic minority groups in the U.S. during the pandemic reveal that staying at home had a tremendous impact on the mental health and well-being of Hispanic/Latinx youth.
UH Joins National Initiative to Advance Latino Humanities Studies
The University of Houston is part of a new consortium of Tier One Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) that has received a $5 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to enhance teaching, research, cultural programming and archives in the area of Latino humanities studies as well as prepare rising Latino researchers and scholars for faculty positions in humanities studies.
Holding Algorithms Responsible in Public Policy
Whether we realize it or not, algorithms – sequences of instructions that tell computers how to perform tasks – are part of our everyday lives. In public policy, data collected by algorithms is used to help policymakers make decisions related to criminal justice, public education, the allocation of public resources and national defense strategy. But algorithms in public policy that can influence a person’s prison sentence, for example, can be biased, lack transparency and cause mistrust in the system, according to researchers. So, how can these algorithms be held accountable?
CLASS ALL-STARS AT A GLANCE - MARCH 2020 - AUGUST 2021
The last 16 months have been challenging, introducing a worldwide pandemic, bitter racial injustice, political unrest and catastrophic natural events, but the University of Houston College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) has not stood still. In fact, in that time of chaos and upheaval, a Pulitzer Prize was garnered, our youngest master’s graduate earned her degree, two ROTC cadets marched directly into the United States Space Force, the Fulbright Award was claimed and millions of dollars in coveted fellowships, grants and scholarships were taken home.
Sociology's Anderson, CEE's Rifai Pairing For Research Into Houston Flood Response
Professors from the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, and the Cullen College of Engineering, have received a National Science Foundation grant for their multi-faceted proposal to study how the community reacts to flood mitigation strategies.
UH Literary "Genius" Cristina Rivera Garza Wins José Donoso Ibero-American Literature Award 2021
Distinguished Professor in Hispanic Studies Cristina Rivera Garza, revered as one of the most eminent and prolific Mexican fiction writers of her generation, has won the José Donoso Ibero-American Prize for Letters 2021. This distinction recognizes the trajectory and career of Spanish and Portuguese-speaking writers and has been awarded since 2001 by the University of Talca (Santiago, Chile) in memory of Chilean author and journalist José Donoso.
From Humble Beginnings, Gerald Horne Wins American Book Award for Exploring History of Marginalization
Born in a Jim Crow hospital. Attended racially segregated “apartheid schools.” Grew up in the Mill Creek Valley neighborhood of St. Louis, an area similar to Tulsa’s Black Wall Street and home to several prominent Black businesses that were erased forever by racially motivated construction projects. Each of these circumstances shaped the unique prism through which Moores Professor of History Gerald Horne views the world.
Helping Families Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence
Carla Sharp runs the Developmental Psychopathology Lab in the UH College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. She is lead investigator on a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to help families exposed to intimate partner violence.