Welcome to the Department of Social and Decision Sciences
The Department of Social and Decision Sciences (SDS) is an interdisciplinary department that offers undergraduate and graduate programs that combine studies in the social sciences with the practical skills needed to excel in key decision making roles in the public and private sectors.
Students learn how to combine intellectual ideals with the realities of human and organizational behavior and to apply these lessons across a wide variety of endeavors, ranging from government service to leadership positions in the information economy.
Mission
The mission of the Department of Social and Decision Sciences is to provide intellectual leadership in the social sciences, brought about by the power of a transdisciplinary environment for research and learning, for teaching and training, and for solving social problems.
In the News
Research by graduate student Christopher Rodriguez, and Professor Daniel Oppenheimer reveals how "consequence neglect" leads to predictable surprises in policy, leadership and everyday life.
Read about Behavioral Economics major Alyssa Beeching and her experience at Nucor Public Affairs through CMU’s Washington Semester Program!
Discover how Professor Kevin Jarbo is preparing students to address society’s toughest problems through Grand Challenges Seminars.
Students are afforded the opportunity to engage in world-class hands-on research through five departmental research centers:
SDS offers an array of undergraduate majors, including:
- BS in Behavioral Economics
- BS in Decision Science
- BS in Policy & Management
The majors leverage SDS’s departmental core that includes courses in decision analysis, empirical research, organizations, policy analysis and applied psychology .
SDS also offers four minors in Behavioral Economics, Decision Science, Policy & Management and Sociology
Graduate study within SDS offers eight areas of focus:
- Behavioral Decision Research
- Cognitive Decision Science
- Social and Decision Sciences
- Behavioral Marketing and Decision Research (Joint with the Tepper School of Business)
- Behavioral Economics (Joint with the Tepper School of Business)
- Psychology and Behavioral Decision Research (Joint with the Department of Psychology)
- Medical Scientist Training Program MD-PhD (Joint with the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine)
- Autonomous and Human Decision Making (joint with the Machine Learning Department in the School of Computer Science)