This research cluster focuses on the cultural and theoretical dimensions of social phenomena. As culturally-inclined sociologists, we are invested in the study of meaning. In their respective work, faculty treat culture both as a topic of study as well as a more general aspect of social life.

This research cluster draws together faculty in sociology to address these and other fundamental questions about crime and its control. Particular areas of expertise include the study of corruption, organized crime, drugs and illicit markets, terrorism, media, and gender.

Researchers in the Population Studies cluster delve into the sociological and demographic factors and their influences on variations in health, mortality, ageing, education, family dynamics, urban living, and migration patterns.

This research cluster focuses on the social, political, economic, and policy determinants of health and wellbeing, and the inequality therein throughout the life course and across geographic areas.

This research cluster explores the changing nature of social inequalities in relation to class, gender, race and ethnicity, age, and other social divisions that structure contemporary human life in a global context and within East and Southeast Asia.