Welcome!

The Social Development Group at NYU Shanghai brings together the scholars interested in different aspects of societal development. The group aims to produce not only the highest quality of social scientific research but also the highest-impact, scientifically informed research to shape practice and policy response in improving the well-being of societies.

The group sponsors world-class research that informs social policy and practice, prominent academic programs that are locally and globally relevant, and conferences and professional training activities that contribute to the outstanding academic reputation of NYU Shanghai.

The Social Development Group has two main purposes:

Research: Produce top-tier research that carries great implications to inform policy and practice in local, national, and global contexts. The research of the faculty focuses on three key interconnected areas: gender and sexuality, child development, and legal psychology. In all these areas, the research profiles of the current faculty have an overwhelmingly applied focus with the explicit aim to develop solutions to real-life problems. Two of the research areas (gender and sexuality and child development) align with three of the research foci identified in the strategy for Social Sciences at NYU Shanghai: Health and Wellbeing, Gender and Sexuality as well as Poverty and Inequality while legal psychology aligns with the last one.

Collaboration and Exchanges: Provide education and training programs to students and faculty members as well as to personnel currently employed in government and nongovernmental social service-related agencies to advance social development. Another important purpose and source of training will be to provide opportunities to translate scientific knowledge gained through our research projects into language, knowledge, and skills that can be applied and understood in the field and by the general public.