Welcome to the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Dean's Welcome
A pandemic, enduring systemic and systematic racism, caustic political effrontery, mass demonstrations, wildfires, unemployment, rampant homelessness and housing instability, and an increasingly fragile natural ecosystem is the wet woolen blanket that 2020 has wrapped around our heads and shoulders. Despite what the region, nation, and globe are experiencing, thankfully, CSUN is thriving. The College has higher enrollment than last year and we have more transfer students this year than in the past.
You chose us for good reason.
Money magazine ranked CSUN in the top 50 of all U.S. universities for education and value. U.S. News and World Report ranked CSUN in the top ten for best undergraduate teaching and in the top 25 for social mobility.
I do believe that people turn to those institutions where they find support and answers in times of stress and challenge. Despite being online and the announcement coming prior to the majority of other campuses, students chose us. It is within our College – Social and Behavioral Sciences where many turn for answers. We challenge assumptions here. We question here. We strive for better here. We do not only study and create, we contribute and act.
Read the rest of Dean Searcy's Message.
Hip-Hop Radio Personality Skyy Hook to be Visiting Scholar at CSUN in Spring 2021
January 12, 2021

Hip-hop journalist, radio personality and show producer Skyy Hook will offer an inside look at the music, culture and generational disconnect in the world of hip-hop as a visiting scholar during the Spring 2021 semester in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Anthropology Department. Learning more about visiting scholar, Skyy Hook.
CSUN Professor’s Testimony Helps Reunite Mother and Daughter, and Win Class-Action Lawsuit for Families Separated at the Border
November 20, 2020

Every summer, Dr. Alejandra Acuña, an Associate Professor in the CSBS Department of Social Work, volunteers to help Public Counsel and the advocacy group Human Rights First. Acuña provides psychological evaluations which are typically used in asylum hearings. However, in this case, Dr. Acuña’s evaluation of a mother, seeking asylum from Guatemala, had a ripple effect — impacting the lives of thousands of migrant families by serving as key evidence in a class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the federal government. Continue reading about Dr. Acuña and her volunteer work on this case.
Dr. Gabriela Chavira Is the Recipient of 2020 SACNAS - Outstanding College/University Mentor!
October 23, 2020

The Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) the largest multidisciplinary and multicultural STEM diversity event in the country, has bestowed Dr. Gabriela Chavira, a faculty member in the Department of Psychology, the Outstanding College/University Mentor Award. This award is given to a nominee who has a demonstrated record of encouraging historically underrepresented minority undergraduate students to pursue advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or related fields. Read more