New Social Sciences Faculty for Fall 2025
New faculty members add problem-solving perspectives to the UT social sciences community.
New faculty members joining the college’s Division of Social Sciences this fall contribute to the ongoing exploration of helping make our institutions, communities, and the individuals who inhabit them stronger, healthier, and better equipped for the challenges of tomorrow. They join a faculty community that engages students in data-driven exploration and problem-solving across social, economic, or political issues to find paths forward that improve life and lives for all.
Faculty in social sciences help lift up several new academic programs in the college that prepare students for meaningful, high-quality jobs of the future. One such program in the Department of Geography and Sustainability offers a professional view into the applications of uncrewed aerial systems, or drones. Students can earn either a certificate or a minor in the skills and knowledge necessary to effectively use drones in a variety of business and public sector domains.
Another new program in the Department of Political Science offers a bachelor’s degree with a concentration in democracy, social problems, and political advocacy, providing a broad background for professional careers in law, government service, foreign service, business, journalism, or public-school teaching.
“I’m thrilled that these outstanding new faculty have joined us and for the expertise they bring to assist individuals in adapting to a rapidly changing world,” said Interim Divisional Dean for Social Sciences Gina Owens. “Our students will benefit tremendously from our growing faculty community. I look forward to hearing more about the exciting research and insights in the classroom that each of these faculty bring.”
New Tenure-Track Faculty
Rui Cao
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
Cao is a cognitive scientist whose work combines ideas from psychology, neuroscience, and machine learning to investigate how the brain solves complex problems in the highly dynamic and noisy environments of everyday life.
Taylor Chewning
Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science
Chewning’s research investigates political behavior and public opinion primarily within the context of American foreign policy, conflict processes, and cybersecurity through quantitative research methods, surveys, and experiments.
Hannah Hoover
Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
Hoover is an archaeologist whose research spans anthropology, Native American and Indigenous studies, and museum studies. She uses material analyses and community-engaged methods to explore the daily decisions people made in settler colonial contexts in North America.
Aryana Soliz
Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology
Soliz’s interdisciplinary research and teaching explores the social impacts of active and public transportation initiatives, mobilities of care, and street experiments in communities across Canada, the United States, and Mexico.
Brooklyn Walker
Assistant Professor
Department of Political Science
Walker’s research explores the intersections of religious ideas and identities with political attitudes. She draws insights from and contributes to literature on public opinion, political psychology, political behavior, gender and politics, and racial and ethnic politics.
Sophie Wohltjen
Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
Wohltjen’s research links basic cognitive processes observed via experimental situations with naturalistic studies of social interaction. She uses a range of computational methods to explore ways that people coordinate with each other and has designed workshops that teach these methods.
Bing Zhou
Assistant Professor
Department of Geography and Sustainability
Zhou’s research focuses on developing responsible geospatial AI to understand and mitigate coupled nature–human risks. He designs advanced GeoAI models to detect, forecast, and explain disaster impacts across space and time and leads the Geospatial Responsible AI for Nature-human Dynamics Laboratory (GRIND).
New Teaching Faculty
Anthropology
- Michelle Pigott, Lecturer
Psychology
- John Connell, Teaching Assistant Professor
Psychology Clinic
- Alexis Rhames, Clinical Assistant Professor/Associate Clinic Director
Sociology
- Rossana Diaz, Teaching Assistant Professor
- Christine Vossler, Teaching Assistant Professor
By Randall Brown