Herbert Chang `18 is one of three faculty members in the Program in Quantitative Social Science (QSS). Prof. Chang is also a Dartmouth undergraduate, who majored in QSS, Mathematics, and Creative Writing.
Prof. Chang completed his doctorate at the University of Southern California; his undergraduate thesis advisor, Professor Feng Fu, is the Department of Mathematics and serves on the QSS Steering Committee.
Professor Claudia Olivetti, the George J. Records 1956 Professor of Economics, was recently named a Fellow of the Society of Labor Economists. Professor Olivetti is a member of the Steering Committee of the Program in Quantitative Social Science (QSS) and has taught at Dartmouth since 2019. Her current research examines the gendered effects of structural transformation and the medium- and long-term impacts of federally sponsored childcare and after-school programs on the World War II home front. Membership in the Society of Labor Economists "recognizes labor economists who have made contributions of unusual distinction to the field."
The Program in Quantitative Social Science (QSS) at Dartmouth College seeks a teacher-scholar for appointment as a full-time tenure-track Assistant Professor, to begin as early as July 1, 2026. QSS is an interdisciplinary program that integrates modern statistical, computational, and mathematical tools with social science. With an emphasis on tackling social science questions, relevant fields for this search include economics, geography, political science, social psychology, sociology, applied mathematics, statistics, demography, and related disciplines.
Details on the position and a link to apply are available at Interfolio at https://apply.interfolio.com/172357. A short description of the position is as follows.
The Program in Quantitative Social Science (QSS) at Dartmouth College seeks a teacher-scholar for an appointment as a full-time tenure-track Assistant Professor, to begin as early as July 1, 2026. QSS is an interdisciplinary program that integrates modern statistical, computational, and mathematical tools with social science. With an emphasis on tackling social science questions, relevant fields include applied mathematics, statistics, demography, economics, geography, political science, sociology, and related disciplines. Applicants should have a strong methodological background and should seek to (1) conduct social science research using advanced quantitative or game theoretic methods; (2) teach and develop courses in research design, statistical methods, and/or game theoretic methods at the undergraduate level; and (3) facilitate the continuing development of the QSS program. Keen interest in mentoring of undergraduates is a must, along with a demonstrated interest in encouraging students of all backgrounds and disciplinary interests. The person in this position will be expected to foster cross-disciplinary connections at Dartmouth around modern research methods. Qualified candidates should have a Ph.D in a relevant discipline, or be ABD with degree conferred by the start date. For a complete position description, visit Interfolio [link to be placed here]. Review of applications will begin on November 10, 2025, and continue until the position is filled. For questions regarding this position, please contact: Brendan Nyhan (mailto:Brendan.J.Nyhan@dartmouth.edu).
On June 5, 2025, Mathieu Lavigne, a postdoctoral fellow in the Program in Quantitative Social Science (QSS) presented at the Canadian Political Science Association's annual meeting in Toronto. His presentation focused on the role of Facebook and Instagram in the spread of election fraud narratives and pro-insurrection content during the 2020 U.S. election.
Mathieu's study is part of the U.S. 2020 Facebook and Instagram Election Study, a large-scale research partnership between Meta and a team of academic researchers examining the impact of social media on democratic processes. The other lead academic authors of this study are Brendan Nyhan, a member of the QS Steering Committee and the James O. Freedman Presidential Professor of Government, Rocio Titiunik, Professor of Politics at Princeton University, and Jack Andolina, a post-baccalaureate fellow in QSS.
Mathieu holds a PhD in Political Science from McGill University and has been at Dartmouth since November 2023. His other projects primarily focus on misinformation (including public perceptions, media coverage, and the effectiveness of fact-checking), political microtargeting, and societal polarization. He recently published an article on public support for interventions against misinformation in the Canadian Journal of Political Science.