ISPS was founded in 1968 to foster interdisciplinary collaboration in the social sciences. And our current efforts build on a tradition of research excellence with a broad portfolio among our many faculty affiliates.
Over the decades, ISPS has conducted groundbreaking studies on elections, education, criminal justice, health care, government regulation, labor, taxation, immigration, and much more.
Our new Democratic Innovations program has galvanized our expertise to understand new ways to reinvigorate our political institutions, use technology to improve representation and government performance, encourage the use of scientific evidence in policymaking, and address the ongoing threats to democracy.
In addition to conducting research, we organize faculty seminars, host and promote collaboration among faculty fellows and postdoctoral researchers, run fellowships to mentor undergraduate and graduate students, convene scholars and practioners from across the country to learn from one another, and help sponsor an interdisciplinary undergraduate major: the Program in Ethics, Politics, and Economics (EP&E).
ISPS supports the Center for the Study of American Politics (CSAP), the Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics, the American Political Economy eXchange (APEX), the Yale Center for Civic Thought, and the Center for the Study of Inequality.
The ISPS building at 77 Prospect was originally home to the college’s secret Wolf’s Head Society.
ISPS on Campus
In 1994, ISPS moved to its primary home at 77 Prospect Street, in the heart of Yale University. The central building, constructed in 1884, originally served as the “Old Hall” for the college’s Wolf’s Head Society.
The building has housed and supported Yale faculty from social science departments and professional schools since 1968. The growing momentum of ISPS research and teaching activity led to a major expansion in 2006, creating a complex of three interconnected buildings.
In 2020, the university moved one of those buildings, 87 Trumbull Street, to make room for the Tobin Center for Economic Policy.
In 2024, the university completed a renovation of the historic home at 24 Hillhouse Avenue to serve as ISPS South.
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