Social Science

Social Science PhD Listings

Doctoral Candidates

Armstrong

Nicholas John Armstrong - narmstro@maxwell.syr.edu

 My research interests are organizational issues related to national security policy, focusing on strategic management, U.S. interagency policy-making, and post-conflict reconstruction.  

datta

Saheli Datta - sdatta@maxwell.syr.edu

My principal research interests are in the areas of Human Rights and International Law. In particular, my research focuses on refugees and human rights in South Asia. I am looking at the causes of displacement of Rohingya refugees from Burma and exploring possible solutions to the refugee crisis in question.

dobbins

Holly A. Dobbins - hadobbin@maxwell.syr.edu

In the study of social movements and conflict resolution, I emphasize the role of shared worldviews, life experiences, and the roles of women. My dissertation in progress, Nunavut: A Creation Story. The Inuit Movement and Canada's Newest Territory, addresses how indigenous values and leadership methodologies contributed to movement continuity and the negotiation process in the struggle for the creation of a territorial home for the Inuit people.

Hill, Dana

Dana Michelle Hill - dmhill@maxwell.syr.edu

My research examines how the most marginalized Ecuadorians – rural women of color – understand and respond to a new constitution that grants them full citizenship rights. Advancing knowledge about the processes through which women’s consciousness is heightened to make them more critically engaged citizens is crucial for the development of democracy and the quest for justice in Ecuador.  

Lowry, Alma

Alma Louise Lowry - allowry@maxwell.syr.edu

My research interests include conflict resolution and public participation in the environmental policy process. Specifically, I’m interested in the concept and process of public participation in administrative decision making, whether it is effective; what makes it effective, particularly for traditionally disempowered groups; and whether such participation can further environmental justice or other social justice goals.  

Marusek, Sarah

Sarah Ann Marusek - samaruse@maxwell.syr.edu

I am interested in the role of charity in Islamic societies, my work mostly focusing on participatory welfare practices in Iran and Lebanon. My dissertation will draw from a critical trans-disciplinary framework and use ethnographic methods to map out the welfare systems in the Shi’i communities of Lebanon, a population that has been historically marginalized by the Lebanese state and society. 

snell

Julius Snell - jjsnellj@maxwell.syr.edu

My principal research interest is American Indian community development with a focus on health and education. I will combine my background in economics and public policy with my coursework in ethnographic methods and spatial statistics/econometrics to understand child care on reservations, and its impacts on community development and society.

Gae Hee Song

Gae Hee Song - gasong@maxwell.syr.edu

My research interests are in international migration and refugee movements from North Korea to South Korea.

Stanger

Anya Elizabeth Stanger - aestange@maxwell.syr.edu

I am interested in peace education and specifically, in the ways in which alternatives to violence may be taught and learned. My research uses elements from peace studies and nonviolence, feminist, and critical theory as lenses through which to study possibilities for change.  

Tweedy, Amy

Amy Tweedy - ajtweedy@maxwell.syr.edu

My research interests include the study of geographies of emotion, sexuality and space, the sociology of work, women's studies and queer theory. My dissertation project focuses on concepts of queer space in the workplace with particular attention to ideas of community and emotional labor. 

Whittoft

Brandy Witthoft - bwitthof@maxwell.syr.edu

My primary research interests are in the areas of forced human migration, refugee resettlement in the United States, and United States immigration policy and practice. I also have secondary interests in social and economic development, especially with regards to Africa. 

Social Science Program
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