Social Science

Social Science PhD Student 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. 




Doctoral Students

Andrews,Evan

Evan Andrews - 

My primary area of interest is in environmental policy, and the means by which policy is influenced by the propagation of information and ideas through social networks.



Grosso, Erika Carter

Erika Carter Grosso - ercarter@syr.edu

 My principal research interests are in the areas of Latin American migration, U.S. immigration policy, and transnational communities. My specific focus is on the Cuban community.  



J_Frank

Jacob Michael Frank - jmfrank@maxwell.syr.edu

My research deals with the role of religion among southern Sudanese refugee communities in the United States, both as it affects their capacity to successfully adapt to their host nation and its role in organizing their exodus from their homeland. 



Harris, Drew

Drew Spafford Harris - dsharr01@syr.edu

 My research interests focus on the mechanisms of civic education, particularly in the field of conflict resolution. I am interested in seeing how the concept of citizenship is formed and engaged within the normative framework of identity politics. 



Hyo Kwak

Hyo-Keung Kwak - 

My areas of research interest include social welfare planning and policy, as well as global governance systems as they affect issues of health and poverty.



Metcalfe, Todd

Todd Metcalfe - tmetcalf@syr.edu

My work is broadly concerned with environmental policy and economics. My current research focuses on how climate change policy impacts pollution of waterways.



Sun Oh

Sun Jung Oh - 

My research interests are in the areas of social welfare and education policy and program administration, both in Korea and internationally.



robertson

Dave Robertson - derober0@syr.edu

My research interest is philanthropy; especially looking at marginalized members of society and their pathways to charitable giving. My research will examine the unrecognized and undocumented contributions of the economically disadvantaged, disabled and minority community, whose contributions have changed the world but are overshadowed by those with material wealth. 



JoonSik Kim

Joonsik Yoon - joyoon@syr.edu

My principal research interests are in policy issues surrounding human migration. These include the factors providing incentive for migration, as well as the economic and social impacts of migration on both source and destination societies.




Social Science Program
413 Maxwell Hall - Syracuse, NY 13244-1090
315.443.2275 / Fax: 315.443.1463