PhD News

Finn McLafferty Bell, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Sociology, has successfully defended his dissertation entitled “Marginalized Food Growers in a Changing Environment: Tracing Collective Survival Strategies.” His committee consisted of Sandra Danziger and Katie Richards-Schuster. Bell has accepted a tenure-track assistant professor of Human Services at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

PhD student (Social Work & Psychology) Andrea Mora was awarded a scholarship from the Association of Latina/o Social Work Educators. The scholarship supports the advancement of social work education especially among the Latino population.

PhD student (Social Work & Anthropology) Yun Chen was awarded a Barbour Scholarship from Rackham Graduate School for the 2022-23 academic year. Barbour established a U-M scholarship for women of the highest academic and professional caliber from the area extending from Turkey in the west to Japan and the Philippines in the east. Barbour scholars study science, medicine, mathematics and other academic disciplines.

Charles Williams' editorial, “The Real Lesson That We Learned from the Juwan Howard Incident: A Black Man Still Has No Rights That Require Respect” is included in the latest issue of Diverse: Issues In Higher Education. “Watching Coach Howard try to negotiate anger the best way he could when walking down the handshake line, makes me flashback to every single moment in my life when I got to my car, or made it to my office or left the conflict and literally thanked God that I got away without having an emotional to physical blackout,” wrote Williams.

PhD student Rita Hu has received the 2021 Elizabeth Douvan Junior Scholar in Life Course Development, part of the Institute for Social Research (ISR) Next Generation Awards.

PhD student Charles Williams II was featured on the CBS Evening News in a story on voting rights. “They aren’t securing the vote, they are suppressing the vote,” said Williams in regards to a petition backed by republicans to tighten voter ID requirements in the state of Michigan. Williams is leading local efforts to protect voting rights. “The fight must continue, and I think many people on the ground understand and are very clear that they will not stop until justice comes.”

Berenice Castillo, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Psychology, has successfully defended her dissertation entitled "Three Studies Examining Externalizing Behavior and Substance Use Among Diverse Youth."  Her committee consisted of Andrew Grogan-Kaylor, and John Schulenberg (co-chairs), Cristina Bares and Matt Diemer.

Castillo will join Florida International University as an assistant professor of social work in January.

Joint PhD student Charles Williams II is the subject of a new “This is Michigan” video, which chronicles the emergency response program Williams spearheaded during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The School of Social Work partnered with the Historic King Solomon Baptist Church in Detroit, where Williams is the pastor, to care for those in the community who were hit hard by the shutdown. School of Social Work students worked emergency hotlines, manned food banks and conducted wellness checks. Entitled “Caring Throughout Crisis,” the video also features Professor Trina Shanks.

PhD student Charles Williams II is featured in a video from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services addressing vaccine hesitancy and encouraging the COVID-19 vaccination. Williams, who is pastor of the Historic King Solomon Baptist Church, says “There is no invincibility to COVID-19. If it hits you, and it hits you wrong, you’re gone.”

Joint PhD student Irene Routté has been awarded a 2021 Rackham Public Scholarship Grant for her project “Grand Rapids Congolese Refugee Youth Council and Leadership Program.”  In partnership with Michigan Banyamulenge Community (MBC), a refugee-run organization in Grand Rapids, Routté will help develop and launch a community-driven youth council and leadership development program for Congolese refugee youths.