PhD News

PhD Student Charles Williams II spoke with the Detroit Free Press about the skepticism in Black communities about the COVID-19 vaccination.  As a clergy member who interacts with patients in hospital settings and in his church, Williams qualified to get an early vaccine.  He hopes to convince his church members that the vaccine is safe.  “As a leader, as a pastor… if I have to be the one to get my arm poked so folks can feel a little bit comfortable about them doing it, so be it,” said the Rev. Charles Williams II, current PhD student.

Danae Ross, Joint PhD student in Social Work and Sociology, Selected for Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Health Policy Research Scholars Program. The Health Policy Research Scholars is a leadership opportunity for second-year full-time doctoral students from populations underrepresented in specific doctoral disciplines and/or marginalized backgrounds. The program supports and connects emerging scholars who are committed to bringing about meaningful change and building a national culture of health, which enables everyone in America to live longer healthier lives.

Finn Bell, Joint PhD student in Social Work and Sociology, has been named a Social Work Health Futures Lab Fellow. He joins a national cohort of 26 social work experts from around the U.S. and Canada, who will work together on topics ranging from social media to climate justice. Sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), this initiative aspires to help prepare a new generation of the profession.

This decision is now approved and final.

The Joint Program in Social Work and Social Science at the University of Michigan has decided to not enroll a new doctoral class for 2021. This is a difficult decision but given the impact of COVID on our current diverse student body, it is needed to provide them the best chance for success. This would be for one year. Next year we would resume enrolling students as we previously have. We currently do not plan to offer deferments to prospective students this year.

Assistant Professor Shanna Kattari and Lecturer Leo Kattari have edited a new book “Social Work and Health Care Practice with Transgender and Nonbinary Individuals.” Assistant Professor Ashley Lacombe-Duncan and Joint PhD student Matthew Bakko contributed chapters. 

Natasha Johnson, PhD ‘20, has received a $5,000 Racial Injustice Award From the U-M Depression Center for her research on racism awareness among Black youths. Her research has the potential to provide empirical support for intervention programs aimed at combating racism by developing a psychometric tool that will evaluate resilient pathways for racially marginalized youth.

Joyce Lee, PhD student, has co-authored a children's book on fighting anti-Asian racism during COVID-19. The book is free and provides an educational resource to help generate meaningful discussions between adults and children about anti-Asian racism.

Congratulations to Natasha Johnson, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Psychology, for successfully defending her dissertation, "You Must Work Twice as Hard for Half as Much: Racial Socialization, Racial Identity, and Racism Awareness in Adolescence." Her committee chairs were Daphne Watkins and Stephanie Rowley. Johnson was awarded the Social Behavioral and Economic Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation and will be working as a postdoctoral fellow with the U-M School of Public Health.

PhD student Change Kwesele recently published “‘It’s Not a Quick Fix.’ Notes for the ‘good’ white people: Insights on conversations about race at work”

Janelle Goodwill, Joint PhD student in Social Work and Psychology, successfully defended her dissertation "A multi-method analysis of stigma, social support, and suicide ideation among Black college students." Her committee consisted of Daphne Watkins, Jacqueline Mattis (co-chairs), Robert J. Taylor and Myles Durkee.