Joint PhD Program News

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. This project will help MBC extend its organizational capacity to serve the roughly 8,000 Congolese refugees in the Grand Rapids area and create a space of support and empowerment for Congolese and other refugee youth.

The Rackham Program in Public Scholarship supports mutually beneficial projects created between Rackham students and community partners.

Ed-Dee Williams, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Sociology, has successfully defended his dissertation entitled, “Black Boys Mental Health Help-Seeking: Exploring Perceptions, Barriers and Social Processes.” His committee consisted of Jamie Mitchell and Alford A. Young, Jr. (co-chairs), David Córdova and Renee Anspach.

Williams will join the University of Michigan School of Social Work Level Up: Employment Skills Simulation Lab as a postdoctoral fellow this August. Williams will use his expertise on the mental health of Black youth to support two federally funded studies that are focused on autism, as well as engage in an intensive training program to lead randomized controlled trials.The fellowship will also support Williams to develop a new technology-based intervention to enhance the conversational help-seeking skills for Black autistic youth experiencing depression.

Joint PhD students Sunghyun Hong and Irene Routte were invited to give the presentation, Social Justice in Architecture: Trauma-informed Built Environment, to employees and leadership at Quinn Evans Architects' four offices. "Irene and I were able to translate our research work and disseminate theories into digestible and applicable pieces for professionals outside of academia," says Hong. "It was a great opportunity to work with community members with whom social workers may not traditionally have worked, yet have immense overlaps, particularly in attention to the importance of macro work."

Sara Stein, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Psychology, has successfully defended her dissertation entitled “Towards Intentional Relational Well-Being: Syndemic Contributions of Mental Health, Trauma Exposure, and Sociodemographic Factors to Risk for Intimate Partner Violence Victimization.” Her committee consisted of Andrew Grogan-Kaylor and Sandra Graham-Bermann (chairs), Julie Ribaudo, Quyen Ngo and Todd Herrenkohl.

Sara received a two year American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship to work with Alison Miller and Maria Muzik at the University of Michigan.

Hayeon Lee, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Anthropology, has successfully defended her dissertation entitled “Korea Dreaming: Vietnamese Women's Stories from the Marriage Migration Cycle.” Her committee consisted of Michael Spencer, Kelly Askew (co-chairs), Sandra Momper, Ruth Behar and Youngju Ryu.

Change Kwesele, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Psychology, has successfully defended her dissertation entitled “‘Shibukeni!’: Exploring the Mental Health Perceptions and Experiences of Young Adult Children of African Immigrants through the Lens of Sociocultural Influences.” Her committee consisted of Katie Richards-Schuster, Rona Carter (co-chairs), Jacqui Smith, Daicia Price and Moses Okumu.