Joint PhD Program News

Ashley Hajski, Joint PhD student in social work and psychology, successfully defended her dissertation titled, "Young Families in the Community: An Exploratory Analysis of Child Welfare Contact Among Young Mothers and their Children." Her committee consisted of Barry Checkoway (co-chair), Lorraine Gutiérrez (co-chair), Joe Ryan and Monique Ward.

Garrett Pace, Joint PhD student, discusses the harmful effects of spanking with American University Radio. “Our findings suggest that spanking seems to be harmful on a global scale,” says lead author Pace.

Jennifer Tucker Defends Dissertation entitled "In the Time of Mangos, Motorcycles, and Improvised Medicine: Aging with Displacement During the Post-Chavez Venezuelan Crisis." Her committee consisted of Ruth Dunkle (co-chair), Scott Stonington (co-chair), Letha Chadiha and Gayle Rubin.

Patrick Meehan successfully defended his dissertation "Making Change Where it Counts: Social Work and Elected Office." His committee consisted of Barry Checkoway, Ann Lin (co-chairs), Katie Richards-Schuster and Vincent Hutchings.

Angie Perone, PhD student, has been selected as a 2019-2020 NASW/CSWE Social Work HEALS Fellow. The fellowship strengthens delivery of health care services in the United States by advancing education and training of health care social workers.

Along with the Program for Research on Black Americans  – part of the Institute for Social Research – and the Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research, the School of Social Work hosted a three-day summer mentoring workshop.  Created by Professor Robert Taylor, the workshop provides career advice and guidance to approximately 40 social work doctoral students whose research involves African American and Latinx populations. Conference attendees took advantage of concurrent programming at U-M by holding joint sessions with the 25th Annual National Black Graduate Conference in Psychology and the Summer Meeting of The St. Louis Group.

Associate Professor Shawna Lee and PhD student Joyce Lee’s research “The effect of paternal cues in prenatal care settings on men’s involvement intentions” is cited in the Huffington Post. Most photos and brochures in a typical OB-GYN waiting room focus on mothers, but adding some subtle father-friendly visual cues could be a simple way to boost a dad’s parenting confidence, according to Shawna Lee and Joyce Lee's new study.

Associate Professor Karen Staller received an award from the Doctoral Student Organization for her dedication to the education and mentorship of joint social work and social science doctoral students.