Joint PhD Program

John Doering-White successfully defended his dissertation entitled "In the Shadow of the Beast: Violence and Dignity along the Central American Migrant Trail".  His committee consisted of Laura Lein, Jason DeLeon (co-chairs), Andrew Shryock, Reuben Miller and Jorge Delva. He has accepted an Assistant Professor of Social Work position at the University of South Carolina, with a joint appointment in the Department of Anthropology.

Kathryn Berringer, Joint PhD student in Social Work and Anthropology was named a Dow Sustainability Doctoral Fellow. Each new Fellow will receive up to $15,000 to help support their research in the coming year. Dow Sustainability Fellows Program at the University of Michigan supports full-time graduate students at the university who are committed to finding interdisciplinary, actionable and meaningful sustainability solutions on local-to-global scales.

Lisa Young Larance, Joint PhD student Social Work and Sociology, article “Understanding and Addressing Women’s Use of Force in Intimate Relationships: A Retrospective” was published recently in Violence Against Women.

Joint PhD student Yun Chen and Kathleen Pottick, visiting scholar and professor of social work at Rutgers University, are both recipients of an honorable mention for the 2019 Society for Social Work and Research Excellence in Research Award.

A new study from researchers at the University of Michigan School of Social Work is the largest to date to examine associations between parental spanking and child well-being. The results of this study suggest that the use of spanking is detrimental to children across cultural contexts.

Huiyun Kim successfully defended his dissertation entitled "Housing Insecurity and Low-Income Housing Policy in the United States". His committee consisted of Kristin Seefeldt, Sarah Burgard (co-chairs), Richard Tolman and Rachel Best.
He has accepted a postdoctoral associate position from Minnesota Population Center at the University of Minnesota.

Matthew Bakko, Joint PhD student in Social Work and Sociology has been selected for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Health Policy Research Scholars program.

The program supports and connects emerging scholars who are committed to bringing about meaningful change and building a national Culture of Health. Participants build the interdisciplinary skills and relationships necessary to extend their influence and impact, break down silos, address health disparities, and make our communities healthier.

Jessica Wiederspan, PhD '17 dissertation research, "How the Ideology of the American Dream Persists in an Era of Economic Insecurity" is cited in The Washington Post, "Donald Trump's grotesque fraud". Wiederspan is a researcher studying basic income with the Y Combinator.

Rick Rodems successfully defended his dissertation entitled "Hidden Hardship: Three Essays on Poverty and Material Welfare in the United States."  His committee consisted of Luke Shaefer, Fabian Pfeffer (co-chairs), Sandra Danziger and Greta Krippner. Rodems has accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at U-M Poverty Solutions.

Rick Rodems successfully defended his dissertation entitled "Hidden Hardship: Three Essays on Poverty and Material Welfare in the United States."  His committee consisted of Luke Shaefer, Fabian Pfeffer (co-chairs), Sandra Danziger and Greta Krippner. Rodems has accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at U-M Poverty Solutions.