College of Education and Human Development

School of Social Work

Nine CEHD PhD students win Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships

Nine PhD students from five CEHD departments have been awarded Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships from the University of Minnesota Graduate School. The fellowships give the U’s most accomplished PhD candidates an opportunity to devote full-time effort to an outstanding research project by providing time to finalize and write a dissertation during the fellowship year.

Honored students include:

  • Tiago Bittencourt, Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development. “Social Class and the Rules of Competitive College Admissions: A Comparative Study of International Baccalaureate World Schools in Ecuador.” Advisors: Andrew Furco and Joan DeJaeghere
  • Reese Butterfuss, Department of Educational Psychology: “Knowledge Revision Using Multiple Documents: Extending the Knowledge Revision Components Framework.” Advisor: Panayiota (Pani) Kendeou
  • Molly Calhoun, School of Social Work: “Neighborhood Restructuring and Social Networks: Examining the Impact of Public Housing Redevelopment on Youth Connections.” Advisor: Elizabeth Lightfoot
  • Lauren Demers, Institute of Child Development: “Resilience Following Child Maltreatment: Neural Markers of Impulse Control in Emotion Contexts.” Advisor: Kathleen Thomas; co-advisor: Bonnie Klimes-Dougan
  • Rachel Foster, Institute of Child Development: “Development of Reflective Functioning in Adults Born into Poverty.” Advisor: Ann Masten; co-advisor: Glenn Roisman
  • Illana Livstrom, Department of Curriculum and Instruction: “Learning, Growing, and Designing in Partnership with Youth and Community: A Design-based Research (DBR) Study of Community-based, Intergenerational Urban Farming.” Advisor: Gillian Roehrig
  • Annelise Pesch, Institute of Child Development: An Ecological Examination of How Different Forms of Trust Influence Children’s Learning and Memory in the Classroom.” Advisor: Melissa Koenig
  • Brie Reid, Institute of Child Development: “Pathways to Inflammation from Early Adversity and Iron Deficiency: A Longitudinal Study of Chilean Youth.” Advisor: Megan Gunnar; co-advisor: Michael Georgieff
  • Jordan Thayer, Department of Educational Psychology: In his dissertation, Thayer will seek to integrate different theoretical perspectives regarding how teachers influence student engagement. Advisor: Clayton Cook; co-advisor: Amanda Sullivan

The fellowship includes a stipend of $25,000 for the academic year, tuition for up to 14 thesis credits each semester, and subsidized health insurance.