Transdisciplinary Studies Dissertation Award

1. Current Registration as a doctoral student in any field of study at CGU.
2. Completion of all Coursework for the PhD, with the exception of dissertation research units that have been approved by the faculty.
3. Advancement to Candidacy including approval of the dissertation proposal and successful submission of the advancement to candidacy form to the Registrar’s Office no later than August 1st, 2026.
4. A Reasonable Expectation of Completion of all remaining requirements for the PhD degree within 18 months of award notification.
5. Doctoral Study Registration must be maintained for both the fall and spring terms for the award period—failure to maintain registration will result in the award funds being rescinded.
6. Recipients of a Transdisciplinary Studies Award may not accept a CGU Dissertation Award and vice versa; recipients may accept one award or the other, but not both awards.
7. Previous Recipients of a CGU Dissertation Award or a Transdisciplinary Dissertation Award are not eligible to apply.
8. Recipients of a Crossing Boundaries Research Award are eligible to apply for the TNDY Dissertation Award.

An awarding committee will review all applications and select recipients using the evaluation criteria detailed below. Please use this rubric as a guide to develop your application. If unsure of any of the criteria, please work with the Center for Writing and Rhetoric

Specifically, selected research projects will demonstrate the following:

Cross-Boundary Collaboration

1. Dissertation Committee: Members are from different disciplines at CGU and/or other institutions.
2. Cross Boundary Collaboration: In project design and implementation, project engages non-academic stakeholders (e.g., educators, policymakers, community organizations, industry leaders, activists), and/or project uses a co-creation model in which non-academic voices help shape research direction.

Research Rationale – Transdisciplinary Scholarship

1. Significant Real-world Issue: Presents a research question based on a complex real-world issue (past present, or future) that reveals interconnected factors shaping the problem (e.g., systems thinking).
2. Social Importance of Outcomes: Explicit delineation of the issue’s societal relevance and potential impact—demonstrated with evidenced arguments that include outcomes and implications on society, future, and further research and application.
3. Cross-disciplinary Relevance: The central issue is presented with justification that more than one discipline finds it important.
4. Knowledge Base and Boundary Crossing Scholarship:
   1. Perspectives and theories from different disciplines are integrated in presenting the central issue or research question.
   2. The issue has been contextualized within previous scholarship.
   3. Demonstrates knowledge of the disciplines that are integrated.
   4. Provides a bibliography of at least 5 references of key research from each of the different disciplines being integrated with annotations on the prominence and relevance of the sources selected (entries in the bibliography will not count against the research synopsis word count).

Boundary Crossing Methodologies

1. Overview: Provides an explicit account of the information gathering and analytical approaches to be used.
2. Methods Integration Justification:
   1. Multiple methodologies from different disciplines and practices are well defined.
   2. Justifies how/why integration of selected methods and/or frameworks and addresses the issue or research question in ways could not be done with just a single disciplinary method.
3. Conceptual Frameworks that Embrace Complexity: For example, network analysis, social-ecological systems, phenomenology, intersectionality, participatory action research, and other methodological frameworks.
4. Integration of non-Academic Stakeholders: Includes the perspectives of non-academic stakeholders (community members, policy makers, practitioners) and why this research and/or its outcomes matter to them. Or the project uses a co-creation model in which non-academic voices shape the research design and direction.

Critical Scholarly Writing & Evidenced Argument

1. Clear Language and Organized Writing: Ideas and arguments lead logically from one to the next; there are no gaps in reasoning.
2. Subject Matter Expertise: Theoretical concepts and extant research explained and demonstrated with/in associated literature.
3. Argument Structure: Clear assertions supported with logical argument and research evidence and citations.
4. Hypotheses/Central Argument or Thesis: Research questions/central argument or thesis are explicitly presented to support the objectives or purpose of the study.

Feasibility, Budget, and Potential Continuity

1. Project Feasibility: Is presented with steps to stay on target toward completion (one-page maximum, does not count in research synopsis word count).
2. Timeline: Details research/project phases with explanations of critical resources and work process for each phase, and it explicitly shows advancement to candidacy or describes advancement to candidacy plans—award committee recommends applicants create a structured outline (visual, narrative, flow chart, table, Gantt chart, etc.) of their timeline—see timeline example.
3. Collaboration Support: From faculty, staff, and other collaborators is integrated and indicated in the project plan timeline.
4. Budget: Itemized budget for research expenses, annotated to explain how the funds will be used to support the research process. Or a separate narrative budget rationale is provided with the itemized budget—budget presented can include CGU tuition and fees, inclusion of tuition and fees must be justified (see budget example).
5. Future Potential: Explains the potential of this project toward further scholarly work or professional level implementation—applicants are not obligated to implement this potential in order to get the award; this criterion assesses your ability to think of how your research can be expanded (maximum one-page, single or double-spaced, will not count against the synopsis total word count).

Record of Academic Excellence

1. GPA: 4.0 > 3.5

1. A Publishable Abstract of your dissertation project (100 word maximum).
2. A Synopsis of Your Dissertation Research Plan including and organized by the following (2000 word maximum, typically 6 double-spaced pages):
   1. The proposed dissertation title and the word count of the synopsis.
   2. The research rationale, transdisciplinary and social impact justification, contextualization of the issue within previous scholarship, specific aims, and projected significance of the proposed dissertation.
   3. The methodology used used—information-gathering and analytical methods and techniques—with attention paid specifically to the transdisciplinary structure and processes of the project.
   4. The organizational plan (by chapter) of the dissertation.
   5. The following optional items may be included (appendix items will not count against the 2000 word maximum for the synopsis):
      1. Bibliographic information (one page maximum).
      2. Appendix material (one page maximum).
3. Include an Academic and Project Timeline (one page maximum) listing your advancement to candidacy date or plans to advance to candidacy by August 1, 2026, dissertation progress and completion stages, along with a structured timeline outlining the research and writing phases with realistic completion expectations for each stage (we recommend applicants create a visual, narrative, flow chart, table, Gantt chart, or other structured outline format—refer to the evaluation criteria and rubric and the timeline example).
4. A Budget Justification explaining how you would use the award funds, with an itemized budget for research expenses. University tuition and fees may be included, be sure to justify their inclusion (one page maximum—see example).
5. A Curriculum Vitae (two pages maximum).
6. One or more Draft Chapters from your dissertation proposal (60 pages maximum).
7. The Certification of Eligibility Statement signed by the applicant and one member of the applicant’s dissertation committee certifying the applicant’s eligibility to apply for the award (no extra form, document, or email is required, this step is completed during the airSlate application process).

Application Period Closed

• Key Dates:
  • Application period opens on: TBD
  • Application period closes on: TBD>
  • Applicat notification: early June 2026
  • Award Disbursement #1 (first half): by mid-September 2026 (after add/drop deadline)
  • Award Disbursement #2 (second half): by mid-February 2027 (after add/drop deadline)
• All application materials listed above are required.
• The Center for Writing & Rhetoric can provide one-on-one consultation support for applicants. The CWR is also hosting several events that applicants might find useful to attend. See the CWR’s Events page for more information.
• Only doctoral students are eligible for the award.
• Please note most reviewers of your application will be outside of your field of study, so write clearly and avoid or clearly define specialized terms or concepts.
• The Transdisciplinary Studies Office will provide a copy of an applicant’s academic transcript to the review committee. Applicants do not need to provide an academic transcript in the application.
• Receiving an award may affect your financial aid package for the academic year. Awardees should consult the financial aid office upon receiving an award—financial aid will receive a copy of the application budget.

1. Is the Transdisciplinary Studies Dissertation Award open to Joint Doctoral Students?

   Yes, the TNDY Dissertation Award is open to all CGU doctoral students including joint, dual, and interfield doctoral students—professional doctorate students are not eligible for the CGU and TNDY dissertation awards. Professional doctorate students are eligible to apply for the Crossing Boundaries Research Award.

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   Which award should I apply for? One of the dissertation awards (CGU and TNDY) or the research award?

   The TNDY and CGU Dissertation Awards are intended to support dissertation research and writing. These awards are for students who have already advanced to candidacy or will advance to candidacy by either the application deadline for the CGU Dissertation Award or August 1st for the TNDY Dissertation Award. Professional doctorate students are not eligible for the CGU and TNDY dissertation awards, but professional doctorate students are eligible to apply for the Crossing Boundaries Research Award.

   The Crossing Boundaries Research Award is intended to support research that will lead to a dissertation proposal. Students who are finishing coursework, preparing for qualifying exams, and/or working on their dissertation proposal should apply for the Crossing Boundaries Research Award and not a dissertation award.

   Please note doctoral students who will advance to candidacy by August 01, 2026 are not eligible for the Crossing Boundaries Research Award.

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   I am applying for the Transdisciplinary Studies Dissertation Award, should I also apply for the CGU Dissertation Award

   Yes, we highly recommend that students apply for both the Transdisciplinary Studies Dissertation Award and the CGU Dissertation Award. Note, applicants will need to submit a separate application for each award.

   Conversely, students applying for the CGU Dissertation Award may consider applying for the Transdisciplinary Studies Dissertation Award if they believe their project also utilizes transdisciplinary methodologies and perspectives in innovative, creative, and compelling ways—applicants should review the evaluation criteria for the TNDY dissertation award to help them determine whether their projects meet the award requirements.

   Otherwise, we recommend that students working within a single field, utilizing uni-disciplinary methods, and/or on a problem of relevance to only one disciplinary field apply only for the CGU Dissertation Award.

   If you are uncertain whether your research qualifies as “transdisciplinary,” please do not hesitate to contact us. We would be happy to meet with you to discuss your project.

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   What does “Advancement to Candidacy” mean?

   The term “Advancement to Candidacy” means that you meet all the qualifications as specified by your program (i.e., completed all required coursework for the degree program(s), passed qualifying exams or completed your portfolio, completed all research tools, and any other requirements as outlined by your program, etc.). Each doctoral program is different, so please confirm with your faculty/departmental advisor on the exact specifications required of your degree program to advance to candidacy.

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   Should applicants have their faculty advisor/chair certify applicant eligibility via email?

   No, faculty advisor/chair certification of eligibility is automatically handled via the application form. Neither the applicant nor the certifying advisor will need to submit a separate email.

   We do recommend that applicants notify the faculty advisor certifying their eligibility for the award that they have or will submit an application for the award and to expect an email from airSlate requesting certification.

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   How do I create an abstract? What are the best practices?

   Review the recording from the Center for Writing & Rhetoric to learn about the key components of a well-crafted abstract.

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   What should the “budget justification” contain? Does it need to be written out in prose format? Can I use a bulleted list? Can I use a spreadsheet?

   The budget justification lists and justifies how applicants will use the funds to support their research and writing. Applicants should create an itemized budget for research expenses, annotated to explain how the funds will be used to support the research process—a separate narrative budget rationale can be provided but it should be accompanied by an itemized budget—see budget example.

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   Can I use the award funds to cover tuition/fees and living expenses?

   Yes, applicants may use the award funds to cover university tuition and fees, and living expenses. Applicants should discuss the use of funds to cover tuition and living expenses in their budget justification—see budget example.

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   What should the “academic and project timeline” contain? Does it need to be written out? Can I use a spreadsheet?

   The academic and project timeline describes the different stages, milestones, and/or steps and the time the applicant anticipates it will take to complete them. The timeline may be written out or detailed in a spreadsheet or some combination thereof. The award committee recommends applicants create a structured outline—visual, narrative, flow chart, table, Gantt chart, etc.—of your academic timeline—see timeline example

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    What is the “Future Potential” component in the evaluation rubric? It is listed as optional, but to be sure, do I need to complete it? If I do not include a potential future section, will my application be assessed lower than those that do include it?

    The “future potential” evaluation criteria explains the potential of the applicant’s project to produce further scholarly work or professional level implementation; this criterion assesses your ability to think of how your research can be expanded. Applicants are not obligated to implement this potential in order to get the award and their application will not be assessed lower if one is not included in the application.

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    I am doing human subject study stuff, is there anything special I need to do?

    Yes. First, talk to your faculty and/or research advisor. Second, reach out to the university’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB’s “focus is to facilitate faculty investigators and help train student investigators to understand and carry out the fundamental purpose of all IRBs, which is to assure the Investigator’s Respectful Behavior toward every person who participates in research as a ‘human subject’.”

    The IRB advises that asking whether a project is HSR is really asking two questions: (1) Is it research? (according to federal regulations) and (2) Does the research involve human subjects?

    Human subject means a living individual about whom an investigator (whether professional or student) conducting research:

    1. Obtains information or bio-specimens through intervention or interaction with the individual, and uses, studies, or analyzes the information or bio-specimens; or
    2. Obtains, uses, studies, analyzes, or generates identifiable private information or identifiable bio-specimens.

    Research means a systematic investigation, including research development, testing, and evaluation, designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge. Activities that meet this definition constitute research for purposes of this policy, whether or not they are conducted or supported under a program that is considered research for other purposes. For example, some demonstration and service programs may include research activities. For purposes of this part, the following activities are deemed not to be research:

    1. Scholarly and journalistic activities (e.g., oral history, journalism, biography, literary criticism, legal research, and historical scholarship), including the collection and use of information, that focus directly on the specific individuals about whom the information is collected.
    2. Public health surveillance activities, including the collection and testing of information or bio-specimens, conducted, supported, requested, ordered, required, or authorized by a public health authority. Such activities are limited to those necessary to allow a public health authority to identify, monitor, assess, or investigate potential public health signals, onsets of disease outbreaks, or conditions of public health importance (including trends, signals, risk factors, patterns in diseases, or increases in injuries from using consumer products). Such activities include those associated with providing timely situational awareness and priority setting during the course of an event or crisis that threatens public health (including natural or man-made disasters).
    3. Collection and analysis of information, bio-specimens, or records by or for a criminal justice agency for activities authorized by law or court order solely for criminal justice or criminal investigative purposes.
    4. Authorized operational activities (as determined by each agency) in support of intelligence, homeland security, defense, or other national security missions.

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    When are the funds disbursed to awardees?

    Award funds are disbursed by the Office of Financial Aid in conjunction with the Student Accounts Office following the add/drop date for the fall and spring terms during the award year.

    1. Award Disbursement #1: after the add/drop date for the fall 2026 term
    2. Award Disbursement #2: after the add/drop date for the spring 2027 term

What To Learn More? Have a Question That is Not Answered Here?

We are hosting virtual “Ask Us” information sessions on Thursdays 12:00 to 1:00PM (pacific) from mid-November 2026 to mid-February 2027. Come join us to learn more about the award.

The CWR is hosting several events that may be of interest to applicants during the academic year. All events offered through the Center for Writing & Rhetoric are free and open to students, alumni, staff, and faculty. See the CWR’s Events page to view all the events.

Please address any questions about the Transdisciplinary Studies Dissertation Award application process to the Richter Research Awards.

Dominique Acosta

School Of Educational Studies (SES)

“Leading with Pinayism: A Case Study Exploring the Leadership Identity Development of Filipino American Women in an Identity-Based Organization”

This transdisciplinary study examines how identity-based organizations foster leadership identity development among Filipino American women by integrating higher education, ethnic studies, and feminist epistemologies. Grounded in the Leadership Identity Development (LID) model, Pinayism, and counter-narratives, the research investigates how ethnicity, culture, and gender intersect in shaping leadership. Using a case study with phenomenological elements, it draws on interviews and document analysis. Findings illuminate the role of culturally affirming spaces in leadership development and aim to advance theory, inform institutional practice, and support equity-driven, community-based leadership programs for historically marginalized undergraduate students.

Lorise Diamond

School Of Arts & Humanities (SAH)

“(R)Evolutionary Queer Literacy: Reading, Traveling, and Making Worlds as Embodied Pedagogy”

This dissertation introduces (R)Evolutionary Queer Literacy (EQL), not a method but a relational, improvisational way of moving through the world. Amid ecological collapse and educational disembodiment, EQL reimagines literacy as embodied world-reading, world-traveling, and world-making. Informed by Freire, Lugones, Shor, and Mbembe, EQL is not curriculum, but comportment. Drawing from reading circles, interviews, and textual analysis in a high school context, this qualitative study traces how people learn across difference. Rather than a replicable model, EQL honors fugitive literacies alive in everyday spaces, inviting us to read with the world, co-compose life otherwise, and sense the commons rising in ruin.

Stephanie Griswold

School Of Arts & Humanities (SAH)

“Religions at the Margins of Mexican Society, 1900-1950”

This dissertation examines Judaism and Mormonism in Mexico from the Porfiriato through the post-revolutionary period. Identity is a large part of this dissertation; still, defining who is considered part of these broader religious traditions will not be based on the institutional standards of membership of a commonly accepted religious organization in either tradition. An examination of each group, including their subgroups, will reveal internal tensions as they grapple with civic conflicts they navigated as religious minorities. This shows how political and social changes in Mexico during this period impacted individual and collective identities and their place in the dominant society.

Moina Maaz

School Of Arts & Humanities (SAH)

“Reimagining Islamic Feminism: The Inspirational Legacy of Zaynab”

This study examines the overlooked role of women in shaping Shia Islamic thought, focusing on Zaynab bint Ali’s legacy. While male figures dominate existing scholarship, Zaynab’s resilience after Karbala and particularly her sermon in Yazid’s court challenge patriarchal interpretations of Islamic feminism. Through historical texts, hadith literature, and theological analysis, this dissertation explores how she influenced Shia identity, theology, and contemporary Muslim women’s empowerment. By bridging gaps in academic discourse, this research situates Zaynab within Islamic feminism, demonstrating how faith and activism coexist and critically reassessing gender roles in Islam, politics, and feminist thought.

Tiara Soares Murta

School Of Arts & Humanities (SAH)

“Notes Toward Jerusalem: Detachment, Desire, and the Remains of Relation”

This dissertation begins where relation breaks. Through a transdisciplinary method of attuned reading, I explore detachment, despair, and dissociation not as dysfunctions, but as ethical responses to rupture. Engaging James Baldwin, Karl Marx, and Audre Lorde, I develop a practice that listens beside silence without rushing to repair. Moving between memoir, aesthetic form, and philosophical critique, this project rethinks how we name suffering, how we hold distance, and how we remain near what wounds. It is not a redemptive narrative, but a poetics of survival—an invitation to feel what fracture leaves behind, and to build from that raw material.

This year we were also able to recognize and award an “Honorable Mention” distinction for work showing exceptional promise and impact. This awardee will receive additional funds to carry out their dissertation research.

Maria Assumpta Komugabe

Center For Information Systems & Technology (CISAT)

“Integrating AI and GIS for Climate-Driven Malaria Monitoring and Demand-Based Resource Distribution and Supply Optimization in Low Developing Countries”

Malaria is a major public health issue in Uganda, particularly affecting pregnant women. Stock imbalances of Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) and Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACTs) hinder malaria control, with 16% of facilities facing ACT stockouts and 18% reporting RDT stockouts by 2022, exceeding the national target of less than 10%. This study integrates AI and GIS for climate-driven malaria monitoring, optimizing demand-based resource distribution and supply chain logistics. Forecasting malaria hotspots aims to enhance resource allocation, reduce stockouts, waste, and treatment delays, improve mortality reduction and safety, and offer scalable solutions for Uganda and other malaria-endemic regions.

Chasen Jeffries

Division of Politics & Economics (DPE)

“Navigating the Nexus of Patent Systems and Innovation: A Transdisciplinary Approach”

This dissertation delves into the impact of patent systems on innovation, employing a novel Patent Entry Barrier Index (PEBI), agent-based modeling, and network analysis to transcend traditional analyses. It reviews the Ginarte and Park (G-P) index, before offering a comprehensive framework to understand and optimize patent systems for economic growth. This transdisciplinary approach not only redefines existing methodologies but also equips policymakers and businesses with insights for fostering innovation and strategic decision-making. The findings significantly influence the optimization of patent policies, underscoring the crucial role of patent systems in driving domestic and global economic development and innovation ecosystems.

Trevor Anthony

School of Arts & Humanities (SAH)

“Culture and Crisis: Recapturing the Promise of Cultural Studies”

In 2014, discipline co-founder Stuart Hall lamented that cultural studies should no longer be a discipline because it had lost its political-economic focus. He blamed a narrow-minded focus on pop-culture personalities and products (“Madonna studies”). I will historicize the failing, demonstrating it to be more complex and entailed in the concept of crisis, ironically, advanced by Hall himself and his followers. I argue that to recapture its political-economic relevance—and contribute to the advancement of human flourishing as part of the humanities-at-large—cultural studies should find ways of thinking ‘beyond the crisis’ through transdisciplinary thought and action.

Robin Lehleitner

School of Arts & Humanities (SAH)

“A Textual-Critical Translation of Paul Tillich’s World War I Sermons”

During his postwar lifetime, Paul Tillich (1886-1965) never referred to the highly ideological sermons he wrote and preached during his years as a WWI field chaplain, but neither did he destroy them. At some point in the early 1970s, Hildegard von Gumppenberg, a German-Jewish Holocaust refugee who served as Tillich’s final administrative assistant at Harvard, transcribed a number of these sermons. Her transcriptions were never published. In 1994, Erdmann Sturm published Frühe Predigten (1909-1918), which contains his transcriptions of 106 of the sermons. This dissertation seeks to prepare a complete critical edition of Tillich’s WWI sermons in English based on textual-critical a comparison of both sets of transcriptions with Tillich’s Kurrentschrift manuscripts.

Yone Rodriguez

School of Educational Studies (SES)

“Latinx Mothers’ Experience and Navigation of Home-School Collaboration during the Pre-Referral Stage”

Families often suffer when children are struggling academically but have not yet been referred to special education. This suffering may be exacerbated for Latinx mothers aiming to collaborate with teachers while operating in multiple, constraining contexts. Researchers and educators have fallen short in understanding the complex phenomenon of what these women face and enact during the pre-referral stage. Therefore, this study uses a transdisciplinary methodology and framework to interpret insights from Latinx mothers gathered through pláticas (conversations). Guided by a commitment to Chicana Feminist Epistemology (Delgado Bernal, 1998), this work is also informed by theories rooted in psychology and sociology.

Kevin Nguyen

School of Educational Studies (SES)

“Unveiling Career Ambitions: The Role of Human, Social, and Cultural Capital among California Community College Classified Staff”

This dissertation study aims to explore the career aspirations of classified staff in California Community Colleges through a transdisciplinary approach involving sociology, economics, and education. I identify factors that affect professional goals and advancement opportunities by examining theories related to human, social, and cultural capital. The study provides understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education using surveys and statistical analysis. The results guide the development of policies and practices to enhance diverse career opportunities. This study across disciplines helps create inclusive environments and improve career prospects for classified staff in California community colleges.

Elisa Slee

School of Educational Studies (SES)

“The Transformative Power of STEM: Oral History Narratives of Formerly Incarcerated Individuals Pursuing STEM Degrees”

This dissertation investigates the transformative power of STEM education for formerly incarcerated individuals through oral history narratives. Highlighting stark racial and gender disparities amidst high incarceration rates, this research aims to document and analyze the experiences of individuals who navigate the complex landscape of higher education in STEM fields post-incarceration. It challenges deficit perspectives by illustrating how educational pathways contribute to resilience, empowerment, and systemic change. By amplifying these personal stories, the study seeks to deepen understanding of the pivotal role education plays in successful societal reintegration and to inspire shifts in policy and practice that support marginalized communities.

Ann Marie Castleman

Division of Behavioral & Organizational Sciences (DBOS)

“The Power to Commission: Exploring the Evaluation Capacity and the Transformative Role of Evaluation Commissioners in the International Development Sector”

Evaluation commissioners play a central role in evaluation practice by generating demand for evaluation services. Yet little is empirically known about the knowledge and skills needed to conduct this work and the mechanisms used to procure evaluation services. This research explores the capacity to commission evaluation among international nongovernmental organization evaluation commissioners, including individual competencies, practices for commissioning, factors that facilitate and constrain commissioning, and ways evaluation commissioners can contribute toward decolonizing evaluation. The findings will illuminate commissioning practices, identify strengths and challenges, point to future directions for strengthening capacity, and identify ways to decolonize evaluation.

This year we were also able to recognize and award two “Honorable Mention” distinctions for work showing exceptional promise and impact. These awardees will receive additional funds to carry out their dissertation research.

Ariana Mungia

School of Educational Studies (SES)

“Unpacking K-12 Teachers’ Creative Identity”

Empirical evidence suggest that society is facing a Creativity Gap, where society values creativity but there is an absence of it in schools. Scholars suggest that to cultivate student creativity, teachers themselves must identify with creativity. Using a qualitative analysis approach, this study focuses on unpacking K-12 public school teachers’ creative identity within their professional identity. Furthermore, this research will explore teachers’ beliefs and practices associated with creativity in the classroom. The findings from this study help address one of the barriers, teacher perceptions, to encouraging creativity in the classroom.

Nohelia Argote Veliz

Division of Behavioral & Organizational Sciences (DBOS)

“Supporting Equity: Development and Evaluation of an Allyship Intervention”

This research develops and evaluates an allyship intervention aimed at improving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Despite significant investment in DEI training, evidence of effectiveness remains limited. This study addresses this by focusing on allyship, which is essential yet underexplored for fostering inclusivity and dismantling systemic inequalities. Utilizing a systematic literature review to inform the intervention, the program emphasizes recognizing privilege, bystander involvement, empathy, and positive workplace relationships. Employing a mixed-methods approach and a randomized control design, the study assesses the intervention’s impact on allyship knowledge, skills, openness to minority groups, and oppression awareness, offering potential for positive change.

Minji Cho

Division of Behavioral & Organizational Sciences

“Developing a Conceptual Framework for Decolonizing Evaluation and Building Evidence”

The dominance of euro-western evaluation theories has resulted in western-rooted evaluation approaches. Decolonizing evaluation is crucial to avoid neocolonialism and better serve communities better. However, decolonizing evaluation (DE) practice and its impact remain poorly understood. This dissertation proposes to develop and validate a DE framework through Indigenous mixed-methods design. The study involves multiple phases, including a content analysis of DE literature and Indigenous interviews to develop the DE framework, qualitative comparative analysis and talking circles to generate evidence, and surveys and storytelling to validate the framework. The study aims to advance empirical DE practice by bridging western and Indigenous methods.

Jaclyn Gaffaney

Division of Behavioral & Organizational Sciences

“How Might We Design Effective and Sustainable Systems-Informed Wellbeing Interventions? A Mixed Methods Checklist Development and Validation Study”

The pandemic shed light on people’s rampant struggles. In response, many organizations, educational institutions, and communities have developed interventions or made systemic changes designed to prioritize wellbeing. Existing research fails to incorporate a systems-thinking and culturally responsive lens, plus, insights from practice may not yet be represented. This dissertation will fill this gap by exploring how to optimize the design of systems-informed wellbeing interventions so that they are effective and sustainable. The answers will be used to develop and validate the Systems-Informed Wellbeing Intervention Design Checklist (SWID) using a multidisciplinary Mixed Methods Exploratory Sequential Design. The checklist will provide a framework for program designers, implementers, policymakers, researchers, and evaluators to optimize their work.

Sarah Jane-Pedersen

School of Arts & Humanities

“Madly in Love: How Love is Imperative for Social Transformation in The Mad Community”

“Madly in Love: How Love is Imperative for Social Transformation in The Mad Community,” aims to explore the possibilities of love in creating a Mad positive community. This dissertation is a call to action, not only to Mad peoples, but their allies and all people who engage in a Mad person’s life—to build the capacity to engage with madness and Mad peoples in compassionate and loving ways thus enacting sustainable and transformative global social
change. The significance of the dissertation is multifaceted, as will contribute to the fields of cultural studies, disability studies, mad studies, psychology, and narrative methodology.

Khang Nguyen

School of Arts & Humanities

“Aesthetic Contemplation of the Reflexive Mirror”

Certain fundamental epistemic and ontological states can be disclosed by suspending the subjective faculties of the intellect, sensory-perception and affect through specific contemplative practices, including aesthetic appreciation. In the first part, I bring into dialogue Abhinavagupta’s philosophy of nondual Shaivism and Martin Heidegger’s metaphysics, which investigate how certain fundamental epistemic and ontological states can be disclosed by means of their respective contemplative practices. I frame the perspectives of these two figures as a response to Immanuel Kant’s critique of a priori reason and philosophy of religion, and Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophy of thought and language. In the second part, I show that the aesthetic theories of Heidegger and Tantra assert to have the capacity to give insights into hitherto underappreciated or unknown epistemic and ontological domains that exceed the intelligible world, specifically the nothingness of Being as such (“the earth”) for the former and nondual, reflexive awareness for the latter. In contrast, the aesthetic theories of Abhinavagupta, Kant and Wittgenstein are predominantly concerned with certain aesthetic objects or experiences within the bounds of the sensible world.

Jenelle Nila

School of Educational Studies

“Women of Color Collectives in Doctoral Education: How Women of Color Doctoral Students Thrive Together”

Women of color have a variety of experiences within academia, many of which are marred by the interstices of racism, classism, sexism, and the hetero-patriarchy that upholds the structure of white supremacy in higher education (Gay, 2004; Garcia-Peña, 2022). However, there is a legacy of women of color who have created and continue to create collectives to survive and, more importantly, thrive within academia. This qualitative phenomenological study uses Critical Feminist theory and Plática methodology to understand how and why women of color create collectives in their doctoral programs. Furthermore, this study serves as a marker on the genealogical map that traces women of color collectives and epistemologies inside and outside academia.

Gloria Page

School of Educational Studies

“Understanding Graduate Students’ Sense of Belonging in Research Universities: An Individual and Environmental Factor Model”

This quantitative study will explore graduate students’ sense of belonging at research universities using a national longitudinal dataset to identify individual and environmental factors about masters, doctoral and professional students. The socio-ecological model of school belonging will be extended to the university level where graduate students’ responses reveal their sense of relationship to their peers, faculty, staff, and campus, including family and community. The purpose of this study is to learn how graduate students’ sense of belonging is affected by interactions with others to establish best practices for student affairs professionals concerned with student sense of belonging.

Akua T.J. Robinson

School of Arts & Humanities

“Africana Healing: Spirit, Wellness and Music”

This dissertation is to address the continued effects of the Maafa. Applied Africana Healing is healing, power, spirit, and love. It is the result of protests, marches, uprisings, resistance, cries, laughter, healing circles, rituals and soul work. This project is interdisciplinary in nature as it cuts across fields for a comprehensive and wholistic cultural approach for healing. This continuation of culture to heal on a psychological level is applied through spirituality, and music on a Diasporic level. Applying this necessitates an engagement of discourse as it relates to culture and identity, Diaspora, Music, Spirituality and African Psychology.

Braden Michael Tabisula

Center for Information Systems & Technology

“Leveraging Technologies to Manage Mental Health Distress in a Pandemic: A Sociotechnical Model for College Students”

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States enforced stay-at-home orders to slow the spread of the disease. Isolation, however, triggered anxiety for many, and students turned to technology to cope and sustain their connection to society. This research will examine the technologies college students use to cope with their anxiety during the pandemic. Design Science Research (DSR) methodology is used to develop a sociotechnical model to help manage anxiety during lockdowns. The prototype of this model will be evaluated through focus groups of college students who have experienced anxiety during the pandemic and were isolated during the episode.

Haley Umans

Division of Behavioral & Organizational Sciences

“Promoting Continuous Learning and Organizational Improvement Through Role-Based Evaluation Capacity Building”

Afterschool programs want to engage in evaluation to learn how to improve their services to make a better impact on youth; however, they often experience barriers like high staff turnover or limited funding. This mixed-methods study seeks to develop an evidence-based approach to building evaluation capacity called role-based evaluation capacity. In this approach the evaluation skills taught would align to the established skills of afterschool staff in their respective roles. Both evaluators and afterschool staff will participate in surveys and interviews to explore the feasibility and practicality of the role-based approach to evaluation capacity building.

Sergio Gonzalez

School of Educational Studies

“A Jotería Identity and Belonging: Pláticas of Co-Creation with Queer Latinx Graduate Students in Higher Education”

Homophobia, patriarchy, and white supremacy are deeply embedded in academia and our communities; consequently, there is a lack of empirical research that speaks to the collective experiences connected to Jotería, queer people of color, and Latinx/a/o graduate students (Tijerina Revilla & Santillana, 2014). Therefore, the purpose of this exploratory qualitative dissertation is to understand how sense of belonging informs the identity development of queer Latinx/a/o graduate students in higher education. By incorporating Jotería Identity and Consciousness and Sense of Belonging as guiding frameworks, this dissertation will lay the foundation to center queer Latinx/a/o graduate students’ lived experiences through the co-creation of authentic pláticas.

Anthony Lyons

Center for Information Systems & Technology/School of Educational Studies

“Data Industry Career Competencies for Post High School African American Males”

On many comparative lists regarding STEM students and workers, African American males are an unacceptably low percentage of the population. This research seeks to ascertain which transdisciplinary components are fundamental for programs seeking to identify, needs asSchool of Educational Studiess, and assist African American, post high school males interested in the Data Science and Analytics field. By identifying which skills are fundamental for an entry-level Data Analytics career, but also the skills gaps that may hinder an individual’s success, facilities interested in developing competency-based training programs and data analyst pipelines will have a roadmap to follow.

Jessica Moss

School of Arts & Humanities – Cultural Studies

“Interfaith Communities: Relationships in Thirdspace”

Contending with, and expanding the understanding of, diverse interfaith relationships, this project presents a nuanced awareness of interfaith action and the dialectic of lived religion with interfaith engagement. Arguing that interfaith is a type of thirdspace in which engagements have affective impacts on individuals within interfaith communities, as well as orientation towards religious communities. While there are common struggles, interpretations, and socializations that hinder the participation of women and non-binary individuals in institutional interfaith spaces, observing organic interfaith relationships as occurring in thirdspace allows for the recognition of radical inclusion and dedication to diversity.

Monica Perkins

School of Educational Studies

“Toward Black Feminist Theorization in the History of U. S. Medical Education”

Seminal literature on early twentieth century Black women physicians is often biographical and bereft of contextualization within the construction and reform of medical education in the United States. Furthermore, discourse on the history of US medical education has an ahistorical ethos that places Black women’s epistemologies on the margins. This study employs Black Feminist Thought in archival research on California’s earliest Black women physicians within the context of the construction and reform of medical education to problematize and nuance understandings of early twentieth century US medical education and challenge how scholars interpret archival gaps to develop historical claims.

Ana Ortiz Salazar

School of Social Science, Policy & Evaluation – International Studies

“The Future of Plastics Scraps Trade: Identifying Determinants and Impacts of the Shifting Global Plastic Scraps Network”

China’s 2017 National Sword policy, which banned plastic scraps imports, has had ripple effects throughout the global plastics scraps trade network. The consequences are cross-sectoral and multi-scalar, resulting in cascading impacts across markets, policy, natural environments, and human public health. To anticipate the future impacts of a shifting global plastic scraps network, the author first uses a Social Network Analysis (SNA) approach to explore the network’s topological changes over time. To better understand those changes and their consequences, a cross-sectional time-series multi-method analysis is also used, identifying characteristics that make countries more likely to become havens for plastic waste.

Rebecca Williams

School of Arts & Humanities – Music

“Piano Instruction: An Exercise in Collaborative Creativity through Dialogic Pedagogy”

Private piano instruction necessitates dialogic pedagogy and a collaborative mindset to enable the co-creation of knowledge between teacher and student because it seeks to teach affective and motor skills in addition to the traditional cognitive learning of the classroom. This project lies at the intersection of musicology and pedagogy, weaving together historical artifacts with current pedagogical practices. A textual analysis of historical keyboard pedagogy sources will be conducted and analyzed through the lenses of a set of pedagogical frameworks. Several case studies will be conducted using these frameworks to determine if dialogic pedagogy elicits agency and fulfillment in piano students.

This year we were also able to recognize and award three “Honorable Mention” distinctions for work showing exceptional promise and impact. These awardees will receive additional funds to carry out their dissertation research.

Martiza Cha

School of Educational Studies

“Exploring college knowledge: Diálogo between college counselors and socioeconomically disadvantaged Latinx public high school students”

The purpose of this dissertation study is to explore college counselors’ experiences establishing relationships, engaging, and sharing college knowledge with socioeconomically disadvantaged Latinx students. The researcher will be doing their dissertation employing plática methodology, this study aimed to understand the experiences of both college counselors and Latinx high school students as they enter in diálogo around the college guidance process. The research sheds light on the constraints and opportunities in the college guidance process, contributing to research and practice for a critical group of high school students.

Marcia Joppert

School of Social Science, Policy & Evaluation – Psychology

“Evaluation Education in a World in Transformation: The Way Forward”

This study adopts a transdisciplinary perspective by examining how formal evaluation education programs (FEEP) respond to challenges in the field of evaluation in a world in transformation. Decision-makers need sound evidence to understand the dynamic change the world has faced and its impacts. This scenario has provoked discussions about the need to change how evaluation is practiced and taught. However, evidence is lacking about whether education programs prepare evaluators for this new scenario. By gathering data from evaluation experts and Young and Emerging Evaluators (YEE), this study will provoke reflections on how FEEP should adapt or change.

Chengcheng Zhang

School of Social Science, Policy & Evaluation – Economics

“How do demand-side incentives relate to insurance transitioning behavior of public health insurance enrollees? A novel voting ensemble approach for ranking factors of mixed data types”

To estimate the insurance transitioning behavior of the public health insurance enrollees in the U.S., we conduct factor analysis importance based on the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, 2011 – 2018. We aim to quantify the relationship between insurance transitioning and related factors. We also design a voting ensemble to obtain two types of relatively model-free ranking scores for each factor. We find that the top five driving factors of insurance transitioning are number of physician office visits, family size, chronic condition, age and family income. A predictive model based on the top-ranked factors is provided and model validation result shows that it is competitive to other popular prediction methods.

Cindy Delgado

School of Community & Global Health

“Transdisciplinary Evaluation of Telehealth Experiences of Diabetic Participants’ and their Coaches’ in “Stopping Diabetes in its Tracks” (SDIT) a Descriptive Mixed-Methods Customer Experience Map Journey”

This study will capture the experiences of diabetic patients and their coaches during the covid-19 transition to virtual delivery. A journey map will be created of Stopping Diabetes in Its Tracks (SDIT), a transdisciplinary engineered system that delivers holistic Diabetes Prevention (DPP) and management. Interviews and quantitative surveys will develop personal perspectives to inform equitable telehealth infrastructure and virtual delivery of future programs. Previous research has focused on the feasibility and effectiveness of in-person versus telehealth delivery of DPP. However, few studies have merged perspectives from the field of ethnic studies, public health, and customer service research during a pandemic.

Adrineh Gregorian

School of Arts & Humanities

“Cross-Border Peace Building and Gender Inclusivity: The Case of Nagorno-Karabakh”

Women are building peace networks in the fringes of the current Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. This dissertation focuses on how women in conflict regions are contributing to peace building measures through their employment of digital tools. In doing so, they are redefining themselves and their roles in society. My research analyzes how women from these countries address problems related to a) gender inequities, b) women’s inclusion in peace building processes, c) how the affect of conflict influences peace building, and d) the use of new technology in digital spaces for building peace networks that transcends borders.

Soha Hammam

Division of Politics & Economics

“How civil resistance works: A Multi-Method Analysis of Civil Resistance Dynamics and Outcomes”

The question of whether civil resistance works, and how it could lead to a pronounced change has occupied the minds of scholars for decades. With the complexities of the factors involved and the dynamic interactions among them, computational social science methods present innovative tools that can uncover the underlying principles of civil resistance. My dissertation introduces a framework that moves beyond individual domains into a more systemic analysis of civil resistance. This has a major potential not only for researchers, but also for policymakers who often time face difficulty evaluating global waves of civil resistance as they unfold.

Bree Hemingway

Division of Behavioral & Organizational Sciences

“Evaluation Training in Public Health: Exploring a New Approach”

Program evaluation is an essential function of public health practice. Despite the importance of evaluation within public health, inconsistent exposure to evaluation principles and methodology within Master of Public Health (MPH) programs inadequately prepare students for conducting evaluation. The proposed three-phased mixed-methods study supplements literature in public health, evaluation and education and aims to improve evaluation training for MPH students. Qualitative research in phase one informs phase two— development of an online evaluation training for MPH students. The third phase, a quasi-experimental study measures the effectiveness of the training to improve MPH students’ knowledge, attitudes and self-efficacy to conduct evaluation.

Melanie Lindsay

School of Arts & Humanities

“Toward an Ethics of Self-Care: The Performative Poetics of Maya Angelou, Audre Lorde, and Patrice Cullors”

My dissertation, “Toward an Ethics of Self-Care: The Performative Poetics of Maya Angelou, Audre Lorde, and Patrice Cullors,” hypothesizes that we can conceive an ethical practice of self-care through a close reading of the writings and performances of Angelou, Lorde, and Cullors. Through this project I ask whether the performative works of three Black feminists can yield a notion of ethical self-care. If we examine their thinking as expressed through their poetry, their performances (including activism), and their self-life-writing would we be able to locate an ethical practice that robustly sustains lives often lived under conditions of duress?

Conrad Pruitt, Jr.

School of Arts & Humanities

“Black Memorabilia and the Racial Dialectic: Contesting Significations of Race”

Recently, racist collectibles have experienced a renaissance, circulating through conventions and social media trades. Surpassing mere reflections of antiquated attitudes, black ephemera reinforce validations of racial distinction and hegemonic domination. This project will explore the meanings of these objects: their inferiority-affirming stereotypes, and how such perceptions of blackness intersect with their use-value as domestic items. By examining the treatment of black collectibles in critical studies, museums, social media posts, price guides and literary works from postcolonial and psychoanalytic perspectives, my dissertation will illuminate the significance of these objects as representations of the complex dynamics of defining the black racial identity.

Sarah Alismail

Center for Information Systems & Technology/School of Community & Global Health

“A Tailored Sleep Behavior Change Support System to Promote the Use of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Therapy: Theorizing the Solution”

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common sleep breathing disorder in the U.S. with 30 million adults suffering from it, which is the second most in the world. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy is the most effective treatment for OSA. However, up to 50% of patients who accept using CPAP therapy fail to adhere to it. An explanatory, randomized, mixed method, crossover study will be adopted to examine the efficacy of a tailored sleep behavior change support system and its effect on fostering the use of CPAP therapy among non-compliant OSA patients.

Skylar Hanson

School of Community & Global Health

“How California is Becoming ACEs Aware: A Case Study on Early Effects and Implementation”

With the launch of the ACEs Aware campaign, California becomes the first state to address childhood adversity and toxic stress by offering training to healthcare providers and allocating Medi-Cal funds to reimburse providers that screen patients for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Prolonged exposure to trauma as a child can have detrimental effects on an individual’s development and overall well-being. Through stakeholder interviews, a case study of this statewide trauma-informed approach will be utilized to explain implementation issues, concerns, challenges, and improvements that will arise as a result of this new policy.

Laura Bauer

School of Arts & Humanities – English

“The Essence of Narrativity: Evolution and Female Pleasure in Narrative Desire”

Bauer’s dissertation work outlines a new way to read narrative in relation to gender and pleasure that is applicable across the mediums of literature, film, and video games. By incorporating evolutionary biology into narrative studies, she suggests there may be other ways in which plots move or ways in which theorists can interpret meaning from narrative patterns such as resolution, cyclicality, communality, and temporality. Her theoretical model integrates contextual and formalist approaches while dismantling the historical understanding that narrative is irrevocably heteronormative, thereby presenting a comprehensive narrative poetics that enables fresh readings of gender and plot for contemporary scholarship.

Eugenia Weiss

School of Educational Studies

“Post-9/11 Student Veterans’ Optimal Functioning as a Predictor for Positive Academic Performance”

A transdisciplinary study of education and positive psychology will examine how post-9/11 student veterans’ positive optimal functioning predicts their academic performance. A convenient student veteran sample from a private 4-year university in the southwestern part of the U.S. will be used. The following hypotheses will be tested: 1). The student veterans that report higher levels of optimal functioning will also report higher levels of overall academic performance. 2). The student veterans that report a greater positive university environment will report greater levels of academic performance. 3). The student veterans who report more combat experiences will report lower levels of optimal functioning.

Lauren Hartle

School of Arts & Humanities – English

“The Last Frontier; or, Going Critical; or, Denying Reality in Las Vegas”

My dissertation reconsiders Las Vegas as a nuclear site by focusing on fictional and non-fictional representations of the city from the town’s founding in 1905 through the end of the earliest phases of the cold war in 1979. These early narratives dislocate Las Vegas from time and place and are critical to the city’s development as a military-industrial—and later, nuclear—playground. My work traces the effect that this nuclear association has on subsequent stories told about Las Vegas and how these storylines resonate with broader patterns of nuclear denial in the United States.