Current PhD students

Elin Amundsen

Elin Amundsen

Pronouns: she/her
amund182@umn.edu

Research interests:
Social work ethics, History of social work, Ethics in social work education

Teaching interests:
Social workers' identity development, Theory, History and philosophy in social work

Anita Arenson

Anita Arenson

Pronouns: she/her
arens137@umn.edu

Research interests:
Gender binaries and non-conformity, Family systems, Child development

Teaching interests:
Gender and sexuality, School social work, Feminist practice


Labibah Buraik

Labibah Buraik

Pronouns: she/her
burai004@umn.edu

Research interests:
BIPOC student mental health, Culturally relevant interventions, Colonialism in academic institutions, Impacts of microaggressions

Teaching interests:
Social work history, Supervision, Direct practice, Mental health interventions

Will Carlson

Will Carlson

Pronouns: he/him
carl2871@umn.edu

Research interests:
Implementation, Humanitarian immigration, Mental health, Cultural adaptation

Teaching interests:
Clinical social work, Trauma treatment, Evaluation


Jessica Coleman

Jessica Coleman

Pronouns: she/her
colem249@umn.edu

Research interests:
Child welfare, Discrimination, Disparities reduction, Socialization

Teaching interests:
Child welfare, Mental health, Social welfare history, Comparative racial and ethnic analysis

Amy Dorman

Amy Dorman

Pronouns: she/her/ella
dorm0039@umn.edu

Research interests:
Cross-sector collaboration, Social policy, Violence prevention

Teaching interests:
Research methods (qualitative, mixed, applied), Policy, Gender studies


Shelby Flanagan

Shelby Flanagan

Pronouns: she/her or they/them
flana064@umn.edu

Research interests:
Health equity and health care policy

Teaching interests:
Quantitative research methods, Research methods in social sciences, LGBTQ health

Jamie Fischer

Jamie Fischer

Pronouns: she/her
fisch948@umn.edu

Research interests:
Early psychosis spectrum, Psychosocial functioning, Social cognition, Clinical & community-based intervention

Teaching interests:
Assessment, Clinical mental health practice, Practice evaluation


David Glesner

David Glesner

Pronouns: he/him
dglesene@umn.edu

Research interests:
Child welfare, American Indian child welfare, Tribal relationships

Teaching interests:
Children and families, Qualitative research

Stephanie Hanson

Stephanie Hanson

Pronouns: she/her
hans7144@umn.edu

Research interests:
Perinatal mental health disorders, Empowerment, Maternal and child health

Teaching interests:
Research methodology, Social epidemiology, Maternal and child health, Public mental health, Program evaluation


Bonnie Horgos

Bonnie Horgos

Pronouns: she/her
horgo001@umn.edu

Research interests:
Alcohol and substance use disorders, Modern and contemporary Hungary, Gender studies, Higher education

Teaching interests:
Substance use and social work, Research methods (quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods)

Dongwook Kim

Dongwook Kim

Pronouns: he/him
kim01444@umn.edu

Research interests:
Stigma; Health equity, HIV, Mixed methods

Teaching interests:
International social work, Program evaluation, Quantitative methods in social work, Ethnographic field work


Channel Lowery

Channel Lowery

Pronouns: she/her
lower079@umn.edu

Research interests:
Black social workers, Self-care, Organizational culture

Teaching interests:
Research, Self-care education, Culturally responsive practice

Quinn Oteman

Quinn Oteman

Pronouns: he/him
otema001@umn.edu

Research interests:
Aging, Autism, Community-based participatory research, LGBTQ+

Teaching interests:
Disability policy, Advocacy, Research methods


Jacob Otis

Jacob Otis

Pronouns: he/him
otema001@umn.edu

Research interests:
Restorative justice, Intimate partner violence, Police misconduct

Teaching interests:
Quantitative research methods, Families & groups, Theory

Sook-young Park

Sook-young Park

Pronouns: she/her
park2363@umn.edu

Research interests:
Acculturation, Youth aging out of care, Adolescent mental health

Teaching interests:
Research methods (quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods), Child welfare


Kayla Richards

Kayla Richards

Pronouns: she/her; they/them
rich2016@umn.edu

Research interests:
Intergroup dominance, Social work pedagogy as intervention, Juvenile legal system, Indigenous methodologies

Teaching interests:
Social policy, Group work, Field

Chittaphone Santavasy

Chittaphone Santavasy

Pronouns: she/her
sant0175@umn.edu

Research interests:
Youth work education and training, Youth work, Youth civic engagement

Teaching interests:
Qualitative research, Youth studies, Youth work


Marcia Seebachan

Marcia Seebachan

Pronouns: she/her
seeba027@umn.edu

Ruth Soffer-Elnekave

Ruth Soffer-Elnekave

Pronouns: she/her
soffe004@umn.edu


Laura Soltani

Laura Soltani

Pronouns: she/her
garlo017@umn.edu

Research interests:
Labor exploitation and trafficking, Immigration systems and policies, Refugee resettlement, Culturally relevant healing modalities

Teaching interests:
Program evaluation, Policy, Trauma treatment, Human trafficking, Working with immigrants and refugees

Johara Suleiman

Johara Suleiman

Pronouns: she/her
sulei024@umn.edu

Research interests:
Child welfare policy, Race and racialization, Immigrant communities, Systems of acculturation, Parenting

Teaching interests:
Child welfare history and policy, Family and group practice, Trauma, Race and immigration


Kenneth (Kenny) Turc

Kenny Turck

Pronouns: he/him
turck022@umn.edu

Houa Vang

Houa Vang

Pronouns: she/her
vang1078@umn.edu

Research interests:
Hmong mental health and holistic healing practices, acculturation and socialization of Asian immigrant/refugees

Teaching interests:
Clinical social work, Assessment and engagement, Qualitative research


Heejung Yun

Heejung Yun

Pronouns: she/her
yun00020@umn.edu

Research interests:
Disability policy, Family caregiving, Special education policy

Teaching interests:
Qualitative research methods, Disability policy

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