CLA provides multiple avenues of support for graduate student research through conference travel funding and research awards. The graduate school also provides additional funding opportunities.

Student Research Highlights

The College of Liberal Arts’ graduate students produce cutting-edge academic work. Below, you can read about the various research highlights in some of our departments from our current students.

English

Matthew Soderblom
Email: tuh37388@temple.edu​
Faculty Advisor: Miles Orvell

Description of research: I currently research concepts of the American frontier and various forms of madness depicted in its literature. I am very interested in the relationship between land, industrialization and madness. I am in the midst of writing my dissertation prospectus. This research includes a diverse body of European American and Indigenous authors. These authors include: Willa Cather, Hamlin Garland, O.E. Rølvaag, Charles Eastman, Zitkalá-Šá, Alexander Posey, Sara Winnemucca, etc. 

  • Papers/publications related to research: I recently published a review of Miranda Green-Barteet and Anne K. Phillips' Reconsidering Laura Ingalls: Little House and Beyond.
  • Social media mentions about research: Here is a citation and link to my publication: Soderblom, Matthew. Review of Reconsidering Laura Ingalls Wilder: Little House and Beyond ed. by Miranda A. Green-Barteet and Anne K. Phillips. South Central Review, vol. 38 no. 1, 2021, p. 105-107.Project MUSE, doi:10.1353/scr.2021.0007.

Geo
raphy, Environment and Urban Studies

Tesla DuBois
Email: tesla.dubois@temple.edu
Faculty Advisor: Kevin Henry​

Description of research: My research looks at the geospatial patterns of cancer burden and applies spatial analysis methods to identify and address possible area-level drivers of cancer health disparities.  I have used spatial analysis to generate hypotheses about possible drivers of early-onset colorectal cancer and investigate non-smoking related risk factors for lung cancer. 

  • Publications: I recently published my first first-author paper in Preventing Chronic Disease, called “Geographic Disparities in Cancer Incidence in the US Population Aged 20 to 49 Years, 2016-2020.” I am also a proud second-author on a paper that was published in Nature Scientific Reports called, “An exploratory analysis of the impact of area-level exposome on geographic disparities in aggressive prostate cancer.”  
  • Conference presentations: I presented some of my recent lung cancer work at the International Medical Geography Symposium over the summer and tied for first place for the student paper competition with my talk, titled, “Beyond Smoking: A Geospatial Investigation of Factors Associated with Lung and Bronchus Cancer Risk in Pennsylvania.” I plan to submit the corresponding manuscript early next year. 
  • Funding: This year I was the winner of the Graduate Research Award - a Sustainability Program (GRASP) for my lung cancer investigation in Philadelphia. With that award, I am interviewing community leaders in high lung cancer burden neighborhoods and providing micro-grants to support risk mitigation efforts.

History

Peter Sicher
Email: tun52705@temple.edu
Faculty Advisor: Gregory Urwin

Description of research: An examination of the 1862 escape of Robert Smalls, the reactions he inspired, and the manner in which he leveraged his own story in the larger political context of debates concerning emancipation and Union war aims.

  • Conference presentations or highlights: Presented a paper entitled 'A Grateful Nation:' Robert Smalls and Narratives of Emancipation in 1862 at the 26th annual Barnes Conference.
  • Awards or grants received: My paper at the Barnes Conference was awarded Best Paper, U.S. History.

Philosophy

Caleb Zimmerman
Email: tuj66899@temple.edu

Description of research: I work on political liberalism and conscientious objection. Specifically, my research focuses on adherents who seek to fully integrate their lives with their religious, moral, or philosophical commitments (“integralists”). Can integralists avoid extinction from political liberal democracies? Against the prevailing view that they cannot, I argue that certain integralists, such as the Amish, can comply with political liberalism’s restraints — but that other challenges prevent them from joining the constituency of political liberal citizens. 

  • Papers/publications related to research: My paper Two-Kingdom Dualism: Metaphysical Grounding for Nonviolence examines a species of nonviolence that is compliant with political liberalism’s restraints. It was recently published in Religious Studies, the journal for philosophy of religion at Cambridge University Press. 

  • Awards or grants received: I was recently awarded a graduate research fellowship at the Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. 

    from political liberal democracies? Against the prevailing view that they cannot, I argue that certain integralists, such as the Amish, can comply with political liberalism’s restraints — but that other challenges prevent them from joining the constituency of political liberal citizens. 

Political Science

Maura Shenker
Email: tuk40467@temple.edu
Faculty Advisor: Nyron Crawford

I recently completed a 15-month Fellowship, sponsored by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), where I served as a key member of the newly created Ecosystem Development Division within the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of Investment and Innovation (OII). In this role, I had the unique opportunity to oversee the redesign and implementation of the Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC), a national initiative aimed at building innovation ecosystems by supporting Entrepreneurial Support Organizations (ESOs). The GAFC aligns with the broader goals of the Biden administration’s place-based industrial policy, part of the economic strategy known as Bidenomics, which seeks to target federal investments toward fostering inclusive economic development in underserved regions across the U.S.

Throughout the fellowship, I led the transformation of the GAFC into a two-stage competition, distributing $7 million in funding to 35 ESOs. My work included designing the program’s logic model, setting metrics for measuring success, conducting reviews of over 350 Stage One applications, and managing the complex process of selecting winners. This effort was instrumental in increasing engagement with the SBA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, specifically targeting historically underrepresented groups such as women and socially or economically disadvantaged individuals (SEDI).

In addition to program management, I co-chaired the creation of a Community of Practice for ecosystem builders across federal agencies, fostering collaboration aimed at strengthening innovation networks nationwide. I also authored several critical documents, including a white paper on GAFC’s role in advancing place-based economic development and a comprehensive “How to GAFC” handbook to ensure the sustainability of the program. My participation in national conferences and policy discussions allowed me to advocate for the critical role of inclusion and equity in federal science and economic policy, ensuring that federal resources reach traditionally marginalized entrepreneurs and regions.

The fellowship allowed me to gain first-hand experience in policy implementation at the federal level, particularly as it relates to modern industrial policy under the Biden administration’s Bidenomics framework. The focus of GAFC—driving inclusive innovation through targeted federal funding—directly informs my dissertation research, which investigates the efficacy of place-based industrial strategies in addressing the disparities in access to federal funding for minority and women entrepreneurs. My dissertation uses GAFC as a case study to explore whether these place-based economic development policies are achieving their intended outcomes and how they align with broader federal goals of promoting equitable growth.

This fellowship, situated at the intersection of research, policy, and economic development, has provided me with the empirical foundation to analyze the successes and challenges of modern R&D industrial policies. My role in shaping the GAFC, combined with my academic focus on the barriers to economic participation, uniquely positions me to contribute to discussions on how federal policies can better serve underrepresented communities and stimulate inclusive growth in the U.S. innovation ecosystem.

Souradeep Banerjee
Faculty Advisor: Adam Ziegfeld

Description of research: The study investigates the question of why elections are so expensive in developing countries, such as India. The research project conducted unravels the mechanisms through which political fundraising happens during an election and the channels through which the funds are spent on both visible and less conspicuous forms of campaign activity. However, variations do exist in the mechanisms adopted by different parties and candidates.

  • Papers/publications related to research: Ashwani Kumar, Souradeep Banerjee and Shashwat Dhar (2020), Pathways of money: insights from the 2017 Gujarat assembly election, India Review, 19:5, 448-470, DOI: 10.1080/14736489.2020.1855012
  • Social media mentions about research: tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14736489.2020.1855012

Psychology

Matt Mattoni
Email: matt.mattoni@temple.edu
Faculty Advisor: Thomas Olino

Description of research: Research of brain functioning underlying psychological disorders often relies on group averages and between-person studies, such as how the group-averaged brain of individuals with major depressive disorder differs from the group-averaged brain of healthy controls. However, clinical translation requires understanding how neural processes unfold within single individuals. My research examines how heterogeneity between individuals limits the ability of group-averages to reflect single individuals. For instance, if individuals substantially differ from each other, the group average may not reflect any of the individuals ('averaging apples and oranges'). Additionally, I investigate potential solutions to heterogeneity to better understand how individual-level brain functioning is related to psychopathology and treatment outcomes, such as subgrouping and other person-centered/specific approaches. 

  • Research Highlights: As one example of my research, I recently led a project that examined heterogeneity of adolescent brain networks during a reward task. We found that the group-average network poorly reflected most individuals, limiting the ability to use it for behavioral or clinical prediction. We instead used an individualized modeling approach to model individual-specific networks to better predict behavioral outcomes related to reward functioning (e.g., substance use disorder risk). 

[1] Mattoni, M., Smith, D. V., Olino, T. M. (2023). Characterizing Heterogeneity in Early Adolescent Reward Networks and Individualized Associations with Behavioral and Clinical Outcomes. Network Neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.1162/netn_a_00306

This research extended previous work examining brain structure, where we found that a large sample of adolescents could be separated into distinct subgroups of brain structure that were significantly associated with various clinical symptoms. 

[2] Mattoni, M., Wilson, S., & Olino, T. M. (2021). Identifying profiles of brain structure and associations with current and future psychopathology in youth. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 51, 101013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2021.101013

Auburn Stephenson
Email: auburn.stephenson@temple.edu
Faculty Advisor: Lauren Alloy

Extensive research implicates inflammation in the development and maintenance of depression. Although elevated inflammatory activity can induce emotional changes, little research has examined how emotional clarity – the trait-like ability to recognize, discern, and describe one’s emotions – influences the relationship between inflammatory signaling and depression. Our work found that among adolescents with low levels of emotional clarity, higher levels of inflammatory proteins predicted increases in depressive symptom severity. Our results suggest that low emotional clarity and high inflammatory signaling may jointly confer risk for future depressive symptom severity among adolescents. Interventions that increase clarity into one’s emotions (e.g., mindfulness) among adolescents with low-grade inflammation, as well as strategies that modulate low-grade inflammation (e.g., healthy diet) among adolescents with low emotional clarity, may reduce future depression risk.

  • Papers/publications related to research: Stephenson, A. R., Chat, I. K.-Y., Bisgay, A. T., Coe, C. L., Abramson, L. Y., & Alloy, L. B. (2024). Higher inflammatory proteins predict future depressive symptom severity among adolescents with lower emotional clarity. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 122, 388–398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2024.08.035

Sociology

Hana Gebremariam
Email: hana.gebremeariam@temple.edu
Faculty Advisor: Kimberly Goyette

I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at Temple University. My dissertation examines how students from different racial backgrounds engage with campus mental health services and how universities organize and respond to the needs of different student populations. Specifically, how racial diversity is considered in the decision-making process in higher education and how that shapes students’ use of mental health services. 

  • Recent presentation: I presented my work at the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) Conference in August 2024 in Montreal, Canada. 
  • Recent award: My work is supported by the 2024 ASA Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (DDRIG). 

Ewa Protasiuk
Email: ewa.protasiuk
Faculty Advisor: Judith Levine

Description of research: In the context of the COVID-19 crisis, the project examines stability and change in the labor practices of urban restaurants, emblematic sites of low-wage work which disproportionately employ people of color, immigrants, and people with low socioeconomic status. Based on spending over a year as a restaurant worker and qualitative interviews with 93 workers, managers, and owners, I show that changes in the labor market afforded temporary power to workers and created windows of opportunity for pro-worker change. However, I argue, the labor market is an unstable source of power for workers. The formation of more stable forms of power, such as collective organization among workers, has been weak among restaurant workers since the pandemic—due in part to enduring social divisions based in citizenship, race/ethnicity, and occupation. These findings point to the 1) vulnerability of improvements to precarious labor conditions in restaurant work, 2) the weakness of the market itself as a mechanism for improving stereotypically “bad” jobs, and 3) how social inequality shapes the forms of power workers can assemble, including in shared contexts of disruption.

  • Papers/publications related to research: Protasiuk, Ewa. (2024). “Unsettled Times: The Contestation and Reproduction of Flexible Scheduling in Pandemic-Era Restaurant Work.” Work and Occupations (print version forthcoming). https://doi.org/10.1177/07308884241265477 
  • Grants/award highlights: Russell Sage Foundation Dissertation Research Grant, American Sociological Association Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant

Spanish and Portuguese

Daniel Guarin
Email: guarin@temple.edu
Faculty Advisor: Augusto Lorenzino

Research interests: Linguistic Landscapes, Language in society, Spanish in the US

Papers/publications related to research: 

  • Guarín, D. (2024a). Pronominal Address in the Linguistic Landscape of Hispanic Philadelphia: Variation and accommodation of tú and usted in written signs. Language, Culture and Society. https://doi.org/10.1075/lcs.23004.gua 
  • Guarín, D. (2024b). From Bilingualism to Multilingualism: Mapping Language Dynamics in the Linguistic Landscape of Hispanic Philadelphia. Languages, 9(4), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages9040123 
  • Guarín, D., & Oliveiro-Cardoso, L. (2023). A Virtual Linguistic Landscape Analysis of Higher Education Institutions and Their Use of Pronouns of Address in The Hispanic and Lusophone World. In R. Taiwo, B. Idowu-Faith, & S. Ajiboye (Eds.), Transformation of Higher Education Through Institutional Online Spaces. IGI Global. 10.4018/978-1-6684-8122-6.ch001   
  • Guarín, D. (2022a). El Uso de pronombres de tratamiento en el departamento del Quindío (Colombia). Miradas, 17(2), 65–82. https://doi.org/10.22517/25393812.25158 
  • Guarín, D. (2022b). Colombian Literature in the Spanish as a Foreign Language’s Textbooks: (Re)Presentations, Uses and Perspectives. Visitas Al Patio, 16(2), 460–484. https://doi.org/10.32997/RVP-vol.16-num.2-2022-4084 
  • Guarín, D. (2022c). Mesetas, multiplicidades e interconexiones en Estrella Distante: Entre la complejidad y lo rizomático. La Palabra, 43(1), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.19053/01218530.n43.2022.13909 
  • Guarín, D. (2021a). Andrés Hurtado y la travesía del héroe fracasado en El árbol de la ciencia (1911) de Pío Baroja. Lingüística Y Literatura, 42(80), 35–53. https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.lyl.n80a03 
  • Guarín, D. (2021b). Los Pronombres De Tratamiento En El Paisaje Lingüístico Quindiano (Colombia). Miradas, 16(1), 77–96. https://doi.org/10.22517/25393812.24862 
  • Guarín, D. (2021c). Variability and identity: The Use of Pronouns of Address by Students of Spanish as a Foreign Language. Language. Text. Society, 8(1), 1–14.  https://ltsj.online/2021-08-1-guarin/  

Conference presentations:

Social media mentions about research:

Alodia Martin-Martinez
Email: tuf69947@temple.edu
Faculty Advisor: Montserrat Piera

Description of research: Medieval and early modern studies, digital humanities

  • Conference presentations or highlights: A Virtual Middle Ages: 3D Models and Sketchfab in Language and Culture Learning in NeMLA 2021
  • Papers/publications related to research:
    - ‘Mi poesía es platónica, mi prosa es aristotélica:’ Construcción y verdad en Estrella distante de Roberto Bolaño. In Chasqui: Revista de Literatura Latinoamericana. (Article using Digital Humanities). 
    - Qui bene amat, bene castigat: Cambio semántico del verbo ‘castigar’ a través de los Milagros de Nuestra Señora de Gonzalo de Berceo. In Revista Triangle: Lenguaje, literatura y computación. 
    - A book chapter ("Capitalism and the Antichrist") in a book currently under review
  • Awards or grants received: Dissertation Completion Grant (spring 2021)

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