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Participant history
The first Dissertation Writing Retreat, held in 2009, had 12 participants; in 2010, thanks to increased funding from the Graduate School, we were able to expand to 15 participants—a number that leaders and participants alike have found to be ideal. Below is our current listing of the names, departments, dissertation titles, and defense dates of participants from our first retreat to the present. If you are a former participant who has defended but do not yet appear on this list, please contact Katie Levin to update her with your good news!
Defended dissertations produced by retreat participants
2023 retreat
Emily Mitamura |
Political Science |
Plots of Violence: Knowledge Production and the Cambodian Genocide |
2023 |
2022 retreat
Zhuldyz Amankulova |
Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development |
"It Is Not About the Person; It Depends on Their Tarbiyeh": The Role of Social Capital in Educational and Career Aspirations of Kazakhstani Youth from Rural or Lower Socioeconomic Backgrounds |
2023 |
Emina Bužinkić |
Curriculum and Instruction |
Schooling aftershocks: Perpetual displacements of refugee youth amid multiple pandemics and social (b)orders |
2022 |
SunMin May Hwang |
Human Factors & Ergonomics |
Aesthetics of produce: A systematic and design-based approach |
2022 |
Jesse Kowalski |
Rehabilitation Medicine |
MicroRNA and neuroimaging biomarkers of neuropathic pain severity after spinal cord injury: Results from a robotic-assisted gait training study |
2022 |
Laura Toro |
Plant and Microbial Biology |
Is fertilization essential for taking care of the next generation of tropical trees? / Es la fertilización necesaria para cuidar a la siguiente generación de árboles tropicales? | 2022 |
2121 retreat
Evelyn Dsouza |
Writing Studies |
The Rhetorical Ecology of an Urban Wetland Complex |
2022 |
Kristin Fitzsimmons |
Communication Studies |
Gender Rolls: A History of Gender, Identity, and Nostalgia in Tabletop Roleplaying Games |
2022 |
Mary Foltz |
Rehabilitation Science |
Quantification of Intervertebral Disc Morphology: Alterations Associated with Age, Idiopathic Scoliosis, & Corrective Fusion Surgery |
2022 |
Rachael Houston |
Political Science |
Like, Share, and Comment #SCOTUS: Public Engagement with the U.S. Supreme Court on Facebook |
2022 |
Elizabeth Howard |
English |
“The Parted Voice”: Polyvocal Utterances in Victorian Elegies Winner, 2023 Best Dissertation Award, Arts & Humanities, University of Minnesota Graduate School |
2022 |
Leah Johnson |
Rehabilitation Science |
Upper Extremity Biomechanics During Manual Wheelchair Propulsion: A Systematic Review and Analysis of Push Rim Positioning and Training Effects |
2021 |
Lauren Klaffke |
History of Science, Technology & Medicine |
Medicated by the Corporate Soul: Public Relations, Storytelling, and Philanthropy in the Pharmaceutical Industry, 1912–1980 |
2021 |
Diele Lobo |
Conservation Biology |
Entrepreneurship for biodiversity conservation and sustainability transformation: a new frontier in Conservation Science and Practice |
2022 |
Keavy McFadden |
Geography, Environment and Society |
Schools for Sale: Contested Geographies of Education, Urban Development, and Political Imaginaries in Chicago |
2022 |
Samira Musleh |
Communication Studies |
The Unpleasantries of Love: Islamic Marital Economy and the Compensability of Reproductive Labor in Postcolonial Capitalism |
2022 |
Amanda Shopa |
Curriculum & Instruction: Arts in Education |
My Easy Year: Breast Cancer, Narrative Reckoning, and the Art of Creating a Dissertation |
2023 |
2020 retreat
| Anna Amramina | History of Science, Technology & Medicine | A Common Language of the Earth: American–Soviet Scientific Collaborations during the Cold War | 2021 |
Barbra Banks |
Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development |
Addressing Institutional Racism in Healthcare: A Case Study |
2020 |
Lisa Fazzino |
Microbiolology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology |
Bacteriophage in Cross-feeding Bacterial Cocultures: Ecological and Evolutionary Consequences |
2020 |
Sarah Garcia |
Sociology |
Deindustrialization and Disability: Social-Structural Predictors of Physical Disabilities among Working-Age Americans |
2021 |
Maria Heath |
Linguistics |
Tweeting Out Loud: Prosodic Orthography on Social Media |
2021 |
Seonghee Hong |
Family Social Science |
Parental Goals: Determinants, Purpose, and Process |
2022 |
Sara Knauz |
Psychology |
Alexithymia subscales have distinct roles in both the variability of arousal ratings and in associations with anxiety and psychological inflexibility |
2022 |
| Abraham Lamptey | French and Italian | Of Sub-Saharan Clandestine Migration: Emotions, Spectrality and Hospitality in World Cinema |
2021 |
Michelle Lee |
American Studies |
Death Becomes Her: Asiatic Femininity, Aesthetics, and the Politics of Disfigurement |
2023 |
Tai Sims |
Nursing |
Engaging Older Adults with Alzheimer’s Disease in Exercise: Impact on Caregivers |
2022 |
Monica Watson |
Ecology, Evolution and Behavior |
How are microbial symbionts exchanged between different host species and across host migration? |
2021 |
2019 retreat
Chris Bell |
Theatre Arts and Dance |
Ecologies of Indigenous-led Performance Collaborations |
2022 |
Sian Durward-Akhurst |
Veterinary Medicine |
Tools for Precision Medicine in the Horse |
2020 |
Macey Flood |
History of Science, Technology & Medicine |
Simple Medicines: Land, Health, and Power in the 19th-century Ojibwe Western Great Lakes |
2021 |
Lisa Gulya |
Sociology |
Post-Soviet Americans: Familial and National Belonging for Russian Adoptees in the U.S. |
2023 |
David Korostyshevsky |
History of Science, Technology & Medicine |
Governing Habitual Drunkards: Guardianship, Life Insurance, and the Medico-Legal History of Compulsive Drinking in Nineteenth-Century America |
2021 |
Charlotte Madere |
English |
Creating Indian and British Selves: Life-Writing and Colonial Relations, 1794–1826 |
2020 |
David Melendez |
Theatre Arts and Dance |
As the Padres Answered: Mission Space, Performance, and Fantasies of Representation in Alta California |
2022 |
Aaron Mallory |
Geography |
In The Life: Accounting and Triage for Black LGBTQIA Communities in HIV Prevention |
2020 |
Elaine Norton |
Veterinary Medicine |
Identification of genetic loci underlying equine metabolic syndrome and laminitis risk |
2019 |
Emma Snowden |
History |
Briding the Straight: The Shared History of Iberia and North Africa in Medieval Muslim and Christian Chronicles |
2021 |
Irene Vuu |
Pharmacy |
Development of Parenteral Drugs for the Treatment of Seizure Emergencies |
2019 |
Patrick Wilz |
History |
In Cold Type: The New Technological Sublime and the Reimagining of Print Journalism in the United States and Britain, 1960–1995 |
2021 |
2018 retreat
Micaela Bagley |
Astrophysics |
2018 |
|
Chip Chang |
American Studies |
Korean American Creations and Discontents: Korean American Cultural Productions, Los Angeles, and Post-1992 |
2020 |
Suyue Chen |
Chemistry |
Controlled Synthesis of Silver Nanostructures Using Polyol Methods |
2019 |
| Elisheva Cohen | Comparative and International Development Education | Producing a Culture of Inclusion: Inclusive Refugee Education for Syrian Refugee Youth in Jordan | 2019 |
| Ambria Crusan | Food Science and Nutrition | 2020 | |
| Andrew Fang | Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy | Analysis of Air Pollution Models in the context of Coupled Carbon and Air Pollution Benefits in Multi-scale Urban Systems | 2019 |
| Shannon Flaherty | Art History | Tell Me About It: The Role of Confession in Contemporary Art | 2019 |
| Amanda Gorton | Ecology, Evolution and Behavior | The spatial scale of adaptation in common ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) | 2019 |
Allison Haaning |
Agronomy and Plant Genetics |
Natural genetic variation and gene expression patterns underlying lateral shoot (tiller) development in barley (Hordeum vulgare L) |
2018 |
| Jennifer Kang | English | Modernism and Its Other: The Making of Oppositional Aesthetics in the Era of High Modernism | 2021 |
Curt Lund |
Design, Housing, and Apparel |
Brodovitch Before Bazaar |
2020 |
Abigail Rombalski |
Curriculum & Instruction: Literacy Education |
“I get it that you're worried about my school, but this is my education”: Connected literacies and critical pedagogies in anti-racist youth organizing |
2018 |
Ana Claudia Dos Santos São Bernardo |
Spanish and Portuguese Studies |
From the Dumpster to the Bookshelf: Literature Written by Black Brazilian Women and the Quest for Mobility from 1960s to the Present |
2020 |
2017 retreat
Katie Anderson |
Comparative and Molecular Biosciences (Veterinary Medicine) |
Melanoma displays an evolutionarily conserved resistance to modulation of phagocytic signals |
2017 |
Melanie Galloway |
Physics |
2017 |
|
Jasmine Joseph |
Bioinformatics and Computational Biology |
Heritability of Behavioral and Brain Measures in a Large Cohort of Healthy Twin and Non-Twin Subjects |
2019 |
Sara Kemper |
Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development |
"Where I Bloomed": Exploring Teacher Professional Vitality in the Teacher-Powered School |
2020 |
Tina Kilaberia |
Social Work |
Diversity of Expertise, Social Diversity, and Commitment: A Comparison of Five Teams at a Care Organization |
2017 |
Min Jung Kim |
Carlson School of Management |
From mass to motion: The temporal dynamics of industry clusters |
2020 |
Lars Z. Mackenzie |
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies |
Digitizing Difference: Fraudulence, Gender Non-Conformity, and Data |
2019 |
Brendan McGillicuddy |
Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature |
Drug Regimes: Addiction, Biopolitics, American Literature, 1820–1940 | 2019 |
Emily Morris |
Comparative International Development Education |
Performing Graduates and Dropouts: The Gendered Scripts and Aspirations of Secondary School Students in Zanzibar |
2018 |
Joanna Núñez |
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies and Chicana/o & Latina/o Studies |
¡Mi Mamá me Enseño! Teaching and Learning Mexicana and Chicana Feminisms in the Home |
2019 |
Kong Pheng Pha |
American Studies |
Queer Refugeeism: Constructions of Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the Hmong Diaspora |
2017 |
| Aaron Rosenthal | Political Science | Locating the State: Dual Visibility in Contemporary American Government | 2018 |
Stephanie Rollag Yoon |
Curriculum & Instruction |
Connecting through Composition: Critical Intersections in Middle School Writing |
2019 |
Meredith Steck |
Ecology, Evolution and Behavior |
The ecological context of individual specialization |
2018 |
| Nick Wagner | Classical and Near Eastern Studies | Haec Templa: Religion in Cicero's Orations | 2019 |
2016 retreat
Tasneem Anwar | Curriculum & Instruction |
Design-Based Online Teacher Professional Development to Introduce Integration of STEM in Pakistan | 2016 |
Emily Durham |
History |
Magic, Madness, and Mud: The Progressive Realism of Premchand, Manto, and Chughtai |
2018 |
Aaron Eddens |
American Studies |
"Climate-smart" seeds: Race, science, and security in the global green revolution Winner, 2019 Ralph Henry Gabriel Prize, Association of American Studies |
2019 |
Emily Gunawan |
Mathematics |
2016 |
|
Yumin Kim |
Design |
Is Crowdfunding Altruistic or Egoistic? The Influences of Social Cause and Message Types on Prosocial Motives and Online Cause-Related Crowdfunding |
2018 |
Kate Knuth |
Conservation Sciences |
How Collectives Drive Deliberate Transformation to Make Progress Toward Sustainability |
2018 |
Alicia Lazzarini |
Geography, Environment and Society |
'Açúcar nem Sempre Doce': Reinvestment, Land, and Gendered Labor in a 'New' Mozambique |
2017 |
Bin Li |
Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics |
A Formal Investigation of Human Spatial Control Skills: Framework, Development, and Assessment |
2016 |
Rahsaan Mahadeo |
Sociology |
Funk the Clock: Transgressing Time while Young, Prescient and Black |
2019 |
Nandita Mirajkar |
Veterinary Medicine |
Characterization of emerging Brachyspira pathogens in swine: Applications to disease control |
2016 |
Shannon Dahmes Puechner |
Curriculum & Instruction |
"Teach the kids to code switch...which is a very easy thing to say": Heterosystemic pedagogies for racial justice within a field of (im)possibilities |
2018 |
Amir-Pouyan Shiva | Anthropology |
Being Written While Writing: Crafting Selves in the Persian Blogosphere | 2017 |
Meagan Tripp |
German, Nordic, Slavic & Dutch |
Dance on the Page, Poetry on Stage: Encounters between Modernist German Poetry and Dance |
2019 |
Evan Taparata |
History |
No Asylum for Mankind: The Creation of Refugee Law and Policy in the United States, 1776–1951 Winner, 2019 Best Dissertation Award, Arts & Humanities, University of Minnesota Graduate School |
2018 |
2015 retreat
Anne Campbell |
Comparative International Development Education |
2016 |
|
Jonathan Clayton |
Veterinary Medicine |
Associations Between Nutrition, Gut Microbial Communities, and Health in Nonhuman Primates Honorable Mention, 2017 Best Dissertation Award, University of Minnesota Graduate School |
2015 |
Dooyoung Choi |
Retail Merchandising |
Development and Validation of a Self Sexualization Scale |
2017 |
Diane Cormany |
Communication Studies |
Mediated Affect and Financial News Media: The Closing Bell, Marketplace and The Wall Street Journal |
2016 |
René Esparza |
American Studies |
From Vice to Nice: Race, Sex, and the Gentrification of AIDS |
2017 |
Courtney Gildersleeve |
Cultural Studies and Comparitive Literature |
Writing beyond Redress: Slavery and the Work of Literature |
2019 |
Rita Kompelmakher | Theater Arts & Dance |
The Human Rights Performative: The Belarus Free Theater on the Global Stage | 2017 |
Amy Lein |
Educational Psychology |
Effectiveness of Mathematical Word Problem Solving Interventions for Students with Learning Disabilities of Mathematics Difficulties: A Meta-Analysis |
2016 |
Ann O'Neill |
Natural Resources Science and Management |
2015 |
|
Sharon Park |
History |
2016 |
|
Jolene Pearson |
Curriculum and Instruction: Youth, Family, and Community |
2016 |
|
Christy Pettis | Curriculum and Instruction: STEM Education |
2015 |
|
Jeffrey Stott |
Neuroscience |
2015 |
|
Xiaojing Wei |
Ecology, Evolution and Behavior |
2015 |
|
R.M. Wolff |
Art History |
All We Have: Performance Photographs and Artist Interviews in the Contemporary |
2016 |
2014 retreat
Austin Stair Calhoun |
Kinesiology |
2014 |
|
Scott Ehrenburg | Spanish & Portuguese Studies |
Living and Dying for the Plural: Transformations of Queer Iberian Cinema | 2017 |
David Groos |
Curriculum & Instruction: Science Education |
The Knowledge Building Approach to Science Education: A Problem-Solving Perspective |
2019 |
Jennifer Immich |
Anthropology |
Siting of Castles in the Midlands of Ireland: A Spatial Approach to Cultural Landscapes |
2015 |
Brynna Jones |
Chemistry |
Dynamics, Solvent, and Reactions: Ultrafast Infrared Spectroscopy of Vaska's Complex and its Adducts |
2015 |
Elakshi Kumar |
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies |
Apprehending Female Masculinity: Globalization and Gender Noncomformity in India |
2015 |
Sarah Lageson |
Sociology |
Digital Punishment: The Production and Consequences of Online Crime Reporting Winner, 2017 Best Dissertation Award, Social Sciences & Education, University of Minnesota Graduate School |
2015 |
Suhna Lee |
Division of Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health |
2014 |
|
Laura Luepke |
History and Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies |
Defining the Physician's Duty: Medical Professionalization in America and the Politics of Prostitution Reform Activism, 1870s–1910s |
2017 |
Kelly McKay |
Theatre Arts & Dance |
2015 |
|
Eunha Na |
English |
Empathic Imagination: Performing Interracial Intimacy in Contemporary Women's Drama |
2016 |
Aimee Prasek |
Nursing |
2015 |
|
Kristina Prescott |
Ecology, Evolution and Behavior |
Does a natural enemy limit the diet breadth of a generalist predator? |
2014 |
Amanda Smoot |
Design |
A Qualitative Study of African American Elders’ Housing in Relation to their Well-being |
2017 |
2013 retreat
Emily Bruce |
History |
Reading Agency: The Making of Modern German Childhoods in the Age of Revolutions Winner, 2016 Best Dissertation Award, Arts & Humanities, University of Minnesota Graduate School |
2015 |
John Czaplewski |
Curriculum & Instruction: Mathematics Education |
2013 |
|
Paul Dahlen |
Electrical & Computer Engineering |
Enhancing Signal Integrity Methodologies Utilizing Discrete Frequency Domain Techniques |
2014 |
Erika de Freitas |
Social and Administrative Pharmacy |
Why do I think the way I do? Troubling the concept of critical thinking in pharmacy classrooms |
2013 |
Yejin Hong |
Mass Communication |
2014 |
|
Mary Joyce Juan |
Psychology |
Intersections of Racial/Ethnic Identity and Gender Identity Among Women of Color |
2014 |
Na-Rae Kim |
English |
2016 |
|
Ursula Lang |
Geography |
Cultivating Everyday Life: Yards, Nature and Time in the City |
2014 |
Ya Liu |
Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development |
"Spritual Pursuits" in Singing Identity Making of the Chinese Education Diaspora |
2014 |
Moana McClellan |
Plant Biological Sciences |
2014 |
|
Heather O’Leary |
Anthropology |
Uneven Absorption: World-Class Delhi, Domestic Workers and the Water that Makes Them |
2014 |
Tom Sarmiento |
American Studies |
The Heartland of Empire: Queer Cultural Imaginaries of Filipinas/os in the Midwest |
2014 |
Dana Schowalter |
Communication Studies |
2014 |
|
Pabalelo Tshane |
Theatre Arts |
Well-Being Performances in Botswana: Centering Women’s Roles in Popular Theatre |
2013 |
Laura Vietti |
Earth Sciences |
2014 |
2012 retreat
2011 retreat
2010 retreat
Noel Aldrich |
Nutrition |
2013 |
|
Beth Brendler |
Curriculum & Instruction |
2012 |
|
Ryan Cartwright |
American Studies |
Peculiar Places: A Queer History of Rural Nonconformity Winner, 2013 Best Dissertation Award, Arts & Humanities, University of Minnesota Graduate School |
2012 |
Jesse Field |
Asian Languages & Literatures |
2012 |
|
Caroline Hilk |
Educational Psychology |
2013 |
|
Caley Horan |
History |
Actuarial Age: Insurance and the Emergence of Neoliberalism in the Postwar United States Winner, 2012 Best Dissertation Award, Arts & Humanities, University of Minnesota Graduate School |
2011 |
Melanie Huska |
History |
Entertaining Education: Teaching National History in Mexican State-Sponsored Comic Books and Telenovelas, 1963 to 1996 |
2013 |
Elena Izaksonas |
Social Work |
Latino Students’ Expectations of School Success: Do School Supports Matter? Winner, 2012 Outstanding Dissertation Award, University of Minnesota School of Social Work |
2011 |
Sarah Jackson |
Mass Communication |
2010 |
|
Christine Manganaro |
History of Medicine |
Assimilating Hawai‘i: Racial Science in a Colonial “Laboratory,” 1919–1939 |
2012 |
Katherine Ostrom |
Spanish & Portuguese Studies |
2011 |
|
Nicki Simms |
Geography |
The Counterfeit Consumer: Conterfeit Luxury Goods and the Negotiation of Space and Subjectivity |
2011 |
Kangyong Sun |
Business Administration |
2011 |
|
Rebecca Weaver |
English |
2011 |
2009 retreat
Midori Green |
Art History |
Sec’s Appeal: The Secretary in American Popular Culture, 1900–64 |
2011 |
Amy Griffiths |
English |
2011 |
|
Chris Kamerbeek |
English |
The Ghost and the Corpse: Figuring the Mind/Brain Complex at the Turn of the Twentieth Century |
2010 |
Sharon Kelly |
Work & Human Resources Education |
2010 |
|
Jessica Knight |
English |
2011 |
|
Serena Laws |
Political Science |
2011 |
|
Jennifer Lobasz |
Political Science |
Victims, Villains, and the Virtuous: Constructing the Problems of “Human Trafficking” |
2012 |
Jennifer Moore |
Mass Communication |
2012 |
|
N’Jai-An Patters |
History |
Deviants and Dissidents: Children’s Sexuality and the Limits of Liberation |
2010 |
Emily Rook-Koepsel |
History |
2010 |
|
Sara Wellman |
French |
Post-Pastoral Possibilities: Nature and the Literary Imaginary in Early Modern France |
2011 |
