2020 MA Graduates
The following students are 2020 graduates of the UChicago Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences who additionally completed a certificate program in Education and Society administered by the Committee on Education.
Erika Greenia
Background
Erika completed the Master of Arts Program in Social Sciences and Graduate Certificate in Education and Society in June 2020. She graduated from James Madison College at Michigan State University in 2009 with a B.A. in Social Relations and Policy, a dual degree in Comparative Cultures and Politics and a specialization in Asian Studies. Her undergraduate capstone ethnographic project titled “Grand Theft Auto San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto IV: Multilevel signifiers of the social status of race in America” delved into the complex interplay between race, culture and policy to unpack varying levels of silent and salient racism in society through the lenses of gaming and policy. Between undergraduate and graduate school, Erika served in AmeriCorps VISTA, taught kindergarten in Thailand, worked for SAGA Education in a high school in Chicago and helped hundreds of teachers find jobs and settle into life abroad. Throughout her career, she has volunteered as a mentor and resource aid at an LGBTQ+ youth center, interned the Victim’s Advocacy program at the Genesee County courthouse in Flint, Michigan, and interned with the Michigan Peace Team. She currently works as a Survey Specialist at NORC at UChicago.
Research:
Erika’s research interests include adolescent identity formation, in-school intervention, social and cultural capital, and education policy. Her methodological expertise lie in survey questionnaire design and analysis as well as qualitative research methods.
Thesis:
“Social and Cultural Capital in Adolescent Identity Formation and In-School Intervention: An argument and caution for relationship-focused intervention”
https://www.linkedin.com/in/erika-greenia/
Hannah Higgins
Background
Hannah graduated from the Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS) in August 2020. She graduated with high honors from the University of California-Davis in 2018 with a B.S. in Microbiology and minors in Sociology and Psychology. As an undergraduate research assistant in the Department of Sociology, Hannah completed an independent project on the history and perpetuation of racial inequality in disaster responses, analyzing the intersection of racialized collective memory and media framing during Hurricane Katrina. Prior to graduate school, she served as a middle school Student Success Coach with City Year Sacramento. During MAPSS, Hannah focused her studies in sociology and completed a Graduate Certificate in Education and Society. For her M.A. thesis, she researched the challenges associated with undergraduate women’s underrepresentation in STEM fields and the role of relationships in promoting women’s STEM retention during college.
Research:
Hannah’s research interests include social inequality, urban education and policy, access to post-secondary opportunities and sense of belonging in college among historically marginalized groups, social and cultural capital, and intervention through education organizations. She specializes in qualitative research methods and analysis.
Thesis:
“Women’s STEM Retention: A Qualitative Assessment of the Current Challenges Facing
Undergraduate Women in STEM and the Role of Relationships in Promoting Resilience”
Maura Kraemer
Background
Maura is a recent graduate of the MA Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS), studying sociology with a concentration in Education and Society. She graduated from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor in 2018 with a B.A. in Sociology and Spanish. While at Michigan, Maura was involved in various research projects ranging from quantifying the effects of gentrification in large cities, validating and editing entries for the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), and assessing youth political socialization and critical consciousness among high school students. She currently works as the leader of a six-person team building a data archive for the Education and Society program.
Research:
Maura’s research interests include identity formation, socialization processes, and value transmission within educational contexts. Currently, she uses quantitative research methods to examine the role that parents play in encouraging and/or discouraging the formation of strong social identities in their children, specifically looking at how these socialization processes act as academic buffers against racial discrimination youth may face in educational settings.
Thesis:
“Racial Pride as an Academic Support for Black Students: A Longitudinal Study on the Impact of Parent Racial Socialization Processes”
Jon Jacob
Background
Jon graduated from Brandeis University in 2012 and received a Master of Arts in the Social Sciences from the University of Chicago in 2020. Prior to earning his Master’s degree, Jon taught high school students in the Los Angeles area.
Research:
Jon’s research looks at the influence of big-time sports in the American education system and the subsequent development of personal identity and aspirations among students. He is interested in nontraditional paths to higher education and the acquisition of social and cultural capital among students from socially marginalized communities.
Thesis:
“Beyond the Gridiron: Race, Risk, and American Football”
CV
Meg Meldrum
Background
Meg is a recent graduate of the Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS), with a concentration in Sociology and a certificate in Education and Society. While pursuing her M.A. degree, Meg worked as an urban policy and research intern within Chicago Public Schools Office of Social and Emotional Learning. Before coming to Chicago, Meg attended the University of Florida where she received her B.S. in Psychology in 2019. Currently, Meg works at UChicago Urban Labs as a Data Acquisitions Manager.
Research:
Meg’s research interests include urban education, social inequality and policy, the school-to prison pipeline, and school discipline practices. She is especially interested in examining factors that are associated with and contribute to racial disparity in exclusionary school discipline. For her M.A. thesis, Meg analyzed the role of teachers’ perceptions of their students in the ways disciplinary sanctions are understood and enacted, particularly in the contexts of the intersections between teachers’ and students’ racial identities.
Thesis:
“Rethinking Exclusionary Discipline: Teachers’ Perceptions of Student Discipline and Behavior in an Urban Charter School”
CV
Diana Reed
Background
Diana is a 2020 graduate of the MAPSS program with a focus on Sociology and a certificate in Education and Society. She received a M.Ed. from Harvard University in 2003 and a B.A. in Computer Science and English and American Literature from Brown University in 1997. Prior to attending MAPSS, Diana was a senior manager in the assessment division of the American Institutes for Research for eight years and taught middle school Language Arts in the Boston Public Schools for seven years. While at MAPSS, Diana collaborated with researchers at the UChicago Consortium on School Research to explore adolescent sense of belonging. She also worked with Ariel Elementary middle school students and their teachers through UChicago’s Neighborhood Schools Project. Currently, Diana works as an Applied Data Fellow at the UChicago Harris School of Public Policy.
Research:
Diana’s research interests revolve around the social experience of schooling and how youth perceive and respond to inequality in their educational environments. She is specifically interested in how small-scale educational structures and decisions, such as academic or affinity groupings, affect students’ perceptions of themselves and their schools. More broadly, she is interested in school climate, restorative justice, and youth voice and agency within educational systems.
Thesis:
“Adolescent Sense of Belonging to School: Love and Learning in the Market of Advantage”
CV
Grace So
Background
Grace is broadly interested in the impact of internationalization of education on equality. Her research focuses on the experiences of international students from Asia studying in the US higher education institutions, exploring how the racial formation process causes and perpetuates social inequality. She received her undergraduate degree in Communication Studies and Media Studies at North Park University.
Research:
Qualitative methods; racial and ethnic identity; globalization and educational inequalities; and a sense of belonging
Thesis:
“Becoming American Asian: Racialization Experience of International Students from Asia”
https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-so/
Ashley Uphoff
Background
Ashley recently graduated with her M.A. from the University of Chicago with a concentration in Education & Society. She currently works at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University conducting quantitative and qualitative research regarding students’ post-secondary education with Dr. James Rosenbuam. Previously, she served as an AmeriCorps member at the University of Notre Dame where she managed and taught a non-violence curriculum across South Bend. She has previously taught and observed in public school classrooms for over 200 hours in Minnesota and Iowa while studying secondary education. She received her BA in Social Sciences from the College of Saint Benedict where she studied education, political science, and psychology. She currently works as a Research Study Coordinator at Northwestern University.
Research:
School segregation, school and neighborhood effects, school choice, educational equity and access, students’ beliefs about education and their role in schooling.
Thesis:
“Sorting Our Children: The Impact of School Choice Policies on the Segregation of Chicago’s Public Schools”
CV
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleyuphoff/