Graduate fellows
Center Graduate Fellowships enable graduate students to participate in collaborative research projects with community-based organizations, social service agencies, health care providers, businesses, and government in Chicago's city and suburbs. Through their research and teaching projects, fellows are active participants in Loyola University Chicago's efforts to improve the quality of life for all members of the Chicago metropolitan community.
The Graduate Fellows are selected from a pool of applicants and matched to team projectsbased on skills and interest. The Fellows serve in a facilitation role for the projects and act as the link between Loyola faculty and undergraduates and community researchers to keep projects on track. Fellows are supported in part by funds from McCormick Tribune Foundation and individual projects.
CURRENT GRADUATE FELLOWS
Kelly Earnshaw
"I am pursuing a Master of Science in Accountancy degree and am working as Part-Time Accountant at CURL. "
Julie Hilvers
I am a second year student in the graduate program in sociology. In addition to community based research, my research interests include urban sociology, with a focus on racial and economic neighborhood transition. I'm currently working on a program evaluation of an 18-month program for formerly homeless men at the Chicago Christian Industrial League. Through interviews with CCIL residents and alumni, which is a major source of data for the evaluation, we are examining how alumni experience stability, the skills needed for stability, and barriers to stability alumni experience.
Reuben Miller
I’m a first year doctoral student in Sociology. I’m primarily interested in the sociology of religion, incarceration, and the shaping of public “knowledge” around issues that affect minority groups. My hope is that my work will affect real world social change. Currently I’m working on projects that examine recent housing trends, homelessness, and health care outcomes (alliteration unintentional).
Bhoomi Thakore
I am in my third year of pursuing a Ph.D. in Sociology at Loyola. My research interests include race/ethnicity, "color-ism," intergroup relations, media studies and urban sociology. Currently, I am working on two program evaluations at CURL, both of which are with the Christian Community Health Centers (CCHC): First, an evaluation of efforts to provide employment for residents of Dolton and the surrounding south suburbs through the CCHC's Home Health Agency; Second, an evaluation of an HIV/STD and drug-use curriculum offered to women who have been arrested for prostitution in Cook County, IL.
Dana Wagner
I am a first year Applied Social Psychology graduate Student. I am working on two projects in their final years. The first of which involves the expansion of four Catholic Charities Early Childhood Development Centers (ECDC) into full service community centers. The second, partnered with the McCormick Tribune foundation, involves writing a report that concludes the five-year initiative of assisting nine agency-sponsored child care programs in increasing their management capacity to recruit, train, and retain high quality directors and teachers, thereby sustaining high quality childcare programming.
Dennis Watson
I am a third year PhD. student in the Sociology Department. My main interests include gender, social psychology and the sociology of mental health, especially as they relate to labeling and stigma for individuals. I am currently working on a project at CURL looking at the homeless population ages 50-64 within Chicago. Working in conjunction with the Chicago Partnership to End Homelessness, the project will be gathering data from homeless individuals and service providers in the hopes of learning what needs of this population are being overlooked by the homeless service system.
Carlos Ramirez Martinez-Eiroa
I am pursuing Master of Science in Software Technology, and working as the IT/Web Coordinator at the CURL. My interests are software development, applying new technologies to improve business efficiency, and tools, channels, and protocols for information exchange. I believe that the Center for Urban Research and Learning is a great environment to apply some of these interests to real problems, and help in the development of Chicago’s less privileged communities.