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Student Spotlights

Student Spotlight: Emily Saidel

The West Wing. Scandal. House of Cards. Veep. Madam Secretary. What might be entertainment to us is research material for Ph.D. student Emily Saidel, as she digs deeper into the fictional representations of the United States federal government. Emily completed her...

Student Spotlight: Eric Bettis

When people think of social equity, most don’t immediately think of a city transit system, but for Rackham graduate student, Eric Bettis, the two are directly related. As a second-year Ph.D. student in urban and regional planning at Taubman College, Eric spends the...

Student Spotlight: Chinbo Chong

Originally from Seattle, political science Ph.D. candidate Chinbo Chong didn’t always think a career in academia was for her, but that all changed when she met someone with a potentially shared experience in the field. During her undergraduate career, she took her...

Student Spotlight: Yuval Katz

“What does peace mean to you?” That’s what Yuval Katz wants to know. A Ph.D. student in communication studies, Yuval came to the University of Michigan after earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Hebrew University in Jerusalem. “I read about the department...

Student Spotlight: Bryan Maldonado

Bryan Maldonado, originally from Ecuador, knew that when it came to being on the cutting edge of automotive technology, there was no better place to go than Michigan. “The decision was easy,” he said. “Michigan was the best option by far.” Bryan came to Rackham in...

Student Spotlight: Carissa Schmidt

We often view society’s youth as a problem to be solved—how can we keep them out of trouble? What do we do when they eventually rebel? Rackham graduate student, Carissa Schmidt, believes that by showing today’s young people that they’re valued as individuals with...

Student Spotlight: Paolo Maranzana

Originally from Italy, Paolo Maranzana earned his master’s degree in the UK and came to the University of Michigan with an already-established international point of view. As an aspiring scholar of archeology, he wanted to go somewhere on the cutting edge of the...

Student Spotlight: Seda Kayim

Seda Kayim has literally crossed oceans in pursuit of education in the face of adversity. Originally from Turkey, Seda experienced, first hand, the impact of the restrictions the government placed on academic institutions, as well as the authoritative pursuit of urban...

Student Spotlight: Maryam Aziz

Maryam is a fourth year candidate in American Culture. Her research looks at martial arts during the Black power movement in 60s and 70s, how martial arts were used in other social movements and how we can use and learn from this to build social movements. She...

Student Spotlight: Sarah Gutin

In her undergraduate years at U-M, Sarah felt a calling towards public health but didn’t know what aspect was the right fit for her, until she took a women’s reproductive health course, that’s when she knew. She hasn’t looked back. Being a good researcher, she put her...