Student Research Highlights

Our students don’t just learn about complex social issues, they investigate them. Through hands-on research, they ask important questions, analyze real data, and contribute new insights to the field.

Meet the students working on projects that address real-world problems and contribute to positive change.

criminology students Alexis Turner and Taja Bryan

Class of 2027

Alexis Turner & Taja Bryan

<div class="ck-content"><p>Alexis and Taja are working with Dr. Swauncy-Coleman on a study titled, "Police Violence Impacts," a joint project with the Chicago Torture Justice Center examining the long-term impacts of police brutality on women through survey data, interviews, and focus groups.</p></div>

criminology student Jordan Freeman

Class of 2028

Jordan Freeman

<div class="ck-content"><p>Jordan is working with Dr. Allen-Florez on a study using publicly available Prisoner Review Board (PRB) transcript records and thematic qualitative analysis to identify and measure the PRB’s decision making factors, including programming, misconduct, conviction, and legal representation, and their impact on PRB related decisions.</p></div>

criminology student Elijah Maggitt

Class of 2028

Elijah Maggitt

<div class="ck-content"><p>Elijah is working with Dr. Swauncy-Coleman on a project titled, "Racialized Grievances: How Racial Identity Shapes Extremist Misogyny in Black and Asian American Online Communities," examining cultural differences in incel rhetoric among minority members of the incel community through online data scraping.</p></div>

criminology student Alexis Turner

Class of 2027

Alexis Turner

<div class="ck-content"><p>Alexis’s research, titled “<i>Disrupting the Pipeline: Addressing Educational Resource Inequality to Reduce Youth Incarceration</i>,” examines the school-to-prison pipeline across Illinois middle and high schools.</p></div>

criminology student Dua Shahid

Class of 2027

Dua Shahid

<div class="ck-content"><p>Dua is working alongside Dr. Freemon on a project titled, “Expanding wellness-focused data collection to improve probation outcomes” funded through the Russel Sage Foundation. The study, conducted in partnership with the Cook County Adult Probation Department, evaluates a brief wellness-focused intervention using a randomized controlled trial.</p><p>Dua is also working on an Honor’s Thesis that focuses on creating a comparative typology of genocide that includes genocides against indigenous people and elements of the transatlantic slave trade.</p></div>

criminology student Isabella Still

Class of 2027

Isabella Still

<div class="ck-content"><p>Isabella is also working alongside Dr. Freemon on a project titled, “Expanding wellness-focused data collection to improve probation outcomes” funded through the Russel Sage Foundation. The study, conducted in partnership with the Cook County Adult Probation Department, evaluates a brief wellness-focused intervention using a randomized controlled trial.</p></div>