Become a CSSR Fellow!
Each year the CSSR selects faculty working on social scientific projects to participate in our Fellowship Programs. These fellowships provide faculty members with the time and resources (either summer stipends or course buyouts) to pursue their research agenda.
Social scientists from any department in the Pamplin College are encouraged to apply. Please contact us for more information.
Center for Social Science Research
Allgood Hall N217
Dr. Dustin Avent-Holt, Director
The Center for Social Science Research Grant Mentorship Program provides support, including time and consultation support, for Pamplin faculty working in the social sciences to develop an extramural grant proposal. Mentees in this program receive one course release for each of two semesters over an academic year and will work directly with Center staff to develop a grant proposal from conception to submission, learning basic and advanced skills of writing and submitting grants.
Dr. Robert Saunders is an Assistant Professor of Music Education in the Department of Music at Augusta University. His research broadly focuses on evaluating and understanding educational practices and pedagogy among music educators. During his fellowship he is working on a survey of music educators’ perceptions and uses of artificial intelligence tools in the classroom.
2023-2024 Fellows
Raquel V. Oliveira, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Augusta University. Dr. Oliveira’s has two main lines of research, one that focuses on life-course criminology, using integrative bio-psycho-social approaches, and another focused on social justice and media studies. Her work has been published in multiple peer reviewed journals, such as the Journal of Criminal Justice, Homicide Studies, and the International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, and edited collections. During her fellowship Dr. Oliveira will explore the typologies of violent offenders and how these predict recidivism using a large dataset with criminal justice data from multiple agencies. Dr. Oliveira will focus specifically on understudied typologies, including aggravated assault and robbery as well as their ability to predict recidivism. Very little research has been done on typologies of these specific groups of offenders using criminal justice data. These typologies have the potential to be used by multiple criminal justice actors when making decisions about programming, support, and supervision.
Dr. Yufan Yang is an assistant professor of the Department of Social Sciences and MAISS, where she teaches classes in international relations and cyber security. Her research focuses on information technology, propaganda, political violence, international security, and political regimes. She uses quantitative methodology, machine learning algorithms, and text analysis techniques in her research. Her work has been published in various journals and edited volumes. She plans to use CSSR Fellowship to collect text data from state-run newspapers of major autocratic states to study propaganda strategies.
2022-2023 Fellows
Dr. Samudra’s project is titled: “Welfare Reform, Cash Assistance, and Governance.” Rhucha’s work investigates cash and food assistance programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the United States. She uses and will also construct a large N dataset to explore the relationships between governance structure, administrative burdens, clients’ experiences with these programs, and other related outcomes.
Lance Y. Hunter, PhD, is an Associate Professor of International Relations at Augusta University. Dr. Hunter’s expertise is in security studies and democratization. Dr. Hunter’s research focuses on the causes and effects of terrorism and intrastate conflict, democratization, and the relationship between evolving technology and conflict. His work has appeared in journals such as: Journal of Peace Research, Terrorism and Political Violence, Party Politics, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Democracy and Security, Journal of Cyber Policy, Cyber Defense Review, Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression, Politics and Policy, Armed Forces and Society, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, Conflict, Security and Development, European Political Science, Global Policy, and World Affairs. Dr. Hunter’s Center for Social Science Research (CSSR) Fellowship focuses on how social media affects civil conflict cross-nationally.
Dr. Carrie Reif-Stice is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication. her research focuses on risk, crisis, and health communication. Her primary research and teaching interest are in stigma and mental health issues among vulnerable populations. She also studies how organizations mitigate risk and manage crisis. She has been published in Communication Journals and referred book chapters.
Melissa DeVelvis, Assistant Professor of History, will expand her research on South Carolina elite white women and secession in 1860. Her project argues that these women were astute political analysts that filtered their opinions through traditionally feminine avenues to avoid accusations of impropriety. Understanding these opinions, when they occurred, and how they changed over time adds invaluable insight into disunion and the Civil War. This project will culminate in a full book manuscript titled Gendering Secession: White Women and Politics in South Carolina, 1859-1861, under contract with Cambridge University Press.
Dr. Mary-Kate Lizotte is a Professor of Political Science in the Department of Social Sciences at Augusta University. Her main area of research is on gender differences in public opinion, voting, and party identification. Her work has been published in various journals and edited volumes. Her book, Gender Differences in Public Opinion: Values and Political Consequences, with Temple University Press was published in March 2020. As the first Grant Mentorship Fellow, she will be analyzing gender differences in support for democratic values and principles. She is planning to collect original survey data with state-of-the-art measures of these variables and will be working with the CSSR to prepare an application for extramural funding.
2021-2022 Fellows
Dr. Samudra’s project is titled: “Welfare Reform, Cash Assistance, and Governance.” Rhucha’s work investigates cash and food assistance programs such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in the United States. She uses and will also construct a large N dataset to explore the relationships between governance structure, administrative burdens, clients’ experiences with these programs, and other related outcomes.
Dr. Eunhye Kim, Assistant Professor of Social Work, will examine the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of older Asian immigrants, including how they cope with stress and get support from their communities. Eunhye will survey older Korean immigrants in Augusta and Atlanta, two major cities with condensed Korean populations in Georgia. Findings will inform the development of culturally tailored interventions to increase the understanding of one’s psychosocial wellbeing and address gaps in policy to provide appropriate services in the community context. Additionally, this research seeks to strengthen community resources to better support this target population.
2020-2021 Fellows
Dr. Gregg R. Murray, Professor of Political Science, will expand his research on government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. His early research suggests political, economic, and medical factors played a role in U.S. governors’ decisions to issue socially restrictive policies in response to the disease in their states. His continued work will look at government responses in the U.S. as well as other countries and regions including the Middle East and Africa.
Dr. Wendy J. Turner, Professor of History and Health Policy, will examine the interplay between medieval English health care and retirement at the state- (kingdom-) funded level at the point in English history when the crown faced years of recurring plague, one of the first major pandemics (The Black Death). This research surveys responses to plague outbreaks and medical systems in medieval England, including early social safety nets, forms of annuities and pensions, and other crown-sponsored care. So far, she has found that political responses to the pandemic in medieval England were surprisingly similar to current reactions to the outbreak of CoVID-19.
2019-2020 Fellows
Dr. Mary-Kate Lizotte, Associate Professor of Political Science, will develop a new measure to investigate foreign policy attitudes and how attitudes about gender equality and perceptions of personal safety influence one's support for military interventions. Her work involves collaborators outside of Augusta University and will be presented internationally.
Dr. Todd Powell-Williams, Associate Professor of Sociology, will develop a novel means to uncover the influence of body worn cameras on police discretion, police-citizen interactions, and community policing techniques. His work furthers the Center's involvement in community-engaged research with the Richmond County Sheriff's Office.
