Social Sciences Graduate Students’ Research Published
Social Sciences Graduate Students’ Research Published
The online international affairs magazine Release Peace features work by UT political science and psychology students.
In a collegiate partnership to highlight graduate-level research, two UT social sciences PhD students have been published in Release Peace. The research by Desmond Shmavonian and Lauren Slivka (MA ’24) focuses on housing policies and infant development, respectively.
Shmavonian, a PhD student studying international relations, analyzed how everchanging housing policies affect Palestinians in Jordan. The 2.4 million refugees no longer have guaranteed monetary assistance for housing and their informal settlements are not protected. “The question of where people are meant to live has not gone away,” Shmavonian emphasized in the publication.
An experimental psychology doctoral candidate, Slivka focused on the increase of digital screens in everyday life, homing in on the consequence it has on infant development. While pre-recorded content may hamper the development of language and attention, she explained, video chats may extend social learning. “The impact depends on how media is used,” said Slivka.
UT’s partnership with Release Peace not only elevates graduate students’ interdisciplinary research but also provides an opportunity to further hone their writing.
by Graycen Clements