Welcome to HCD!
Use the links here to explore the variety of opportunities available to graduate students interested in Human & Community Development.
LaTesha Washington
PhD Student
“I chose Illinois because I like the interdisciplinary approach to social science research in the department.”
Megan Haselschwerdt
PhD Student
“As an HCD graduate student I love that the students offer a lot of support for one another. There are also lots of opportunities for learning, whether through internships, teaching, conducting research, or editing manuscripts.”
Dr. Jennifer Hardesty
Associate Professor, HCD
“I seek students who have strong interests in the intersections of violence, separation, and parenting in the lives of women and their children and who are interested in qualitative and/or mixed methods research.”
Lyndal Khaw, Ph.D., 2010. My dissertation research used qualitative methods to develop a theoretical understanding of how boundary ambiguity operates in women’s process of leaving across the stages of change. I conducted interviews with 25 abused mothers at various stages of leaving their abusive partners. Results indicate that boundary ambiguity was both a barrier to and a facilitator of change. This is an important theoretical contribution as existing work on boundary ambiguity has only considered it a barrier to family reorganization after separation. My dissertation research theoretically expands the Stages of Change Model by including the powerful influence of perceived boundary ambiguity on women’s decisions to leave and how they reorganize family relationships after separating from an abusive partner...see the CNN report on her work.
National Conference Presentations
Graduate students attend national and international scientific meetings and present their work. Many students presented work at the National Council of Family Relations meetings in San Francisco in November, 2009. Here are a couple of the presentations:
Jill R. Bowers and Elissa Thomann Mitchell, Online Divorce Education: An Effective Alternative to Traditional Programs.
Megan Haselschwerdt, Custody Evaluators’ Beliefs about Domestic Violence Allegations During Divorce.