Eight full-time and four part-time students joined our doctoral program this fall. They include three international students, four males and eight females including one minority female (a Latina). Students in the 2006 cohort have earned degrees in economics, political science, human services, law, public affairs, counseling, management, social work, and education and a few that you would not associate with the field of public policy like biology, foreign languages, mathematics, theology and film.
The part-time students are state employees working at Bridgewater State College, the Department of Housing and Community Development, the Center for Health Policy and Research at UMass Medical School, and the Graduate College of Education at UMass Boston while the full-time students have held positions such as policy researcher, journalist, community organizer and web designer.
Some come from far corners of the world while others are UMass Boston alumni. Their research interests are as varied as their educational backgrounds and career experience. Below please find a brief profile of our new class.
NICOLE AGUSTI completed a Graduate Certificate in Women in Politics and Public Policy this spring from our departmental sister program and previously earned a BA in Film from Emerson College. Nicole has policy interests in the fields of sexual violence and gender policies.
TALIA BERMAN-KISHONY earned a law degree in her native Israel and recently completed a Master of Arts degree in Dispute Resolution from UMass Boston. She has been a Visiting Researcher at Harvard Law School and wants to study the intersection of law, mediation, and health-care policy, with a particular interest in health-care inequities.
ANN CARBONE is an assistant dean at the UMass Boston Graduate College of Education and joins our part-time program. Ann, too, is a UMass Boston alumna with an MEd in Teacher Education and BS in Management. Ann has dreams to build an educational development center on campus to help ameliorate the achievement gap – especially for linguistic and ethnic minority students.
FAYE COHEN, who holds a BA in Economics from Brandeis, has been working at the Heller School’s Center for Youth and Communities, with a focus on education policy. Through her research, Faye has become interested in the educational achievement gap and wishes to explore issues of community development and education policy.
SUSAN “LESLIE” GLEASON earned a BA in Biology from Yale and an MA in Theology from Episcopal Divinity School. As a state employee at the Department of Housing and Community Development, Leslie joins our part-time program to wrestle with important policy topics like housing, workforce development, education and health.
DEBORAH GRAY completed an MBA at the Heller School at Brandeis University studying Human Services and is also a University of Massachusetts alumna with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the Amherst campus. She is drawn to our program’s social justice and community development foci hoping to gain more research skills to address women’s economic issues.
A foreign student from Albania, ALMA HALLULLI wants to study immigration policy. She earned an MPA and a BA in language and literature both from the University of Tirana. Alma is a former journalist and also has research interests in democratization in transitional societies. She also has extensive experience working in non-government organizations (NGOs).
LOUISA HOLMES earned a BA in English and Political Science from Seattle University. During her admissions interview, Louisa spoke vividly about her work as a Prevention Specialist at the National Suicide Prevention Resource Center, where she has participated in strategic planning, program implementation, and policy evaluation. She is interested in the intersection of mental health and criminal justice policies, particularly the high concentration of racial and ethnic minorities among the incarcerated.
RICK McMANUS earned a BA in Social Work from Bradley University and an MPP and MSW from Michigan. He works as a Project Associate for the Center for Health Policy and Research at the UMass Medical Center where he brings together his experience and interests in health care, policy implementation issues, social justice and equality. He joins our program as a part-time student.
A native of Spain who earned an undergraduate degree in Political Science at Universidad Complutense and who finished a spring 2006 MA in Applied Linguistics here at UMB, DAVID GONZALEZ NIETO wants to investigate education and language policies.
Another UMB alum, JASON PRAMAS completed a BA in Community Media and Technology this spring at our College of Public and Community Service. Jason has a wealth of social-justice organizing and teaching experience, having created his own organizations, raised money, and forged community connections over a long career. His research interests include media policy and higher education policy.
With goals to reform higher education, STEVE VIVEIROS also joins our part-time program. After earning a BA in Mathematics and Foreign Languages at Stonehill College, an MS in Student Development/Counseling and a graduate certificate in non-profit management from Northeastern University, Steve joined the staff of Bridgewater State College as an academic advisor.