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Washington Square Arch in the spring
Photo of Laura Assanmal standing in a shop, wearing an orange scarf and green jacket

Laura Assanmal Peláez

Laura is a full-time Ph.D. candidate in Sociology of Education. Learn more about her research interests in housing instability and Latin American and other marginalized youth in public education.
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Anabella (Bella) Afra Boateng

Bella is a 4th-year doctoral candidate in the SOED program studying interdisciplinary research bridges STEM equity, Black techno-cultural innovation, and the transformative power of makerspaces.
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Shaunda Brown-Perez

Shaunda is a first-year doctoral student in the SOED program at NYU Steinhardt. Her research interests are informed by critical and post-structural frameworks such as Critical Race Theory, intersectionality, queer theory, and Queer of Color Critique.
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Mike Burgo

Mike (he/him/his) is currently a part time Doctoral Student beginning his 3rd year. Mike's current research interests are in LGBTQ+ Students in higher education, specifically within STEM.
Andy Chae Sociology of Education PhD Student

Andy Chae

Andy Chae's research focuses on the experiences of Asian American faculty, administrators, and students at U.S. institutions of higher education.
Fanny He Sociology of Education PhD Student

Fanny He

Fanny He is a doctoral candidate currently researching the experiences of college students who commute into a large city for their higher education.
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Lukas J. La Rivière

Lukas (he/him/his) is a first-year, part-time Doctoral Student. Lukas’ current research interests include examining Political Expression and Activism in Higher Education and LGBTQ+ Students in Secondary and Higher Education.
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Benjamin Le

Ben is a third-year doctoral student. His current research is exploring the opportunities and outcomes for students classified as English Learners through a quantitative intersectional framework.
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Jason Le

Jason is a second year Ph.D student. His work revolves around using social justice based learning and Critical theory within the classroom to have students create meaning to their communities and worlds around them. 
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Luis A. López

Luis is a first-year doctoral student in the Sociology of Education program at NYU Steinhardt. A scholar and educator, his research examines the intersections of power, education, and social movements across the Americas.
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Faith Northern

Learn more about Faith's research interests in evaluating and updating the social, political, and educational realities of the K-12 experiences of Afro-Jamaican immigrant students.
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Melissa Ortiz

Melissa is a fourth-year Ph.D. student and is interested in exploring the contemporary educational experiences of Latinx students attending schools in the suburbs undergoing rapid demographic change.
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Stephany Ramirez

Stephany Ramirez is a fourth-year, part-time doctoral student with over 10 years of experience across enrollment management, marketing and communications, and education policy.
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Erika V. Reyes

Erika is a first-year, part-time Ph.D. student. She is interested in first-generation student experiences, the role of spirituality in student’s identity formation, and how social capital shapes student experience and belonging within education systems.
Edgar Rivera-Cash Sociology of Education PhD Student

Edgar E. Rivera-Cash

Learn more about Edgar's research focus on exploring the various socio-cultural, institutional, bureaucratic and interpersonal factors that contribute to the marginalization of queer Latine students in higher education.
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Marc Tohme

Marc Tohme research focuses on gender dynamics and norms in schools. In particularly, he studies how gender norms are perpetuated in schools and explores ways to challenge them using the same institutions.
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Maria Williamson

Maria Williamson is a third-year part time student in the SOED Ph.D. program. Learn more about Maria's research interests and professional experience in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
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Imani Wilson

Imani Wilson's research examines the function, creation, and sustainability of Black community-based educational spaces that serve as sites of empowerment and resistance for Black youth.