The Department would like to welcome six new PhD students to our community. They are as follows:
Rebecca Katherine Armstrong
Background:
Rebecca completed her BA in Economics and Sociology at Trinity College Dublin, before progressing to an MSc in Applied Social Data Science at Trinity College Dublin. Her research focused on the causal and correlational educational outcomes of the DEIS programme in Ireland.
Research:
Her PhD research is concerned with young carers and the short- and long-term consequences of young caregiving. She is particularly interested in the educational, employment, physical and mental health outcomes for young carers over the life course.
Supervisor:
She will be supervised by Dr Yekaterina Chzhen.
Laura Van Beek
Background:
Laura recently completed her Research Master's in Social and Cultural Science at Radboud University, Nijmegen, with a focus on political science. Before that, she obtained her Bachelor's degree in Political Science at the same university.
Research:
Her research interests lie at the intersections between gender & far-right politics. She is particularly interested in how different actors (such as activists, communities, the media, mainstream political parties, etc.) respond and adapt to far-right challenges.
Supervisor:
She will be supervised by Dr Larissa Meier.
Aislinn Shanahan Daly
Background:
Aislinn holds an MA in Social and Political Thought from the University of Sussex and a BA in Sociology and History of Art and Architecture from Trinity College Dublin.
Research:
Aislinn's working thesis title is: 'A pedagogy of mobilisation”: Consciousness-raising education in Irish counter-hegemonic movements'.
Supervisor:
She will be supervised by Dr David Landy.
Yajie (Mia) Dong
Background:
Mia previously studied Sociology at the University of Edinburgh and completed a MSc in Applied Social Data Science at Trinity College Dublin.
Research:
Her research interests include meritocracy, social stratification, class, migration, and international mobility, while my methodological interests lie in comparative quantitative research.
Supervisor:
She will be supervised by Dr Joonghyun Kwak.
Caitlyn Parsons
Background:
Caitlyn has a BA from King's College Halifax, a BPR from Mount Saint Vincent University, and an MSc from the University of Stirling, Scotland.
Research:
She is working with Professor Taha Yasseri within the Centre for Sociology of Humans and Machines (SOHAM) to research the effects of Large Language Model (LLM) bots on human behaviours in social media.
Supervisor:
She will be supervised by Professor Taha Yasseri.
Eriko Yamakuma
Background:
Eriko holds a BA in Sociology from UC Berkeley and completed a master’s in Comparative Social Policy at the University of Oxford. Previously, she worked as a research assistant at the El-Erian Institute of Behavioural Economics and Policy, where she conducted research on sustainable food policy in higher education institutions and the role of social capital in charitable giving behaviours.
Research:
Eriko will be researching the intersection of tax attitudes, welfare state structures, and immigration.
Supervisor:
She will be supervised by Professor Camilla Devitt.
You can learn more about our PhD programme by visiting the webpage here.