The Center for Social Science Innovation (CSSI) recently concluded its second annual Dissertation Completion Program (DCP).
DCP offers support and resources for graduate students in the final years of their dissertation or creative projects.
The selected students were provided with quiet, dedicated office spaces and $1000 in funding to develop and advance their research. Additionally, students collaborated with both CSSI staff and other participants, fostering their research progress and ties to a supportive community.
The 2025 DCP cohort included three graduate students from two colleges.
“It was a pleasure to collaborate with this year’s DCP students and provide them resources to drive their research forward,” says Ethan Rogers, CSSI associate director. “I am pleased with the dedication and effort the students demonstrated, which will eventually culminate in high-quality and socially relevant dissertations.”
Get to know the 2025 DCP participants, their dissertation projects, and their program reflections.
Nathan Micatka, a doctoral student in the Department of Political Science in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), spent the program putting the final touches on his dissertation, which examines how political exposures and experiences in adolescence shape political beliefs and behaviors in adulthood.
Micatka is specifically studying the impact of growing up on welfare-related programs. He has discovered non-Hispanic white Americans that receive welfare assistance in their youth are less likely to vote upon reaching adulthood.
During the program, Micatka dove deeper into this relationship, utilizing CSSI’s qualitative research services to conduct interviews with a diverse group of adults who experienced a welfare-related program as an adolescent. Micatka’s preliminary analysis revealed these individuals are often weighed down by feelings of stigma, which he argues that welfare policy should be designed to address, in addition integrating civic education. Micatka hopes both measures will better spur downstream political engagement, ensuring all voices are heard.
As Micatka developed his dissertation, he found a welcoming home in the Social Sciences Research Building. “I really love coming to the building. The fact that we have this entire center here available for social scientists is incredible,” he remarks.
“It’s been a great, distraction-free place to think.”
Micatka successfully defended his dissertation on April 16th.
Lisa Nakahara, a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Policy and Leadership Studies in the College of Education, used the program’s resources to finalize her dissertation, which investigates how World War II simultaneously expanded and limited American and Japanese women’s opportunities in science education.
Nakahara went right to the source for this question, combing through primary documents in 14 archives across the U.S. and Japan. Her final stop was the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, made possible by the program’s funding.
As Nakahara turned the pages, she was looking for institutional records about women’s enrollment in STEM educational programs. She discovered that both countries funneled women into short-term courses that seldom led to degrees, doing little to uproot the prevailing attitude women were not fit for long, fruitful careers as scientists and engineers.
Today, many countries and educational policymakers continue to champion women’s involvement in science. Nakahara believes her research can speak to how this recruitment can be truly impactful: by shifting societal stigmas, instead of merely the gender imbalance in STEM.
Throughout the program, Nakahara appreciated the biweekly meetings, as they held her accountable to her goals. “In one of the biweekly meetings, we commented on each other’s dissertations. It was really nice because I wanted to make my dissertation understandable to people outside of my field,” she reflects.
Nakahara successfully defended her dissertation on April 21st.
Munachim Amah, a doctoral student in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication in CLAS, used the program’s resources to begin writing his dissertation, which explores why the journalistic ideals of Nigerian journalists do not align with their professional practices.
The culprit behind this gap? Precarity, Amah’s research argues, stemming from Nigeria’s high rate of poverty, political suppression of journalism, and lack of institutional structure in the field. To understand how this tenuous environment influences the profession and its ideals, Amah conducted interviews with 48 Nigerian journalists.
After the journalists conversed with Amah, some divulging the interviews felt like cathartic therapy sessions, Amah then used DCP’s funding to transcribe and analyze the recordings. Early analysis suggests the journalists feel there is an absence of cohesive professional ideals, further reflected in their varying experiences of precarity. While some feel secure, others haven’t been paid for years.
This diversity in journalistic practices is what redefines journalistic ideals, Amah broadly argues. Amah eventually hopes his research will lead to tangible changes in Nigerian journalism, such as explicit professional codes and organizing bodies, and a reworking of journalistic curriculum.
Throughout the program, Amah appreciated the community, emerging from the welcoming CSSI staff and DCP participants. “The community has been very instrumental in my research. There is the space to share with people what is going on and how much progress I have made,” he comments.
Amah plans to defend his dissertation this winter.
Learn More
To learn more about CSSI’s Dissertation Completion Program, click here.
Applications for the next DCP cohort will open in Fall 2025. All program applicants encourage other graduate students to apply, with Amah asserting, “Do it. If I could apply again, I would. It’s a really useful, meaningful program.”
“A lot of times, people do dissertations on their own. There is value in working in a program like DCP where you have a community, and where you are held accountable to goals and see yourself achieving those goals.”
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