Youth Violence Prevention Graduate Fellows Program
Introduction
The Youth Violence Prevention Graduate Fellows Program is located at UC Berkeley’s Institute for the Study of Social Change (ISSC). For more than 30 years, ISSC has provided an interdisciplinary research and training environment as a complement to, and resource for, graduate programs in the social sciences and professional schools. The newly formed Youth Violence Prevention Graduate Fellows Program builds on these traditions, with a specific focus on community-based research related to culture, immigration, and youth violence prevention.
About the Fellowship Program
Youth Violence Prevention Graduate Fellows receive training in:
- Theories of culture, immigration, and youth violence
- Research design and methodology
- Preparation of research results for conference presentations, academic articles, and policy papers
The fellows also assist with community-based research and development activities directed by researchers and community partners affiliated with the Center on Culture, Immigration, and Youth Violence Prevention.
A yearly stipend of $14,000 divided into ten equal payments is provided to each of the Youth Violence Prevention Graduate Fellows. In addition, Fellows receive shared office space with a computer at ISSC. (A Fellow who is already receiving significant financial support from other sources will be awarded a partial fellowship, usually in the amount of $7,000, in accordance with Graduate Division guidelines.)
Requirements
Applicants to the Youth Violence Prevention Graduate Fellows Program must meet the following qualifications:
- Completion of a master’s degree or at least two years of graduate studies
- Current enrollment in a UC Berkeley graduate program
- An interest in substantive issues related to areas such as immigration, race/ethnicity, class, youth culture, and youth development
- Familiarity with quantitative and qualitative research methods
- Experience in urban settings, youth subcultures, crime and delinquency, or violence prevention
How to Apply
In late spring, ISSC issues a call for applications from UC Berkeley graduate students in the social sciences and professional schools.
In May, members of the Graduate Fellows Selection Committee meet to select the Youth Violence Prevention Graduate Fellows for the next academic year.
Current Fellows
- Jose Arias, Education, UC Berkeley
Research focus: The ways in which youth use historically (in)formed semiotic and physical resources, in a youth court class, to (re)create, resist, and discipline themselves and others into and against academic identities. - Emily Gleason, Education, UC Berkeley
Research focus: How young women make sense of their identities and communities, display resilience and resistance amidst landscapes of poverty, racism, and sexism, and navigate gendered and racialized spaces.
- Bao Lo, Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley
Research focus: Understanding violence, particularly suicide and gangs, among Hmong youth in Sacramento who live in an alienating and isolating environment of poverty, racial and gender discrimination, parental conflict, and limited resources and support (school, community, and family). - Nicol U, Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley
Research focus: Why many young Southeast Asian American women go into sex work, investigating the cultural and social factors that contribute to their popularity as sex workers, as well as the existing structural problems that have led them to sex work. - Susan Woolley, Education, UC Berkeley
Research focus: Constructions and negotiations of "safe space" for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students in a public high school where youth engage in strategies, including peer education and empowerment through gay-straight alliances, to address issues of homophobia and transphobia in their schools.
For More Information
For more information:
• Contact Dr. Deborah Freedman Lustig, Research Associate/Training Coordinator, at info@yvpcenter.org or (510) 643-7238.
• Visit ISSC’s website
