Twelve Stanford doctoral students are the newest recipients of Diversity Dissertation Research Opportunity (DDRO) awards from the Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education (VPGE).

DDRO awards funding annually to applicants whose doctoral dissertation research engages aspects of diversity, broadly defined to include culture, socioeconomic background, race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disabilities, religion, and life experience.

The funding supports the university’s commitment to supporting diversity-related research, and recipients are selected each year by a review committee composed of Stanford faculty and VPGE campus partners. To date, more than 100 doctoral students from over 25 degree programs across Stanford’s seven schools have received DDRO research grants totaling over $500,000.

Meet Elliott Reichardt, 2023 DDRO recipient and PhD student in anthropology, and how DDRO funds help in his research. | Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education

The following students received 2024 DDRO awards:

Noor Amr, Anthropology, School of Humanities and Sciences
Church Asylum: Religion, Migration, and the Boundaries of Political Belonging

Camille DeJarnett, Political Science, School of Humanities and Sciences
Language Policy Choice and Civic Participation in Sub-Saharan Africa

Paula Gaither, Classics, School of Humanities and Sciences
What Does an Aethiopian Look Like? An Investigation into the Creation, Display, and Function of the Aethiopian-Type in Ancient Roman Art

Marina Johnson, Theater and Performance Studies, School of Humanities and Sciences
On This Land: Disruption in Palestinian Theatre from 2015-2025

Rita Kamani-Renedo, Graduate School of Education
Imagining Ethnic Studies with and for Racialized Multilingual Newcomer Im/migrant Youth

Leslie Luqueño, Graduate School of Education
College Is a Familia Occasion: How Latinx Immigrant Families Navigate the Transition to College

Tamar “Tamri” Matiashvili, Economics, School of Humanities and Sciences
Does Diversity Matter? Evidence from First Female Physicians

Lloyd May, Music, School of Humanities and Sciences
Centering D/deaf and Disabled Joy in Musical Experiences

Westley Montgomery, Theater and Performance Studies, School of Humanities and Sciences
Vox Ex Machina: Race, Gender, and the Voice in Technology

Kenisha Puckett, Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, School of Medicine
Exploring Early Implantation Dynamics Using Bioengineered Trophoblast Stem Cells

Kia Turner, Graduate School of Education
Letters of Otherwise Worlds: Composing Abolitionist Legal and Educational Futures Through Black Poetic Praxis

Emma Williams-Baron, Sociology, School of Humanities and Sciences
Explain Yourself: Harnessing Accountability to Disrupt Motherhood Bias in Hiring