The Center is dedicated to preparing future leaders for careers engaging in policy-relevant research and teaching on achievement, health, and well-being across the lifespan. Toward this end, the Center supports three major training initiatives: 1) a Postdoctoral Training Program; 2) a Distinguished Scholars in Residence Program; and 3) Master's- and PhD-Level Research and Training Opportunities. Students can choose from a variety of courses in child and family policy at the Harris School.
We have offered postdoctoral positions to scholars who have secured external funding, including the NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards (NRSA) for Individual Postdoctoral Fellows (F32). The postdoctoral training program provides trainees with an intellectual home to engage in policy-relevant research on achievement, health, and well-being across the lifespan. Postdoctoral fellows engage in independent research under the supervision and mentorship of one or more of the Center's faculty affiliates. The postdoctoral training program is particularly well-suited to PhD graduates from a single discipline (i.e., psychology, sociology, economics) who seek additional training in multi-disciplinary, policy-relevant coursework and research. Trainees take part in the year-long, weekly Workshop/Working Group on Human Potential that sponsors formal talks by senior scholars as well as more intimate meetings in which PhD students and post-docs affiliated with the Center analyze and discuss works in progress. In addition, trainees are provided with the opportunity to take part in week-long Postdoctoral Exchange Program with the National Poverty Center at the University of Michigan. Finally, post-doctoral trainees are given the opportunity to forge a partnership with a relevant Chicago policy professional and develop a connection, on an individual level, between their own research and public-policymaking through our Making Policy Connections Partnership Program.
Please contact Associate Director, Laurel Spindel, at ljspinde@uchicago.edu with questions about the program.
Former Postdoctoral Fellows
Amy Claessens, Assistant Professor, The Harris School of Public Policy Studies, The University of Chicago
Danielle Crosby, Assistant Professor, Human Development and Family Studies, School of Human and Environmental Sciences, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Rachel Garret, Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Comparative Human Development, The University of Chicago
Jane Leber Herr, Visiting Scholar, National Bureau of Economic Rsearch
Lindsey Leininger, Assistant Professor and Assistant Research
Scientist, Division of Health Policy and Administration, School of
Public Health, University of Illinois-Chicago
Ruby Mendenhall, Assistant Professor, Departments of Sociology and African American Studies, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Carolina Milesi, Researcher, The Chapin Hall Center for Children at the University of Chicago
Rebecca Ryan, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Georgetown University
The Distinguished Scholars in Residence Program invites social science scholars who are working on cutting-edge research on achievement, health, or well-being across the lifespan to visit the Center, interact with its faculty affiliates, and become acquainted with the staff and resources of the Center. This program is enriching not only for the scholars in residence, who benefits from the intellectual resources of the Center, but also for the students, post-doctoral fellows, and faculty affiliated with the Center who have the opportunity to interact with and learn from scholars from other institutions.
2012-2013
Kjell Salvanes, Professor of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration (Week of May 13, 2013)
Sandra Black, Audre and Bernard Rapoport Centennial Chair in Economics and Public Affairs and Professor of Economics, University of Texas at Austin (Week of May 20, 2013)
2011-2012
Mari Rege, Professor of Economics, University of Stavanger (Week of June 18, 2012)
Robert Crosnoe, Elsie and Stanley E. (Skinny) Adams, Sr. Centennial Professor in Liberal Arts, Department of Sociology and Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin (Week of April 9, 2012)
2010-2011
Magne Mogstad, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University College London (November 6 through December 9, 2010)
Mimi Engel, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Education, Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations, Peabody College of Vanderbilt University (Week of March 7, 2011)
Colleen Manchester, Assistant Professor, Center for Human Rights and Labor Studies, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota (Week of April 11, 2011)
Kathleen Ziol-Guest, Postdoctoral Associate Department of Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell University (Week of May 23, 2011)
2009-2010
Aaron Sojourner, Assistant Professor, Department of Human Resources and Industrial Relations, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota (Week of October 25, 2009)
Rebecca Ryan, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Georgetown University (Week of December 14, 2009)
Rachel Dunifon, Associate Professor, Department of Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell University (Week of February 8, 2010)
Danielle Crosby, Assistant Professor, Human Development and Family Studies, School of Human and Environmental Sciences, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (Week of February 8, 2010)
2007-2008
Isaac McFarlin, Jr., Postdoctoral Fellow with the Research and Training Program on Poverty and Public Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of Michigan (Week of February 10, 2008)
Marcia Carlson, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison (Week of May 18, 2008)
Timothy Smeeding, Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Public Affairs, La Follette School of Public Affairs and Director, Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin-Madison (Week of May 18, 2008)
The Center supports a Harris School master's student group called Leaders in Child and Family Policy. The goal of Leaders in Child and Family Policy is to connect students interested in child and family policy with real-world experiences through service and outreach projects, meetings with policy practitioners, and networking events. Leaders enables students to explore career options and engage with child and family policy issues in areas such as early childhood education, child and adolescent health and welfare, and family systems.
Master's- and PhD-level students are strongly encouraged to attend and take part in the Center's weekly Workshop/Working Group on Human Potential. Master's and PhD-level research on human potential is also encouraged through funding opportunities to support travel to relevant conferences. PhD students are also invited to take part in our Making Policy Connections Partnership Program.
Harris School Courses in Child and Family Policy as of the 2012-13 academic year.
