Graduate Research

The College of the Liberal Arts’ graduate programs offer a wide range of opportunities within the humanities, languages, and social sciences for students to complete research.

Our innovative centers and institutes facilitate interdepartmental and interdisciplinary research and outreach on particular topics of academic or societal importance. These—in addition to our dozens of research labs—allow undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty to work alongside each other to examine our past and present through various lenses to address and solve our most prominent societal issues and prepare future generations to create a better tomorrow.

Graduate Research

A great way to enhance your graduate experience and develop skills that will be attractive to future employers is through research. Participate in research and get to know faculty on a different level, in a different setting.

Grad Research

Estilita Maria Cassiani Obeso

’22

Ph.D. Spanish and Linguistics

“My research focuses on the use of Creole by a new generation. Palenquero is a Creole language, so my research compares its uses by other speakers, and I am reporting changes in the language. I am also helping teachers at schools in Palenque find better ways to teach Palenquero.”

Grad Research

Maggie Hernandez

’24

Ph.D. Anthropology

Maggie received a five-year, $327,812 Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Transition Award for a Diverse Genomics Workforce from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) to support her multifaceted research project, “Noventa Millas: Migration history, genomic ancestry, and health disparities among Cuban immigrants and Cuban-Americans in the United States.”

Grad Research

Alex Herrera

’25

Ph.D. Latin American History and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Alex was awarded the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad fellowship through the U.S. Department of Education to conduct her dissertation research in Guatemala, where is is examining how transnational networks of Guatemalan, American, and European doctors, public health officials, politicians, city police, and sex workers created and shaped prostitution regulations and medical knowledge about sexually transmitted infections in Guatemala City.

Grad Research

Estilita Maria Cassiani Obeso

’22

Ph.D. Spanish and Linguistics

Grad Research

Maggie Hernandez

’24

Ph.D. Anthropology

Grad Research

Alex Herrera

’25

Ph.D. Latin American History and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Grad Research

Estilita Maria Cassiani Obeso

’22

Ph.D. Spanish and Linguistics

Faculty Research

There are more than 780 full-time faculty in the College of the Liberal Arts spanning more than fifty disciplines in the liberal arts ranging from anthropology and economics to global security and women’s studies. Our graduate students have the opportunity to find faculty whose interests match theirs and work with the best of the best.

AnthropologyArchaeologyFaculty ResearchMatson Museum of Anthropology

James Doyle

Director, Matson Museum of Anthropology

A former assistant curator of art of the ancient Americas at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, James Doyle has been making a big impact on the Matson Museum of Anthropology at Penn State, which opened in its new location inside the new Welch Building in 2025.

Faculty Research

Daryl Cameron

Professor of Psychology

Sherwin Early Career Professor in the Rock Ethics Institute

Professor of Psychology

Sherwin Early Career Professor in the Rock Ethics Institute

Daryl Cameron’s research explores how people perceive and respond to empathy—especially when it’s simulated by artificial intelligence. Through his work with the Consortium on Moral Decision-Making and his Empathy and Moral Psychology Lab, Cameron investigates the ethical and psychological implications of AI-generated empathy, considering both its potential to fulfill human social needs and the risks of outsourcing emotional connection. His interdisciplinary approach aims to deepen understanding of moral behavior in an age of rapidly evolving technology.

Faculty ResearchHistoryRichards Center

Rachel Shelden

Director of the George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center

Rachel is an associate professor of history who focuses her resarch on the political and constitutional history of the the long nineteenth century—encompassing 1789 to 1914.

Faculty ResearchHistoryMiddle East Studies

Laura Robson

William L. and Donna F. Oliver-McCourtney Professor of History

A scholar who specializes in the Middle East and especially the Arab world, Laura and a fellow scholar launched a digital humanities project to tell the stories of and raise awareness and scholarship about stateless people.

AnthropologyFaculty AchievementFaculty Research

Kirk French

Teaching Professor of Anthropology

In the summer of 2022, Kirk’s documentary—which explores environmental challenges faced by a Mexican community—was nominated for a Mid-Atlantic Emmy.

AnthropologyArchaeologyFaculty ResearchMatson Museum of Anthropology

James Doyle

Director, Matson Museum of Anthropology

Faculty Research

Daryl Cameron

Professor of Psychology

Sherwin Early Career Professor in the Rock Ethics Institute

Professor of Psychology

Sherwin Early Career Professor in the Rock Ethics Institute

Faculty ResearchHistoryRichards Center

Rachel Shelden

Director of the George and Ann Richards Civil War Era Center

Rachel is an associate professor of history who focuses her resarch on the political and constitutional history of the the long nineteenth century—encompassing 1789 to 1914.

Faculty ResearchHistoryMiddle East Studies

Laura Robson

William L. and Donna F. Oliver-McCourtney Professor of History

AnthropologyFaculty AchievementFaculty Research

Kirk French

Teaching Professor of Anthropology

In the summer of 2022, Kirk’s documentary—which explores environmental challenges faced by a Mexican community—was nominated for a Mid-Atlantic Emmy.

AnthropologyArchaeologyFaculty ResearchMatson Museum of Anthropology

James Doyle

Director, Matson Museum of Anthropology

Graduate Research

Graduate Research

Maggie Hernandez

Faculty Research

Daryl Cameron

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