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 ResearchInternational StudentPublic Policy
Halima Binte Islam
’25
Public Policy (master's degree)
Public Policy (master's degree)
One of the highlights of her time at Penn State has been the opportunity to engage in hands-on research. Halima is especially focused on projects related to digital inclusion and AI privacy policy. She is currently conducting a systematic review on smartphone ownership in developing regions, exploring how access to technology can empower communities.
Grad Research
Ashleigh McDonald
Doctoral Student in Communication Arts and Sciences
Doctoral Student in Communication Arts and Sciences
Ashleigh McDonald has devoted her studies to researching the narratives and memories attached to mental institutions, prisons, hospitals and other “dark, unanalyzed places” commonly thought to be haunted.
Grad Research
Katherine Godfrey
History Post-Doc Teaching Fellow
History Post-Doc Teaching Fellow
Katherine Godfrey’s research examines how Indigenous matrilineal kinship networks shaped social and political life in early colonial Colombia. Her forthcoming book explores the critical yet often overlooked role of Indigenous women in supporting and influencing the Spanish Empire’s ambitions, challenging male-centered narratives of conquest. By centering women’s experiences, her work reveals new perspectives on identity, power, and colonial encounters in the early Americas.
Grad Research
Maggie Hernandez
’24
Ph.D. Anthropology
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
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
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.”
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.
Faculty Research
Martha Wadsworth
Professor of Psychology
Professor of Psychology
Martha received a new five-year $5.5 million NIMH grant to expand her BaSICS program (Building a Strong Identity and Coping Skills), which helps middle schoolers manage chronic stress through evidence-based strategies.
Faculty Research
Karen Bierman
Evan Pugh University Professor of Psychology
Evan Pugh University Professor of Psychology
Karen’s decades-long work—including the Head Start REDI (Research-based, Developmentally Informed) initiative—demonstrates the lasting impact of evidence-based programs designed to strengthen school readiness in young children. This early support connects to better outcomes in adolescence.
Faculty Research
Katie Burkhouse
Associate Professor of Psychology
Associate Professor of Psychology
Katie’s externally funded research explores behavioral and brain-based risk factors for youth depression with a focus on early interventions. She integrates methods such as electroencephalography (EEG), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and behavioral data. She currently leads two major grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), totaling more than $7.3 million, and is a collaborator on several other federally and state-funded projects including the $11 million State of Ohio Adversity and Resiliency Study.
Faculty Research
Ricardo “Rico” Brooks
Assistant Professor of Industrial-organizational Psychology
Assistant Professor of Industrial-organizational Psychology
Ricardo’s research explores multiple factors associated with workplace learning and development. His work will address a major gap in the field – that most employee learning is informal (about the individual), yet most organizations focus on organizational-centric approaches (what’s best for the organization).
Faculty AchievementFaculty Research
Peter Arnett
Penn State Distinguished Professor of Psychology
Penn State Distinguished Professor of Psychology
Peter Arnett received Reitan Clinical Excellence Award from he National Academy of Neuropsychology. Recipients of the award are recognized for their long-term impact in the field of clinical neuropsychology.
Faculty Research
Hil Malatino
Associate Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Philosophy
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Joyce L. and Douglas S. Sherwin Early Career Professor in the Rock Ethics Institute
Associate Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Philosophy
Joyce L. and Douglas S. Sherwin Early Career Professor in the Rock Ethics Institute
While conducting research, Hil Malatino, came to the realization that a vast trove of archival documents devoted to trans history had yet to be unearthed and analyzed by contemporary scholars. That insight led Malatino to conceive the project, “Widening the Arc of Trans History: Archival Research for Public Storytelling,” which recently received a $500,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
