phd action research

Community Research and Action PhD

Without school, a ‘lost generation’ of rohingya refugee children face uncertain future.

The boy’s eyes lit up when he talked about his dream of becoming a doctor.

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Community Research and Action PhD

The PhD program in Community Research and Action prepares students for academic or policy-related careers as public scholars focused on addressing critical issues facing communities. Graduates of our program are trained for careers as researchers in a variety of settings including academia, research institutions and policy institutes.

Application deadline is January 15

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Last Updated: 8/27/24

Community & Organizational Research for Action (CORA)

The Community and Organizational Research for Action (CORA) focus area within the Department of Psychology is comprised of scholars from multiple disciplines engaged in research to promote equity and social justice. CORA faculty work in partnership with communities, private and public sector organizations, and institutions of higher education, to conduct applied field-based research that promotes positive, transformational change. We believe that by uniting methods and tools from the social sciences with social justice values we can contribute to overcoming disparities and inequities in health, education, workplaces, and other domains.

We prepare students for careers in academia (i.e., faculty positions in Industrial/Organizational, Social, and Community Psychology) and in non-academic careers including (but not limited to):

Organizational consultants
I/O psychologists
Global lead, assessments
Community organizers
Program evaluators, grant writers, and strategic planning specialists
Leaders in the nonprofit sector
Specialists in community health promotion
Educators or administrators in a wide range of academic settings

Doctoral students working under the direction of CORA faculty will be expected to fulfill all of the general requirements of the PhD program in Psychology. However, consistent with the multidisciplinary nature of CORA faculty work, elective coursework in the area of specialization will include four courses from the list below (or other courses approved by the training committee) depending upon availability and fit with program of study.

PSYC6004: Industrial and Organizational Psychology**
PSYC7005: Community Psychology**
PSYC 7006: Community-Engaged Research Graduate Practicum
PSYC7063: Program Evaluation and Policy Analysis I
PSYC7064: Program Evaluation and Policy Analysis II
ORGL8010: Organization Development and Change
ORGL8029: Individual Behavior for Organizations
ORGL8084: Diversity in the Workplace
ORGL8090: Strategic Leadership
BE9063: Participatory Methods in Community-Engaged Research
MGMT9026: Research Methods
MGMT9011: Seminar in Organizational Behavior
EDST7045: Community-Based Participatory Research
EDST8056: Developing and Improving Interview Design and Technique
EDST8021: Action Research I
EDST8022: Action Research II
EDST7093: Learning, Working & Thriving in Groups

** Strongly recommended for students focusing in either organizational or community psychology.

Note that in addition to fulfilling Specialty Area courses, the preceding classes can be used toward the completion of various Graduate Certificates offered within and outside of A&S, including the Graduate Certificate in Community-Engaged Research for Health offered by the Department of Psychology in partnership with the College of Medicine.

In addition to coursework requirements within the emphasis area, CORA students will be able to fulfill the requirement for attending a 1-credit seminar, journal club, or the equivalent in the emphasis area in Years 1 and 2 of their program by attending colloquia, brown bags or presentations arranged by or featuring CORA or affiliate faculty.

Core Faculty

Core faculty members affiliated with the CORA program include Drs.  Jacquez ,  Dutt ,  Furst-Holloway , Chrobot-Mason , and  Trott .

Partnerships

CORA faculty are collaborative partners with organizations across campus, the region, the country, and internationally who share our vision to promote equity and social justice. We collaborate with for-profit and not-for-profit organizations, government agencies, and IHEs on research projects, student internships and applied projects, workshops and training, and other partnerships intended to generate and disseminate research findings with the goal to create social change. Examples of such partnerships include: