PACS news/September 28, 2020
PACS Names 2020-21 PhD Fellows
The Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society is pleased to welcome the Ph.D. fellows who will be joining us for the 2020-21 academic year. Our fellows will spend the academic year participating in a year-long research workshop, engaging in discussions with featured faculty, and contributing to other parts of academic life at the Center. Fellows will gain new knowledge across various topics and enrich PACS’ academic community by bringing a diversity of thought.
Joining us are:
Trevor Bakker, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Economics at Stanford University.
Chunchen Xu, a Ph.D. candidate in Organizational Behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Undergrad Institution: Nankai University, Chemistry.
Research focus: The social and psychological impact of the increasing use of algorithms in the workplace
How I plan to change the world: I hope to create a positive impact on society by conducting original research to better understand how to harness the power of technology while mitigating its potential harm.
An interesting fact about me: I’m a tea enthusiast.
Contact email: cxu66@stanford.edu
Social media/website: I’m not currently using social media.
Jan Gerrit Voelkel, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Sociology, a member of the PACS’ Polarization and Social Change Lab, a graduate fellow at the Immigration Policy Lab.
Hometown/home country: Appeldorn, Germany.
Undergrad Institution: Social science, University of Cologne, Germany.
Research focus: Morality, political conflicts, persuasion, metascience.
How I plan to change the world: I hope to provide relevant scientific insights into how societies and their citizens can live up to moral principles of fairness and equality without the escalation of internal conflicts and polarization.
An interesting fact about me: I love 100% real talk rounds in written rap battles.
Contact email: jvoelkel@stanford.edu
Social media/website: Twitter @jgvoelkel
Luiza Almeida Santos, a psychology Ph.D. student at Stanford, working at the Stanford Social Neuroscience Lab and the Polarization and Social Change Lab.
Undergrad Institution: Swarthmore College, Psychology.
Research focus: Broadly, I study the psychological underpinnings of political polarization and its downstream consequences. I am especially interested in understanding the malleability of morality and how some political attitudes can become imbued with moral relevance (e.g., seen as matters of right and wrong) through group dynamics. I also study how challenging people’s preconceived beliefs about upward social mobility can foster empathy for those living in poverty and increase support for welfare policies.
How I plan to change the world: I hope the research I conduct can illuminate some of the ways we can reduce political division and push for social change.
An interesting fact about me: I competed internationally as a showjumper (the equestrian sport) for the best part of 2013 and 2014.
Contact email: lsantos1@stanford.edu
Lisa Overbey, a Ph.D. candidate in the Graduate School of Education, and also an IES and an EDGE fellow.
Hometown/home country: Warrenton, Virginia, USA.
Undergrad Institution: University of Virginia; History and French.
Research focus: Global trends in the content of education reform.
How I plan to change the world: By being civically engaged and active in the communities to which I belong and taking opportunities to be a mentor to others; maybe also by writing a book one day- it would be nice to change the world through art.
An interesting fact about me: I lived in Germany for seven years.
Contact email: loverbey@stanford.edu