GradCOMPASS

GradCOMPASS (Co-curricular Opportunities to Maximize Professional Advancement in the Social Sciences) is an initiative of the Division that provides students in the social sciences with professional development opportunities to use and enhance their diverse and robust research and teaching skills. The program is designed to help graduate students understand the many career options available to them, learn how to leverage skills, and guide the journey to the career of their choice. Grad COMPASS is a partnership between the Division, UChicagoGRAD, and the Chicago Center for Teaching. 

Advisory Board

The Advisory Board for GradCOMPASS consists of current students as well as alumni that span career fields from academia and nonprofit organizations to the private sector. Ex Officio members include representatives from UChicagoGRAD and the Chicago Center for Teaching.

ALUMNI MEMBERS

Elizabeth Garland is Senior Director for Raw Materials Programs at the international labor rights organization Verité. In this role, she leads Verité’s programmatic work to improve labor practices within the agricultural and extractives supply chains of global corporations. Prior to joining Verité, Elizabeth had an academic career as a scholar and professor of cultural anthropology, with a regional specialization in East and Southern Africa. She has taught anthropology, environmental studies, and African Studies at Smith College, Dartmouth College, and Union College. Elizabeth holds a BA from Amherst College, an MA in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Chicago.

Sara Donhowe Goldberg is Senior Director of Development for the National Down Syndrome Society. Previously, she was the U.S. director of development for Humanity & Inclusion (HI), an  international NGO working in nearly 60 countries. Sara received a B.A. from Luther College and a M.A. in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago. Throughout her career, she has held professional roles in various aspects of non-profit fundraising, operations, marketing, and internal communications. Outside of her day job, Sara serves as VP of Membership and Co-Chair of the Rabbinic Search Committee for her synagogue, is a mentor with the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and coaches women, especially other working moms, in aspects of health and wellness. Sara is passionate about building community and empowering others to reach their full potential both personally and professionally. She resides in the Washington, DC area with her husband Josh, their three children, and a dog named Portia.

Stephen Gray has been a Consumer Research at Facebook for almost 3 years. His research looks at how people consume different types of video across platforms - both digital video and TV. Before joining Facebook, Stephen attained a PhD in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Chicago with David Gallo.

Carolyn Stuenkel earned her B.A. in Sociology from Northwestern University. At the University of Chicago, she earned a Ph.D. in Sociology with an emphasis on qualitative research methods. She then completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Alfred P. Sloan Center for Gender and Work. Carolyn began her consulting career in 2004 as a Senior Researcher at Conifer Research. In 2007, she was promoted to Director of Research, and in 2012 she became Conifer's Managing Director. Conifer is a boutique design research firm that blends, research, strategy and design to help their clients develop innovative products and services. Carolyn lives in Chicago's West Lakeview neighborhood with her husband and daughter.

Gretchen Long is a Professor of History at Williams. She also serves as the Faculty Liaison to the Office of Inclusion, Diversity, and Inclusion. At Williams, Professor Long teaches classes on the American Civil War and Emancipation, American Women’s History, American Medical History, and African American History of all kinds. Her research focuses mainly on the everyday experiences of 19th century African Americans. Her book, Doctoring Freedom: The Politics of African American Medical Care in Slavery and Emancipation, came out in 2012 and is based on the dissertation she wrote at the University of Chicago. From 2016-2019 she served as the Faculty Director of the Williams Exeter Programme at the University of Oxford in the UK.

CURRENT PHD STUDENT MEMBERS

Kenneth Onishi is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Psychology Department's Integrative Neuroscience program. He is a psychoneuroimmunologist fascinated by the intersection of physiology and behavior. Captivated by biological mechanisms (neural, immunological, developmental) and why people do what they do, Ken strives to understand behavior from an integrative approach. His current projects aim to (1) elucidate the bi-directional communication between the intestinal microbiota and the brain to influence behavior and (2) characterize how illness during pregnancy can result in offspring with life-long changes in immunity and social behavior. In his spare time, Ken enjoys reading up on the latest technological advances and behavioral economics.

Allison Robinson is doctoral candidate in History at the University of Chicago. She is currently undertaking dissertation research on doll production programs in the Work Projects Administration as a lens into federal intervention into women’s labor, the pedagogy of race and gender, and the creation of an American decorative arts tradition from the Great Depression to the end of World War II. Her research interests include nineteenth and twentieth century American history, American material culture, history of childhood, and historically-specific constructions of race and gender. Allison also has an interest in public history; she has interned in curatorial, education, and interpretation departments in museums such as Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, James Madison’s Montpelier, and the Winterthur Museum. Allison Robinson received her M.A. from the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture in 2018.