Join a nationally known, diverse community of scholars exploring child/adolescent development, culture, gender, sexuality and families. Students in our doctoral program are immersed in a highly diverse, dynamic and influential intellectual community around research that has important practical implications. Our faculty has expertise in areas such as immigrant families and communities, culture, racial/ethnic socialization, child/adolescent and lifespan development, sexuality and gender-based violence. Our Ph.D. and MA programs leverage the extraordinary interdisciplinary strengths of our department and prepare students for both cutting-edge research and academic careers as well as careers in government and social policy.
Students complete a rigorous, focused program that prepares them for cutting-edge research in a university or a public/private research organization. Students may enter the Doctoral program with or without a master’s degree. Those entering without a master’s degree will complete all required coursework for the Master’s program, including a Master’s thesis, prior to additional required coursework for the Ph.D. program.
DYAD was formerly known as Lifespan Human Development and Family Studies (LHDFD); if you are applying for graduate study with the DYAD concentration, select the LHDFD concentration in the application system.
Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies, Concentration in Diversity, Youth, and Family Development
Students in the doctoral program in human development and family studies are required to complete the following:
- The following course:
- HDFS 901 Contemporary Scholarship in Human Development and Family Studies
- Completion of 21 credits in methodology and statistics course work as approved by the student’s academic adviser.
- Completion of 24 credits in HDFS 999 Doctoral Dissertation Research.
- Completion of one of the concentrations noted below.
- Successfully pass the comprehensive examination.
- Successfully defend the doctoral dissertation.
Complete all of the following (12 to 15 credits):
- HDFS 847 Theories of the Family
A course in diversity chosen in consultation with the student’s guidance committee 3
An additional 6 to 9 credits of course work chosen in consultation with the student’s guidance committee.
For the most up-to-date information, visit the registrar's website.
Dr. Linda Halgunseth is an associate professor whose research focuses on parenting and children’s health and well-being in African, European, and Latin American families.
Dr. Megan Maas is an assistant professor in Human Development & Family Studies. Her work sits at the intersection of sexual violence prevention and sexual health promotion.
Dr, Desiree Qin is a professor whose research focuses on highlighting nuanced, complex family processes that have been overlooked in quantitative work on Asian immigrant families, especially struggle in parent-child relations, e.g., emotional alienation, parent-child conflicts, communication challenges and negative impact of tiger parenting.
Dr. Francisco Villarruel is a professor whose research seeks to contribute to a fair and equal justice program for youth. He has also been involved in research that focuses on youth development and what communities can do to foster the development transitions of youth to adulthood.
Dr. Yijie Wang is an associate professor whose research interests center on the development of adolescents, particularly those from racial and ethnic minority families. Her work investigates how socio-cultural processes (e.g., ethnic/racial socialization, discrimination) in multiple developmental settings (e.g., family, peer, school, neighborhood) influence youth’s psychosocial and psychobiological adjustment.
Research:
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