Defenses and Examinations

You are invited to attend and participate in the oral doctoral examination of Shane Avery, candidate for the Ph.D. degree, which will be held on Tuesday, April 30, at 9 a.m. in 151 Eggers Hall.

Avery’s advisor is Professor Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn. The dissertation examining committee will be composed of Professors Michael Ebner, Susan Branson, Junko Takeda and Subho Basu. Professor Devashish Mitra will serve as chair of the defense. The title of the candidate’s dissertation is: “Popular Geography Writing in America, 1783–1888.”

You are invited to attend and participate in the oral doctoral examination of Soyoung Jung, candidate for the Ph.D. degree, which will be held on Tuesday, April 30, at 1 p.m. in 327 Newhouse 3.

Jung’s advisors are Professors Tamara Makana Chock and Frank Biocca. The dissertation examining committee will be composed of Professors Hua Jiang, Qiu Wang and Leanne M Hirshfield. Professor Jee Yoon Kim will serve as chair of the defense. The title of the candidate’s dissertation is: “Effects of Social Presence on Social Media Natives: Examination of Social Media Audience With On/Offline Experiments and Brain Measures (FNIRS).”

You are invited to attend and participate in the oral doctoral examination of Amy DiVita, School of Education candidate for the Ed.D. degree, which will be held on Wednesday, May 1, at 10 a.m. in 220 Huntington Hall, the Ganders Lounge.

DiVita’s advisor is Professor George Theoharis. The dissertation examining committee will be composed of Professors Christine Ashby, Qiu Wang, Julia White and Gail Ensher. Professor Tina Nabatchi will serve as chair of the defense. The title of the candidate’s dissertation is: “A Quantitative Analysis of the Effect of Integrated Co-Teaching on the Growth of English Language Arts and Mathematics Achievement in Elementary School Students Using Student Growth Percentiles.”

You are invited to attend and participate in the oral doctoral examination of Chunxu Tang, College of Engineering and Computer Science candidate for the Ph.D. degree, which will be held on Wednesday, May 1, at 10 a.m. in 4-287 Center for Science and Technology.

Tang’s advisor is Professor C.Y. Roger Chen. The dissertation examining committee will be composed of Professors Wenliang (Kevin) Du, James Fawcett, Qinru Qiu and Edmund S. Yu. Professor Michael B. Sponsler will serve as chair of the defense. The title of the candidate’s dissertation is: “A Web-Based Collaborative Multimedia Presentation Document System.”

You are invited to attend and participate in the oral doctoral examination of Mingtao Wu, College of Engineering and Computer Science candidate for the Ph.D. degree, which will be held on Wednesday, May 1, at 1 p.m. in 263B Link Hall.

Wu’s advisor is Professor Young B. Moon. The dissertation examining committee will be composed of Professors John F. Dannenhoffer III, Wenliang (Kevin) Du, Jorge L Romeu and Xiyuan Liu. Professor Joon S. Park will serve as chair of the defense. The title of the candidate’s dissertation is: “Intrusion Detection for Cyber-Physical Attacks in Cyber-Manufacturing System.”

You are invited to attend and participate in the oral doctoral examination of Gordana Stanisic, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs candidate for the Ph.D. degree, which will be held on Thursday, May 2, at 10 a.m. in 205A Maxwell Hall.

Stanisic’s advisor is Professor John Samuel Burdick. The dissertation examining committee will be composed of Professors Jackie Orr, Sydney Hutchinson, Kenneth Baynes and Timothy Eatman. Professor Cecilia Green will serve as chair of the defense. The title of the candidate’s dissertation is: “ ‘Flying by the Seat of Our Pants’: The Politics of Participatory Musical Theater in the 21st Century Burned-Over District.”

You are invited to attend and participate in the oral doctoral examination of Kai Sun, Falk College candidate for the Ph.D. degree, which will be held on Thursday, May 2, at 11 a.m. in 441 White Hall, Falk College.

Sun’s advisor is Professor Matthew Mulvaney. The dissertation examining committee will be composed of Professors Rachel Razza, Kamala Ramadoss, Robert Moreno and Merril Silverstein. Professor Mary Graham will serve as chair of the defense. The title of the candidate’s dissertation is: “Parenting in Acculturating Chinese Mothers: The influences of Chinese Identity, Cultural and Parenting Cognitions, Grandparent Support and Child Temperament.”

You are invited to attend and participate in the oral doctoral examination of Matthew Stewart, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs candidate for the Ph.D. degree, which will be held on Monday, May 6, at 10 a.m. in 151 Eggers Hall.

Stewart’s advisor is Professor Elisabeth Lasch-Quinn. The dissertation examining committee will be composed of Professors Tara Penry, Jeffrey Gonda, Mark Schmeller and Robert Wilson. Professor Grant Reeher will serve as chair of the defense. The title of the candidate’s dissertation is: “The Most Beautiful Place on Earth: Wallace Stegner in California, 1945-1993.”

You are invited to attend and participate in the oral doctoral examination of Seokchae Hwang, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs candidate for the Ph.D. degree, which will be held on Monday, May 13, at 1 p.m. in 112 Eggers Hall.

Hwang’s advisor is Professor Alfonso Flores-Lagunes. The dissertation examining committee will be composed of Professors Hugo Jales, Mengxiao Liu, William C. Horrace and Yoonseok Lee. Professor Leonard M. Lopoo will serve as chair of the defense. The title of the candidate’s dissertation is: “Empirical Essays on Causal Effects of Job Training Programs in South Korea.”

You are invited to attend and participate in the oral doctoral examination of Gregory Pulliam, College of Arts and Sciences candidate for the Ph.D. degree, which will be held on Tuesday, May 14, at 1:30 p.m. in 202 Physics Building.

Pulliam’s advisor is Professor Mitchell Soderberg. The dissertation examining committee will be composed of Professors Denver Whittington, Steven Blusk, Matthew Rudolph and John W. Laiho. Professor Minghao Rostami will serve as chair of the defense. The title of the candidate’s dissertation is: “Pi+ Cross Section on Liquid Argon for the LArIAT Experiment.”

You are invited to attend and participate in the oral doctoral examination of Erin Tripp, College of Arts and Sciences candidate for the Ph.D. degree, which will be held on Wednesday, May 15, 2019 at 10 a.m. in 122 Carnegie Hall.

Tripp’s advisor is Professor Lixin Shen. The dissertation examining committee will be composed of Professors Uday Banerjee, Minghao Rostami, Leonid Kovalev and Andrew Vogel. Professor Biao Chen will serve as chair of the defense. The title of the candidate’s dissertation is: “Structured Sparsity Promoting Functions: Theory and Applications.”