Antar Tichavakunda defends dissertation, wins USC PhD Achievement Award

Congratulations to Pullias research assistant Antar Tichavakunda, who successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation on April 9, 2018!

Titled “Black Engineering Students’ Experiences at a Historically White Institution,” Tichavakunda’s dissertation focuses an ethnographic lens on black undergraduates majoring in engineering and computer science at a selective, historically white institution. Tichavakunda conducted over 150 hours of participant observation and interviewed 77 percent of the black undergraduate engineering population to write this ethnography.

Tichavakunda’s dissertation committee included three members of the Pullias Center: Wilbur Kieffer professor of higher education and university professor William G. Tierney, who serves as co-director of the Pullias Center; John B. Slaughter, professor of education and engineering; and Zoë B. Corwin, research associate professor and project lead of the Pullias Center’s Digital Equity in Education project. Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, Florence Everline professor of sociology, also served on the committee.

“My experience at Pullias has been transformative,” Tichavakunda said. “I attribute my growth as a scholar and as a professional to the center. The mentorship and research experiences I have been afforded through Pullias were critical to my experience. It has been an honor and privilege to work with this team.”

Tichavakunda is also the recipient of a USC PhD Achievement Award for 2018, awarded by the Graduate School to students with exceptional academic profiles. He will lead the PhD column at the 2018 Commencement Ceremony on May 11, 2018.

In the fall, Tichavakunda will be joining the University of Cincinnati as a tenure-track assistant professor of education leadership. There, he plans to extend his research examining black student life in higher education and theorizing new ways of studying campus racial climate, as well as college readiness.