Joint PhD Student in Psychology and Women's and Gender Studies
She | They
lvdunn@umich.edu
Office Information:
B120C Lane Hall
3264 East Hall
Women's and Gender Studies
About
My research aims to challenge the systems of inequality that shape our everyday lives by examining how they function, their broader effects on society, and their more specific impact on individuals. Using a critical interdisciplinary approach, I explore the complex relationship between collective memory, identity, and contemporary social issues. I am particularly interested in how individuals use identity categories – such as race/ethnicity, gender/sex, and sexual orientation – as tools for meaning-making. I adopt an asset-based rather than a deficit-based model to understand marginalized groups' perspectives on systemic discrimination. My primary interest is in investigating how individuals utilize their identities to comprehend the persistence of systemic discrimination in the US.
