Social Inequality, Health, and Policy (formerly Population and Public Policy) alumni have gone on to pursue careers in a variety of fields, including social policy, medicine, non-profit management, and public health. They have also enrolled in a variety of graduate and professional school programs, including programs in Government, Law, Medicine, Public Administration, Public Health, and Sociology. If you are a Social Inequality, Health, and Policy or Population and Public Policy alum, we would love to hear what you’re doing and share your news with other alumni. Please contact us at bdp@uts.cc.utexas.edu any time!
Read on to hear about what some of our Social Inequality, Health, and Policy alumni have been doing since they graduated.
Kristina Kelley
Sociology, Graduated Fall 2007
During her time at UT, Kristina assisted with data entry and analysis on the Texas Families Project under the supervision of Dr. Edward Anderson. She focused on understanding the adjustment of children and families to parental divorce and remarriage. Katrina also interviewed families to gain more insight in the Texas Families Project. After graduation, Kristina taught social studies in the Bronx through Teach for America. She plans to attend graduate school after her two-year commitment to TFA.
Drew Clinton
Anthropology and Plan II, Graduated Spring 2007
Drew chose to pursue a BDP in Social Inequality, Health, and Policy to complement his work in Plan II and Anthropology. As a participant in the Mediterranean Crossroads Program, Drew traveled to Egypt, Israel, and Palestine and wrote a research paper on the effects of neoliberal reform on Egyptian agriculture. He also researched the impact of Christian missions with Dr. Robert Woodberry. Drew enrolled in law school at Vanderbilt University after graduation, and he will concentrate on international trade law.
Michelle Robinson
Sociology, Graduated Spring 2007
Michelle’s interest in exploring population trends and policies led her to pursue a BDP in Social Inequality, Health, and Policy. Michelle worked with the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board researching participation in higher education by underrepresented populations. She also researched school segregation as part of the Research Experience for Undergraduates Program at the Population Research Center. After graduation, Michelle began pursuing a Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Anand Bhat
Human Biology, Graduated Spring 2006
While he was a BDP student, Anand studied at the United Nations with Seton Hall University and worked on a drug-abuse prevention program called “Keeping it R.E.A.L.” at the School of Social Work with Professor Lori Holleran. After he graduated from UT, Anand enrolled in medical school at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. He hopes one day to work for the UN or World Health Organization.
Stephen Fagen
Urban Studies and Sociology, Graduated Spring 2006
Passionate about urban policy and housing specifically, Stephen’s interest in policymaking began with his introduction to the BDP program in Social Inequality, Health, and Policy. After he graduated from UT, he enrolled in the Wagner School of Public Service at New York University to pursue a Masters of Public Administration in Public and Nonprofit Management and Policy. He hopes to eventually establish an organization dedicated to providing families with affordable housing and improving urban communities across the country.
Ariel Yang
Accounting, Graduated Fall 2005
After graduating from UT, Ariel applied the interdisciplinary skills she developed through her BDP to pursue a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning—a field unrelated to her undergraduate major. Her BDP internship experience opened up transportation planning as a new career path she had never considered before. Subsequently, Ariel interned with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, and currently she is a research assistant for one of the professors in her program at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. Upon completing her Master’s degree, Ariel hopes to gain work experience in the US before traveling overseas to work in transportation planning for underserved regions.
Edgar Morales
Government, Graduated Spring 2004
As a BDP student, Edgar served as an intern with the Washington Office on Latin America through the UT in D.C. program, and he was a Mellon Undergraduate Fellow in Minority Group Demography with the Population Research Center at the University of Texas. He also studied abroad at Oxford University. After graduation, Edgar attended the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he focused on inequality, national security, and international relations. He graduated from the Kennedy School in 2006, and he is now a law student at Columbia University Law School.
Ron-Ryan Romero
Biology, Graduated Spring 2004
As a BDP student, Ron participated in the Population Research Center’s Summer 2003 Research Experience for Undergraduates in Minority Demography. Under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Hummer, he worked as a co-author on a research paper studying the connection between religious activity and mortality, which was published in the Southern Medical Journal. After he graduated, Ron attended Yale University School of Public Health for a Masters of Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences.
“As a Sociology major, I have interests not only in how sociological theory is formulated, but also how it is implemented in the political context. The Social Inequality, Health, and Policy BDP provided an outlet for me to take courses and gain experience in this area, without having to declare multiple majors or extend my tenure at the University.”