Welcome!
My name is Dr. Lara Janson, and I’m a Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow in Sociology at the University of Chicago With the award of a 2020 Curricular Innovation Grant from the UC Social Sciences Division, students in my “Sociology of Higher Education” course worked in “pods” to conduct original course research projects.
Combining these theme-based research pods with mentorship from four guest expert-mentors who visited the classroom and worked with students, they gained perspectives on both established and emerging areas of higher education research, as well as the shifting higher education landscape today.
As student researchers, students developed tools for understanding and addressing higher education issues, and – working together with a community of peers – they developed agency to articulate, critically examine, and formulate solutions to higher education issues they care about at UC and beyond.
We invite you to explore these student projects in the tabs at the top of this page!