Graduate Studies in the Arts and Sciences

January 27, 2026

Abigail Arnold | Office of Graduate Affairs

While Brandeis University’s graduate students may be newly organized into four schools – the School of Arts, Humanities and Culture, the School of Business and Economics, the School of Science, Engineering and Technology, and the School of Social Sciences and Social Policy – this does not mean they are divided. In fact, they have many commonalities, particularly their eagerness to dive into cutting-edge research and to collaborate with others to make it happen. To kick off the spring semester, we asked students to share their research projects and tell us about the collaborators and mentors who helped make them possible. Here is a snapshot of current Brandeis graduate student research, in the students’ own words.

School of Arts, Humanities and Culture

Jacob Lichty, MA in Philosophy: “I will be arguing for a conception of science that is responsive to the aim-oriented nature of ecology and conservation biology. In my research I will discuss how conservation aims play a role in determining the content of the concepts of invasive species, novel ecosystem, and old-growth forest. In my writing, I will focus on the question of how actual scientific activity might inform philosophical theorizing: that is, how knowledge of a particular subject domain can provide the ability to offer an informed a priori response and also, when needed, informed concession. For example, I am interested in the extent to which a philosopher’s account of ‘artifact’ should be receptive to the anthropologist’s use of the term. My thesis advisor, Dr. Katrina Elliott, has supported me in this research.”

School of Business and Economics

Anokh Palakurthi, MS in Business Analytics: “I recently completed a final research project on using neural networks and machine learning to forecast future quarterback performance in the NFL, as well as grade contracts. I worked on this under Professor Ahmad Namini, and he helped oversee my semester-long study on NFL analytics and data science.”

School of Science, Engineering and Technology

Vedanshi Shah, MS in Computer Science: “My research focuses on designing and evaluating AI-powered systems that support reflection and learning in high-stakes contexts, particularly career preparation. For my master’s thesis and a related research paper, I led the design and evaluation of Career Compass, a web-based system that combines realistic AI-driven mock interviews with interpretable, evidence-linked visualizations. Rather than providing opaque scores or generic feedback, the system grounds AI insights in users’ own interview transcripts through visual summaries such as concept maps, timelines, and alignment charts. This work draws on methods from human-computer interaction, data visualization, and applied machine learning and was evaluated through user studies with university students. I also presented this work as a poster at Brandeis Data Science Day, highlighting the interdisciplinary connections between AI, visualization, and education. I am especially grateful to my thesis advisor (Professor Dylan Cashman), faculty mentors at Brandeis for their guidance in HCI research methods, visualization design, and ethical AI, and the participants in the studies (students, Hiatt Career Center, recruitment professionals) that helped shape this work and push it forward.”

School of Social Sciences and Social Policy

Proscovia Atyang, MA in Sustainable International Development: “Prior to coming to Brandeis, my professional experience working in financial institutions shaped my research interests. I observed firsthand how rural women are systematically excluded from the digital finance ecosystem. My research focuses on how emerging technologies can be leveraged to influence business performance, decision-making, and long-term sustainability among women-owned SMEs in rural and underserved communities, particularly in Eastern Uganda. I further examine how technology-enabled financial tools interact with gendered structural constraints, including limited access to capital, information asymmetries, and gaps in digital infrastructure. More broadly, my work sits at the intersection of economics, technology, and social policy, with the goal of generating evidence-based insights that inform inclusive financial systems, responsible digital innovation, and development-oriented policy design in emerging markets. My faculty supervisor Barry Shelley has been incredibly supportive and instrumental in guiding my research at every stage.”

Richmond Worlanyo Dzeamesi, MA in Global Sustainability Policy and Management: “My work examines Ghana’s progress toward the UNAIDS 95-95-95 HIV/AIDS targets, with particular attention to HIV-related stigma as a barrier to testing, treatment continuity, and viral suppression. I am developing a data-driven monitoring dashboard that integrates public health and health systems data to identify inequities and support evidence-based interventions.”

Joseph A. Getto, MA in Conflict Resolution and Coexistence: “As part of my Fellowship with the Alva Myrdal Centre for Nuclear Disarmament, I am completing my master’s thesis on how written language significantly shapes escalation dynamics in AI-simulated wargames. My research examines how different linguistic contexts—In this case, both English and Mandarin—can lead large language models (LLMs) to make markedly different strategic and escalatory decisions. To conduct this research, I designed a bespoke, seminar-style wargame centered on a hypothetical future U.S.–China crisis in the Taiwan Strait. The same wargame was translated and run in both English and Mandarin across multiple off-the-shelf LLMs that have received government contracts related to military applications. Preliminary results indicate stark differences in outcomes based on language. Approximately 40% of English-language wargames ended at the threshold of, or actively engaged in, nuclear war, compared to 0% of Mandarin-language wargames. Additionally, English-language simulations consistently exhibited a strong bias portraying the People’s Republic of China as the more aggressive actor—an effect far more pronounced than in the Mandarin simulations of the same scenario. This research was advised by Dr. Rob Grace (Adjunct Lecturer, Brandeis University) and Dr. Sophia Hatz (Uppsala University, Sweden), with conceptual foundations informed by coursework with Professor Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld (Professor, Brandeis University).”

Ambria Jones, PhD in Sociology: “My research focuses on food insecurity, resource distribution, and institutional inequality. I am especially interested in graduate student access to social safety nets, as well as the role of local and campus-based food pantries, and how their presence, or absence, shapes student resilience. I am grateful for the guidance and support of the Brandeis sociology faculty and staff. One person who helped move my research forward was Dr. Sarah Mayorga, who shared opportunities to present and disseminate student work. As a result, I applied for and was accepted to present my first poster at a conference hosted by Boston College last fall and at the Eastern Sociological Society conference this spring.”

Anjila Pandey, MS in Global Health Policy and Management: “My research interests lie in the intersection of mental health, substance use, socio-economic constructs of healthcare and intervention mapping for a larger population wellbeing. Learning R and SQL with Professor Arnold Kamis and Seyed Razavi last semester in my graduate program, I am now able to analyze large health datasets. It has been incredibly helpful for my current meta-analysis on the effectiveness of interventions on opioid overdose reduction. For the spring, I have been overviewing patterns in opioid use, fatal and non-fatal overdose encounters, and relative impact of community and digital interventions on overdose knowledge, enrollment to care and harm reduction outcomes. On a greater scale, my research aims to provide data-driven solutions and contextual policy decisions for the prevention and control of opioid overdose.”