Program II is extremely proud of its alumni, who have gone on to pursue a wide array of interesting career paths. Learn more about our alums and some of their recent achievements below:
William Lieber | 2025 Rhodes Scholar
William Lieber (Class of 2025) was among 32 scholars selected for the Rhodes Scholarship, from a pool of more than 800 applicants. The Rhodes Scholarship, which provides for two years of graduate study at the University of Oxford, has long been considered one of the most prestigious prizes in academia. Lieber graduated from Duke with a Program II major entitled "Health & Incarceration," and is currently working at Schneider Construction Company as he pursues a job at the state of Illinois. Read more about his story here.
Kashyap Sreeram | 2025 Samvid Scholar
Kashyap Sreeram (Class of 2024), was among 20 scholars selected for the Samvid Scholarship, from a pool of more than 1,000 applicants. The program awards up to $100,000 towards tuition and fees for two years of graduate study. He graduated from Duke with a Program II major entitled “Computational Neurogenetics in Practice" and is now an MD-PhD candidate at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Read more about his story here.
Class of 2025
Andrew Sun | Mathematics, Decision Making, and Democracy
Faculty Advisor: Hubert Bray Ph.D.
Class of: 2025
From: San Jose, CA
Abstract:
This program of study investigates the ways in which mathematical methods play a role in decision making, especially as it relates to politics and democracy. It seeks to emphasize the rigor of these models, in particular the assumptions they utilize to solve political decision making problems — where those overlooking assumptions can (whether intentionally or not) cause harm to constituents. The methods overviewed include game theory, social choice theory, optimization, machine learning, with a combination of classes from Mathematics, Computer Science, Political Science, and Statistics and Operations Research (at UNC). In addition, the program of study places supplementary emphasis on the clear limitations of these models, which includes the realization that decision making in politics does not just rely on the truth, but also on . . . politics. Thus, the program of study includes additional coursework in political communications based on the value of democratic discourse, empowering the student to both generate knowledge and communicate it expertly.
Carina Lei | Toward Culturally Competent Care: Holistic Mental Health in Asian/American Diasporic Communities
Faculty Advisor: Cristina Salvador Ph.D.
Class of: 2025
From: Cary, NC
Abstract:
Beyond strictly biomedical models of healing, cognitive health is correlated with a plethora of social, political, and cultural factors; in particular, SDOH and racializations of diasporic communities often change the way mental health issues are experienced and expressed in people of color. The COVID-19 pandemic, specifically, has brought to light the relationship between Asian/American identity and mounting mental health issues, pinpointing with alarming incisiveness the ways in which Western healthcare systems are ill-adapted to care for racialized experiences. It has illuminated the need for culturally competent and racially diverse mental healthcare specialists within these systems and the need for more holistic cognitive health intervention practices. As a student who eventually wants to work as a clinical psychiatrist, I propose the following Program II major to carve out a set of courses that will better prepare me to develop a culturally sensitive and holistic approach to care practices moving forward. These courses are aimed at further dissecting the relationships between cognitive health, holistic care practices, and Asian/American identity via three learning objectives:
- To understand how Asian/American identity politics can affect mental health and healthcare: What is specific about the Asian/American experience that contributes to this ongoing need for culturally competent care?
- To learn more about holistic models of care outside of traditional biomedical tracks: What do the current healthcare education system and prevalent biomedical models of healing not address, and how can we fill in the gaps?
- To engage in service learning while thinking critically about engaging with vulnerable populations, and then learn how to create sustainable, systemic change within the issues outlined above: What does it look like to put these concepts into practice?
Carlos Montes | Cognitive Musicology: Sociocultural Influences on Musical Perception
Faculty Advisor: Tobias Overath, Ph.D.
Class of: 2025
From: McHenry, IL
Abstract:
This proposed curriculum examines the impact of social and cultural factors on the way individuals from various musical cultures and ethnic backgrounds perceive music. The curriculum primarily draws upon the disciplines of neuroscience, music, and cultural anthropology, while also incorporating aspects of linguistics, sociology, psychology, African & African-American studies, and Asian & Middle Eastern studies. While this Program II will provide an overarching education in musicology, the curriculum will specifically focus on how culture and society shape musical perception in the Middle East, Eastern Asia, and North America from a neurological perspective. The senior research project will draw upon aspects of musicology, cognitive perception, and cultural and ethnic comparisons. This Program II aims to answer the larger question: how do one’s cultural and social backgrounds of individuals work to shape how one cognitively and psychologically perceives music from culturally familiar and unfamiliar forms and genres of music?
Kayla Lihardo | Being Moved: Perception of Motion and Emotion in Neuroaesthetics
Faculty Advisor: Mark Olson Ph.D.
Class of: 2025
From: Irvine, CA
Abstract:
Crossing the realms of neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, and art history, the relatively new discipline of neuroaesthetics seeks to investigate the neural and cognitive bases of aesthetic experience. By bringing together theory and methodology from the sciences and humanities, I aim to investigate the sensory-motor components of the perception of aesthetic works from a philosophical and psychological perspective. This interdisciplinary program will explore the foundations of perception through an integrative methodology of quantitative and qualitative reasoning. The interactions between visual and motor processing systems, as well as the interactions between physiology and phenomenology will support my line of research into the movement properties of aesthetics. Taking an interdisciplinary approach to the cognition of aesthetics will further enable me to investigate the processes underlying the emotional experience of “being moved.”
Miranda Harris | The Medical and Social Experience of Disability
Faculty Advisor: Sarah E. Gaither Ph.D.
Class of: 2025
From: Hillsborough, NC
Abstract:
With Program II, I have developed an interdisciplinary approach to how disability is understood, combining both the social and medical perspectives. I aim to investigate the question: ‘How can combining medical and social perspectives help us better understand the complete experience of disability?’. I investigate and analyze this question through a series of four modules: first, defining disability; second, exploring disability in various social contexts; third, exploring how disabilities are diagnosed and treated within a medical context; and fourth, developing disability research skills which will culminate in a senior capstone project. To achieve this well-rounded perspective I have completed courses from a wide variety of disciplines including Philosophy, Literature, Global Health, Sociology, Statistics, Biology, Psychology, and Neuroscience. In the end, I will have an understanding of how disability is treated both socially and medically and will be able to look at the experience of disability as a whole.
Olivia Ares | Bones, Dirt, and Culture
Faculty Advisor: Steven E. Churchill Ph.D.
Class of: 2025
From: Johnson City, TN
Abstract:
How are archaeology and evolution understood today by the public? I plan to study evolution as a fundamental subject and an application. To apply this knowledge to the zeitgeist and controversy, I plan to study science communication, evolutionary anthropology, and archaeology. I want to begin to establish a bridge between bioarchaeology and the public. In short, I want to study bones, dirt, and culture.
Sofia Chodri | Revolutionizing Women's Healthcare: Disparities, Innovations, and Implementation
Faculty Advisor: Nimmi Ramanujam Ph.D. & Rukmini Balu M.B.A.
Class of: 2025
From: Randleman, NC
Abstract:
Women’s healthcare within the United States ranks among the worst for developed countries, an issue that will not be fixed without informed healthcare innovations in place. The question this program aims to answer is how can informed healthcare innovations be discovered, reimagined, and implemented with the background of all American women in mind? My program has three modules, which are also supplemented with learning objectives: (1.) Stigmatized Healthcare: A View on How Healthcare Differs for Women From Various Backgrounds in the US, (2.) Women’s Healthcare Innovation, (3.) Successful Implementation Methods within the Community. In order to address these modules, I selected various classes in fields of study such as cultural anthropology, education, human rights, science and society, information sciences and studies, innovation and entrepreneurship, psychology, global health, gender studies, ethics, literature, public policy, sociology, and biomedical engineering, political science as well as more hands-on classes such as a BASS connections class.
Will Lieber | Health & Incarceration
Faculty Advisor: Nicole Lewellyn Schramm-Sapyta Ph.D.
Class of: 2025
From: Springfield, IL
Abstract:
Incarceration is an extraordinarily pervasive experience that pierces individuals, families, and communities. The incarcerated and formerly incarcerated as a population are encumbered with incredible health disparity, and reimagining the US carceral state requires an intimate understanding of the social contexts in which justice-contacted populations reside. Health & Incarceration broadly aims to begin the process of understanding how incarceration affects the health of a community and an individual through three modules. First, I will learn of the origin of the US carceral state in classes like Mass Incarceration and Criminal Justice. Second, I will learn of upstream and downstream interventions, or efforts made to remediate the failures of the carceral state in classes like Just Work and Bass Connections- Criminal Justice. Finally, I will construct my own investigation into incarceration and its impact on health through my thesis characterizing the experiences of people with incarcerated loved ones.