Dissertation defense schedule

Dissertation Defense Details

  • Videoconference Set Up
  • Tips for Effective Videoconference Dissertations

Submitting your Announcement of Public Defense of the Dissertation

Update: 09-01-21

Defenses may be held entirely in person so long as all university protocols are followed regarding such gatherings.  Hybrid defenses are also allowed, where some attendees are in person and others online, or the defense may take place entirely online.  The dissertation chair has the discretion to approve the option, but is asked to be sensitive of requests for remote attendance.

Create a Videoconference via Teams: If a hybrid or entirely online defense is held, the student will be responsible for setting up the virtual defense through the required platform, Microsoft Teams. 

  • Review tips on creating and managing webinars in Microsoft Teams. 
  • Please have the Dissertator send out invitations to those they would like to attend the session. Encourage the invitees to download the software or app of the platform being used in advance so they have a chance to troubleshoot.
  • Functionality is better over the apps than over web browsers. Chrome and Firefox are optimal if using a desktop or laptop browser. 
  • Videoconference dissertations should be scheduled 30 minutes before the scheduled defense time, allowing the dissertator and their audience ample time to troubleshoot and be acclimated to the virtual space. 
  • Include videoconference link and other meeting details in multiple communication so that it can be easily accessed by the invitees.  
  • For Microsoft Teams, become familiar with the additional features, including the "Poll" capabilities, which not only helps lighten up the event, but allows people to send encouragement to the dissertator.  
  • Advisors should begin with a brief explanation for the audience for how to use the platform. The most important reminder is to tell invitees to mute themselves unless they are speaking to reduce ambient noise and other distractions. Be sure to ask invitees if they are familiar with how to do this and if not, feel free to walk them through the mute feature. If there are audio issues, it can be helpful to turn the video off.
  • Advisors should record the session for the person defending as a memento for this occasion. This is a recommendation and optional. 

Dissertation Defense Schedule 

 

March


Amanda Zastrow

Program: English Ph.D.

Dissertation Director: Dr. Amy Blair 

Date/Time: March 8, 2024, 1:30p.m.

Defense Location: Olin Engineering, EN119

Dissertation Title: "A Liberated West?: Female Authors' Representations of the "Real and the Fantasized” on the American Frontier"


Jose Miguel Jaramillo

Program: Educational Policy and Leadership

Dissertation Director: Rev. Jeffrey LaBelle, S.J., Ed.D.

Date/Time: March 13, 2024, 9:00a.m.

Defense Location: EDPL conference room, SC 113F or Microsoft Teams Link

Dissertation Title: "Toward A Continuum for Jesuit Education Founded Upon Cura Personalis and Magis"


Mitra Rouhani

Program: Exercise and Rehabilitation Science

Dissertation Director: Alexander Ng

Date/Time: March 18, 2024, 2:00p.m.

Defense Location: Athletic and Human Performance Research Center-Film room-216 or Microsoft Teams Link

Dissertation Title: "Mechanisms of Neuromuscular Fatigability in Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis"


Catherine Simmerer

Program: English

Dissertation Director: John Curran

Date/Time: March 19, 2024, 2:00p.m.

Defense Location: Eisenberg Reading Room

Dissertation Title: "Disillusionment and Domesticity in Mid-20th Century British Catholic Literature"


Kathryn Kern

Program: Exercise and Rehabilitation Science

Dissertation Director: Alexander Ng

Date/Time: March 20, 2024, 10:00a.m.

Defense Location: Schroeder Complex Room 256 or Microsoft Teams Link

Dissertation Title: "Immune Cell and Muscle Bioenergetics in Persons with Multiple Sclerosis"


Daniel P. Mueller

Program: Religious Studies

Dissertation Director: Julian V. Hills

Date/Time: March 20, 2024, 10:00a.m.

Defense Location: Alumni Memorial Union 305

Dissertation Title: "Place in Luke-Acts: A Geocritical Reading of Synagogue, House, and Temple"


Landon Cowan

Program: Behavior Analysis Ph.D.

Dissertation Director: Tiffany Kodak

Date/Time: March 21, 2024, 8:00a.m.

Defense Location: Microsoft Teams Link

Dissertation Title: "A Clinical Problem-Solving Model For Identifying and Addressing Barriers to Learning In Skill-Acquisition Programs"


Chase Sakitis

Program: Computational Sciences

Dissertation Director: Daniel B. Rowe

Date/Time: March 22, 2024, 9:00a.m.

Defense Location: Microsoft Teams Link

Dissertation Title: "Formal Bayesian Approaches to the SENSE and GRAPPA Parallel FMRI Reconstruction Techniques along with their Combination"


Sisi Han

Program: Civil Engineering

Dissertation Director: Yong Bai

Date/Time: March 22, 2024, 12:00p.m.

Defense Location: Engineering Hall 352

Dissertation Title: "Understanding of AI-Aided Reality Capture Data for the Development of BIM Modeling for Building Façade Inspections"


Bianca Tocci

Program: Counseling Psychology

Dissertation Director: Alexandra Kriofske-Mainella

Date/Time: March 25, 2024, 12:00p.m.

Defense Location: Microsoft Teams Link

Dissertation Title: "The Mental Health Management of Individuals in Sex Work"


Laxmi Devkota

Program: Graduate Arts and Sciences

Dissertation Director: Dr. Adam Fiedler

Date/Time: March 26, 2024, 10:00a.m.

Defense Location: Wehr Chemistry - TW 121

Dissertation Title: "Magnetic Properties and Biological Relevance of Scorpionate-Based Transition Metal Complexes"


Liamog Drislane

Program: English

Dissertation Director: Gerard Canavan

Date/Time: March 26, 2024, 1:00p.m.

Defense Location: Cudahy 143 or Microsoft Teams Link

Dissertation Title: "Speculative Escapism in Contemporary Fantasy: Labor, Utility, Affect"


Megan Heeder

Program: Theology

Dissertation Director: Andrew Kim

Date/Time: March 27, 2024, 8:30a.m.

Defense Location: Alumni Memorial Union (AMU) 313

Dissertation Title: "The Beauty of a Good Appetite in a Social Media Age"


Amanda Potter

Program: PhD-College of Nursing

Dissertation Director: Kristina Thomas Dreifuerst

Date/Time: March 27, 2024, 9:00a.m.

Defense Location: Microsoft Teams Link

Dissertation Title: "Situation Awareness Preparation and Prebriefing: Fostering the Cognitve Processes of Thinking Like a Nurse in Simulation"


Nicholas Langer

Program: Chemistry

Dissertation Director: Ofer Kedem

Date/Time: March 27, 2024, 10:00a.m.

Defense Location: Microsoft Teams Link

Dissertation Title: "Elucidating the Effect of Surface Modifications on Nanomaterial Function"


Craig Miller

Program: Counselor Education & Counseling Psychology

Dissertation Director: Sarah Knox

Date/Time: March 27, 2024, 10:50a.m.

Defense Location: Microsoft Teams Link

Dissertation Title: "Trainees' Experience Using Routine Outcome Monitoring (ROM) in Clinical Practice and Supervision"


Kendall Kastner

Program: Behavior Analysis

Dissertation Director: Stephanie Hood

Date/Time: March 27, 2024, 12:30p.m.

Defense Location: Microsoft Teams Link

Dissertation Title: "An evaluation of Delay and Denial Training: Durability Against Treatment Relapse"


April


Rafee Mahbub

Program: Electrical and Computer Engineering Ph.D.

Dissertation Director: Ronald A. Coutu, Jr.

Date/Time: April 8, 2024, 2:30p.m.

Defense Location: Engineering Hall, DL354

Dissertation Title: "Investigating the Dynamic Response of Surrogate Energetic Systems with Variable Geometric Complexity"