Research

Dietrich School Historian's Award-Winning Book Tells Very Personal Story

Smiling woman sits on a chair between stacks of books

When Alaina Roberts, associate professor in the Dietrich School's Department of History, was a sophomore at University of California, Santa Barbara, a professor’s assignment on race and creating a family tree sent her on a quest that ultimately resulted in, “I’ve Been Here All the While,” a book that has been described as a “lovingly personal narrative” by the Journal of Southern History and “a well-timed and welcome read [that is] hard to put down” by the Journal of African American Studies.

2024 Chancellor's Awards Recognize Dietrich School Faculty for Public Service, Research, and Teaching

Panther status with Cathedral of Learning in the background with green trees

Four Dietrich School faculty members have received 2024 Chancellor's Awards in recognition of their accomplishments in public service, research, and teaching.

Pitt Alumni Receives Prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship for Early-Career Researchers

Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences alumnus, Zhen Liu has received the 2024 Sloan Research Fellowship. Zhen graduated from Pitt in 2015 with his PhD. There are 126 researchers who are awarded this fellowship each year. It includes a 2-year $75,000 fellowship to advance research. Liu is now an assistant professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Minnesota.

Pitt Researcher is Pushing the Boundaries of Quantum Physics

Gurudev Dutt, associate professor of physics and astronomy in the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences has received a $2M grant from the Templeton Foundation and $470K from the Sloan Foundation to better understand the fundamental nature of gravity.

Sociology Professor published in "Nature"

Screenshot of "Nature" article titled "Scientists under arrest: the researchers taking action over clime change

Fernando Tormos-Aponte, an associate professor of Sociology in the Dietrich School had his research on the growth of science advocacy, specifically with climate change, referenced in a recent Nature article.

You can read the article here.

He and his colleagues work was also reported in Scientific American in 2020.

Seed Grantees

Image of a snowy Pitt Campus with the Cathedral of Learning in the center of the frame

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has announced the recipients of grants totaling $2.5 million. The University of Pittsburgh is one of 10 schools who will be receiving $250,000 for a two-year seed grant to help make and implement plans that will help advance more diverse and equitable doctoral STEM programs. After the two-year period universities will be eligible to apply for a four-year, $1.4 million implementation grant from Sloan. That grant will also include scholarship funds for students in those STEM departments.

Structural Racism

Lorraine Blatt, a Graduate Student Researcher with the University’s Psychology Department was recently published in the American Academy of Pediatrics for her study on structural racism. Blatt used Allegheny County as her research grounds to see how structural racism leads to fewer opportunities for children today. The study explored how these systems of racism often lead to higher accounts of poverty, poor healthcare, and fewer resources for education as well as other detrimental outcomes.

Dietrich School Faculty Among Year of Discourse and Discovery Awardees

Dietrich School faculty members from the Departments of Communication and Linguistics are among the winners of the first round of funding for the Year of Discourse and Dialogue.

New Book by Dietrich School Distinguished Professor Analyzes the Extremist White Supremacist Movement and Its Grip on Politics

Drawing on their decades of expertise and field research, Dietrich School Distinguished Professor of Sociology Kathleen M. Blee and her coauthors connect the dots from the ideas and customs of the extremist white supremacist movement they’ve tracked directly to the disinformation-fueled rage of the Capitol insurrectionists.

Read the article here.

Dietrich School Faculty Member Receives Funding from Four Major Foundations

Gurudev Dutt, associate professor in the Dietrich School's Department of Physics and Astronomy, is among 11 physics researchers whose innovative projects were selected for funding by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Simons Foundation, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation.