2024 Rising Alumni Award Recipient: Lekie Dwanyen
Lekie Dwanyen (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at Michigan State University. Her research involves the study of traumatic stress and relational health in families affected by war and political violence. She is interested in culturally and contextually relevant strategies to reduce mental health disparities in marginalized communities.
Dr. Dwayen is invested in advancing systemic family therapy and global mental health research and practice with immigrant and refugee families, as well as families in post-conflict settings. Along these lines, she has engaged Liberian refugees in the U.S. and stakeholders in the national mental health system in Uganda to examine culturally relevant strategies to address family- and community-level mental health concerns.
Current job
Assistant Professor at Michigan State University
CEHD degrees
BS, PhD, Family Social Science
What professor(s) or course(s) were most influential during your time in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD)?
Qualitative Research Methods (QRM) courses with Dr. Elizabeth Wieling were the most influential classes during my doctoral program. I not only value person-centered, critical, community-engaged, and culturally grounded research methods in my work. I currently teach QRM to graduate students in my role and deeply enjoy this part of my job.
When you have 30 minutes of free time, what do you do?
I enjoy taking a walk or playing with my 3-year-old dog, Ziggy, AKA Zig the Kid.
What gets you excited about work?
Teaching and advising. I love mentoring future scholars!