Kiera Eckhardt

Kiera Eckhardt is a 2024-2028 Self Graduate Fellow pursuing a Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Kansas. She graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology and a minor in Spanish. During her undergraduate studies, Kiera served as Anthropology Club President and Social Chair of the Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society. She was awarded the Seidler Undergraduate Scholarly Collaboration Fellowship, where she conducted a survey-based research project with Dr. Myra Mendible, analyzing perceptions of American identity and language use in the United States. She also served in Peace Corps Ecuador as a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) Volunteer, and with AmeriCorps VISTA as a Refugee Mentor Coordinator, executing the Florida Department of Children and Families Refugee Project in Tampa, Florida. Kiera graduated from Illinois State University with a Master of Science degree in Anthropology and Applied Community and Economic Development. During her graduate studies, she served as President of the Applied Community and Economic Development Student Association and member of the Graduate Student Council. She completed a professional practicum with the Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council, where she conducted qualitative interviews with formerly incarcerated persons and stakeholders of the Illinois criminal legal system. She also assisted with quantitative data analyses of Illinois Department of Corrections data and Criminal History Record Information (CHRI), as well as the "Impact of Long-Term Prison Sentences" research project with Dr. Kathryn Bocanegra. She published her first paper, "Developing Qualitative Research Questions for Illinois Post-Release Prison Analysis," based on this research. At the University of Kansas, Kiera was awarded the Foreign Language Area Studies (FLAS) Academic Year Fellowship to study Brazilian Portuguese, and the Tinker Field Research Grant through the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Her current research focuses on legal violence, migration governance, and citizenship, where she is conducting a comparative ethnology of migration in the United States and Ecuador. Her long-term goal is to help those in need through policy advocacy research.

Mentor: Dr. Bartholomew Dean, Professor, Social and Behavioral Sciences Anthropology