Lisa Kaler, doctoral student in OLPD (Higher Education), has been awarded the prestigious Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship by the University of Minnesota’s Graduate School.

Lisa’s dissertation research focuses on college student suicide, a critical issue in higher education. Traditionally, research about suicide occurs in clinical fields. Titled “The Construction of Suicide: A Critical Analysis of University and Student Suicide Discourses,” Lisa uses Critical Suicidology—a paradigm that critiques the dominant view of suicide as a pathological and individual issue—to ground her Critical Discourse Analysis of the suicide discourse present on a University campus. Lisa compares a university’s suicide discourse with that of students who have experienced suicidal thoughts. Ultimately, Lisa hopes that her dissertation research can help create more effective suicide prevention strategies on college campuses.

Lisa became interested in college student suicide after working in student conduct and on a university behavioral intervention team. She holds a master’s in higher education from OLPD, and plans to pursue a tenure-track position at a research university after she graduates. She is an advocate for undergraduate and graduate student mental health and plans to continue using critical scholarship to examine mental health challenges facing students. 

Lisa’s primary faculty advisor is Karen Miksch.