Preceptors are mentors selected from the very finest doctoral students in the Division.  Their overriding concern is to communicate, week by week, the informal norms that govern academic research. Your preceptor will assist with your course selections, with your choice of faculty advisor for the MA paper, and with the development of the MA thesis, from the initial proposal through the submission of your final draft. You are strongly advised to make as much use of them as possible. You will also have ongoing mentorship and advice from our senior academic staff.

Joshua Mausolf

Preceptor in Computational Social Science

McGiffert Hall
5751 S. Woodlawn Avenue, Room 204

Joshua is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Chicago. He holds a BA, summa cum laude, from New York University, received his MA at the University of Chicago, and was a summer fellow at Data Science for Social Good. Joshua’s general interests intersect at the boundaries of sociology, political science, and economics, which he explores using computational and statistical methods. He is broadly interested in social stratification and inequality, labor markets, corporate boards and organizations, campaign finance, political ideology and polarization, political and media discourse, and social movements.  

Nora Nickels

Preceptor in Computational Social Sciences

5751 S. Woodlawn Avenue, Room 204

Nora is a PhD candidate in the Department of Comparative Human Development at the University of Chicago. She graduated with a BS from the University of Notre Dame in 2013, received her MA from the University of Chicago in 2016, and is a fellow at the Institute for Mind and Biology.  Her general research interests include the neuroendocrine bases of human decision making, individual differences in behavior in relation to hormonal function, and computational data analysis and statistics.  Specifically, her current dissertation work focuses on behavioral and biological responsiveness to social stimuli and psychosocial stress.

Preceptor in Computational Social Sciences