08/12/2025
1. Congratulations to Dr. Emily Hardman (PhD will be conferred this month) for her dissertation: Aging in Context: The Interplay of Mental Health, Cultural Narratives, and Personal Experiences in Later Life.
Committee: Dr. Bilal Urkmez (Chair), Dr. Yegan Pillay, Dr. Krisanna Machtmes, and Dr. Chris Bhat.
2. Emily Hardman is a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright-Schuman Program. Only three are granted each year, and the grant duration is nine months. The program focuses on U.S.–EU relations, EU institutions, and EU policy. It is one of the few multi-country Fulbright awards that allows recipients to conduct research in any EU member state.
Emily’s project explores cultural narratives around aging and their emotional impact. Both the EU and the U.S. have recently introduced policies addressing older adult mental health. The EU launched an initiative in 2023–24 targeting this area, and the U.S. expanded Medicare coverage to include counselors beginning in 2024.
Emily will spend time conducting qualitative research via focus groups in Germany, Greece, and Croatia. Each of these countries has unique variations in geriatric su***de rates and aging populations—Greece, for instance, has the lowest geriatric su***de rate in the EU. Emily will leave the U.S. around Oct 15 and plans to return in July, 2026. She plans to make Germany her primary research base and will make shorter visits to Greece and Croatia for collaboration with local researchers and graduate students.
