Education
2019
Ph.D. in Sociology, University of Colorado Boulder
Dissertation Title: “Disaster Recovery, Social Capital, and the Sri Lankan Context: A Comparative Study of Two Communities in Batticaloa"
Dissertation Committee: Co-Chairs - Kathleen Tierney and Jill Harrison, Don Grant, Rachel Rinaldo, Dennis McGilvray (Anthropology), Amy Javernick-Will (Engineering)
2010
Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Social Welfare, summa cum laude, University of North Florida
Selected Grants & Fellowships
2024
Rozanne M. Brooks Internationalized Curricular Development Award ($4,000)
2021
Cortland Applied Learning Practitioners Grant in collaboration with Dr. Kent Johnson for Analyzing and Disrupting Misconceptions about Racialized Groups and Identities
Rozanne M. Brooks Internationalized Curricular Development Award ($4,000)
2017
Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship from the American Institute for Indian Studies and Institute for Regional Studies at University of Wisconsin--Madison for Summer 2017 Tamil Language Intensive in Madurai, India ($8,000)
American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies Curriculum Development Grant: Teaching About the 2004 Tsunami ($1000)
2016
National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant ($10,000)
2015
American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies Dissertation Planning Grant ($6,400)
Awards & Honors
2023
Excellence in Academic Advising Award for exemplary performance in student advisement and mentorship. SUNY Cortland. ($750)
2019
Ralph and Barbara Dakin Award for outstanding scholarship that contributes to peace, inter-cultural understanding, resolution conflict, and/or amelioration of important social problems. Department of Sociology, University of Colorado Boulder. ($1,000)
Publications
Book Chapter
Peek, Lori, Jessica Austin, Elizabeth Bittel, Simone Domingue, and Melissa Villarreal. “Children Take Charge: Helping Behaviors and Organized Action among Young People after Hurricane Katrina.” The Potential for Bottom-Up Responses to Crisis, edited by Virgil Storr and Stefanie Haeffele. London: Palgrave Macmillan. (In Press)
Book Review
Peek, Lori and Elizabeth Bittel (2019). Review of Sites Unseen: Uncovering Hidden Hazards in American Cities, by Scott Frickel and James R. Elliott. Human Ecology Review, 25(1).
Teaching Materials
Bittel, Elizabeth. “Teaching About the 2004 Tsunami.” For: American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies. View teaching module: http://www.aisls.org/resources/teaching-about-sri-lanka/the-2004-tsunami/