College of Health and Human Services

Public Health

Czaja

Erica Czaja, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
School of Population Health

Office: HH 1012

Mail Stop 119

419.530.4369

Dr. Erica Czaja earned her Ph.D. in Politics and Social Policy from Princeton University and completed post-doctoral training at the University of California, Berkeley, in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Scholars in Health Policy Research Program. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Mamdouha S. Bobst Center for Peace and Justice, and the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics at Princeton University. Her doctoral dissertation, Revolutionary Emotion: Empathy and Equality in the United States, examined the effects of empathy across difference on Americans’ public policy preferences. Dr. Czaja is also a recipient of the American Political Science Association’s Distinguished Junior Scholars Award in political psychology. 

Prior to joining the faculty at The University of Toledo, Dr. Czaja was the Director of the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy’s Community Research Institute at Grand Valley State University. She also served for two years as the Executive Director of Camp Blodgett, a youth-centered nonprofit organization in Grand Rapids, MI, that creates equitable opportunities for recreational learning and leadership development. Prior to obtaining her doctorate, Dr. Czaja worked at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, CA, and Applied Safety and Ergonomics in Ann Arbor, MI. She also earned her M.A. in Politics from Princeton University, her M.A. in the Social Sciences from the University of Chicago, and her B.A. with high distinction in Psychology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 

Courses 

  • Introduction to Health Policy and Health Systems
  • Public Health Advocacy
  • Race, Inequality, and Social Policy
  • Racism, Antiracism, and Health
  • Political Determinants of Health
  • Scientific Writing in Health

Affiliation(s)

  • Department of Political Science and Public Administration
  • Council on the Status of Women, Eberly Center for Women
Last Updated: 6/27/22