David Glisch-Sánchez, a UT doctoral candidate, has been awarded a $20,000 Moore Fellowship from the Hogg Foundation for his dissertation research on social harm experienced by the LGBTQ Latinas/os.

Specifically, his dissertation looks at instances such as violence, harassment, discrimination and social isolation. He also looks at how LGBTQ Latinas/os develop safer environments. The Hogg Foundation, part of the UT Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, awards the Moore Fellowship every year to a UT student to help him or her complete a dissertation relating to human experience in a time of crisis.

“The Moore Fellowship has come at a very useful moment in my Ph.D. process,” Glisch-Sánchez said. “It is providing the necessary funding I need to complete my research interviews, which form the basis of the whole project. During this fellowship year, it is my firm desire complete all interviews, finish all data analysis, and begin writing the substantive chapters of my dissertation.”

Personally connected to the Latina/o LGBTQ community, Glisch-Sánchez said he wants his research makes a significant impact for those who also identify with it.

“I personally identify as both gay and Latino, so this research has some very obvious connections to my own life story and provides innovation in and of itself,” Glisch-Sánchez said. “More than anything, however, I want my project to be a vehicle for all of the LGBTQ Latinas/os that share their life stories with me, to reveal the importance of their experiences in the United States.”

Tammy Heinz, consumer and family liaison at the Hogg Foundation, said the foundation felt Glisch-Sánchez’s research matched well with the goals of the Moore Fellowship.

“The selection committee chose Glisch-Sánchez to receive the Moore Fellowship because his dissertation closely aligned with the fellowship’s focus on the human experience in crisis as it is concerned with the unique crises and adversities lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Latinas/os confront,” Heinz said.

Before coming to UT, Glisch-Sánchez previously studied at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He also worked as an organizer and lobbyist in Wisconsin. Now as the Moore Fellowship recipient, he hopes his dissertation will ultimately result in social change.

“Honestly, I am deeply humbled and very grateful for the recognition the Hogg Foundation has given to this project through the fellowship award,” Glisch-Sánchez said. “It is proof that there are people and groups who are willing and able to listen. It is my sincere hope that this project results in something more than a mere dissertation, but hopefully in concrete, tangible social transformation.”