Texas Tech University Research
Sothy Eng
Human Development and Family Studies
Sothy Eng is a PhD student majoring in Human Development and Family Studies. Sothy is an international student from Cambodia and the only Cambodian student at TTU. He graduated with bachelor's degree in Psychology from the Royal University of Phnom Penh in 2002. In 2003, he came to Texas Tech University for his Master's degree in HDFS. He went on to study for a PhD degree in 2005 after he finished up his Master's degree. His research focuses on cross-cultural issues dealing with the traumatic experiences of Cambodian people suffering from the late 1970s' genocidal regime and how these far-reaching effects are related to academic achievement among adolescent children of the survivors. The genocidal war resulted in 2 million Cambodians, mostly educated ones, executed. Many of the rest were brutally tortured or lived in hunger while being forced to do sunrise-to-sunset labor. Research has shown that 28% of Cambodians met Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder diagnostic criteria compared to 8% of that of general US population. |
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 Sothy's favorite Lubbock picture |
In October 2006, his research with his advisor, Dr. Miriam Mulsow, was reported as a featured article in TTU's research communication website. Last year, 2005, his Master's research won the 1st place award from Texas Tech's Annual Graduate Student Poster Competition in the multidisciplinary category. In 2006, this paper was accepted to present at a national conference, National Council on Family Relations. Moreover, this paper is being reviewed for publication in the Journal of Community Psychology. Furthermore, Sothy is also a part time graduate instructor teaching "HDFS 3350: Development in Cross Cultural Perspectives." |
His cross cultural background earned him a reputation at TTU. In April 2005, he was elected to be the chairperson of a large event involved with families both in TTU and also in the Lubbock community. The event was called, "Family Fun Night: A Multicultural Feast," which was initiated to celebrate the United Nations' International Year of the Family. In May 2004, he was invited to give a talk about education in Cambodia to a group of professors who got a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship to Indochina here at Texas Tech University. In addition to the above accomplishments, in December, 2005, as a Masters student, he was recognized as the 2005 Outstanding Graduate Student from the College of Human Sciences. |
 Sothy's campus photo appears on the current Texas Tech catalog |
Sothy has received numerous awards and scholarships since he joined TTU. Some of his awards include the Helen DeVitt Jones Graduate Fellowship, Mary Staudt Goodyear Memorial Scholarship, Cross-Cultural Academic Advancement Center, and James Douglas and Mary Hazlewood Memorial Fellowship. | |
Besides his successful academic arena, in March 2007, two of his photographs from Cambodia showing typical daily life of Cambodian people, won the first place and second place award from TTU's International Cultural Center during the photograph exhibition of "my hometown" and "study abroad adventure". His campus photographs also have become recognizable to TTU. One of his photographs is appeared on the cover page of the TTU's 2007-2008 undergraduate and graduate students catalog and the other two appeared in the TTU Law School's 2007-2008 catalog. His other numerous photographs have been used widely on the university publications. | |