Dylan Bellisle

Dylan Bellisle joined Dominican University as an Assistant Professor of Social Work in August 2023. Prior to Dominican, he served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Project for Middle Class Renewal at the School of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on how public policy shapes family economic well-being and the financial coping and social mobility strategies of low-income families. In his research, Dylan often challenges the normative definitions of family that are embedded within public policies particularly anti-poverty tax policies like the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit. His work highlights the misalignment between EITC and CTC eligibility and family life may be especially complicated for families of color due to socio-political and economic forces that shape family structure and formation, and the ways in which families establish and maintain forms of social support expressed through mutual care. Dylan is committed to a research agenda that advances public policies and administrative practices that reduce economic and racial inequality, respond to the social, economic, cultural, and familial needs of marginalized communities, and enable all families to thrive.

As a social work educator, Dylan promotes an atmosphere of progressive development where students are encouraged to grow in their knowledge, practice, and self-confidence as social workers. Social work has an explicit commitment to social justice; therefore, I challenge students to develop the knowledge and critical thinking skills necessary for advocating for social change grounded in human rights across areas of social policy, practice, and administration. Ultimately, I seek to prepare students for life-long learning so that they can develop the skills and ability necessary to discern what it means to practice ethical and responsible social work across multiple domains, recognize how narratives and structures of dominance marginalize various communities, and how they can collaborate with families and communities to create healing and thriving environments.