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Editor:
Tonya Allen
allen@pop.psu.edu
PRInformation
Spring 2008
Faculty Focus
New Research Associate
Dr. Katerina Bodovski (PhD, Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University, 2007), assistant professor of educational theory and policy. Research interests: sociology of education; stratification and inequality; immigration; sociology of children.
New Research Affiliates
Dr. Rhonda BeLue (PhD, Policy Analysis and Management, Cornell University, 2001), assistant professor of health policy and administration. Research interests: health disparities in families and children; evaluation methodology; medical decision making.
Dr. Hobart H. Cleveland III (PhD, Family Studies and Human Development, University of Arizona, 1998), associate professor of human development and family studies. Research interests: gene environment interactions and correlations; violence and delinquency; substance use and addictions.
Dr. Derek Kreager (PhD, Sociology, University of Washington, 2006), assistant professor of sociology and crime, law and justice. Research interests: criminology; deviance; life-course; social networks; rational choice.
Dr. Evelyn Joy Patterson (PhD, Demography and Criminology, University of Pennsylvania, 2007), research associate, sociology and crime, law, and justice.
Dr. Nilam Ram (PhD, Psychology, University of Virginia, 2006), assistant professor, human development and family studies. Research interests: age differences in short-term dynamics at the cognitive/affective/temperament interface; cyclic patterns in the day-to-day progression of emotions; change in cognition and well-being over the lifespan, particularly in the oldest old.
Dr. Rachel Smith (PhD, Communication, Michigan State University, 2003), assistant professor of communication arts and sciences. Research interests: the impact of social phenomena (e.g., social networks, social support, social cognition, and stigma) on health message diffusion and behavioral adoption in both domestic and international contexts.
Promotions
Dr. Jill Findeis, to Distinguished Professor of Agricultural, Environmental and Regional Economics and Demography
Dr. Carol S. Weisman, to Distinguished Professor of Public Health Sciences and Obstetrics and Gynecology
Awards and Recognition
Dr. Paul R. Amato, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Demography, was appointed to the editorial board of Journal of Family Theory and Review.
Dr. Francis Dodoo, College of Liberal Arts Research Professor and professor of sociology and demography, was appointed member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for INDEPTH, the International Network of DSS Sites Involved in Demographic and Health Research in Developing Countries; and received the 2007 Board of Directors Award, National Council of Ghanaian Associations, Inc.
Dr. Constance Flanagan, professor of agricultural and extension education, was named to the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Expert Panel on Student Civic Engagement.
Dr. Michelle Frisco, assistant professor of sociology and demography, has been named one of the first four Penn State BIRCWH Scholars (Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health). The goal of the BIRCWH program is to increase the number and skills of investigators in women's health through a mentored research and career development experience.
Dr. Emily Greenman, assistant professor of sociology, received a 2007 Distinguished Dissertation award from Rackham Graduate School at the University of Michigan for her dissertation "Intersecting Inequalities: Four Essays on Race, Immigration, and Gender in the Contemporary United States."
Dr. Rukmalie Jayakody, associate professor of human development and family studies and demography, has been named Associate Director of the Population Research Institute.
Dr. Eric Plutzer, professor of political science and sociology, has been named to the editorial board of Politics and Gender; he recently completed a term as Associate Editor of the journal.
Dr. Suet-ling Pong, professor of education, sociology and demography, received a Spirit of Internationalization Award from the Office of International Programs, Penn State.
Dr. David Post, professor of education, is New Century Scholar for 2007-2008. This award brings together thirty outstanding scholars from around the world to debate and engage in research on a multidisciplinary topic. Dr. Post's topic is "Higher Education in the 21st Century: Access and Equity."
Dr. Kai A. Schafft, assistant professor of education, has been named editor of the Journal of Research in Rural Education.
Dr. Jeremy Staff, assistant professor of sociology and criminology, received the Mentored Research Scientist Development Award in Population Research from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Dr. Elizabeth J. Susman, Jean Phillips Shibley Professor of Biobehavioral Health, received the John P. Hill Memorial Award at the Society for Research on Adolescence at its recent biennial meetings in Chicago. The Hill award recognizes an individual whose overall program of work has had a significant impact on the understanding of development and behavior during the second decade of the life-span.
Invited Speakers
Dr. Paul R. Amato, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Demography, presented "The Changing Family Backgrounds of College Students," Division of Undergraduate Studies, Penn State, October 2007; "Children and Divorce: Current Issues," National Council on Family Relations, Pittsburgh, November 2007; and "Precursors of Family Formation Trajectories among Young Adult Women," Department of Child and Family Sciences, Florida State University, March 2007.
Dr. Francis Dodoo, College of Liberal Arts Research Professor and professor of sociology and demography, gave an invited presentation on "Re-thinking Gender and Power in African Families: Conceptual Basis and Preliminary Evidence" at the Experts Meeting on Family Structures and Globalization in Africa, Barcelona, Spain, March 6-8, 2008; an invited presentation on "Interrogating the Implications of Marriage and Gendered Power for Fertility and Sexual Behavior," Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, February 22, 2008; and was Invited Proponent, IUSSP-Organized Keynote Debate on "Population Growth in Africa," Fifth African Population Conference, Arusha, Tanzania, December 14, 2007.
Dr. George Farkas, professor of sociology, demography, and education, presented "The Role of Tutoring in Standards-Based Reform" as invited speaker (with Rachel Durham), The Brookings Institution, October 22, 2007.
Dr. Glenn Firebaugh, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Demography and College of the Liberal Arts Research Professor, presented "Residential Segregation in the United States: New Methods and Findings," UCLA, February 2008.
Dr. Constance Flanagan, professor of agricultural and extension education, presented "Why Community Investment in the Next Generation Matters - For Youth and for Democracy," keynote address for the Marion County Children's Alliance annual meeting, Ocala, Florida, November 2007; "Developmental Foundations of Social Trust: How Civic Dispositions Are Formed," invited meeting on political socialization, Örebro University, Sweden, November 2007; and "Social Trust in Adolescence and Young Adulthood: Evidence from Two Longitudinal Studies," Developmental Colloquium, NYU, October 2007.
Dr. Brian J. Grim, research affiliate, presented "Global Religious Demographics and Dynamics," One World Forum, University of Warwick, UK, January 26, 2008; "The Social and Political Impact of Religious Freedom Worldwide," The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, Georgetown University, February 25, 2008; "Restricted Religious Freedom and Religion-Related Violence," National Defense Intelligence College, US Defense Intelligence Agency, Washington, DC, March 6, 2008; and (with Todd M. Johnson) "The Methodology of the International Religious Demography Database," to a colloquium of senior faculty at the Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs (CURA), Boston University, March 28, 2008.
Dr. Stephen Matthews, associate professor of sociology, anthropology and demography and director of the GIA Core, was an invited participant at an NCI-sponsored conference on Measures of the Food and Built Environments, Bethesda, November 1-2, 2007, summarizing the deliberations of the GIS Group in a presentation titled "GIS-Related Priorities for Enhancing Research Relevant to Policy on Diet, Physical Activity, and Weight;" and presented "Measuring Neighborhoods: Challenges and Opportunities for Social Science Researchers," Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology (CSDE), University of Washington, October 26, 2007.
Dr. Kevin J. A. Thomas, assistant professor of African and African American Studies, was invited to present "Consequences of Urban Resettlement among Populations Displaced by Conflicts in Africa: Evidence from Sierra Leone" at the Annual Meeting for the Society for Applied Anthropology, Memphis, spring 2008; and "Who Brings in More Skills? The Human Capital Characteristics of Returning Migrants and Immigrants in Eastern and Southern Africa" and (with K. Hill) "What Can Census Data Tell Us about Adult Mortality in Lesotho and Botswana?" at the Fifth African Population Conference, Arusha, Tanzania, December 10-14, 2007.
Dr. Jennifer Van Hook, associate professor of sociology, presented "Unauthorized Immigrants: Their Current and Future Roles in U.S. Society" and "Sink or Swim: How U.S. Policies Fail to Support Immigrant Integration" at the Critical Issues Symposium, Hope College, Holland, MI, Oct. 2-3, 2007.
Leaves of Absence
Dr. Duane F. Alwin, McCourtney Professor of Sociology and Demography, to develop an integrative science of cognitive development with a model of how levels of cognitive function emerge over the entire life span, from childhood through adolescence and young adulthood, through to midlife and ultimately into old age.
Dr. Jill L. Findeis, Distinguished Professor of Agricultural, Environmental, and Regional Economics and Demography, to extend skills in human population dynamics and land use change with related modeling.
Dr. Constance A. Flanagan, professor of agricultural and extension education, to complete a book on the developmental foundations of young people's political theories.
Dr. Peter Kemper, professor of health policy and administration and demography, to extend research on management changes designed to improve the jobs of the caregivers in long-term care.
Dr. Nancy S. Landale, professor of sociology and demography and director, Population Research Institute, to begin a new research project on complexities in the study of immigrant assimilation that are related to ethnic de-identification among the descendants of immigrants.
Dr. Barrett A. Lee, professor of sociology and demography, to work on four papers that challenge theoretical, conceptual and methodological neighborhood demographic change in the metropolitan United States.
Dr. Elias Mpofu, professor of education, to research the value of community and independent living for people with disabilities and to further refine an existing relationship between Penn State scholars and the University of Botswana.
Dr. Ralph S. Oropesa, professor of sociology and demography, to begin a new research project on complexities in the study of immigrant assimilation that are related to ethnic de-identification among the descendants of immigrants.
Dr. Eric Plutzer, professor of political science and sociology, to write a book on the teaching of evolution and creationism in America's public schools.
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