Skip to Main Content

New Member Highlight

Sara M. Acevedo, Ph.D.

Sara M. Acevedo, Ph.D. is a new Assistant Professor of Disability Studies in the Department of Educational Psychology. She earned her Ph.D. in Anthropology and Social Change from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2018 and an M.L.A with a concentration in Disability Studies from Temple University in 2012. In 2008, she earned her B.A. in French Linguistics from La Universidad de Salamanca in Spain. The primary focus of her research program is on how the development of grassroots disability identity formations can, and indeed does generate, transformative social change. She is interested in further identifying ways in which identity formation processes manifest at the productive intersection of spatiality, self-governance, and transgressive discourse. This research program is informed critical disability studies scholarship, by social movement literature, feminist philosophy and world feminisms, human geography and the geographies of disability, activist anthropology, disability studies in anthropology, critical sociology, and postmodern theory.

Allison Farrell, Ph.D.

Allison Farrell, Ph.D. is a new Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology. She completed her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota and her undergraduate degree from Haverford College. Her research interests uses a biopsychosocial approach to understand how close relationships, particularly parent-child and romantic relationships, affect stress and physical health (e.g., the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and inflammatory processes).  She has a number of peer-reviewed articles, with her most recent publication being “Towards a mechanistic understanding of links between close relationships and health” in Current Directions in Psychological Science.

 

Jeffrey Hunger, Ph.D.

Jeffrey Hunger, Ph.D is a new Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology. He earned his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbra in 2017, and his M.A. in Psychological Research from California State University, Fullerton in 2011, as well as his B.A. in Psychology from the University of Minnesota in 2009. His research is rooted in both the social psychology of stigma and an understanding of the psychobiological pathways linking social stress and health. He has bridged these areas of expertise to create a program of theoretical and empirical work dedicated to understanding and ultimately improving the health of stigmatized populations. His most recent peer-reviewed publication is titled “"An Evidence-Based Rationale for Adopting Weight-Inclusive Health Policy” in  Social Issues and Policy Review.

 

Racheal Rothrock, Ph.D.

Racheal Rothrock, Ph.D. joined Miami as a Heanon Wilkins Fellow in August 2018 and will begin her Assistant Professor appointment in the Department of Teaching, Curriculum, and Educational Inquiry starting in August 2020. She earned her Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin in 2017 and 2010 respectively and her B.A. from St. Edward’s University in 2007. Her dissertation, "Making meaning of community: a multi-case study of three urban, middle-school teachers" stemmed from a long trajectory, beginning with early opportunities to engage in scholarly activities with established research communities and researchers around critical theory and culturally relevant pedagogy. She continues to do work around community and critical pedagogies and her most recent project considers how equity-oriented school leaders influence teacher's professional practices. Her most recent publication is titled “Constructing a High-Stakes Community in the Classroom: A Case Study of One Urban, Middle-School Teacher” in The Educational Forum.

Sujay Sabnis, Ph.D.

Sujay Sabnis, Ph.D. is a new Assistant Professor of the School Psychology Program in the Department of Education. He earned his Ph.D. in School Psychology from the University of South Florida in 2019, and his M.S. in Clinical Psychology from Loyola University Maryland in 2013. His research interests include critical race theory, critical qualitative methodologies, consultation, and policy analysis in K-12 public education. His most recent publication is titled “RTI, equity, and the return to the status quo: Implications for consultants” in a special issue of Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation.

PRIMED for Action

Addressing the Causes and Consequences of Infant Mortality in Butler County

PRIMED for Action is a partnership in which Miami faculty [Cameron Hay-Rollins (Anthropology), Ann Elizabeth Armstrong (Theater), and Paul Flaspohler (Psychology)] are working with The Butler County Health Department to address the causes and consequences of infant mortality in Butler County. Ohio is one of the worst states for infant mortality and the worst state for Black, non-Hispanic infant mortality. Using Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and Digital Story Telling, Miami faculty are partnering with community members to build a context for trust and open dialogue to assure the voices of African American at-risk mothers are heard, allowing them to contribute actively in the design of the research and interventions that impact them. This fall, the PRIMED team has completed several meetings and workshops involving community members and health workers in order to develop digital stories that illustrate the perspectives, concerns, and experiences of the community members. With assistance from students in GHS 301, these stories have been developed with the intention of using them to inform development of strategies to address infant mortality.

Interview with Elizabeth Ann Armstrong, Ph.D.

An Inside Look into the PRIMED for Action Research Initiative

Tell me about your research.

I have a Ph.D. in theater but I’m focusing on applied theatre that uses artistic expression in interdisciplinary contexts. For the past 10 years, I have worked as the co-director of the “Finding Freedom Summer Project,”. I created a walking tour of Western College campus that explores the events that occurred on this site while activists trained for Freedom Summer in 1964. After creating the walking tour, I decided to create a location-based app that would create a similar experience to the walking tour. The app is similar to Pokémon Go in that depending on where the user is located, different interactive stories will appear. The app is called ARIS and available free to anyone, and can be found at fsapp.lib.miamioh.edu. Once in the app you select “nearby” and “Freedom Summer.”

How did you become interested in research in the area of infant mortality?

Infant mortality in the African American community in Butler County is among the highest in all of Ohio. There is a huge disconnect in social services, such as health education. Instead of providing an environment in which faculty from Miami University would come in and teach the members of the community, we wanted to create an environment where members of the community could teach each other. We thought artistic communication would be the perfect vehicle for this, and that is how I became involved. We are going to use Digital Storytelling to communicate the stories of those living in Butler County who may be part of an at-risk community or who have lost a baby. We have completed two of the three workshops where we are working with nine community members.

Can you tell me about the workshops?

There will be three workshops in total, and we have completed two of the three. For the first workshop, our goal was to build trust and introduce the participants to the project’s method. To build rapport, the members participated in a short Digital Storytelling Project in which the participants were instructed to photograph themselves using any part of their bodies except their face. The goal of this activity was for the members to be creative in order to express their stories. After making the pictures, the members would create a caption explaining their picture. The second workshop involved the members participating in a “Story Circle”. For this activity, each member was given four minutes to tell his or her story. Stories included personal memories of oppression, parents, etc. After this activity, the members began to brainstorm scripts for the Digital Storytelling Project for the community. In the third workshop, the stories will be created with the goal of the participants eventually replicating these workshops with other members of the community.

What work are you most proud of?

I was very proud of sustaining the walking tour for 10 years, but I am also very proud of this work. I think these projects are a culmination of speaking at structural racism, and this work with infant mortality facilitates the artistic communication of leaders in the community allowing them to reach out to others in that same community.

Did You Know?

Fun Facts about CHDLT Faculty Members

  1. Who started and how many members did it have and what department?
  2. Tricia Callahan, Miami’s Director of grant Proposal Development in OARS is a Miami graduate who majored in Psychology. ~Dr. Christopher Wolfe
  3. I'm currently the principal investigator of a K23 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse titled "Text Message Support to Prevent Smoking Relapse in Community Treatment Settings." Did you know that our Research Compliance Office has worked with us and is now set up to enable investigators to register clinical trials at clinicaltrials.gov? ~Dr. Joshua Magee
  4. One of the newest honorary CHDLT member is April Smith’s four-month-old son named Torsten Thomas.
  5. I have just gone through the process of putting the entire Prekindergarten Associate degree online (beginning this semester). ~Dr. Tracey Hoffman

Recent Publications of Current CHDLT Faculty Associates

  • Aronson, B. & Laughter, J. (2018). The Theory and Practice of Culturally Relevant Education: Expanding the Conversation to include Gender and Sexuality Equity. Gender and Education. DOI: 10.1080/09540253.2018.1496231
  • Bergen, D. (2018). Perspective: Potential effects of young children’s virtual experiences on their brain development and other areas of development. Early Childhood Psychology and Psychiatry
  • Bergen, D. & Modir Rousta, M. (2018). Developing creativity and humor: The role of the playful mind. In Luria, S., Baer, J., & Kaufman, J. (Eds.). Creativity and humor. Academic Press.
  • Bergen, D., Schroer, J., & Woodin, M. (2018) Brain research in education and the social sciences: Implications for research, parenting, and future society. New York: Routledge.
  • Bonham V., Umeh N., Cunningham B., Abdallah K., Sellers, S. L., and Cooper L. 2017. Primary care physicians’ collection, comfort, and use of race and ethnicity in clinical practice in the United States. Health Equity. 1(1): 118–126.
  • Bryan, N. (2018). ‘Playing with or like the girls’: Advancing the performance of multiple masculinities in Black boys’ play in early childhood classrooms. Gender and Education, DOI: 10.1080/09540253.2018.1447091.
  • Bryan, N. (2018). Shaking the 'bad boys': Troubling the criminalization of Black boys' childhood play, hegemonic White masculinity and femininity, and the 'school playground-to-prison pipeline' Race, Ethnicity, and Education, DOI: 10.1080/13613324.2018.1512483.
  • Bryan, N. & Jett, C. (2018).“Playing School”: Creating possibilities to inspire future Black male teachers through culturally relevant play. Journal of Multicultural Education, Vol. 12(2), 99-110.
  • Budd, K. M., Van Gundy, A., Ward, R. M., & Muschert, G. W. (2019). Sexual assault campus climate surveys: Insights from the first wave. Dignity: A Journal on Sexual Exploitation and Violence. https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/dignity/vol4/iss1/10/ 
  • Ellison, S., Anderson, A., & Aronson, B., & Clauson, C. (2018). From Objects to Subjects: Repositioning Teachers as Policy Actors Doing Policy Work. Teaching and Teacher Education, 74, 157-169.
  • Emery, P., Yezierski, E. J., & Page, R. C. (2019). Guided inquiry activity linking thermodynamic parameters of protein unfolding to structure using differential scanning fluorimetry data in the biophysical chemistry classroom. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education. 47(1), 67-75doi.org/10.1002/bmb.21198
  • Emerson, Megan, Hudgens, Michelle, Barners, Allison, Hiller, Elizabeth, Robison, Debora, Kipp, Roger, Bradshaw, Ursula, Siegel, Robert.  (2017) Small Prizes Increased Plain Milk and Vegetable Selection by Elementary School Children without Adversely Affecting Total Milk Purchase. Beverages, March 2017 DOI:10.3390/beverages3010014
  • Flocke, S.A., Ohri-Vachispati, P., Shon, E.J., Trapl, E.S., Borawski, E., Matlack, K., & Freedman, D.A. (2017). Developing multidimensional measures of healthy food access among low-income adults in Cleveland Ohio. Public Health Nutrition, 20 (16), 2859-2868.
  • Forney, J., Schwendler, T., & Ward, R. M. (2019). Accounting for negative affect and perfectionism in peer influences on disordered eating behaviors: A social network analysis. Appetite, 137, 236-243.
  • Freedman, D.A., Hunt, A.R., Merritt, K., Shon, E.J., & Pike, S.N. (2017). Dissemination of technology to evaluate healthy food incentive programs. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 52 (3), S309–S314.
  • Goldberg, A. E., & Kuvalanka, K. A. (2018). Navigating identity development and community belonging when “there are only two boxes to check:” An exploratory study of nonbinary trans college students. Journal of LGBT Youth, 15, 106-131.
  • Goldberg, A. E., Kuvalanka, K. A., Budge, S., Smith, J., & Benz, M. (in press). Mental health and health care experiences of transgender undergraduate and graduate students: A mixed methods study. The Counseling Psychologist.
  • Herrington, D. G., Sweeder, R. D., Daubenmire, P. L., Bauer, C. F., Bretz, S. L., Bunce, D. M., Carmel, J H., Cole, R., DeKorver, B. K., Kelly, R. M., Lewis, S. E., Oliver-Hoyo, M., Ryan, S. A., Stains, M., Towns., M. H., & Yezierski, E. J. (2019). Supporting the Growth and Impact of the Chemistry-Education-Research Community. Journal of Chemical Education, ASAP. 10.1021/acs.jchemed.8b00823
  • Hoffman, T. K., & Lance, J. (2018). Developing and implementing a prekindergarten associate degree program online to meet the needs of non-traditional students. Association for University Regional Campuses in Ohio (AURCO) Journal, 22, 129-143.
  • James, A. & Ward, R.M. (2019). Temporal relation between youths’ perceived spirituality and indicators of positive development. Journal of Research on Adolescence.
  • Kalomiris, A. E., Phelps, R. A., & Kiel, E. J. (in press). The relation between specific parenting behaviors and toddlers’ early anxious behaviors is moderated by toddler cortisol reactivity. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.
  • Kazimierczuk, F., Geller, K., Sellers, S. L., Baszile, D., and Smith-Shockley, M. 2018. African American Women and Obesity through the Prism of Race. Health Education & Behavior. 45(3): 371-380.
  • Kiel, E. J., Price, N. N., & Premo, J. E. (in press). Maternal comforting behavior, toddlers’ dysregulated fear, and toddlers’ emotion regulatory behaviors. Emotion.
  • Kim, J., Misco, T., Kusahara, K., Kuwabara, T., & Ogawa, M. (2018). A framework for controversial issue gatekeeping within social studies education: The case of Japan. The Journal of Social Studies Education in Asia, 7, 65-76.
  • Kilpatrick, K., Maras, M., Brann, K., & Kilgus, K. (in press). Universal screening for social, emotional, and behavioral risk in students: Risk stability over time and its implications for screening procedures. School Psychology Review.
  • Kuvalanka, K. A., Mahan, D. J., McGuire, J. K., & Hoffman, T. K. (2018). Perspectives of mothers of transgender and gender-nonconforming children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Homosexuality, 65(9), 1167-1189.
  • Kuvalanka, K. A., Gardner, M., & Munroe, C. (2019). All in the family: How extended family relationships are influenced by children’s gender nonconformity and transgender identities. In G. A. Gottlieb, & A. Lev (Eds.), Families in transition: Parent perspectives on raising the Gender Nonconforming or Trans Child. Harrington Park Press.
  • Lim, J.W., & Shon, E.J. (2018). The dyadic effects of family cohesion and communication on health related quality of life: The moderating role of sex. Cancer Nursing, 41(2), 156-165.
  • Misco, T. (2018). Morality. In I. Davies, L-C. Ho, D. Kiwan, C. Peck, A. Peterson, E. Sant, & Y. Waghid (Eds.). The Palgrave Handbook of Global Citizenship and Education. New York, NY: Palgrave.
  • Noltemeyer, A., Palmer, K., James, A.G., & Wiechman, S. (2018). School-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS): A synthesis of existing research. International Journal of School & Educational Psychology, doi: 10.1080/21683603.2018.1425169
  • Olszewski, A., Haring, C., Soto, X., Peters, L., & Goldstein, H. (2018). How do we design and implement Tier 2 instructional support in early literacy and language? In J. Carta & R. Miller-Young (Eds.), Multi-tiered systems of support for young children: Driving change in early education. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.
  • Parsons, E. M.  Dreyer-Oren, S. E., Magee, J. C., & Clerkin, E. M. (in press). Evaluating the indirect effects of trait mindfulness facets on state tripartite components through state rumination and state experiential avoidance. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease.
  • Pratt, J. M., & Yezierski, E. J. (2018). Characterizing the landscape: Collegiate organizations’ chemistry outreach practices. Journal of Chemical Education, 95(1), 7-16. ACS Editors' Choice
  • Pratt, J. M., & Yezierski, E. J. (2018). College students teaching chemistry through outreach: Conceptual Understanding of the elephant toothpaste reaction and making liquid nitrogen ice cream. Journal of Chemical Education, 95(12), 2091–2102. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.8b00688
  • Pratt, J. M., Birk, J. P., Tierney, D. L., & Yezierski, E. J. (2017). Combining novel visualizations and synthesis to explore structure–property relationships using cobalt complexes. Journal of Chemical Education, 94(12), 1952-1959.
  • Pratt, J. M., & Yezierski, E. J. (2019). Goodwill without guidance: College student outreach practitioner training. Journal of Chemical Education, 96(3), 414-422. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.8b00882
  • Pratt, J. M., & Yezierski, E. J. (2019). “You lose some accuracy when you’re dumbing it down”: Teaching and learning ideas of college students teaching chemistry through outreach. Journal of Chemical Education, 96(2), 203-212. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.8b00828
  • Raval, V. V., Ward, R. M., Raval, P. H., & Trivedi, S. S. (2018). Parenting influences on adolescent academic and socio-emotional functioning in urban India: The role of emotion regulation and school engagement. International Journal of Psychology, 53(6), 439-448. DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12413
  • Reiger, C. J., Gibson, J. E., Passarelli, R. E., & Flaspohler, P. D. (2017). Identifying elementary school student opinion leaders for engagement in evidence-based program adaptation and implementation. School Psychology International, 32(2), 565-585. doi:10.1177/0143034317710692
  • Roberts, A., de Schutter, B., Franks, K., & Radina, M. E. (2018). Older adults’ experiences with virtual reality: Anticipated usefulness and the importance of preferences. Clinical Gerontologist. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07317115.2018.1442380
  • Rohten, B., Sellers, J., Charron, E., Paul, N., & Radina, M. (accepted). Sexual activity after treatment for head and neck cancer: the lived experience of survivors. Cancer Nursing Practice.
  • Sarfan, L. D., Clerkin, E. M., Teachman, B. B., & Smith, A. R. Do thoughts about dieting matter? Testing the relationship between thoughts about dieting, body shape concerns, and state self-esteem. (in press). Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry.
  • Siegel, Robert M., MD, Lockhart, Mary Kate, Barnes, Allison, Hiller, Elizabeth RD, LD, Kipp, Roger, Robison, Debora, Ellsworth, Samantha, MPH, Hudgens, Michelle. (2015) Small Prizes Increased Healthful School Lunch Selection in a Midwestern School District. Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism 41 (4) DOI:10.1139/apnm-2015-0535
  • Seigel, Robert M., MD, Strasser, Kathleen, BSN, MS, Faust, Michelle, MS, Hudgens, Michelle, MBA, Robison, Debora, MA, Urbina, Elaine M,. MD, MS (2019) A Pilot Study of School-Based Comprehensive Cardiovascular Screening in Middle School Children. Journal of Pediatrics, March, 2019 DOI:10.1016/j.jpeds.2019.01.034
  • Smith, A. R., Velkoff, E. A., Ribeiro, J. D., & Franklin, J. (in press). Are eating disorders and related symptoms risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors? A meta-analysis. Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior.
  • Smith, A. R., Zuromski, K., & *Dodd, D. R. (2018). Eating disorders and suicidality: What we know, what we don’t know, and suggestions for future research. Current Opinion in Psychology, 22, 63-67.
  • Smith-Millman, M., & Flaspohler, P. D. (2018). School-Based Suicide Prevention Laws in Action: A Nationwide Investigation of Principals’ Knowledge of and Adherence to State School-Based Suicide Prevention Laws. School Mental Health. Advance online publication.
  • Ubbes, V.A., Coyle, J., & Tzoc, E. (2018). Evaluation of an oral health curriculum: Design feedback from three audiences. The International Journal of Health, Wellness, and Society, 8(4), 1-10. http://doi.org/10.18848/2156-8960/CGP/v08i04/1-10
  • Ubbes, V.A., Dillhoff, R., & Maldonado, W. (2018). Reading and writing attitudes of children: Conceptual implications for health education and health literacy. Journal of Health Education Teaching, 9(1), 49-67.  http://jhetonline.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/Reading_and_Writing_Attitudes_of_ChildrenValerie_Ubbes.25281813.pdf
  • Vrinda Kalia, Robin Thomas, Kira Osowski and Tony Drew (2018) Staying alert? Examining the neural correlates of the association between grit and attention networks. Frontiers in Psychology – Cognition, 9
  • Wagers, K. B., & Kiel, E. J. (in press). The influence of parenting and temperament on empathy development in toddlers. Journal of Family Psychology.
  • Wells, A., Shon, E.J., McGowan, K., & James, A. (2017). Perspectives of African American women with low-income on non-adherent to mammography screening: The importance of information, behavioral skills, and motivation. Journal of Cancer Education, 32, 328-334.
  • Wolfe, C. R., Cedillos-Whynott, E. M., Vanni, M. J. (2018). You Live in a Watershed! Informal environmental science education with a state park exhibit. Applied Environmental Education & Communication. DOI: 10.1080/1533015X.2018.1496863
  • Wolfe, C. R., Reyna, V. F., Widmer, C. L., Cedillos, E., Weil, A. M., & Brust-Renck, P. G. (2018). Pumps and prompts for gist explanations in tutorial dialogues about breast cancer. Discourse Processes, 55, 72-91. DOI: 10.1080/0163853X.2016.1199626
  • Wolfe, C. R., Widmer, C. L., Torrese, C. V., & Dandignac, M. (2018). A Method for Automatically Analyzing Intelligent Tutoring System Dialogues with Coh-Metrix. Journal of Learning Analytics, 5, 222-234. DOI 10.18608/jla.2018.53.14
  • Wright, B., Bryan, N., Sewell, C., Yates, L., Barrett, C., Thomas, K., & Robinson, M. (in press). Gumbo for the Soul: Males of color share their stories, meditations, affirmations, and inspirations. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
  • Wynter-Hoyte, K., Mueller, M., Bryan, N., Boutte, G.S. & Long, S. (2018). Dismantling eurocratic practices in teacher education: A preservice program focused on culturally relevant, humanizing, and decolonizing pedagogies. In T. Hodges and A. Baum (Eds.) Handbook of Research on Field-based Experiences.Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
  • Zullig, K. J., Ward, R. M., Huebner, E. S., & Daily, S. M. (2018). Association between school climate and perceived quality of life (PQOL). Child Indicators Research, 11(6), 1737-1753.