PhD Jobs Brochure 2018-19 by University of Michigan School of Social Work

2018â&#x20AC;&#x2018;2019 GRADUATES OF THE Joint PhD Program in Social Work and Social Science

Dear Colleagues, I am delighted to share information about our 2018-2019 graduates of the Joint PhD Program in Social Work and Social Science at the University of Michigan. We are excited to introduce you to our graduates. We believe they will be the change agents ushering in the next wave of innovation in social work research, practice and policy. As you know, the Joint PhD Program in Social Work and Social Science prepares our doctoral students for teaching and research careers through the advancement of knowledge about social problems, social change, social interventions, and social welfare. Our curriculum integrates comprehensive graduate training in a specific social science discipline with advanced studies and research in various areas of social work. Therefore, we have a broad range of research areas and disciplinary specializations in which our students choose to receive expert training and experience. This year, we have a promising group of joint program graduates who are eager to reach out, raise hope, and change society. Their training and commitment to social work and social welfare will be of particular interest to your institution. As you review their curriculum vitae, research statements, and teaching statements, you will find that our graduates have published in both social work and social science journals, have presented at our national conferences such as the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR), and have even secured funding or show promise for doing so in the near future. Please contact the Joint PhD Program Coordinator, Todd Huynh at (734) 763-5768 or via email (ssw.phd.info@umich.edu), if you would like more information about any of the doctoral candidates listed here or if we can help facilitate a meeting with them.

GO BLUE! William Elliott III, PhD Professor and Director, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Social Science University of Michigan

2018 - 2019 Joint PhD Program Graduates Nkemka Anyiwo Joint PhD in Social Work and Psychology

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Huiyun Kim Joint PhD in Social Work and Sociology

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Patrick Meehan Joint PhD in Social Work and Political Science

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Paige Safyer Joint PhD in Social Work and Psychology

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Nkemka Anyiwo PhD Candidate in Social Work and Psychology

Nkemka Anyiwo

1080 S. University Ave., Room B654, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Phone: 301-233-9019  E-Mail: nanyiwo@umich.edu Education University of Michigan, Ann Arbor May 2019 (Anticipated)

Ph.D. in Social Work and Developmental Psychology Dissertation Title: “We gon' be alright”: Racism, Media, and the Sociopolitical Development of Black Youth

Co-Chairs: Daphne C. Watkins, Ph.D. and Stephanie J. Rowley Ph.D. 2016

Master of Social Work (MSW)

Practice Method: Interpersonal Practice Practice Concentration: Children, Youth, and Family University of Maryland, College Park 2012

Bachelor of Arts in African American Studies (Cum Laude with High Honors) Thesis: Unveiling the Strong Black Woman: The Influence of Strength in Black Women’s Pursuit of Mental Health Services Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (Cum Laude)

Research Interests My research focuses on understanding the sociocultural factors that promote Black youth’s resiliency and empowerment. In particular, I examine how parents, communities, and media contribute to Black youth’s understanding of their social identities, psychological wellbeing, and community engagement.

Grants 2018

Bobbe and Jon Bridge Research Grant Award for Engaged Scholarship ($5,000)

2018

Rackham Travel Grant (Conference Travel, $800)

2017

Social Work Dean’s Conference Award (Conference Funding, $400)

2016

Rackham Travel Grant (Conference Travel, $800)

2015

Rackham Travel Grant (Conference Travel, $800)

2014

Arts of Citizenship, Graduate Student Grant in Public Scholarship (Principal InvestigatorOur Voices: A Youth Participatory-Action Research Program, $8,000)

2014

Rackham Travel Grant (Conference Travel, $800)

Nkemka Anyiwo

Fellowships 2018

Faculty Allies for Diversity (Manuscript Writing Fellowship, $2000)

2017

Vivian A. and James L. Curtis Endowed Scholarship ($15,000)

2017

Center for Engaged Academic Learning (Engaged Pedagogy Initiative Fellow, $500)

2016

Faculty Allies for Diversity (Manuscript Writing Fellowship, $2000)

2014

National Science Foundation (Graduate Research Fellowship, 3 years of stipend and tuition support) Ford Foundation (Predoctoral Fellowship, 3 years of stipend and tuition support)

2014 2013

Rackham Merit Fellowship (Predoctoral Fellowship, 3 years of stipend and tuition support)

Publications Anderson, R. E., Jones, S., Anyiwo, N., McKenny, M., & Gaylord-Harden, N. (2018). What’s Race Got to Do With It? Racial Socialization’s Contribution to Black Adolescent Coping. Journal

of Research on Adolescence. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/jora.12440 Anyiwo, N., Ward, L. M., Fletcher, K.D., Rowley, S. (2018). Television usage and African American adolescents’ endorsement of mainstream gender roles and the strong Black woman schema. Journal of Black Psychology. 44, 371-397. doi: 10.1177/0095798418771818 Anyiwo, N., Bañales, J., Rowley, S., Watkins, D.C., & Richards-Schuster, K. (2018). Sociocultural influences on the sociopolitical development of Black Youth. Child Developmental

Perspectives. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1111/cdep.12276 Goodwill, J.R., Anyiwo, N., Williams, E.G., Johnson, N.C., Mattis, J.S. & Watkins, D.C. (2018). Media representations of popular culture and the constructions of Black masculinities.

Psychology of Men & Masculinity. Advance online publication. doi: 10.1037/men0000164 Rucker, J. M., Neblett Jr, E. W., & Anyiwo, N. (2014). Racial identity, perpetrator race, racial composition of primary community, and mood responses to discrimination. Journal of

Black Psychology, 40, 539-562. doi: 10.1177/0095798413499371 Manuscripts under Review and Revision Bañales, J., Marchand, A.D., Skinner, O., Anyiwo, N., Rowley, & Kurtz-Costes (revise and resubmit). Black adolescents’ critical reflection development: Parents’ racial socialization and attributions about race achievement gaps. Bañales, J., Mathews, C., Hayat, Anyiwo, N. & Diemer, M (revise and resubmit). Political action pathways for Latinx and Black American young adults

Nkemka Anyiwo

Gale, A., Bruce, W., A., Anyiwo, N., & Thomas, A. (under review). Examining psychological functioning and GPA for Black middle-class youth: Do gender and adolescent perceptions of school climate matter? Anyiwo, N., D.C, Richards-Schuster, K., & Jerald, M. (under review). Using Media Literacy and Youth-Led Research to Promote the Sociopolitical Development of Black Youth: Strategies from “Our Voices” Manuscripts in Preparation Anyiwo, N., Johnson, N.C. & Watkins, D.C. (in preparation). The empowerment of Black Youth in social work: A reinterpretation of risk and resilience.  Richards-Schuster, K., Reed, L., Anyiwo, N., Gale, A., & Rodriguez-Newhall, A. (in preparation) Implementing youth participatory action research: Lessons learned from practice Marchand, A. D & Anyiwo, N. (in preparation). The impact of Peers, Parents, and Latino Youth’s Societal Beliefs on their Activism Technical Reports Uzell, R., Anyiwo, N., Palacios, M., Simon, C., Hart, R., & Casserly, M., (2013) Beating the odds: Analysis of student performance on state assessments. Results from the 2011-2012 school year Council of Great City Schools. Retrieve from: https://www.cgcs.org/cms/lib/DC00001581/Centricity/Domain/87/FINALBTO12%2012.p df Uzell, R., Simon, C., Palacios, M., Anyiwo, N., Guzman, A., Lewis, S., & Casserly, M (2012). Beating the odds XI Executive Summary. Analysis of student performance on state assessments. Results from the 2010-2011 school year. Council of Great City Schools. Retrieve from: https://www.cgcs.org/cms/lib/DC00001581/Centricity/Domain/87/BTO%20Executive%20 Summary%202012.pdf

Presentations Oral Presentations Anyiwo, N. (January 2018). Discussion about Race in a Media-Based After-School Program. Paper presented at the Society for Social Work Research. Washington, DC Anyiwo, N. (August 2016). Our Voices: An After-School Program to Promote the Sociopolitical Development of Black Youth. Paper presented at the Association of Black Psychologists International Convention. Crystal City, VA Anyiwo, N. (July 2016). Our Voices: An Exploration of Black youth’s Racial Identity and Civic Engagement. Paper presented at the APA Division 45 Research Conference. Stanford, CA Anyiwo N. & Ward, L.M. (June 2016). Television Usage and Adolescents’ Endorsement of Traditional Gender Roles and Strong Black Woman Schema. Paper presented at the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Minneapolis, MN

Nkemka Anyiwo

Richards-Schuster, K., Rodriguez-Newhall, A., Reed, L., Anyiwo, N., & Gale, A. (October 2015). Implementing Youth Participatory Action Research: Lessons Learned from Practice. Paper presented at the Council for Social Work Education Annual Meeting. Denver, CO Robinson, M.M., Banks, K., Moore, C., Williams, R., & Anyiwo, N. (July 2015). Warrior Healers Of Ferguson: Community Healing In The Midst Of Crisis. Paper presented at the Association of Black Psychologists International Convention. Las Vegas, NV Anyiwo, N. & Ward, L.M. (July 2015) Music Consumption, Ethnic Identity, and Black Youth's Racial Attitudes. Paper presented at the Association of Black Psychologists International Convention. Las Vegas, NV Anyiwo, N., Neblett, E.W., Jr. & Rucker, J. (April 2013). Racial Identity, Gender, and Responses to Racial Discrimination: An Intersectional Approach. Paper presented at the Society for Research on Child Development Conference. Seattle, WA Posters Presentations Gale, A. & Anyiwo, N. (June 2014). Schooling Black Boys: Do Perceptions of School Climate Impact Psychological and Academic Outcomes? Poster presented at the Black Graduate Student Conference in Psychology. Washington, DC. Anyiwo, N., Marchand, A. & Rowley, S. (March 2014). School Based Discrimination and School Misconduct: The Influence of Racial Socialization and Gender. Poster presented at the Society of Research on Adolescence. Austin, TX. Franco, M., Smith-Bynum, M., & Anyiwo, N. (June 2013). Mothers’ Racial Identity and their Endorsement of President Barack Obama. Poster presented at the Association of Black Psychologists International Convention. New Orleans, LA Rucker, J., Neblett, E.W., Jr., & Anyiwo, N. (April 2013). Racial Identity, Perpetrator Race, Racial Composition of Primary Community and Mood Responses to Discrimination. Poster presented the Society for Research on Child Development Conference. Seattle, WA Anyiwo, N., Ashton, S., Smith-Bynum, M., & English, D. (July 2011). The Role of Black Mother’s Racial Identity and Experience of Racism in Socialization. Poster presented at the Association of Black Psychologists International Convention. Crystal City, VA Presentations, Panels, & Workshops "What Now? A Critical Conversation about Community Healing, Black Youth Engagement, Sociopolitical Context, and Policy" Roundtable workshop facilitated with Mark Bolden, Ph.D. and Charlayne Hayling-Williams, Ph.D. at the Youth-Nex Conference on Social Justice, Civic and Political Engagement. Charlottesville, VA (October 2017) “#BestRevengeIsYourPaper Funding Yourself and Your Research in Graduate School”. Panelist for the Association of Black Psychologists International Convention, Crystal City, VA (August 2016).

Nkemka Anyiwo

“Unafraid to Matter: Empowerment and Skill Development for Persons of African Descent in the Academies”. Moderator for a Plenary Session for Association of Black Psychologists International Convention. Crystal City, VA (August 2016). “African American Communities as Sources of Healing in Youth and Family Trauma”. Panelist for the New Leaders in African-Centered Social Work Scholars Program. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (January 2016). Campus and Community Workshops “Applying to PhD Programs” Panelist for the Department of Psychology. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. (September 2018) “What We Hold on to: Understanding our Emotional Load” Workshop facilitated for YouthBuild. Ypsilanti, MI (July 2017) “Emotional Load and Community Engagement: What do we bring to our activism?” Workshop facilitated for the Youth Leadership Council for the Corner Health Center. Ypsilanti, MI (June 2017) “Grants in Public Scholarship Workshop”. Panelist for the Rackham Program in Public Scholarship. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (November 2016). “Coping and Masculinity” Workshop facilitated for Washtenaw County Youth Center. Ann Arbor, MI (March 2016) “Grants in Public Scholarship Workshop”. Panelist for the Rackham Program in Public Scholarship. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (November 2015). “Graduate Education and Change through Public Scholarship”. Panelist for the Rackham Program in Public Scholarship Institute for Social Change. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (August 2015). “Black Identity in the U.S”. Presentation for Black Student Union. University of Maryland, College Park, MD (November 2011). “The African American Family”. Presentation with Dr. Mark Bolden for the Black Student Union. University of Maryland, College Park, MD (March 2011). “My Black is Beautiful”. Panelist for the African American Studies Society. University of Maryland College Park, MD (March 2010).

Research Experience Winter 2016-

Graduate Student Researcher

Present

GendHR (Gender and Health Research) Lab School of Social Work, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Research Mentor: Daphne Watkins, Ph.D.

Nkemka Anyiwo

Fall 2013Present

Graduate Student Researcher

P.R.I.D.E (Parenting and Race in Development and Education) Lab Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Research Mentor: Stephanie Rowley, Ph.D.

Fall 2012-

Research Intern

Spring 2013

Council of Great City Schools Washington, DC Research Mentors: Ray Hart, Ph.D., Renata Lyson, M.S., Candice Simon Benn,

M.Ed., MDA & Moses Palacis, M.S.Ed. Fall 2012

Research Intern

National Resource Center on Domestic Violence Washington, DC Research Mentor: Kenya Fairley, M.S.Ed & Karen Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Brien, Ph.D. Fall 2010-

Research Assistant

Spring 2012

Black Families Research Group Department of Family Science, University of Maryland, College Park Research Mentor: Mia Smith Bynum, Ph.D.

Summer 2011-

Research Assistant

Fall 2012

Comprehensive Assessment and Intervention Program Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park Research Mentor: Andres De Los Reyes, Ph.D.

Summer 2012

Student Fellow

Moore Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Research Mentor: Enrique Neblett, Jr., Ph.D. August 2010December 2011

Research Assistant

Center for Health Disparities Solutions Prevention Science Research Center, Morgan State University Research Mentor: Mark Bolden, Ph.D.

Teaching Experiences Fall 2015Present

Grader for Intergroup Dialogues

The Program on Intergroup Relations, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor â&#x20AC;˘

Provide grades and intricate feedback on social justice-oriented papers for undergraduate students in intergroup dialogues courses on race, SES, white identity, and religion

Nkemka Anyiwo

Winter 2017 & Fall 2015

Summer 2010

Graduate Student Instructor for Introduction to Developmental Psychology

Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor •

Developed supplementary curriculum and syllabus

• •

Independently led weekly discussion sections with lessons Provided individualized instruction through office hours

•

Graded papers and in class assignments

Workshop Coordinator and Reading Instructor for Camp Shule

Nyumburu Cultural Center, University of Maryland •

Created curriculum and taught daily lessons to develop reading and

•

critical thinking skills for campers entering the 9th -11th grades Supervised camp counselors in their development and facilitation of weekly workshops (Drama, Music, Vocabulary, Stepping, and Etiquette)

•

Implemented and facilitated two new workshops, Debate- to improve public speaking and critical thinking, and Brother/Sister-to discuss topics such as self-esteem and educational goal

Summer 2009

Reading and Writing Instructor for Camp Shule

Nyumburu Cultural Center, University of Maryland •

Created curriculum and taught daily lessons to develop reading and

•

critical thinking skills for campers entering the 8th and 9th grade. Supervised camp scholars in daily workshops, classes, and recreational activities

Clinical Experiences September 2013May 2014

School Social Work Intern at Henry Ford Academy: School for Creative Studies

Detroit, Michigan

Spring 2010

•

Facilitated weekly psychosocial group interventions to students (611th grade) with IEP, cognitive delays, and behavioral issues

•

Conducted individual crisis intervention sessions with students

•

Helped advise the Mustang Ambassadors-civic engagement after school program

Help Center: Peer Counseling and Crisis Intervention Hotline

University of Maryland, College Park

•

Trained on methods to provide counseling to peers on the telephone and in walk in session

•

Conducted observations and provided feedback to peer counselors

Nkemka Anyiwo

Community Involvement Spring 2016

Creator and Coordinator of the Cultural P.R.I.D.E Workshop Series for Gear Up

Office of Academic Multicultural Initiatives, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor June 2014 and

Life Skills Coaching Facilitator for the Michigan Health Sciences Pre-College

June 2015

Exposure Academy

Office of Health Equity and Inclusion, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Spring 2012

Mentor for Saturday Freedom School,

Fall 2008 â&#x20AC;&#x201C;

Mentor for the Prison to College Pipeline,

Department of African American Studies, University of Maryland, College Park Fall 2010

Justice for DC Youth, Washington, DC

Service Fall 2017-

Doctoral Committee, School of Social Work,

Present

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Fall 2016-Spring

Graduate Student Leadership Council, Department of Psychology,

2017

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Fall 2015-

Committee Member Joint Program in Social Work and Social Science Buddy Program, University

Spring 2017

of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Fall 2013-

Peer Mentor Black Student Psychological Association, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Spring 2017

Member (Fall 2013-Present) Chairperson (Spring 2016- Spring 2017) Community Outreach Chair (Fall 2014- Spring 2016)

September 2011-

Association of Black Psychologists, Ft. Washington, Maryland

August 2017

National Student Circle Past Chairperson (July 2015- August 2017) National Student Circle Chairperson (July 2014- July 2015) National Student Circle Chair-Elect (July 2013- July 2014) Eastern Regional Undergraduate Representative (September 2011- July 2013)

January 2016-

Grant Selection Committee for the Arts of Citizenship Grant in Public

February 2016

Scholarship, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

October 2015-

Search Committee for a Joint Position in Psychology and African American

January 2016

Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

September 2013May 2014

Michigan Association of Psychology Scholarsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, University of Michigan, Ann

Arbor Mentor

Nkemka Anyiwo

Fall 2011Spring 2012

Search Committee for the Chair of African American Studies, University of

Maryland, College Park Student Representative

Selected Honors and Awards 2016

AGEP Scholar-Activist Award: presented to students who are engaged in social justice work (also awarded in 2015)

2013

Society for Research on Child Development Millennium Scholar: nationally selected to participate in a mentoring program dedicated to training the generation of child development researchers

2012

University of Maryland Medallion Society: awarded to the top 10 female and top 10 male students that exhibited exceptional citizenship and service to the campus community

2012

John B. Slaughter Outstanding Senior Award: presented to a senior of the African Diaspora who has been active at University of Maryland campus, has been an advocate for the needs of students, and has an outstanding academic career

2012

Mary McLeod Bethune Award: presented a senior who has contributed most significantly to the advancement of the Black student community at the University of Maryland and the general interest of the University

2012

Society of Research on Adolescence Young Scholar: nationally selected to participate in a mentoring program dedicated to training the generation of adolescent researchers

2012

The Irv & Micki Goldstein Scholarship Award: awarded to student who has shown

2011-

commitment to serving their campus and community at the University of Maryland Phillip Merrill Presidential Scholar: selected as 1 of the 25 most successful seniors at

2012

University of Maryland, College Park

2011

School of Public Health Junior Undergraduate Scholar: selected as the top junior in the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland (also awarded 2009)

2011

Jennifer F. Lewis Foundation Scholarship: awarded to a student with an unstoppable drive, a extensive community service, and exceptional academic achievement

2011

Ulysses S. Gless Community Service Award: presented to the undergraduate student who has exhibited excellent leadership skills and service to the community on and off campus at the University of Maryland

2010

Rawlings Undergraduate Leadership Fellow: selected to participate in leadership and public policy training program

2010

Nyumburu Cultural Center Top Ten Award: presented to top ten student leaders (also awarded in 2009)

2010

MVP Award for Extensive Community Engagement and Activism: awarded to a student who show extensive engagement in activism at the University of Maryland

Nkemka Anyiwo

Affiliations/Memberships •

The Society for Social Work Research

•

Psi Chi International Honor Society

• •

Association of Black Psychologists Society for Research on Adolescence

• •

Phi Eta Sigma Honors Society Omicron Delta Kappa Honor Society

•

Society of Research in Child Development

•

Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society

References Stephanie J. Rowley, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Psychology

Daphne C. Watkins, Ph.D. Associate Professor, School of Social Work

Associate Vice President for Research

daphnew@umich.edu

srowley@umich.edu Katie Richards-Schuster, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, School of Social Work kers@umich.edu

Nkemka Anyiwo Research Statement As an interdisciplinary scholar trained in both social work and developmental psychology, my work uses the nexus of theoretical, basic, and applied research to examine the distal and proximal forces (e.g., families, schools, media) that shape Black youth’s social identities, sociopolitical beliefs, and sociopolitical behaviors. My work is informed by seminal research examining the role of cultural assets in Black youth’s positive development and my experience as a youth advocate in juvenile facilities and cultural enrichment programs. Guided by social work values on social justice and social change, I identify factors that not only promote Black youth’s resilience in the context of racism but also promote youth’s agency in understanding and resisting sociopolitical forces that create inequity. My research to date has primarily focused on three intersecting areas: 1) the sociopolitical development of Black youth, 2) media as a sociocultural context, and 3) sociocultural interventions for Black youth. The Sociopolitical Development of Black Youth Sociopolitical development (SPD) describes the process by which individuals acquire an awareness of and act against sociopolitical factors (i.e., culture, politics, and economics) that contribute to inequitable social systems (Diemer, Rapa, Voight, & McWhirter 2016; Watts, Williams, & Jagers, 2003). Race plays a significant role in the lived experiences of Black youth yet limited work has clearly elucidated how racial experiences and beliefs may shape Black youth’s sociopolitical development. My dissertation addresses the gaps in the literature by theoretically and empirically examining sociocultural factors that may shape the SPD of Black youth and by examining how SPD impacts Black youth’s mental health. As a part of my dissertation, I developed an integrative model situating racial sociocultural processes (i.e., racial identity, racial socialization, and experiences of racial discrimination) within current SPD theory. While scholars have clearly identified that factors such as racial socialization and racial identity can be protective against the deleterious impacts of racial discrimination on Black youth, less is known how these factors are influential. In a publication in Child Development Perspectives that came out of my dissertation, my colleagues and I contend that youth’s racial identity and racial socialization can directly inform how Black youth make meaning of racial barriers on a structural level and may inform youth’s behaviors to engage in resistance to racism (Anyiwo, Bañales, Rowley, Watkins, & Richards-Schuster, 2018). Youth’s direct and vicarious experiences of racial discrimination may also increase youth’s awareness of racism and facilitate their engagement in activism. However, we postulate that Black youth’s racial identity and racial socialization experiences will shape the impact that racial discrimination has on their sociopolitical awareness and activism. Our work builds on previous literature that identifies the sociocultural factors that shape youth’s resiliency by unpacking how these factors may serve to bolster youth’s ability to engage address racial barriers and promote social justice. To test one component of my integrative model, my colleagues and I conducted a longitudinal study to examine the association between racial socialization from parents and Black youth’s understanding of educational disparities (Bañales, Marchand, Skinner, Anyiwo, Rowley, & Kurtz-Costes, under review). In a sample of 454 parent-teen dyads, we examined the relation between youth’s experiences of parental racial socialization while they were in 10th grade and their social analysis of racial educational disparities when they were in 12th grade. Using structural equational modeling, we found that Black youth who reported hearing more messages from their parents promoting racial pride and preparing them to encounter racial discrimination, were more likely to make structural attributions of the achievement gap two years

Nkemka Anyiwo

later. In other words, these youths could identify how racism contributed to inequitable educational conditions that facilitate the racial achievement gap. Using a sample of 500 Black adolescents (ages 13-17) from across the nation, study two of my dissertation tests another component of my integrative model by using structural equational modeling to examine the associations between Black youth’s direct and vicarious experiences of racial discrimination and their race focused sociopolitical action (both offline and online). This study takes my integrative model a step forward by also considering whether Black youth’s engagement in action is protective against the negative mental health effects (e.g., anxiety and depressive symptoms) of racial discrimination. In all, my work in sociopolitical development seeks to both theoretically and empirically illuminate the role of sociocultural factors in shaping Black youth’s social awareness and activism around issues of race. Secondly, my work examines the implications of youth’s social awareness and activism on their psychological and academic outcomes in order to promote positive outcomes and well-being. Media as a Sociocultural Context Another aim of my work concerns an examination of media as a sociocultural context for Black youth. While many studies have examined the role of parents in the racial socialization of Black youth, very few studies have examined extra-parental socialization sources. Media is one of the few developmental contexts where youth can self-socialize, meaning that adolescents can select media content that resonate with their developing identities and use the media messages to inform their worldviews (Arnett, 1995; Steele & Brown, 1995). Across several studies, I have investigated how Black youth’s consumption of media relates to their beliefs about race and gender. My studies have particularly focused on understanding Black youth’s racialized gender beliefs (e.g., perceptions of Black manhood or Black womanhood) with the purpose of understanding their beliefs about the unique sociopolitical experiences of Black men and women. Black women’s experiences of racial and gender marginalization contributes to the Strong Black Woman schema (SBW), a culturally-specific gender schema that characterizes Black woman as emotionally strong, independent, and hardworking. With a sample of 121 Black high school students, my colleagues and I conducted a study to examine whether Black adolescents’ television usage is associated with their endorsement of the SBW and of traditional gender roles for women (e.g., women should be passive, nurturing, and modest) (Anyiwo, Ward, Day Fletcher, & Rowley, 2018). Regression analyses revealed that total hours of television watched was not associated with Black youth’s gender beliefs. However, watching more Black oriented television programs (e.g., programs marketed to a Black audience) was associated with stronger endorsement of SBW. Viewing mainstream programs (e.g., programs marketed to most American consumers) was associated with lower endorsement of traditional gender roles but only for boys. This study— in the Journal of Black Psychology—provided evidence that the types of media (e.g., Black vs. mainstream) that Black youth consume matter in considering the implications of media on their beliefs. In addition, gender may play a role in the messages that Black youth extract from television. In a qualitative study in press in Psychology of Men & Masculinity, my colleagues and I examined how popular culture and media figures contribute to young Black men’s ideas about masculinity (Goodwill, Anyiwo, Williams, Johnson, Mattis & Watkins, in press). Our sample consisted of 11 Black young men who were participants in a larger study examining Black men’s perceptions of masculinity, mental health, and social support. Although men in our study were

Nkemka Anyiwo

not explicitly asked about popular culture and media figures at any point in the interviews, popular Black male cultural figures emerge in their discussions of masculinity. These figures clustered into three distinct groups: 1) social movement figures (i.e., Black men who were targeted or who were leaders in pivotal historical events), 2) athletes (e.g., NBA and NFL players), and 3) entertainers (e.g., actors, comedians, and music artists). For example, participants discuss the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown as influential in how Black masculinity leaves Black men vulnerable. The findings suggest that the racialized experiences of Black men in popular culture can be influential in the ways that young Black men make meaning of and experience masculinity. In study three of my dissertation, I build on my previous media work to examine the links between media usage and Black youth’s SPD. Drawing on the Adolescent Media Practice Model (Steele & Brown, 1995), I argue that Black youth’s engagement in hip hop media can be a mechanism by which they can racially self-socialize and extract messages that can facilitate their SPD. Using the same sample of Black youth from study two, I will examine whether Black youth’s engagement with hip hop media content (e.g., music, music videos, social media) relates to their SPD. Secondly, I will examine whether youth’s perceptions of hip hop (e.g., beliefs about the dominant content in hip hop) moderate the relation between hip hop use and Black youth’s SPD. Taken together, my previous research demonstrates that Black media represents a unique context that can inform the way Black youth construct their racialized gender beliefs. For example, in the Black Lives Matter movement, media has been used as a mechanism to raise social awareness about the issues that impact Black people and to advocate for social change. Thus, it is imperative for social work researchers and practitioners alike to more extensively consider the impact of media on Black youth’s development. My dissertation work and my future research will examine how Black youth make meaning of and interpret sociopolitical content in media and the implications that their media usage has on their SPD. Sociocultural Interventions for Black Youth The nexus of my work is represented through “Our Voices”, a youth participatory action research program that I developed to facilitate Black youth’s sociopolitical development by using critical media literacy. Our Voices was funded through the Arts of Citizenship Grant in Public Scholarship that I acquired which allowed me to develop a partnership with a predominately Black high school in the Midwest to develop a research project. Housed in the high school’s social work office, Our Voices engaged 15 Black high school students in an after school project focused on examining the representation of Black characters on television. Participants received training from Black graduate students and faculty focused on research methods with Black populations and strategies on how to use research for social change. From there these youth conducted content analysis of television shows to examine portrayals of Black characters on television. They use the findings from their content analysis to design and lead workshops on topics centered around racial stereotypes and SPD. In the first paper from the project (Anyiwo, Richards-Schuster, & Jerald, in preparation), we situate the program design of Our Voices into sociopolitical development theory to demonstrate how approaches from youth participatory action research and critical media literacy can be used to engage youth in critical conversations about race.

Nkemka Anyiwo

Funding I have been able to successfully acquire external and internal fellowships and grants to support my graduate study and my research. I funded my graduate career through the acquisition of two national fellowships: the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) fellowship and the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship. I was also awarded internal grants such as the Arts of Citizenship Grant in Public Scholarship and the Bobbe and Jon Bridge Research Grant Award for Engaged Scholarship, which funded my intervention and my dissertation work. In the future, I plan to target national grant agencies (e.g., National Institute for Health Research Career Development awards and National Science Foundation grants through the Social, Behavioral & Economic Area) and foundation grant agencies (e.g., William T. Grant). Future Directions My program of research examines both how Black youth thrive despite inequity and how they actively engage in strategies to dismantle systems of oppression that impede their development. In my future work, I plan to use a multiple method approach to deeply examine the role that family, community, and media plays in promoting Black youth’s sociopolitical development. Black youth today face a dynamic political atmosphere marked by the election of the first Black president, the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the resurgence to the visibility of white supremacy movements. Using qualitative work, I plan to unpack how youth and their parent construct their beliefs about the sociopolitical climate and what factors youth identify as being influential in their desires (or lack of desire) to become advocates for social justice. While my work has started to examine the implications of youth’s sociopolitical awareness and action, I would like to use quantitative methods to longitudinally investigate the temporal associations between sociocultural factors, youth’s SPD, and developmental outcomes. Furthermore, using qualitative methods, I would like to use youth’s own voices to understand how their sociopolitical beliefs and actions are influential to their psychological wellbeing and academic achievement. Thus far, my work has examined the associations between youth’s media usage and their beliefs about their social identities. However, given the role that media and the arts have played in historical and contemporary social justice movements, I seek to more extensively examine the utility of media on the SPD and development trajectory of Black youth. Further, I plan to work in collaboration with youth and the influential figures in their lives (e.g., parents, school staff) to develop research-informed interventions and translate my research into spaces that will support the healthy development of youth.

Nkemka Anyiwo Teaching Statement As a child, I always detested the first day of class. I would squirm at my desk, anxiously waiting for my teacher to struggle to pronounce my African name, Nkemka Anyiwo, which typically resulted in an eruption of laughter in the classroom. It was in these moments that I recognized I was different from my peers. My feelings of not belonging contributed to academic disengagement and low self-efficacy, which persisted until I was in an educational context where my cultural background and those of my peers were embraced. Through my childhood experiences, I became conscious of the transformative potential of a culturally-aware and supportive educational environment. I worked to actualize this perspective as a Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) for Introduction to Developmental Psychology, where I led discussion sections with students and developed my own syllabus and curriculum. My personal and scholarly identity shape my teaching philosophy, which is to empower the voices of students as active contributors in the educational process, embrace diverse perspectives, cultures, and experiences, and engage students in the application of knowledge through community collaboration. Empowering Student Voices as Contributors in the Education Process My identity as a community-engaged scholar reflects my value in honoring the values and expertise of communities that I work with. I view each classroom as an educational community for collaborative learning where students have a voice to contribute to the academic exchange, to facilitate their own learning, and to learn for each other. At the beginning of each semester, I express my expectations of my students and invite them to share their expectations of me as their instructor, and of their peers as co-learners. To best facilitate the educational needs of my students, I provide them with multiple ways to engage (e.g., small groups, individual reflections, large group discussions) to accommodate multiple learning styles. Students have stated, “I thought the course was instructed well and my GSI did a great job with engaging the students and I really enjoyed the activities in class. She was very accepting and encouraging to hear everyone's opinions” and “She did a great job of explaining things in a variety of different ways!” I also checked-in with students throughout the semester to get feedback and adjust the course structure to accommodate their needs. For example, using Qualtrics surveys, I conducted a mid-semester evaluation. Students indicated in the surveys that they needed more time in discussion section to review content from our lecture sections. Thus, I modified the structure of our discussion so that it integrated more lecture review and allowed students to anonymously submit questions about content that they found confusing. As a scholar whose research focuses on understanding and dismantling inequity, I am cognizant of the educational barriers that many students face. Thus, I intentionally made myself accessible to provide individualized support for all my students and encourage them to take ownership of their education by seeking resources on campus (e.g., tutoring, writing centers). As reflected by a student, “This GSI is one of the best GSIs I ever had; she has been helping throughout this course since the first time I went to her with issues about the course.” Embracing Diverse Perspectives, Cultures, and Experiences It is critical for an effective educator to acknowledge and embrace his/her students’ diverse identities, cultures, and experiences, and to encourage them to do the same. In the Introduction to Developmental Psychology course, I conducted a lesson where students are challenged to define culture and the factors that can shape differential experiences across development. In my discussion section, we engaged in discussions of privilege and oppression

Nkemka Anyiwo Teaching Statement and described structural factors that can be influential in the developmental trajectory of groups. We also discussed the cultural variations in developmental processes that may not always be reflected in the textbook. For example, when discussing the development of gender schemas, I used my own research on culturally-specific gender schemas about African American women to highlight how cultural experiences can shape gender constructions. Through course assignments and class discussions, students are asked to reflect on how their culture influences their development. Students are also asked to engage with their peers to understand similarities and differences between their experiences. Embracing diversity also means embracing the diverse perspectives and ideologies of others. As an educator, I attempt to create what Arao and Clemens (2013) describe as a brave space, which acknowledges the discomfort and challenges that emerge while engaging in discourse across difference. Brave spaces emphasizes the need to respectfully challenge and learn from the perspectives of others. One strategy I used to facilitate students’ understanding of different perspectives is debate. Students were randomly assigned different perspectives and asked to find empirical support to argue their assigned point. After the debate, we debriefed and discussed how it felt to argue perspectives they agree with and disagreed with. By engaging in full classroom and small group discussions, students developed their critical thinking skills by applying class content and research to their own arguments and learning about the arguments of others. As mentioned by a student, “I really appreciated Nkemka's approach to teaching our class. She was relaxed, which helped us all feel comfortable sharing our opinions and ideas, but made sure we were always learning and engaged. She was always open to taking questions and understanding our points of view.” Engaging in Knowledge Application and Community Collaboration As an educator and applied researcher, I believe that it is essential that students learn how to apply course content to their day-to-day lives and to address societal issues. For example, when discussing research on the negative implications of attending childcare for toddlers, students were asked to work together to develop interventions or policy recommendations to address barriers that contribute to parents using daycare services. Further, in our discussion of gender stereotypes and sexuality, we conducted a content analysis of lyrics from popular artists and discussed the implications of music for my students and for younger listeners. While discussing social issues can be beneficial in a classroom setting, I strongly believe that the most powerful educational experiences surpass the classroom boundary. Accordingly, I pursued training in engaged pedagogy through the Center for Community- Engaged Academic Learning. As an engaged pedagogy fellow, I developed a course entitled, “Social Change and the Psychological Development of Black Youth” with consultation from undergraduate students who have participated in engaged courses and faculty who have facilitated engaged courses. My course focused on examining how Black youth’s participation in social action relates to their positive development. In addition to attending lectures, students enrolled with this course would be able to work collaboratively with high school adolescents who are involved in local community organization to develop a youth summit. My experiences conducting community-engaged pedagogy with Black adolescents make me well equipped to teach an engaged course. As a graduate student, I designed “Our Voices”, a youth participatory research program for Black adolescents in partnership with a school in a large urban city. Through this program, high school students conducted a research project examining representations of Black Americans in television programs. Prior to beginning their

Nkemka Anyiwo Teaching Statement projects, Our Voicesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; students facilitated workshops where they learned about research methods, explored their social identities, and learned about historical stereotypes about Black Americans. My co-facilitator and I mentored the students in developing their research questions and walked them through the process of collecting and analyzing data. We also guided them in developing a workshop for their peers to raise awareness about stereotypes in media and a presentation at a large public institution about their findings. Through this process, I provided students with an ability to have a collaborative educational experience and to apply their experiences directly to work in their community. I hope to develop similar programs and courses for undergraduate and graduate students and provide them opportunities to work with adolescents. Future Teaching Goals In sum, my research expertise, passion for diversity, and critical engagement of students makes me well positioned to teach an array of courses. I am interested in teaching core foundational courses (e.g., human behavior in the social environment, social work research, social policy). I would also be interested in designing and/or teaching courses focused on diversity, equity and inclusion and theory/research methods. With my background in development psychology, I am able to teach courses focused on human development. Furthermore, I am prepared to develop my own engaged course and/or add engaged components to existing courses offered by your institution.

Huiyun Kim PhD Candidate in Social Work and Sociology

Huiyun Kim Current Address: 1080 S. University, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Phone: 734.358.3025 E-mail Address: seahunt@umich.edu EDUCATION 5/2019 Ph.D., Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work & Sociology, University of Michigan (expected) Dissertation title: Housing Insecurity and Low-income Housing Policy in the United States Committee: Kristin S. Seefeldt (Social Work), Sarah A. Burgard (Sociology) 2011

Master of Social Work, University of Michigan Practice Area/Method: Community and Social Systems/Community Organizing

2005

Bachelor of Arts in Social Welfare, Seoul National University

RESEARCH INTERESTS Design and implementation of social welfare policy, Low-income housing policy, Quantitative research methods

TEACHING INTERESTS Social policy and service delivery, Research methods

PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATION Kim, H., Burgard, S., and Seefeldt, K. (2017). Housing Assistance and Housing Insecurity: A Study of Renters in Southeastern Michigan in the Wake of the Great Recession. Social Service Review, 91 (1), 41-70. Kim, H., Grogan-Kaylor, A., Han, Y., Maurizi, L., and Delva, J. (2013). The Association of Neighborhood Characteristics and Domestic Violence in Santiago, Chile. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 90 (1): 41-55. Kim, H., & Baek, H. (2010). Neighborhood Effects on Children's Educational Attainment: Focusing on the Mediating Role of Parental Involvement. The Korean Journal of Social Welfare Policy, 37 (3), 53-84.

MANUSCRIPT IN PROGRESS Kim, H. Failing the Least Advantaged: Waitlist Preference and Rationing Algorithm in the Housing Choice Voucher Program. 1

Burgard, S. & Kim, H. Housing Instability and Mental Health Among Renters in the Michigan Recession and Recovery Study.

REASEARCH IN PREPARATION Measuring the Impact of Changes in the Social Welfare Program Rules on Poverty Opening the Door to Returning Prisoners: Local Housing Agency and Navigating Access to Subsidized Housing After Prison The Role of Safety Net Programs in Reducing Housing Insecurity in the Context of Income Volatility Poverty Narratives and Low-Income Housing Policy Ideas in the Legislative Process of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998

POLICY REPORT Kahng, S. K., Kwon, S., Jung, I., Seo, D., Shin, C., Park, S., & Kim, H. (2009). A Study on Services for Children with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Report for the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Family Affairs, Seoul, Korea.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE 2013-17 Researcher, Michigan Recession and Recovery Study, National Poverty Center, University of Michigan (PIs: Sandra Danziger, Kristin Seefeldt and Sarah Burgard) 2011-12

Researcher, Santiago Longitudinal Study, Vivian A. and James L. Curtis School of Social Work Research and Training Center, University of Michigan (PIs: Jorge Delva and Andrew Grogan-Kaylor)

2009

Project Coordinator, Evaluation of Service Delivery System for Children with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, Center for Social Sciences, Seoul National University (PI: Sang K. Kahng)

PRACTICE EXPERIENCE SOCIAL WORK INTERN 2010-11 Central Detroit Christian (Community Development Corporation), Detroit, MI 2005 Jang-bong Residential Institution, Incheon, Korea 2003 Sillym Community Welfare Center, Seoul, Korea VOLUNTEER 2014 SafeHouse Center (Domestic Violence Shelter), Ann Arbor, MI

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS Society for Social Work and Research Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management National Low-Income Housing Coalition Urban Affairs Association

GRANTS & FELLOWSHIP 2017 Doctoral Scholars Institute Fellow: The Network for Social Work Management 2016 Rackham Summer Award, University of Michigan 2014 Rackham International Student Award, University of Michigan 2013 Research Partnership Summer Award, University of Michigan 2012 Research Partnership Summer Award, University of Michigan 2010 Community-Based Initiative (CBI) Scholar, University of Michigan

TEACHING EXPERIENCE LEAD INSTRUCTOR-MASTER’S LEVEL 2018 Basic Social Work Research, School of Social Work, University of Michigan 2017 Theories of Social Change, School of Social Work, University of Michigan GRADUATE STUDENT INSTRUCTOR 2016 (PhD-level) Statistical Methods II, Department of Sociology, University of Michigan 2015 (Undergraduate) Research Methods, Department of Sociology, University of Michigan 2014 Marriage and the Family, Department of Sociology, University of Michigan

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS 2018 Kim, H. Poverty Narratives and Low-Income Housing Policy Ideas in the Legislative Process of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998. To be presented at the Urban Affairs Association’s annual meeting in Toronto, Ontario. 2017

Kim, H. Failing the Least Advantaged: The Politics of Low-Income Housing Program Implementation. Presented at the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management’s annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois.

2017

Kim, H. Federal Initiative to End Homelessness in the Era of Devolution: The Entrenchment of Homeless-Exclusionary Local Preference Systems in the Housing Choice Voucher Program. Presented at the Urban Affairs Association’s annual meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

2017

Burgard, S., & Kim, H. Housing Instability and Mental Health among Renters in the Michigan Recession and Recovery Study. Presented at the Population Association of America’s annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois.

2016

Kim, H., Burgard, S., & Seefeldt, K. Housing Assistance and Trajectories of Housing Insecurity: A Study of Renters in Southeastern Michigan in the Wake of the Great Recession. Presented at the Population Association of Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES Reviewer, Housing Policy Debate

PROGRAMMING SKILLS Stata (Expert), R (Basic), QGIS (Basic)

REFERENCES (Please send an email to soc-letters@umich.edu for all three letters of support) Sarah A. Burgard, Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Policy University of Michigan Department of Sociology 500 South State St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (734) 615-9538 burgards@umich.edu Kristin Seefeldt, Associate Professor of Social Work and Public Policy University of Michigan School of Social Work 1080 S. University Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (734) 615-2113 kseef@umich.edu Richard Tolman, Professor of Social Work University of Michigan School of Social Work 1080 S. University Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (734) 764-5333 rtolman@umich.edu

Research Statement Huiyun Kim My research examines the design and implementation of social policies, focusing particular attention on the effectiveness of policies in reducing poverty. My years of engagement with nonprofit and public organizations in the fields of community development and low-income housing have motivated me to look at housing policy as a case study. More specifically, my research projects have examined the intersection of low-income housing programs and housing insecurity among the poor, taking an econometric approach to program evaluation and a sociological approach to examining organizational decision making in program implementation. Core Research Themes My early and ongoing research (Kim and Baek 2010; Kim et al 2013; Burgard and Kim in preparation) has engaged with two distinct lines of poverty research, both of which have eventually led me to frame housing policy as an anti-poverty tool. First, contextual analyses of poverty have illuminated how urban economic restructuring and racial segregation have shaped the current geographical landscape of poverty, which, in turn, influences the life chances of individuals in urban, low-income communities. Second, poverty scholars have documented the prevalence of residential instability among the poor. Residential instability cumulatively disadvantages the poor, with a multifaceted impact on the lives of low-income children and their families, affecting health, school, and labor market outcomes. These two lines of research suggest that contemporary processes of poverty reproduction cannot be fully understood at an individual level and point toward the limits of poverty policies that heavily rely on strategies of workforce development. Housing policy can intervene in this process by promoting upward economic and residential mobility and reducing residential instability. Below, I discuss two distinct lines of inquiry that characterize my current and future research in this area. Housing Assistance Program Evaluation: Poverty and Low-Income Children and Their Families In the years immediately following the Great Recession, social program administration was extremely challenging. Income and employment instability among housing assistance recipients grew, as did the ranks of people who qualified for assistance, and local public housing authorities were not necessarily prepared to accommodate this volatile situation. My lead-authored article published in Social Service Review examines longitudinal pattern of housing insecurity and the role of housing assistance programs in reducing it. Using the first two waves of the Michigan Recession and Recovery Study (2009-10 and 2011), a population-based sample of working-age adults in the three counties in the Detroit metropolitan area, I conducted a propensity score analysis to examine whether housing assistance recipients are less likely to experience housing insecurity events over follow up than income-eligible respondents who do not receive housing assistance. Results suggest that housing assistance was a powerful way to reduce hardship in the

wake of the Great Recession and provide empirical support for the continued support and expansion of these programs. In a future project I will conduct a simulation-based policy research to predict the impact of changes in the social welfare program rules proposed by the current Administration on poverty in the United States. In case of low-income housing programs, an increase in the rent contribution rate expected from housing subsidy recipients and change in the deduction rules used to calculate adjusted income might stretch already under-funded programs, reducing the poverty-alleviating effect of housing assistance. Using the Survey of Income and Program Participation, I will examine the overall impact of the proposed program rule change on the rate of poverty among program participants (defined by the Supplementary Poverty Measure) and its differential impacts on subgroups of housing assistance recipients, focusing on the likely toll on low-income families with children. The key analytic challenge in estimating possible change in the povertyreducing impact of these programs is to calculate what counterfactual income the family would have if the program rule changed. Past research on this question has generally used the reduction in subsidy amount to make that calculation. I will build on this approach by incorporating into a model how program participants might respond to change in the program rules by changing their labor supply. Through this line of simulation-based research, I will provide accurate estimates of use to scholars, policy makers and advocates. Program implementation: Rationing in Low-Income Housing Programs and Resource Allocation Federal housing spending as a wholeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;including the mortgage interest deduction used by many taxpayersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;intensifies economic inequality by concentrating benefits at the higher end of income distribution, as researchers have shown. But the allocation of limited federal resources for lowincome housing programs and how it may affect stratification amongst the poor has received less attention. Only one in four families eligible to benefits from low-income housing programs actually receives assistance. This raises the question of what mechanisms distinguish the lucky 25% and how it affects stratification among the poor. Local housing agenciesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; implementation of low-income housing programs largely determines the answer to this question, but poverty scholars have generally treated program parameters under the discretion of local housing agencies as a priori. Yet a dynamic process involving multiple actors with varying incentives characterizes this process. In the context of extended waiting periods for federal housing assistance, rationing from the waitlist of low-income housing programs can also serve as an important mechanism of resource allocation of limited federal housing resources, and ultimately, economic inequality. While random rationing would not punish the most vulnerable, more systematic rationing could reproduce and reinforce stratification amongst the poor by shifting limited federal housing resources away from the least advantaged. My dissertation project presents a comprehensive conceptual framework that incorporates both local discretion in program implementation and an algorithm of rationing to advance our understanding of the distributional outcomes of federal low-income housing programs. The administrative plans local housing agencies in Michigan use to administer the Housing Choice Voucher program reveal two dominant forms of waitlist preference systems that promote the 2

greater loss of applicants who are experiencing residential instability. Juxtaposing this finding with the American Community Survey results suggests that low-income housing programs increase the likelihood that they will purge applicants in deep poverty, rather than incomeeligible applicants with higher income, from the waitlist because they have no steady address. I argue that current low-income housing programs preserve and even deepen economic stratification amongst the poor by shifting limited federal housing resources away from the least advantaged. Building on my dissertation work, I will examine local implementation of federal low-income housing programs in the context of mass incarceration in collaboration with Anh Nguyen (Kaiser Foundation), who has expertise on the U.S. criminal justice system and prisoner reentry. Successful prisoner reentry largely depends on maintenance of stable employment and housing trajectories. However, federal regulations for low-income housing assistance programs limit the eligibility of people with some types of criminal records and allow PHAs to impose further restrictions. Using a comparative case method, I will examine contextual factors contributing to different levels of generosity to people based on their criminal records in admission policies across local public housing authorities. Future Directions: Income Volatility, Safety Net Programs, and Low-Income Children Experiencing Homelessness Beyond my dissertation projects and these extensions, I will pursue a research agenda that will contribute to understanding the intersection of safety net programs and economic and housing insecurity. Households at all income levels are increasingly facing income volatility, with a much shorter volatility cycle for low-income people. Income volatility increases the chance of experiencing housing unaffordability, often leading to more severe housing insecurity, including foreclosure and eviction. Safety net programs could play a significant role in smoothing out income volatility and preventing housing insecurity in the event of income shocks. However, recent research documents inequality in the generosity and administration of state-level safety net programs, pointing to the necessity of understanding how income volatility differently influences housing instability across states. In the long-term, I would like to grow as a scholar who actively participate in policy making processes in the field of affordable housing, child welfare, and homelessness by building state/local government partnerships. Academic and local government collaboration has a proven record of success in large metropolitan areas, including the Child and Adolescent Data Lab at the University of Michigan, Urban Lab at the University of Chicago, and California Policy Lab at UCLA. This collaborative approach will open a venue to make local/state-level policy decision making more evidence-based and more responsive to the needs of the socially marginalized.

Teaching Statement Huiyun Kim I consider teaching a form of social work practice: it increases the professional power of social workers and thereby accelerates socially just change. As an instructor I seek to lead students to perceive themselves as agents of social change and enhance their competency and confidence in effectively intervening in social change processes. In my social work classes, I guide students to 1) conceptualize organizations as contexts for intervention, 2) develop evidence-based strategies of change that will support human service organizations to make decisions that respond to the needs of vulnerable populations, and 3) critically assess the effectiveness of those interventions. With a firm belief that the best learning experience comes from the integration of theory, research and practice, I blend social science knowledge and students’ and my practice experience into classes. As an international scholar, I am keenly aware of how students’ own positionality could influence their performance in the class and apply multiple strategies to create inclusive learning environments. As the sole instructor, I taught a course in Theories of Social Change and Research Methods and Statistics, both at the University of Michigan. In MSW courses, I start with the question, “how do social workers acting in good faith to stimulate socially just change fail?” Assignments in my course in Theories of Social Change prompt students to examine the political economy of organizational decision making and its impacts on program and advocacy outcomes. For example, a class activity entitled “A Day at the Museum of Modern Art” asks students to contemplate the potential problems of a lack of diversity in a human service organization. Specifically, how might racial dissimilarities between social workers and clients influence social worker’s advocacy work on behalf of clients? Each student narrated one panel in Jacob Lawrence’s Great Migration Series and related his or her own experience as the oppressed to the structural violence that African Americans migrating north experienced. I then facilitated a large group discussion on how social workers’ reflection on their experience as the oppressed could enable them to build coalitions with and stand up for their clients. Students’ positive feedback on this class included “inspiring” and “practical.” As a graduate student instructor, I have taught courses to undergraduates and PhD students. I create inclusive learning environments by accommodating variety of readiness and interest to promote students’ engagement. In a PhD-level advanced statistics course, I began by assessing students’ statistical literacy and research interests and organized my lab sessions with exemplary articles that directly speak to these interests. Students distinguished this effort in their feedback and I believe it contributed hugely to their engagement. I also received the feedback: “Huiyun would not stop explaining a concept until all students were comfortable. I simply would not have gotten through this course without Huiyun’s patience and intellect” for this course. In adding to addressing diverse learning readiness and interest, I pitch my approach to course material to address the needs of students from diverse backgrounds. In a class section on racial segregation I started soliciting students’ memories of the schools and neighborhoods they experienced before attending college. I then located these experiences into national and local patterns of racial 1

segregation. I then facilitated discussion on the application of the theory of structuration into the causes of racial segregation to examine how residential segregation could perpetuate itself by distorting our belief, attitudes, and eventually behaviors that further intensify levels of residential segregation. As an Assistant Professor of Social Work, I would be qualified to teach social policy and service delivery, research methods, and an introduction to macro practice course. I would be able to incorporate my training in sociology into my teaching, which I believe will enrich studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; understanding of course material. I would like to develop a seminar that illuminates the political economy of organizational decision making, such that it would equip students to design strategies of change within human service organizations and in networks of organizations to improve organizationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ability to address social problems. Mentoring PhD students would also give me great pleasure, as I believe strongly the value of independent research and welcome the chance to nurture this in others. If teaching furthers socially just change, training future professors multiplies the gift.

Patrick Meehan PhD Candidate in Social Work and Political Science

Patrick J. Meehan Contact Information

7740 Haven Hall 505 State Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Cell: 734-678-4481 E-mail: pjmeeh@umich.edu http://sites.google.com/umich.edu/patrickmeehan

Research Interests

Political social work, the intersection of social work practice and politics, gender and professional socialization, political participation of marginalized and oppressed groups.

Education

University of Michigan Ph.D., Social Work & Political Science, expected 2019 Dissertation: The underutilized instrument: Social workers and elected office Chairs: Barry Checkoway, Ann Lin MSW, 2011 University of Wisconsin-Madison B.S., Education, 2005

Honors and Awards

University of Michigan, Gerald R. Ford Fellowship, 2017-2018 University of Michigan, Boyd/Williams Dissertation Grant for Research on Women and Work, 2017 University of Michigan, Graduate Student Research Grant, 2015 University of Michigan, Summer Research Partnership, 2014 University of Michigan, Summer Collaboration Award, 2013 University of Michigan, Ph.D. Fellowship, 2012-2013 University of Wisconsin, Graduated with distinction, 2005 University of Wisconsin, Dean’s List, 2001-2005

Grants Publications Peer-Reviewed Published

University of Michigan, Office of Research, $15,000 for Detroit Summer Youth Employment Longitudinal Study, with Trina Shanks, Ph.D., as PI. Meehan, P. (2018). “I think I can…maybe I can…I can’t”: Social work women and local elected office. Social Work, 63(2), 145-152. Suskind, D., Leffel, K., Hernandez, M., Sapolich, S., Suskind, E., Kirkham, E., & Meehan, P. (2013). An exploratory study of “quantitative linguistic feedback”: Effect of LENA feedback on adult language production. Communication Disorders Quarterly, 20(10), 1-11. Dworsky, A., & Meehan, P. (2012). The parenting experiences of homeless adolescent mothers and mothers-to-be: Perspectives from a shelter sample. Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 2117-2122.

Peer-Reviewed

Meehan, P. Water into wine: Using social policy courses to make MSW students

Under review

interested in politics. Submitted to the Journal of Social Work Education June 23, 2018. Meehan, P. What difference does it make? Political primacy and MSW students’ interest in running for office. Submitted to Advances in Social Work, August 16, 2018.

Non Peer-Reviewed

Robinson, C., Shanks, T., & Meehan, P. (2017). Hallmarks of effective youth employment programs across the United States: Implications for Detroit. Report developed for the Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation. Shanks, T., & Meehan, P. (2014). Detroit Summer Youth Employment Program: Results Of 2013 Youth Employee Exit Surveys. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan School of Social Work Technical Assistance Center. Baker, S., Rich, L., Wojnarowski, M., & Meehan, P. (2013). Implementing successful school-based health centers: Lessons from the Chicago Elev8 initiative. Chapin Hall Discussion Paper. Shanks, T., McGee, K., & Meehan, P. (2010). Detroit Summer Youth Employment Program: Results of Employer and Youth Employee Exit Surveys. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan School of Social Work Technical Assistance Center. Meehan, P. (2010). Evaluation of Early Head Start: Income, education, and cognitive development of children prior to age three. Michigan Journal of Social Work and Social Welfare, 1(1), 34-44.

Working Papers

Avoiding the arena: Evidence of social work women’s absence from elected office. Educating for inexperience? The political process in social work education.

Presentations

Meehan, P. (June 2018). What difference does it make? MSW students’ attitudes toward elected office. Presentation at the Policy 2.0 Conference, St. Louis, MO. Meehan, P. (June 2018). The underutilized instrument: Social workers and local elected office in Michigan. Presentation at the Policy 2.0 Conference, St. Louis, MO. Meehan, P. (January 2018). The underutilized instrument: Social workers and local elected office. Poster presentation at the Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference, Washington, D.C. Meehan, P. (July 2017). “I think I can…maybe I can…I can’t”: Women and elected office in the age of Trump. Presentation to the Seminar Slam! at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. 2

Meehan, P., & Shames, S. (April 2017). The instrumental office: Making a difference through elected office. Paper presentation at the Urban Affairs Association Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN. Meehan, P., & Shames, S. (April 2017). The instrumental office: Making a difference through elected office. Paper presentation at the Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference, Chicago, IL. Meehan, P., & Shames, S. (November 2016). The instrumental office: Making a difference through elected office. Poster presentation at the Toronto Political Behavior Workshop, Toronto, ON. Dunkle, R., Feld, S., Shen, H.W., Kim, M.H., Meehan, P. (November, 2014). The effects of spousal caregiving on caregiver depression. Poster presentation at the Gerontological Society of America Annual Scientific Meeting, Orlando, FL. Kalil, A., Leininger, L., & Meehan, P. (November, 2013). Expenditures on children during the Great Recession. Paper presentation at the Annual Fall Research Conference of the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management, Washington, D.C. Suskind, D., Leininger, L., Suskind, E., Leffel, K., Sapolich, S., & Meehan, P. (October, 2012). A randomized controlled pilot of a novel parent-directed language intervention in children of low SES: The Thirty Million Words Project. Poster presentation at the American Academy of Pediatrics National Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans, LA. Walker, L., Daro, D., Jarpe-Ratner, E., & Meehan, P. (August, 2012). Building a base of evidence for a promising school-based nutrition education program that fits the new SNAP-Ed guidance. Paper presentation to the National Association for Welfare Research and Statistics, Baltimore, MD. Daro, D. Jarpe-Ratner, E., Meehan, P., & Walker, L. (March, 2012). Contributing to program development through evaluation. Brown Bag presentation to Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. Gant, L.M., Shanks, T., Williams, G., & Meehan, P. (October, 2011). Working with MSW interns and community partners to improve youth outcomes through a comprehensive community initiative. Panel presentation at the Council on Social Work Education Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA. Research Experience

Co-Investigator, National Study of the Political Participation of Clinical Social Workers, 2018 ď&#x201A;ˇ With Jason Ostrander, PhD, Sacred Heart University, and Mary Hylton, PhD, University of Nevada-Reno. ď&#x201A;ˇ Database of 125,000 licensed social workers in 25 states.



Survey of social justice motivations, political participation, and interest in the political process, including elected office.

Principal Investigator, University of Michigan, Michigan Law & Social Work Study, 2017  How interested are MSW students in running for office compared to law students? How do women in social work and women in law compare?  Secured agreements with four MSW programs in Michigan to collect survey data on their students: University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Wayne State University, and Western Michigan University.  Obtained survey data from three JD programs in Michigan: University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Wayne State University.  828 surveys collected. Principal Investigator, University of Michigan, Candidate and Delegate Project, 2015 to present  How many social workers are in elected office or serve as party precinct delegates? How does that compare with lawyers?  Candidate and delegate lists compiled from Michigan’s five largest counties between 2006 and 2016. Matched with lists of LMSW-holders and Bar Association members in each county.  14,762 unique candidates and delegates identified: 56 LMSW, 583 JD.  Interviews with identified individuals are ongoing.  Manage three undergraduate research assistants on this project. Research Assistant, University of Michigan, Health in All Study, 2017  Devise quantitative coding scheme for Community Health Improvement Plans from all 64 counties in Colorado. Research Assistant, University of Michigan, Detroit Summer Youth Employment Program Evaluation, 2012-present  Develop, maintain, and disseminate data collection instruments on Qualtrics.  Participate in evaluation committee meetings.  Analyze data for description, inference, and interpretation using STATA.  Contribute to written reports and grant applications. Research Assistant, University of Michigan, Health and Retirement Study, 20132014  Managed data using SAS, and performed data analysis using STATA. Research Assistant, William Davidson Institute, Base of Pyramid and Latin America, 2013



Managed and analyzed data using STATA.

Project Associate, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago  Evaluation team member for Common Threads, Elev8, LENA.  Managed data for the Michigan Recession and Recovery Study Child Supplement. Teaching Experience

Instructor, University of Michigan, School of Social Work, 2018 Course: Diversity and Social Justice Instructor, University of Michigan, School of Social Work, 2017 Course: Basic Social Work Research Instructor, University of Michigan, School of Social Work, 2016 Course: Evaluation in Social Work Instructor, University of Michigan, Department of Political Science, 2016 Course: Introduction to American Politics Guest Lecturer, University of Michigan, School of Social Work, 2016 Course: Social Work and Policy Graduate Student Instructor, University of Michigan, Department of Political Science, 2014-2015 Course: American Political Theory

Professional Service

Development Committee, Influencing Social Policy, 2018 Co-Chair, Interdisciplinary Workshop on American Politics, University of Michigan, 2015-2016 Admissions Committee, University of Michigan Department of Political Science, 2015-2016 Doctoral Committee, University of Michigan School of Social Work, 2015-2017 Reviewer, Children and Youth Services Review, 2013 Secretary, Doctoral Student Organization, University of Michigan School of Social Work, 2013-2013

Public Scholarship

Creator, Producer, & Host, “Social Work & Politics” [Audio Podcast], 2018

Professional Organizations

Influencing Social Policy Society for Social Work and Research

Council on Social Work Education American Political Science Association Midwest Political Science Association Practice Experience

Youth Program Manager, Catholic Charities of Tompkins/Tioga, Waverly, NY, 2007-2009  After school services for 15 participating families, including case management, home visits, and counseling. Community Organizer, Binghamton Neighborhood Assemblies Project, Binghamton, NY, 2007  Recruited low-income participants, and facilitated meetings for neighborhood associations that addressed local concerns with city government. Transition Program Coordinator, Phoenix School of Roseburg, Roseburg, OR, 2006-2007  Developed program to track progress for post-secondary success for atrisk students attending an alternative high school.

Research Statement Political social work is an emerging area of practice, research, and theory in social work education. The term is an acknowledgment that achieving social justice requires social workers to engage with the political system, either through their professional practice, or as committed activists. My dissertation fits squarely within this understanding of political social work by looking at the relationship between social workers and elected office. Holding elected office is one way, among many, that social workers can make a difference in their communities. To understand the attraction of elected office, I interviewed more than 20 politically active social workers, including candidates and a counterfactual sample of noncandidates. One theme that emerged from these conversations was the appreciation candidates had for the instrumental power elected office can have in their communities. They understood the importance of elected office for how their communities developed, whether services were provided with equity, how their schools performed, etc. These observations were different and distinguishing from non-candidates, and offered something the political science literature had overlooked. I developed the concept of political primacy as a way of understanding how individuals value the difference-making potential of elected office differently. To understand the concept further, I developed a measure of political primacy1 that allowed respondents to rank order various ways of “contributing to the community”, with “serving in local government” as one of several answer choices. The higher respondents ranked serving in local government the more they were indicating it as a better way of contributing to the community than alternatives. To test this measure’s relationship with an individual’s interest in running for office, I collected the Michigan Law & Social Work Study, a sample of 545 MSW and 200 JD students across four universities in Michigan, which represents the largest study of the political attitudes of MSW students collected thus far. In my manuscript under review in Social Work Research, I find that political primacy significantly predicts interest in running for office in both MSW and JD students. Perhaps this means interest in running for office can be induced if it is understood as a way of making a difference in the community? In my manuscript under review in the Journal of Social Work Education, I report the results of an experiment, which presented MSW students in the MLSWS with a scenario in which several members of city council were retiring. The experiment quoted a retiring city council member as saying she was really glad she ran because having a seat on city council (a) allowed her to make a bigger difference in the community than she would have been able to make as a private citizen, or (b) gave her status and name recognition she would not have had otherwise. Micro-practice students from less politically socialized households significantly increased their interest in running for one of the open seats on city council when exposed to the difference-making frame. The experiment did not have a measurable effect on other students.

This measure was pre-tested twice through Amazon.com’s Mechanical Turk platform, on a total of 1215 respondents. 1

The limited reach of the experiment is an indication that MSW students have pre-existing information about elected office and, importantly, their qualifications for it. Indeed, in my article in Social Work, I find that compared to all other groups in the MLSWS, female MSW students doubted their qualifications to run for office. Moreover, these doubts acted as a significant drag on their interest in running for office. To bring this research to scale, I am the co-investigator (along with Jason Ostrander of Sacred Heart University, and Mary Hylton of the University of Nevada-Reno) of the National Study of the Political Participation of Clinical Social Workers. This study has accumulated information on over 125,000 licensed social workers across 25 states. We expect the data to reveal important information about how social workers understand the political system as a tool for social justice, as well as their interest in engaging with it as candidates for elected office. My research is adding to the political social work knowledge base. As a junior faculty member I will continue to research political primacy and how social workers understand the political system as a way of making a difference. I am particularly interested in differences I observed in the MLSWS between men and women in their interest in running and sense of qualifications to run. I want to understand where these feelings are coming from, and what we can do as social work educators to make women in social work feel more inspired to take the reins of political power in this country. Are their projects that instill confidence in students? How much success in politics do students need to believe that change is possible? These are questions I look forward to taking up soon. Following the 2016 Presidential election, schools of social work are looking for ways to engage with the political system and imbue their activist students with hope for the near future. I think schools should lean in to this moment and consider where social work is going in the 21st century. If not social workers, then who should be making decisions that affect the lives of vulnerable children and families? If not through politics, then how do we achieve social justice? These questions are likely to grow louder as political social work becomes a greater area of interest. My research is consistent with this movement within the field.

Paige Safyer PhD Candidate in Social Work and Psychology

Paige Safyer Curriculum Vitae Doctoral Candidate Social Work and Developmental Psychology 1080 South University Avenue University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI 48109 psafyer@umich.edu 716-510-2085 EDUCATION Expected 2019

Ph.D., Social Work and Developmental Psychology University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI Dissertation: â&#x20AC;&#x153;M(other) Nurture:â&#x20AC;? Exploring the Influence of Maternal Sensitivity on the Neural Basis of Emotion Processing, Regulation, and the Functional Organization of the Infant Brain Dissertation Committee: Richard M. Tolman (Co-chair, Social Work), Brenda L. Volling (Co-chair, Psychology), Julie Ribaudo (Social Work), Ioulia Kovelman (Psychology), Katherine L. Rosenblum (Psychiatry)

2016

Master of Science, Developmental Psychology University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

2015

Master of Social Work, Interpersonal Practice and Mental Health University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

2009

Bachelor of Arts, Psychology Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA

LICENSURE 2016

Masters of Social Work Limited License (LLMSW)

Expected 2019

Masters of Social Work License (LMSW)

RESEARCH AND CLINICAL INTERESTS Infancy, early childhood, trauma, attachment, emotion regulation and dysregulation, socialemotional development, emotional brain development, parent-child interventions, play, play therapy, infant mental health

Paige Safyer, Curriculum Vitae

PUBLICATIONS Safyer, P., Volling, B.L., Schultheiss, O.C., Tolman, R.M. (in press). Adult attachment, implicit motives and mothers’ and fathers’ parenting behaviors. Motivation Science. Volling B.L., Gonzalez, R., Stevenson, M., Safyer, P., & Lee, J. (in press). In Search of Father-Infant Activation Relationship: Variable-Centered versus PersonCentered Analytic Approaches. In Volling, B.L., & Cabrera, N.J. Advancing research and measurement on fathering and child development. Monographs of the Society for Research on Child Development. Safyer, P., Stevenson, M., Gonzalez, R., Volling, B. L., Oh, W., & Yu, T. (2017). X. Developmental trajectories of children's sleep problems after the birth of a sibling. Monographs of the Society for Research on Child Development, 82(3), 130–141. Volling, B.L., Gonzalez, R., Oh, W., & Yu, T., Rosenberg, L., Song, J., Thomason, E., Kuo, P.X., Safyer, P., Beyers-Carlson, E., & Stevenson, M. (2017). Developmental Trajectories of Children's Adjustment across the Transition to Siblinghood: Pre-Birth Predictors and Sibling Outcomes. Monographs of the Society for Research on Child Development, 82(3), 1-216. Reed, L.A., Tolman, R.M., Ward, L.M. & Safyer, P. (2016). Keeping tabs: Attachment anxiety and electronic intrusion behaviors in high school dating relationships. Computers in Human Behavior, 58, 259-268. Reed, L.A., Tolman, R.M., & Safyer, P. (2015). Too close for comfort: The role of attachment insecurity in intrusive digital media behaviors in dating relationships among college students. Computers in Human Behavior, 50, 431-438. Rescorla, L., & Safyer, P. (2013). Lexical development in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Journal of Child Language, 40, 47-68. MANUSCRIPTS IN PREPARATION Safyer, P., Volling, B.L., Bader, L.R., Gonzalez, R., McDonough, S., & Vazquez, D. (in prep). Developmental trajectories of emotion regulation across the first year of life. Safyer, P., Volling, B.L., Kovelman, I., Hu, S.X. Wagley, N., & Swain, J. (in prep-a). More than meets the eye: The neural development of emotion face processing during infancy. Safyer, P., Volling, B.L., Kovelman, I., Hu, S.X., Wagley, N., & Swain, J. (in prep-b). The prefrontal caretaker: The neural development of emotion regulation during infancy. Ribaudo, J., Safyer, P., Stein, S.F., Rosenblum, K.L., & Muzik, M. (in prep). The clinical complexities of using an attachment-informed model of child-led play therapy to enhance children’s felt sense of security: The child team component of the Mom Power program. Paige Safyer, Curriculum Vitae

Bader, L.R., Volling, B.L., Safyer, P., McDonough, S., Gonzalez, R., Elhassan, M., Kaciroti, N., Tan, L., & Vazquez, D. (in prep). Trajectories of mother and infant cortisol reactivity related to security of attachment at 14 months postpartum. OTHER PUBLICATIONS Ribaudo, J., Stein, S., & Safyer, P. (2018a). Cecilia and the Long Walk [A childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s story providing a narrative for children separated from their parents by the family separation policy]. Retrieved from the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health website https://www.allianceaimh.org/separationistrauma/. Ribaudo, J., Safyer, P., & Stein, S. (2018). Letter to Alternative Caregivers of Children Separated from their Parents by the Family Separation Policy. Retrieved from the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health website: https://www.allianceaimh.org/separationistrauma/. Ribaudo, J., Stein, S., & Safyer, P. (2018b). Letter to Agencies Providing Care for Children Separated from their Parents by the Family Separation Policy. Retrieved from the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health website: https://www.allianceaimh.org/separationistrauma/. Danziger, S., Ribaudo, J. Safyer, P. & Hong, M. (2015). A framework for assessing and improving service integration models for high risk infants and toddlers and their families. Consultation report for the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Ann Arbor, MI. HONORS AND AWARDS 2017

Rackham One Term Dissertation Fellowship Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan $9,000

2017

The Life Course: Evolutionary and Ontogenetic Dynamics (LIFE) Fellowship Max Planck Institute for Human Development

2014

Kellogg Child and Family Fellowship W. K. Kellogg Family $16,666

2012

Rackham Regents Fellowship Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan $28,000 and tuition

RESEARCH FUNDING AND GRANTS 2018

Spring/Summer Research Partnership

Paige Safyer, Curriculum Vitae

University of Michigan School of Social Work $8,000 2018

Rackham Conference Travel Grant Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan $1,300

2017

Carol Thiessen Mowbray Research Fund University of Michigan School of Social Work $2,000

2016

University of Michigan Office of Research Small Grants Program “Using functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) to Study the Infant Socioemotional Brain During Face-to-Face Interaction with Depressed and NonDepressed Parents” Collaborator (PI Brenda L. Volling, PhD) $15,000

2015

Strategic Translational Research (STAR) Award “Face-to-Face Neuroscience of the Parent-Infant Dyad” University of Michigan Depression Center $10,000

2015

Rackham Conference Travel Grant Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan $800

2014

Spring/Summer Research Partnership University of Michigan School of Social Work $8,000

2014

Rackham Conference Travel Grant Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan $950

RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS Safyer, P. (October, 2017). Building a Working Model: Developmental Trajectories of Emotion Regulation Across the First Year of Life. Paper presented at the Max Planck Research School on the Life Course, Fall Academy, University of Zurich, Switzerland. Safyer, P. (May, 2017). M(other) Nurture: Exploring the influence of maternal depression on the neural Basis of emotion processing, regulation, and the functional organization of the infant brain. Paper presented at the Max Planck Research School on the Life Course, Spring Academy, Ann Arbor, MI. Paige Safyer, Curriculum Vitae

CLINICAL PRESENTATIONS Stein, S., & Safyer, P. (June, 2018). Psychotherapeutic intervention with a Spanish-Speaking Undocumented Mexican woman and her daughter living in Washtenaw County: A clinical case example of the impact of structural inequalities on individual experience and mental health. Presented at the Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Center of Southeastern Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. Stein, S., & Safyer, P. (April, 2018). Psychotherapeutic intervention with a SpanishSpeaking Undocumented Mexican woman and her daughter living in Washtenaw County: A clinical case example of the impact of structural inequalities on individual experience and mental health. Presented at the University of Michigan Clinical Science Brown Bag, Ann Arbor, MI. POSTER PRESENTATIONS Bader, L.R., Safyer, P., Elhassan, M., Kaciroti, N., Volling, B.L., & Vazquez, D. (June, 2018). Longitudinal Examination of Infant Cortisol Reactivity and Attachment Security at Three, Seven, and Fourteen Months Postpartum. Poster presented at the International Conference on Infant Studies, Philadelphia, PA. Bader, L.R., Safyer, P., Elhassan, M., Kaciroti, N., Volling, B.L., & Vazquez, D. (May, 2018). Trajectories of mother and infant cortisol reactivity related to security of attachment at 14 months postpartum. Poster presented at the World Association of Infant Mental Health, Rome, Italy. Stein, S., Ribaudo, J., Safyer, P., Rosenblum, K.L., & Muzik, M. (May, 2018). The clinical complexities of using an attachment-informed model of child-led play therapy to enhance childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s felt sense of security: The child team component of the mom power program. Poster presented at the World Association of Infant Mental Health, Rome, Italy. Safyer, P., Stevenson, M., & Volling, B. L. (May, 2016). Person-Centered Analyses of Parenting Behaviors with 12-month-old Infants Predict Infant Affect During a Challenging Teaching Task. Poster presented at the International Conference on Infant Studies, New Orleans, LA. Volling, B., Stevenson, M., & Safyer, P. (September, 2015). Activative fathering with 12-monthold infants predicts infant affect and attention during a challenging teaching task. Symposium presentation at the European Conference on Developmental Psychology, Braga, Portugal. Safyer, P., Volling, B. L., Schultheiss, O.C., & Tolman, R.M. (March, 2015). Stories we tell ourselves: Implicit motives and the internal working model. Poster presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, Philadelphia, PA.

Paige Safyer, Curriculum Vitae

Reed, L. A., Tolman, R.M., & Safyer, P. (October, 2014). Too close for comfort: The role of attachment insecurity in intrusive digital media behaviors in dating relationships among college students. Poster presented at the Council on Social Work Education, Tampa, FL. POST-MSW PRACTICE EXPERIENCE 2018-present

Clinical Social Worker University Center for the Child and Family Mary A. Rackham Institute University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Supervisor: Helen Kaplan, LMSW Maintain a case load of families with children ages 4-14. Conduct developmentally appropriate, family, and parent-child clinical interventions. Prepare treatment plans and psychosocial assessments.

2017-present

Clinical Social Worker The Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Center of Southeastern Michigan Ann Arbor, MI Supervisor: Julie Ribaudo, LMSW, IMH-E Maintain a case load of individuals ages 20-60 who have been exposed to trauma. Conduct clinical interventions, prepare treatment plans and psychosocial assessments.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE Fall 2018

Instructor of Record Department of Psychology, University of Michigan Play in Early Childhood Senior Seminar Designed by Instructor

Winter 2016

Graduate Student Instructor Department of Psychology, University of Michigan Social Development

Fall 2015

Graduate Student Instructor Department of Psychology, University of Michigan Introduction to Developmental Psychology

Winter 2015

Graduate Student Instructor Department of Psychology, University of Michigan Psychopathology of Childhood and Adolescence

Fall 2015

Graduate Student Instructor Department of Psychology, University of Michigan

Paige Safyer, Curriculum Vitae

Introduction to Psychology as a Natural Science MENTORSHIP Supervised Research Assistants; trained to collect data using fNIRS imaging software, engage sensitively with infants ages five to eight months and their families, and become reliable in parent-infant interaction coding. 2018-present 2017-present 2017-present 2017-2018 2017-2018

Jonathan Kris, School of Social Work, University of Michigan Kaylee Brown, School of Social Work, University of Michigan Alexander Daoud, School of Social Work, University of Michigan Payton Solk, Undergraduate College, University of Michigan Hilary Lowitz, Undergraduate College, University of Michigan

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE 2016-present Face-to-Face Neuroscience of the Parent-Infant Dyad University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI PI Paige Safyer, MS, LLMSW Role: Principal Investigator Leading a study investigating how early mother-infant interactions contribute to the development of the infant brain. 2015

W.K. Kellogg Foundation University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI PI Sandra Danziger, PhD Role: Graduate Student Research Assistant Contributed to a series of white papers examining how to improve service integration models for high risk infants and toddlers.

2012-present Child Development and Family Systems Lab University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI PI Brenda L. Volling, PhD Role: Graduate Student Research Assistant Participated in several studies including a monograph exploring how the transition to sibling hood effects the family system, a longitudinal study examining the influence of maternal depression on infant self-regulation and attachment, and a review of diverse fathering behaviors. 2012-2014

First-Time Parents Longitudinal Study University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI PI Richard M. Tolman, PhD Role: Graduate Student Research Assistant

Paige Safyer, Curriculum Vitae

Provided research support to a study investigating fathersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; prenatal parenting behaviors to determine the impact of parenthood on fathering motivation 2011-2012

The New School Center for Psychotherapy Research The New School, New York City, NY PI Jeremy Safran, PhD Role: Research Assistant Assisted in an intervention study examining the efficacy of short term brief psychodynamic therapy.

2009-2011

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC PI Lakshmi Yatham, PhD Role: Research Assistant Aided in a study focusing on the development of executive function in school aged children.

2007-2009

Center for Autism Research Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA PI Leslie Rescorla, PhD Role: Research Assistant Facilitated a retrospective study examining the development of language in children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

2007

Perinatal Pathways Lab Columbia University Medical Center PI Catherine Monk, PhD Role: Clinical Research Assistant Provided research support in studies designed to determine the effects of maternal perinatal depression on the developing fetus.

PREVIOUS PRACTICE EXPERIENCE 2013

Child Team Member Mom Power Intervention University of Michigan, Ann Arbor Supervisor: Julie Ribaudo, LMSW, IMH-E Aided in the creation of a training manual for practitioners engaged with the Mom Power Child Team. This is a parent-child attachment-based intervention.

2013

Social Work Intern

Paige Safyer, Curriculum Vitae

The Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Center of Southeastern Michigan Ann Arbor, MI Supervisor: Marnie Leavitt, LMSW Maintained a case load of individuals ages 20-60 who have been exposed to trauma. Conducted clinical interventions, prepare treatment plans and psychosocial assessments. 2009-2011

Crisis Services Responder Vancouver Crisis Centre 763 East Broadway Vancouver, BC Provided support and referral services over the phone to callers of all ages in emotional distress. Responded to youth in crisis through the online teen chat.

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH TRAINING 2018 2018 2017 2017 2015 2015

Dyadic Data Analysis Workshop, Michigan State University fNIRS Symposium and Training Workshop, Neurophotonics Center, Boston University Group Iterative Multiple Model Estimation (GIMME) Workshop, University of Michigan Shining Light on Child Brain Development: fNIRS Workshop, Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan fNIRS Course, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology, Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging Training Course in fMRI, Functional MRI Laboratory, University of Michigan

ADDITIONAL CLINICAL TRAINING 2018 2018 2013 2013 2010

Circle of Security Parenting Facilitator Training, Mohawk University Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for Traumatized Children, University of California, Davis (online training course completed) Trauma Informed Therapy, University of Michigan (minicourse completed) Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (online training course completed) Certificate in Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, Vancouver Crisis Centre

SERVICE 2016-Present 2016-Present 2015-Present 2015 2015 2014-2015 2013-2015

Doctoral Program Faculty-Student Representative Co-founder, PsychOUT (LGBTQ student organization) Member, Graduate Employees Organization, Parenting Caucus Panel member, School of Social Work, Doctoral Student Orientation Panel member, Department of Psychology, Doctoral Student Orientation Secretary, Psychology Graduate Students Association Steward, Graduate Employees Organization

Paige Safyer, Curriculum Vitae

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS Society for Social Work Research National Association of Social Work World Association of Infant Mental Health Society for Research in Child Development Society for Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Michigan Association of Infant Mental Health University of Michigan Depression Center REFERENCES Brenda L. Volling, PhD Professor of Psychology University of Michigan Phone: (734) 763-9719 Email: volling@umich.edu Richard M. Tolman, PhD, LMSW Professor of Social Work University of Michigan Phone: (734) 764-5333 Email: rtolman@umich.edu Julie Ribaudo, LMSW, IMH-E Clinical Associate Professor of Social Work University of Michigan Phone: (734) 936-4949 Email: jribaudo@umich.edu

Paige Safyer, Curriculum Vitae

Paige Safyer

1 Research Statement

The concept of wanting to provide something different, but struggling, is a major theme when it comes to working with parents and children. How can a parent be expected to provide something for their child that they have never experienced themselves? How can we provide an environment where a child, who has long been overlooked, can feel safe enough to express his or her needs? These questions, drawn from my clinical experience, have aided in the design of my research program at the University of Michigan. My overarching research objective is to understand how we make meaning of our relational experiences, and how these narratives in turn influence our understanding of ourselves and our behavior in close relationships. I study these concepts from multiple perspectives using a three-pronged approach: 1. Examining parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; own mental representations about relationships and how this relates to their actual behaviors, 2. Using longitudinal methods to explore the influence of parent-infant interaction on infant development over time, and 3. Utilizing imaging technology to investigate the effects of real time parentinfant interaction on the infant brain. Knowledge gained from a deeper understanding of these constructs will lead to better and more targeted parent-child interventions, as well as creating ways to assess intervention efficacy on a neurophysiological level through pre- and post-testing. My research utilizes a relationship-based perspective and considers all significant figures in a childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life (Volling, Gonzalez, Stevenson, Safyer, & Lee, in press). The parenting literature often reifies traditional gender roles by conflating mothers with primary caregivers and fathers with secondary caregivers, even though the empirical evidence suggests that it is caregiver hierarchy and not gender or shared genetics that ultimately influences development (Abraham, et al., 2014; Bennett, 2003). I utilize a child-focused approach to understand who in the family is important to the child, and then examine how these significant caregivers have influenced the childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sense of self. This method reflects the diversity of family structure in modern society, as well as facilitating a more nuanced interpretation of caregiver-infant interaction. 1. Mental Representations and Parental Behaviors Research has demonstrated that parental representations, or cognitive-relational schemas of caregiving, are predictors of the quality of care a child receives (Main, Kaplan, & Cassidy, 1985). Research based on attachment theory posits that the quality of parent-infant interaction during early childhood leads to the creation of an internal working model, which becomes the way in which an individual understands and responds to intimacy throughout the lifespan (Bowlby, 1979; 1980). These internal models are viewed as the transformation of experienced relational dynamics into implicit cognitive representations of relationships (Bretherton, 2005). The internal working model provides a bridge from relational patterns experienced in infancy to comparable behaviors present in adult romantic relationships, as well as caregiving behaviors (Hazan & Shaver, 1987). Although Bowlby (1980) acknowledged that an individual might have multiple internal working models operating at once, the majority of attachment research has utilized one measure to study the internal working model in one relational context. In my research I am interested in examining the influence of multiple underlying cognitive processes across variable contexts, in order to further understand how cognitive relational schemas come together to form representations of the self and other. One such study investigated connections between adult attachment styles, implicit motives of power and affiliation, and parenting behaviors. This study provides evidence that multiple cognitive schemas influence parenting practices in the first year of infancy. Results also highlighted the existence of gender differences

Paige Safyer

in how these internal models impacted parenting behaviors (Safyer, Volling, Schultheiss, & Tolman, in press). 2. Infant Development within the Caregiving Context Present day research on early childhood has centered on the parent-infant relationship, identifying sensitive caregiving during the first year of life as critical for healthy development. Therefore, the parent-infant relationship should be at the core of work designed to prevent or intervene where neglect or abuse has occurred. However, it is not enough to be cognizant of the importance of the parent-infant relationship. To create increasingly effective interventions, it is vital that we understand the underlying mechanisms involved in the intergenerational transmission of relationship quality. To this end, I have worked on several studies examining the parent-infant relationship. The first study focused on the underlying affective and behavioral mechanisms that contribute to the progression of emotion regulation processes (Safyer, Volling, & Bader, et al., in prep). When caregivers do not aid in the regulation of stressful experiences infants do not learn healthy regulation strategies. This can lead to emotionally reactive children (Nelson & Bosquet, 2000). My research utilizes person-centered analyses to identify maladaptive trajectories of regulation. Another study examined the Mom Power, a parenting support and research intervention program for at-risk mothers and their toddlers housed in the Department of Psychiatry (Ribaudo, Safyer, Stein, Muzik, & Rosenblum, in prep). Mom Power aims to increase maternal sensitivity among high-risk, low-income and trauma exposed mothers. Mothers attend the parenting support group while their children take part in the “child team” a non-directive attachment based play therapy intervention. My colleagues and I observed how models of intervention that target both the parent and child can be extremely effective in creating new relational dynamics. I have also continued to examine these questions clinically through my work as a clinical social worker at the University Center for the Child and Family (UCCF), an institute that offers clinical intervention services for children, adolescents, and their families. Through my work at UCCF I have seen firsthand the influence of parental narratives on the emerging selfhood of the child. Through utilizing play therapy along with parental guidance techniques, I know that maladaptive narratives can be altered and relationships can be repaired. 3. Infant Emotional Brain Development Through these research experiences, I realized that to truly understand infant development I needed to learn about the mechanisms underlying the intergenerational transmission of beliefs and behavior, and how these mechanisms contribute to the creation of a child’s understanding of the world. Following my growing interest in infant brain development my research now utilizes functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to study infant emotional brain development in the context of parent-infant interaction. This relatively new technology is unique in that infants can be imaged safely while interacting in real time with their parents. I am currently examining infant brain activation during dyadic interactions with their mothers. In doing so, I will be able to investigate maternal-infant attunement as well as further understand the mechanisms involved in the transmission of cognitions and behavior. Instead of being thought of as a “natural” progression, brain development should be viewed as a reflection of a relational experience (Gunnar, 1998; Schore, 2005). This study includes depressed mothers to explore whether neural networks differ for infants of depressed vs. healthy control mothers (Safyer et al., in prep-a). This project will examine perspectives on the parent-infant dyad with brain-based models to

Paige Safyer

inform risk assessment and relationship optimization for better family functioning. Similar models could be used to examine the impact of abuse, neglect, and trauma on the infant brain. Trauma and the Impact of Structural Inequalities As a clinical social worker at two very different agencies, UCCF and the Women’s Center of Southeastern Michigan, I see firsthand the impact of structural inequalities on mental health. At UCCF my clients are predominantly white, from the Ann Arbor area, affiliated with the University of Michigan and have insurance. The Women’s Center offers sliding scale services so the majority of clients do not have insurance and can often only afford to pay one to five dollars per session. For my clients at the Women’s Center, their experiences with financial instability, racism, and legal status define their existence. One of the families I work with is undocumented, and they live in fear of being discovered and deported. With the children in these families the coping mechanisms they have created contribute to their survival, and asking them to share during therapy sessions is a very different process than in my sessions at UCCF. I believe that for therapy to be effective these issues need to be acknowledged and different approaches need to be utilized. For my undocumented clients, the volatile political climate has contributed to their cycle of traumatization. As someone working with the undocumented community I was devastated when the government began separating immigrant children from their parents at the border. I collaborated with other infant mental health clinicians and researchers along with the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health to create the story and coloring book “Cecilia y la Larga Caminata (Cecilia and the Long Walk)” (Ribaudo, Stein, & Safyer, 2018a) to aid these children in understanding what happened to them. We also wrote letters to the foster and alternative caregivers of these children (Ribaudo, Safyer, & Stein, 2018) as well as an additional letter to social workers in agencies in contact with the kids (Ribaudo, Stein, & Safyer, 2018b). These materials were distributed nationally. Future Directions My career goal is to become a professor at a School of Social Work. I want to teach both human behavior and practice courses, and make research meaningful for people who will be on the frontlines of mental health care in this country. I hope to design a parent-infant intervention that focuses specifically on dyadic parent-child interactions and maladaptive regulation strategies among children. In infancy, this would involve parental responding during games like peek-aboo and soothing the infant when distressed. In early childhood, the intervention would focus on play and encouraging creativity through arts-based activities. I envision this intervention as an addition to interventions that address parental support and resource inequality, and could be something that parents could practice at home with their children. An additional goal of mine is to use fNIRS technology to create a measure of emotion regulation in infancy and early childhood that can be used to assess intervention efficacy. Although emotion regulation is not the only factor in development, it is the major task of early childhood and healthy emotion regulation strategies have been shown to mediate the effects of trauma, family stress, and poverty in early childhood, making it critical to assess this construct in an effective way (Blair & Raver, 2012). Social workers have a long history of advocating for those who are unable to advocate for themselves. In the case of infants, a deeper understanding of their needs and developing minds would allow us to do so in a superior way.

Paige Safyer

1 Teaching Statement

One of my main career goals is to help educate and mentor the next generation of social workers. Social workers are our frontline of mental health care and it is critical they have the tools they need to provide effective clinical intervention. As a professor, I hope to bridge the gap between research and practice for my students. During my time at the University of Michigan I designed my own undergraduate course, The Meaning of Play in Early Childhood, and served as a Graduate Student Instructor for four courses including Introduction to Psychology as a Natural Science, Psychopathology of Childhood and Adolescence, Introduction to Developmental Psychology, and Social Development. Across these various courses I found myself emphasizing similar themes that have formed the foundation of my teaching philosophy: Self-reflection, empathy, critical thinking, and creativity. In this teaching statement, I will illustrate how I have used these themes in the classroom. Self-Reflection In engaging with academic research, students are often confronted with the concept of normativity. The majority of social science research is based on Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic societiesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and these populations are presented as the norm. I begin each semester of my courses by having my students read the opinion piece Most People are not WEIRD (Henrich, Heine, & Norenzayan, 2010). This article explains that American undergraduates are some of the most psychologically unusual people in the world and should not be the standard in which others are judged when it comes to human behavior. Through dialogue prompted by the article, students begin the process of reflecting on what has become normalized in their own lives, and the origin of these ideas. As the WEIRD concept arises throughout the semester, students gain confidence in their ability to critically analyze the worldview, samples, and assumptions made in presumed â&#x20AC;&#x153;objectiveâ&#x20AC;? scientific research. For example, a dialogue in my Introduction to Psychology course focused on the concept of intelligence. Although students agreed that IQ tests are biased, they all had different ideas about what makes a person intelligent. In asking them to reflect on why they value certain types of intelligence, it became clear that the kind of intelligence they respected most was what had been emphasized by their family system. Because they understood that their own opinions were also subjective, they were more easily able to ascribe merit to multiple forms intelligences. Empathy Once students begin the process of self-reflection and recognize that their worldview and the perspectives of academic scholars are influenced by context, culture, and identity, they are more open to alternative views and understanding one another. I encourage students to learn about each other through small group discussions, group projects, and contributing to the course website forums. One of my most memorable class discussions in Introduction to Developmental Psychology focused on the topic of cosleeping. The majority of the students began the discussion vehemently against the idea of parents sleeping in the same bed as their infants and children, although the assigned article presented the concept as a viable option that could contribute positively to infant

Paige Safyer

development. It was only when some students spoke about their own cosleeping experiences that the rest of the class began to reconsider their negative reactions to the article, and acknowledge that their ideas of parenting were firmly rooted in a dominant culture that values individualism. From this experience, I learned the importance of making the material as “real” as possible for students. To this end, in addition to having students read articles, I show documentaries on the various topics we discuss and bring in guest speakers who have had real-world experience with the material. A central value of the social work profession is respect and dignity of all people, including those who are different than you, which often requires acknowledging one’s privilege and wrestling with our own subjective views of reality. As a white woman who has taught at majority white institutions, I want to ensure that my students are introduced to and learn from a diverse range of voices. My students and I both work hard to create a space for conversations about privilege and respecting differences, laying ground rules at the beginning of the semester and checking in with each other during difficult discussions. Additionally, I model empathy through my interactions with students—acknowledging that they have lives outside of the classroom. Some of the most gratifying experiences I have had as a teacher are when I have been able to use my role to support students in dealing with tough issues in their lives outside of the classroom. During my first semester as an instructor, the father of one of my students passed away. It was clear he was struggling, and I supported him through the process of notifying his professors, asking for extensions, and communicating with his academic advisor. Since then, I have had students come to me who are dealing with various mental health issues or incidents of interpersonal violence. I have used my training as a clinical social worker to connect them with resources so they receive the assistance they need. I believe that the process of learning can only begin in a safe environment, and that my role of instructor and care for my students does not end at the classroom door. Critical Thinking Through confronting their assumptions about themselves and the world around them, students begin to develop critical thinking skills through engaging with class material. This was never more salient than when I taught Psychopathology of Childhood and Adolescence. I challenged my students to critique the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and whether these diagnostic labels should be applied to children. Once again, my students were confronting the concept of normative standards of behavior. Discussions on the authority of DSM took place many times over the course of the semester. It was difficult for students to grasp the concept that an instrument can be flawed but also useful, as long as it is not seen as infallible. I struggled to find the best way to convey the influence of both cultural and developmental contexts on diagnostic criteria. The majority of the students in the class wanted to become clinicians and were grappling with how to choose the best treatment for their future clients in the face of such uncertainty. A turning point came when I played for them a podcast episode that focused on the history of homosexuality being categorized as a mental illness. I also assigned a historical news article about “drapetomania”—once thought of as a disease that caused slaves to run away from their masters. Through these examples students were able to view the DSM as an ever-evolving reflection of culture and the state of our knowledge regarding mental illness, and not an unfailing doctrine.

Paige Safyer

Creativity Lastly, I believe that it is incredibly important to nurture student’s creativity and provide opportunities to process information in a multitude of ways. Learning is most powerful when it is a process of self-discovery versus taking in judgements made by others. In designing my class focusing on the meaning of play, it became especially important for me to provide experiential learning opportunities to mirrored the course topics and allow students to experience “play” from the perspective of a child. At the beginning of each class, I play the “doodle game,” during which I hand out squiggles on a piece of paper and each student will create a picture from the squiggle. This is a game I often use with children in play therapy, and in class it serves the same function—to underscore the potential in imagination and that there is no right or wrong when it comes to creating. During the course, they also spend time playing with “newer” electronic toys versus older wooden toys to analyze the impact of technology on imagination, and making puppets to understand the concept of displacement. Additionally, the final assignment is a project in which I meet with each student individually several times to co-construct an assignment that is meaningful to them. In this way, they are given ownership of their learning experience and supported through the creative process. Mentoring In addition to working as an instructor, I have formally and informally mentored many students throughout my time as a graduate student. My relationships with my own mentors has been a major factor in my success and growth as an undergraduate and graduate student, and I want to provide this same service to others. I make time to meet with students individually to discuss research ideas, progress in their courses, and any challenges they are facing in their program. I get coffee regularly with the new students in my lab, and they often email me with questions about when to take certain course or how to engage with various professors. I also frequently meet individually with each of my research assistants and have supported them throughout the process of applying to jobs and graduate school. I encourage their ideas and input on the projects they are working on, and the idea of research as a collaborative process. At the core of my research, clinical work, and teaching experiences is my belief in the power of relationships and how integral a strong connection is to any type of growth process. Teaching Interests As a faculty member, I look forward to teaching new courses and engaging with students across disciplines. Given my interdisciplinary training and research interests in infancy and social-emotional development, I am able to teach courses related to both of these topics as well as additional Human Behavior and Social Environment (HBSE) courses. As a clinical social worker, I am also excited to teach interpersonal practice and clinical intervention courses at both the masters and doctoral level.