Human Development & Family Science News
Study Identifies Key Components for Prevention, Intervention Programs for Adolescent Smoking in China
Falk College professors, Ambika Krishnakumar (Child and Family Studies) and Lutchmie Narine (Public Health) authored “Parenting practices and adolescent smoking in mainland China: The mediating effect of smoking-related cognitions,” which appeared in the August 2014 edition of the Journal of Adolescence. In collaboration with Dr. Yan Wang, Drs. Krishnakumar and Narine examined the direct and indirect associations of general and smoking-specific parenting practices with Chinese adolescents’ smoking behaviors. Results suggest that parenting practices and smoking-related cognitions are critical components to be incorporated in prevention and intervention programs for adolescent smoking in China.
Falk College Welcomes New Faculty
As we begin the Fall 2014 semester, Syracuse University’s Falk College is pleased to announce the appointment of five new outstanding faculty members: Beth Dixon, Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern, Margaret Voss, Patrick Walsh, and Jennifer Wilkins. We also welcome Mine Göl-Güven as visiting assistant professor of child and family studies. Their exceptional wealth of academic and practical experience in their respective fields is complemented by their passion for teaching, research, scholarship and service. Each of them will offer students tremendous opportunities for learning inside and outside of the classroom. We invite you to read more about their accomplishments, and areas for potential collaboration
Dyshawn Davis, Senior CFS, Impacts Syracuse On, Off The field
CFS senior student-athlete, Dyshawn Davis, is a senior linebacker for the SU Men’s Football team. He spent the summer putting his classroom skills to work, working with children as part of the Building Men program, an educational outreach pilot program in Syracuse designed to help young men learn to make good decisions and develop character and leadership. Davis was one of five Orange players to intern with the organization, and it’s an experience, he said, that impacted him as much as it did the kids.
CFS alumna honored for pro bono immigration efforts
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) honored CFS alumna, Diane Chappell-Daly, with the 2014 Michael Maggio Memorial Pro Bono Award for outstanding efforts in providing pro bono representation in the immigration field during AILA’s Annual Conference in Boston, MA in June.
In addition to volunteering her time and expertise as an attorney, she organizes others to successfully offer an immigration clinic with the recently formed Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP). Recognizing a great unmet legal need, Ms. Chappell-Daly proposed to create a clinic for immigration law practitioners to provide pro bono legal services to the community and volunteered to take the lead on the project. She hosted Research Colloquiums with the local immigration bar to recruit volunteers, helped design a clinic that would be easy for local solo practitioners to join, and helped design an intake, which is conducted by volunteer law students at the clinic to gather the most pertinent information so that the attorney can provide a truly in-depth consultation at the clinic.
The first immigration clinic was held last year and was a tremendous success: seven pro bono immigration attorneys assisted 25 clients over the course of four hours. Since then, there have been three more clinics and her leadership in this program continues; she has been unwavering in her commitment to helping expand pro bono representation to deserving non-citizens in the immigration field.
She is described as going the extra mile by doing all of her pro bono work and organizing in her free time while keeping her small law firm running. She cannot delegate pro bono work to an associate or large staff but is fueled solely by her own initiative. As one fellow AILA member put it, “Diane’s career has been a true embodiment of AILA’s mission statement to promote justice in the immigration field. Though she has never been one to seek recognition, the depth of her commitment to pro bono services and the value of her contributions is well-recognized in our local legal community.”
She holds a B.S. from Bucknell University, an M.A. in Child and Family Studies from Syracuse University’s Falk College, and a J.D. (cum laude) from Syracuse University College of Law.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice, and enhance the professional development of its members.
Falk College Seed Grants awarded for 2014-15
Each year, the David B. Falk College Research Center, in collaboration with the Dean’s Office, awards seed grants on a competitive basis to assist faculty with completing preparatory work for research projects that have a high likelihood to compete for external funding. The 2014-15 seed grant recipients include:
Development and evaluation of a mind-body awareness intervention to enhance self-regulation as a mechanism to promote healthy weight among young children.
Dessa Bergen-Cico, assistant professor, Public Health
Rachel Razza, assistant professor, Child and Family Studies
Cultivating food justice: using photovoice to document the outcomes of a pilot food system intervention program for youth
Evan Weissman, assistant professor, Food Studies
Housing and LGBTQ youth
Maria Brown, professor of practice, School of Social Work and Aging Studies Institute
Deborah Coolhart, assistant professor, Marriage and Family Therapy
How do Iraqi refugees experience and make sense of family relationships as they resettle in a host country?
Rashmi Gangamma, assistant professor, Marriage and Family Therapy
CFS Awards Presentation, Poster Symposium Honors Student Accomplishments
The Department of Child & Family Studies (CFS) held its annual Student Award Ceremony and Student Internship Poster Symposium at the Bernice M. Wright Child Development Laboratory School this spring. Undergraduate and graduate students majoring in child and family studies were recognized for excellence in many areas.
CFS students also presented highlights of their semester-long internships and related special projects during this event attended by faculty, staff, students, internship supervisors, community partners and family members and friends.
A Reason to Smile on South Campus
The recent gift of a generous Syracuse University alumna and her family is bringing a big smile to the Bernice M. Wright (BMW) Child Development Laboratory School every day.
Literally.
Earlier this month, a 12-foot blue and orange ‘happy face’ sculpture was installed outside of the BMW Lab School on South Campus, a gift from Shelly and Scot Fisher. Shelly is an alumna of the Newhouse School as is their son, Sam. The artist, Scott Gerber, created the piece in his studio in Sarasota, Florida. In the near future, four of his full-body sculptures will appear on New York City’s Riverwalk.
The SU version of the happy face sculpture has a front that is blue and back that is orange. The face is four feet in diameter. Its finish has the same paint used on Learjets, making it weatherproof for Syracuse winters. According to BMW director, Daria Webber ’84, G’89, the sculpture will quickly become a defining feature of the school’s landscape when the new semester begins in August.
“What a wonderful first greeting as children, families, staff, and visitors arrive to our preschool,” says Webber. “This sculpture truly reflects the joyful nature of the work we do with children in our classrooms.”
On the day of the sculpture’s arrival, the students spent the morning on the front lawn exploring it. “The very first child who saw it ran into the school excitedly and said, ‘I just saw a happy face outside!’ At this point, teachers are thinking how it might be incorporated into their activities. It may involve a project sculpting clay in our new art studio in the fall,” adds Webber.
The Bernice M. Wright (BMW) Child Development Laboratory School serves children of diverse backgrounds and abilities between the ages of two and five years old. Located in the Falk College’s Department of Child and Family Studies, the BMW Lab School was founded in 1970 through the joint efforts of Syracuse University students, who were parents of young children, and the College for Human Development . The Child Development Laboratory School serves Syracuse University as a laboratory school in early childhood education and research.
Child and Family Studies majors inducted into Kappa Omicron Nu honor society
The Department of Child and Family Studies (CFS) honored 8 high-achieving students on April 25 at the inaugural induction of the Kappa Omicron Nu, Omicron Alpha Iota chapter honor society—the second induction of the national honor society program for CFS majors at Syracuse University. The mission of Kappa Omicron Nu is to develop empowered leaders who use an integrative approach to enhance quality of living through excellence in scholarship, leadership, and research. Students were selected on the basis of academic excellence in the major. The honor society’s purpose is to recognize and support academic excellence while promoting the ideals of service and leadership. Matthew Mulvaney, associate professor and Kappa Omicron Nu advisor, conducted the ceremony.
The students inducted into the honor society include: Sarah Benjamin, Jenna Chondris, Lexy Davis, Kendall DmochFagan, Emily Lord, Rebecca Rothstein, Rachel Zecher, and Emily Zimmerman.
Rachel Razza Recognized with 2014 Syracuse University Teaching Award
Rachel Razza, Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Child & Family Studies in the Falk College, was named a Syracuse University 2014 Teaching Recognition Award as part of the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professorship Program. This honor recognizes excellence in teaching innovation, effectiveness in communicating with students and the lasting value of courses. She will be honored at a ceremony on April 21.
A member of the Falk College since 2007, the primary focus of Dr. Razza’s scholarly work is children’s self-regulation, a multifaceted construct that encompasses a variety of skills underlying children’s ability to monitor cognitive strategies and adapt behavior to fit situational demands. Her work explores associations among different facets of self-regulation, contextual predictors of self-regulation, and implications of various self-regulatory skills for children’s school readiness and later school success. She is particularly interested in specifying these pathways among at-risk children, as these children are particularly at-risk for self-regulatory deficits.
Her recent work examines mindful yoga as a potential intervention strategy to enhance self-regulation among young children. This May, she will debut a new course she created entitled, Mindfulness in Children and Youth designed for undergrads and graduate students As well as practitioners and teachers. The course will include online and classroom components and will provide students a foundation in mindfulness practice among children and youth. The content focuses on the role of mindfulness in child and youth development and its specific benefits. She earned a Ph.D. and master of science in human development and family studies from The Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor of arts in psychology from the State University of New York at Geneseo.
Five Falk College Students Named 2013-14 Remembrance Scholars
Each year, 35 Syracuse University Remembrance Scholarships are awarded to undergraduate students on the basis of distinguished academic achievement, citizenship, and service to community. Five Falk College students have been awarded this prestigious honor for the 2014-15 academic year. They include:
- Fergus Barrie, Sport Management
- Miho Hatanaka, Nutrition
- Sara Mileski, Child & Family Studies
- John Rodgers, Nutrition
- Lauren Strand, Sport Management
“To be named a Remembrance Scholar is one of the highest honors at Syracuse University that recognizes students’ outstanding academic achievement and service to others, which is consistent with the Falk College’s priorities for all of its students. We are very proud of Fergus, Miho, Sara, John and Lauren—and all of this year’s scholars,” notes Diane Lyden Murphy, dean, Falk College.
The Remembrance Scholarships were established by Syracuse University to honor and remember the 35 students studying abroad with Syracuse University who were among the 270 men, women, and children killed in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988.
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