Chris Reiff from the School of Kinesiology's Laboratory of Integrative Human Physiology (LIHP) has been awarded an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) grant to support his research project titled "Differences in Caloric Expenditure in Standing versus Sitting Desks."
Congratulations, Chris!
Family Social Science professor Bill Doherty is quoted in an article on lavish children's birthday parties.
Parents, unite! Ban birthday party blowouts
Stuff (New Zealand) May 7, 2008
Anita Bendickson, a long-time self-defense instructor in the University's Physical Activity Program, has recently been featured in a number of WCCO News stories. These stories detail important information on defending against attackers.
Police: Woman jumps out window fleeing from rapist
WCCO News (Minn.) May 5, 2008
Self-defense online tutorial
WCCO News (Minn.) May 5, 2008
Groping Don Shelby and YouTube (Esme Murphy's blog)
WCCO News (Minn.) May 5, 2008
Self-defense expert demonstrates the basics
WCCO News (Minn.) May 6, 2008
Family Social Science student Julie Zaloudek’s proposal "BEM sex role inventory and Christian Protestants’ perceptions of God (Jesus)" will receive a 2008 Fichter Research Grant equaling $10,325.
The Fichter Grant is awarded by the Association for the Sociology of Religion (ASR), an international scholarly association that seeks to advance theory and research in the sociology of religion. The Association encourages and communicates research that ranges widely across the multiple themes and approaches in the study of religion, and is a focal point for comparative, historical, and theoretical contributions to the field.
Congratulations, Julie!
Field Coordinator MJ Gilbert (Social Work), along with Sarah Axtell (Family Social Science) has accepted the position of co-chair of the University's Transgender Commission. The commission is associated with the GLBTA Programs Office, and reports to the Vice President and Vice Provost for Equity and Diversity.
The University of Minnesota Transgender Commission works to create equity, access, and an inclusive environment for people of all genders through education, advocacy, and institutional change. The Commission strives to honor transgender people and celebrate gender diversity; make visible the systems of gender that profoundly affect all our lived experiences; and eliminate the discrimination faced by transgender and gender non-conforming students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community members.
More information about the Transgender Commission can be found at http://glbta.umn.edu/trans. Anyone interested in the work of the commission, or in becoming involved, should contact MJ at 612-624-4259 or mgilbert@umn.edu.
Sara Axtell, Community-Campus Health Outreach Liaison in the School of Social Work, has received an Outstanding Partners in Engagement award from the Campus Community Coordinators Alliance. Sara received the award for facilitating more than 70 new collaborations between individual and organizational partners to enhance the education of health professionals at the University and to improve the health of Minnesota communities.
Congratulations, Sara!
Associate Professor Liz Lightfoot (Social Work), who is in Namibia on a Fulbright Scholarship, was the keynote speaker at the Namibia Social Work Association annual meeting held on April 15, World Social Work Day. She spoke on “Social workers making a world of difference: Social workers as leaders in social development." Liz also has made presentations in the last few months at events sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the African Girls Scholarship Program, the University of Namibia, and local community agencies.
In 2007-08, six undergraduate research assistants have received awards from the University to support their research in the School of Kinesiology's Affordance Perception-Action Laboratory (APAL). These competitive awards, from the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), have been made to Elizabeth deSanto, Mallory Dzubay, Kyle Elm, Zoe Fung, Christie Pelzer, and Alison Smith.
Please join us in congratulating the APAL and these exceptional undergrads!
George Veletsianos (Ph.D. candidate, learning technologies), Cassie Scharber (Ph.D. candidate, learning technologies and literacy), and Assistant Professor Aaron Doering, have contributed a paper titled "When Sex, Drugs, and Violence Enter the Classroom: Conversations between Adolescent Social Studies Students and a Female Pedagogical Agent" for the latest issue of Interacting with Computers.
The paper investigates the discourse between a female conversational pedagogical agent and 59 adolescents in the context of a social studies lesson. A close look at learner–agent discourse revealed that learners readily misuse and abuse virtual characters while treating them as subordinate and inferior objects.
Veletsianos, G., Scharber, C., & Doering, A. (2008). When sex, drugs, and violence enter the classroom: Conversations between adolescent social studies students and a female pedagogical agent. Interacting with Computers, 20(3), 292-301.
Frank Moe, Kinesiology Ph.D. student and Minnesota state legislator from Bemidji, has been awarded a 2008 Bush Leadership Fellowship. Frank is pursuing a Ph.D. in Education-Recreation, Park, and Leisure Studies and is advised by Professor Keith Russell.
The fellowships, presented by the Bush Foundation, support full-time academic or self-designed study in a wide range of fields including educational policy and leadership, immigrant business development, public health, ecological education and improvement, and Native American culture and language preservation. Bush Fellows include women and men in such fields as public service, education, government, health, business, engineering, architecture, science, farming, forestry, law, trade unions, law enforcement, journalism, and social work.
Congratulations Frank!
Two Ph.D. candidates in the School of Kinesiology, Drew Bailey and Jung Hyun Kim, have been awarded Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships for 2008-09 from the Graduate School. These competitive, prestigious, all-University fellowships are designed to support outstanding Ph.D. candidates in devoting full time to their dissertation writing and research. They carry a nine-month stipend of $22,000 plus tuition for thesis credits and/or required seminars during the academic year.
Drew Bailey, student in Education-Recreation, Park, and Leisure Studies, emphasis Outdoor Education/Recreation, is advised by Associate Professor Keith Russell. His research topic, Cultivating Wisdom through a Service-Learning Experience, explores how alternative types of education may contribute to the development of wisdom in young people. In his fellowship application, Drew writes, "If the future is plagued with conflict, the instability is not something that exists 'out there somewhere' but a current that flows from inside individuals. To ensure both individual and social well-being, it may be necessary to not only teach students to recall facts and to think critically, but to think wisely as well."
Jung Hyun (Kenny) Kim is a Kinesiology student whose emphasis area is Exercise Physiology. He is advised by Professor Arthur Leon and Professor Victor Koscheyev. His research topic is Regulation of an Energy-Efficient Physiologically Designed Cooling Garment through a Finger Calorimeter Feedback System for Thermal Comfort During Extravehicular Activity (EVA). He is investigating optimal cooling regimes imposed by a cooling garment with participants at different modes and intensities of work as an analog for astronaut thermal comfort under different levels of exertion during EVA. A second aim of his study is to develop a physiological model of a finger calorimeter feedback system as an indicator of human thermal status while working in a protective garment. Kenny writes, "This research will . . . help to better understand human thermoregulatory responses and provide physiological principles for designing a cooling garment."
Tucker Center Associate Director Nicole LaVoi was interviewed on local radio station FM107 on Thursday, May 1. Nicole was discussing the Tucker Center's recent report on girls and physical activity.
Assistant Professor Mistilina Sato, Assistant Professor Benjamin Jacobs, and Professor Patricia Avery published “Preparing Minnesota Teachers for Diverse Contexts” [PDF] in the Spring 2008 issue of CURA Reporter. The article summarizes initial findings from an ongoing study being conducted by the Minnesota Teacher Education Research Consortium (MNTERC)—a team of researchers from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minnesota State University-Mankato, and the College of St. Catherine—on how teacher preparation experiences contribute to the instructional practices of teachers in Minnesota’s increasingly diverse schools. The first phase of the project was supported by a Faculty Interactive Research Program grant from the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs here at the University. Other members of the research team include Mary Bents (UMN), Linda Distad (St. Kate’s), Jane Gilles (UMN), Taeho Jung (UMN), Daria Paul Dona (MSU-Mankato), Maia Sheppard (UMN), and Ken Vos (St. Kate’s).
Announcing a conference on Challenges and Tensions in International Research Collaborations, at the University of Minnesota, October 2 and 3, 2008. International research collaborations are expanding rapidly, but they involve certain challenges. How are cross-national collaborations affected by fundamental differences in the way research is organized and funded? in cultural expectations? in laws and regulations? in national systems of graduate education and postdoctoral training? Conference speakers have experience in international research collaborations in over 60 countries throughout Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America.
Registration is open now. Space is limited, so register early: www.international.umn.edu/oriconf
Questions? Contact Professor Melissa Anderson at 612-624-5717 or mand@umn.edu.
This event is sponsored by the U.S. Office of Research Integrity and the University of Minnesota.
Assistant Professor Bic Ngo (Curriculum and Instruction) has been named one of the University’s Interdisciplinary Graduate Faculty Teaching Fellows for 2008-10. Interdisciplinary Graduate Faculty Teaching Fellowships are intended to foster and support best practices in interdisciplinary graduate research, teaching, and writing at the University. Faculty fellows engage with each other as members of a mutual interdisciplinary intellectual community while simultaneously working to develop and teach new interdisciplinary graduate dissertation seminars. The seminars seek to exemplify best practices in interdisciplinary graduate education and to serve as institutional models for interdisciplinary pedagogy and dissertation writing support.
