Professor Michael Wade, Ph.D., has published a new text book with co-author Dr. David Sugden of the University of Leeds (UK). The book is titled, Typical and Atypical Motor Development, and provides explanations for motor development with contrastive theoretical, empirical, and experiential view points. They describe motor development from birth to early adulthood and how impactful different resources may be for a young developing person.

School of Kinesiology alumna Azizah Jor'dan, Ph.D., has been selected to participate in the prestigious National Institute on Aging (NIA) Summer Institute on Aging Research, to be held July 14-19 on the National Institutes of Health Campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The program includes lectures, seminars, and small group discussions related to aging. Jor'dan is one of only 32 participants selected among a group of outstanding applicants. She is currently a post-doctoral fellow in gerontology at Harvard Medical School.

Jor'dan graduated from the School of Kinesiology in 2012 and was an advisee of professor Michael Wade.

Thomas A. Stoffregen, Ph.D., director of the Affordance Perception-Action Laboratory and professor of kinesiology, along with four colleagues, have had an article, "Getting Your Sea Legs," accepted for publication in PLOS ONE, an international, peer-reviewed, open-access, online publication that features reports of original research from all disciplines within science and medicine.

The article reports research conducted at the beginning of the Spring 2012 voyage of Semester at Sea, and was conducted on board the M/V Explorer as it travelled from the Bahamas to the Commonwealth of Dominica. The research team conducted the first controlled experiments relating body sway to the processes by which novice mariners "get their sea legs."

Jürgen Konczak, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology and director of the Human Sensorimotor Control Laboratory, was recently invited by the Dean of the Graduate School, Henning Schroeder, to serve on the University's Interdisciplinary Faculty Advisory Committee. This group will report to the Dean of the Graduate School and the Provost's Interdisciplinary Team. It is part of the wider effort by the university to improve and promote interdisciplinary graduate education across academic units within the University.

Konczak will also serve as the School of Kinesiology's Director of Graduate Studies, starting in the fall, and already directs the interdisciplinary graduate minor in Clinical Physiology and Movement Science.

The Center for Clinical Movement Science (CCMS) hosted its annual Research Day on May 3 in Walter Library. This event was an unparalleled opportunity for the larger CCMS community to convene and present research, exchange ideas, and discuss the newest developments in clinical physiology and movement science. There was a poster session, a set of presentations, and a keynote speaker (Christy Ludlow, Ph.D., from James Madison University). Participants ranged from graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and faculty.

School of Kinesiology faculty and students that participated are noted in the program on the right (click to enlarge).

Thomas Stoffregen, Ph.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology, gave a talk at New York University in the Department of Psychology on April 25. His talk was titled, "How Plato is used to brainwash helpless toddlers."

Stoffregen has also given this lecture in 2011 at the 16th International Conference on Perception and Action, in Ouro Preto, Brazil. That audience reflected on his talk and described it as a "heartfelt, incredibly serious, and also hilarious, talk on this subject."

Joshua Aman, Ph.D., post-doctoral research associate in the Human Sensorimotor Control Laboratory (HSCL), has been awarded an international travel grant from the Global Programs and Strategy Alliance to support his travels to the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Genoa, Italy this summer. Aman, along with Jürgen Konczak, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology and director of the HSCL, have been invited to attend a workshop that examines proprioceptive dysfunction and the role of robotic rehabilitation in restoring proprioceptive-based sensorimotor function. The interdisciplinary workshop convenes a small group of invited international experts with diverse backgrounds and is part of a collaborative effort between IIT and the University of Minnesota.

School of Kinesiology alumna Azizah Jor'dan, Ph.D., was recently selected by the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) to receive the Outstanding Student Paper Award in the Developmental Perspectives: Motor Control, Coordination, Rehabilitation (DP:MCCR) topic area. This award recognizes meritorious research by student members of NASPSPA.

As NASPSPA's 2013 recipient, Jor'dan will be recognized at the annual business meeting during this year's conference in New Orleans. Along with the distinction of this award, Dr. Jor'dan will receive a plaque, a $350 award, the opportunity to present her research at the Canadian Society of Sport Psychology and Psychomotor Learning (SCAPPS), and funding for her travel to SCAPPS.

Thomas Stoffregen, Ph.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology, along with doctoral candidate Yi-Chou Chen, alumni Fu-Chen Chen, Ph.D., and Taiwanese colleagues, are to publish in, Gait and Posture. Their contribution is titled, "Cognitive and postural precursors of motion sickness in adolescent boxers."

Thomas Stoffregen, Ph.D., professor in the School of Kinesiology, will be participating at a free exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of the Arts (MIA) entitled, "Superimpostor."

Minnesota artists, David Bowen and Brett Smith, create kinetic sculptures through the use of computer imaging and cinematic illusions. Stoffregen will comment on this exhibit Thursday, March 21, at 7:00 p.m.