The Academic Minute for 2018.05.14-05.18

Academic Minute from 5.14 – 5.18

Monday, May 14th
Elizabeth Kiester – Albright College
Religion and Policy on Attitudes Towards LGBTQ Rights
Dr. Elizabeth Kiester, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Albright College, discusses why what we believe and who we know can affect our attitudes towards individuals who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ).

Elizabeth Kiester specializes in Gender and Family Studies particularly within labor market organizations and globally with regard to immigration.  Research projects include understanding the employment barriers mothers face when searching for a job and how these barriers differ based on state context.  She has also published work that examines the importance of narrative formation when it comes to the successful passage of immigration legislation.  Her most recent project examines the way in which religion acts as a mechanism for what we believe while state polices act as mechanisms for who we know.  Together, these mechanisms have the ability to shape our attitudes pertaining to same-sex marriage and adoption, anti-discrimination legislation, and pro-equality measures.

Tuesday, May 15th
Marie Helweg-Larsen – Dickinson College
Hygge
Professor Helweg-Larsen’s research is in the areas of social psychology, health psychology and cross-cultural psychology – specifically why smart people do dumb thing and how to make them stop. She is currently examining in the US and Denmark how smokers react to being stigmatized.

Wednesday, May 16th
Phillip Zoladz – Ohio Northern University
Susceptibility to PTSD
Phillip Zoladz, an Associate Professor of Psychology at Ohio Northern University, received his Ph.D. in behavioral neuroscience from the University of South Florida in 2008. Dr. Zoladz’s expertise is in the areas of stress, emotional memory formation, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Dr. Zoladz oversees two research laboratories at Ohio Northern University, one involving rodent research and one involving human research. The research in both laboratories is focused on the neurobehavioral consequences of psychological stress and has received funding from the National Institutes of Health.

Thursday, May 17th
Michael McGrann – William Jessup University
Songbirds and the Effects of Climate Change
During his career, Dr. McGrann has participated in a wide range of conservation and applied ecological research, much of it along the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). He has authored numerous research studies and is involved in a wide range of conservation and applied ecological research.

Dr. McGrann is heading up the new Institute for Biodiversity and the Environment (IBE) at William Jessup University, which launched in late April. The program consists of a diverse interdisciplinary research agenda and the centerpiece of this agenda is the Pacific Crest Trail Biodiversity Megatransect.

The program is designed to inform and motivate the conservation, preservation, and restoration of biodiversity, and the environment upon which it depends, through research, education, and the dissemination of knowledge.

Friday, May 18th
Beverly Thompson – Siena College
Women Covered in Ink
Dr. Thompson earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from the New School for Social Research in New York City. Her main research focus is in the area of visual sociology. She utilizes documentary filmmaking as a method for her sociological research.