The Academic Minute for 2020.07.27-2020.07.31

The Academic Minute from 07.27 – 07.31

Monday, July 27th
Trysh Travis – University of Florida
Magical Thinking
I’m a cultural and literary historian who focuses on gender and popular cultures in the 20th-century United States. I was trained in the historical study of popular media forms, and in graduate school developed a side interest in the culture of addiction and recovery. I combined these two interests in my first book, The Language of the Heart: 12-Step Recovery from AA to Oprah Winfrey (University of North Carolina Press, 2009).

Tuesday, July 28th
Gina Baleria – Sonoma State University
Digital Literacy
Gina Baleria, Ed.D., is an Assistant Professor of Journalism, Media Writing, & Digital Media in the Department of Communication & Media Studies at Sonoma State University. She earned her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from San Francisco State University; her Master’s in Communication: Media Studies from Stanford University; and her Bachelor’s in English with emphases in Film & History from UCLA. Prior to becoming a professor, Gina was an award-winning broadcast & digital journalist at stations including KCBS Radio, KGO TV, & KGO Radio in San Francisco; and KXTV & KFBK in Sacramento.

Wednesday, July 29th
Kevin Woo – SUNY Empire University
The Importance of Urban Ecology and Conservation
Dr. Kevin Woo is an associate professor of science, mathematics, and technology in the Department of Natural Sciences at SUNY Empire State College.

His research interests have been in animal behavior, communication, learning, and conservation. Currently, he studies marine mammal behavior and cognition, and as such is the Assistant Director for the Center for the Study of Pinniped Ecology & Cognition (C-SPEC). He studies wild populations of seals in the NYC waterways, as measures for bioindicators of ecosystem health. To compliment the field studies, he works with captive populations at the Long Island Aquarium to test for sensory perception, learning, and cognition.

Thursday, July 30th
Maria Antonia Rodriguez – Northcentral University
DASH Diet
Maria Antonia Rodriguez, associate professor of psychology at Northcentral University, has designed, implemented, and evaluated behavioral interventions to improve adherence to lifestyle changes in veterans with chronic illnesses at the New York Harbor Healthcare System in New York City. She taught at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru for five years until moving to Northcentral University, where she teaches masters and doctoral level courses in Health Psychology as well as serves on dissertation committees. She received her bachelor’s degree from Pace University and her MA and PhD from the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology of Yeshiva University.

Friday, July 31st
Anne Lusk – Harvard University
Cycle Tracks
Anne Lusk has 38 years of experience working on bicycle facilities with the first 16 years as a practitioner building and lecturing about bike facilities followed by 22 years as an academic in training, teaching, and conducting bicycle research related to public health.  Her research focuses on comfortable and safe environments that will motivate women, children, seniors, parents, ethnic-minority and lower-income individuals, and populations around the world to bicycle. Her studies have focused on bicycle environments in association with weight control, injury, motivation, crashes, crime, environmental preferences, sustainability, Climate Change, and joy.