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Family Research Scholars Program
FAMILY RESEARCH SCHOLARS 2005-2006
Leda Cooks, Associate Professor of Communication
545-2895, leda@comm.umass.edu
LEDA COOKS' research interests include interpersonal and intercultural communication; feminist, postcolonial and critical communication theory; and identity, collective memory, and nationalism. Cooks proposes to develop, implement, and assess a media literacy and performance intervention model for the treatment of eating disorders. The media and cultural concern with ideal images of the body have often been cited as motivating factors for the development of eating disorders. However, media literacy has rarely been included as part of a comprehensive eating disorder treatment program. Cooks' research will focus on ways women in eating disorder treatment programs can develop new patterns for viewing and responding to the media.
Elizabeth Harvey, Associate Professor of Psychology (Clinical Area)
577-2755, eharvey@psych.umass.edu
LISA HARVEY'S research focuses on young children with behavior disorders. She is particularly interested in understanding how family factors contribute to the development and maintenance of attention and disruptive behavior disorders such as Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD). Harvey has been conducting a 5-year longitudinal study that aims to understand the early development of ADHD and ODD. She has followed 200 children who exhibited elevated levels of hyperactivity or aggression at age 3 as well as a control group of children. This study aims to examine child and family variables that may predict which children develop ADHD, ADHD/ODD, and which children do not develop either disorder. During her FRS year, Harvey will prepare a proposal to continue to follow these children into their preteen years.
Julie Hemment, Assistant Professor of Anthropology
577-1104, jhemment@anthro.umass.edu
JULIE HEMMENT'S research has focused on Russia in the post-Soviet period. Her interests include cultural, feminist, and activist anthropology and Participatory Action Research Methodology. Hemment's work is in the tradition of community-oriented action anthropology, aimed at not only studying communities, but also addressing their needs and striving to build their capabilities. During her FRS year, Hemment will be developing a collaborative project to explore and promote community service learning (CSL) in Russia. This project aims to build knowledge that will contribute both to anthropological scholarship on postsocialist Russia and to the literature on CSL.
Jill McCorkel, Assistant Professor of Sociology
545-4069, mccorkel@soc.umass.edu
JILL McCORKEL'S research interests focus on social inequality, crime, and criminal justice policy. Her recent projects include a four-year ethnographic study of punishment practices in a women's prison, an interview project with women following their release from prison, and a participant observation study of race and class politics among anti-death penalty activists. During her FRS year, McCorkel will be preparing a proposal for a comparative, ethnographic study examining the collateral consequences of parental incarceration for children and families. The study proposes to follow impacted families in Boston, Springfield, and Philadelphia from the period immediately prior to release from prison through the next 18 months and beyond.
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