Faculty News

Assistant Professor Katrina Ellis has received the James S. Jackson Emerging Scholar Award from the Program for Research on Black Americans (PRBA) at the U-M’s Institute for Social Research. Ellis’ research seeks to improve racial health equity, with a specific focus on cancer and family-focused approaches to understanding, preventing, and managing health conditions among Black Americans.

The James S. Jackson Emerging Scholars Award is designed to support emerging scholars who are often at an especially creative and productive yet fragile career stage.  It is named in honor of U-M Professor James S. Jackson, the pioneering social psychologist known for his research on race and ethnicity, racism and health and aging among Black Americans and health and aging among Black Americans.

Assistant Professor Ashley Cureton received a Humanities Grant through Michigan Humanities, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Humanities Grants emphasize collaboration among cultural, educational and community-based organizations and institutions in order to serve Michigan’s people with public humanities programming.

Together with Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County and local schools throughout Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, Cureton will work with refugee youth to capture their pre-migration and resettlement experiences. The project will include the creation of a literary comic book as a way to provide guidance to future resettled refugee youth, their families, refugee resettlement agencies and schools on how to manage the difficult process of resettlement. 

“Through the use of storytelling and the arts, we look forward to gaining a better understanding of how refugee youth across Washtenaw County navigate the resettlement process, which can often be quite overwhelming,” said Cureton.

Assistant Professor Fernanda Cross has been named a 2023 Anti-Racism Research & Community Impact Faculty Fellow. The Anti-Racism Collaborative is a partnership of U-M’s National Center for Institutional Diversity with the provost’s anti-racism initiatives and is intended to help support, connect and amplify scholars across the U-M campus who study racial inequality, racial equity and racial justice. The fellowship provides funding to support Cross’ research titled Addressing the Mental Health Needs of Latinx Youth in Washtenaw County.

Professor Karla Goldman wrote in The Conversation about the new memorial commemorating the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire victims, most of whom were Jewish and Italian young women and girls. One of the deadliest workplace disasters in U.S. history, the tragedy inspired worker protections and invigorated labor activism.

“The memorial offers a bold and graceful reminder not only of the fire but of its imprint on the world we inhabit today,” wrote Goldman.

Assistant Professor Rebeccah Sokol wrote in The Conversation about both the increase in gun deaths among children and teens and the research-backed strategies and tools to reverse this trend. “Reducing young people’s access to unsecured and loaded firearms can prevent firearm-involved deaths across all intents including suicide, homicide, and unintentional shootings.” The editorial also ran in the San Francisco Chronicle and the Chicago Sun-Times.

Professor Matthew Smith has received a $3.16 million award from the National Institute of Mental Health for his project “A Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation RCT of Virtual Interview Training for Autistic Transition-Age Youth.” 

The project will be used to offer virtual job interview training in 16 Michigan and California schools over the next three years. Once in the program, students will practice interviewing for various jobs, such as cashier, food service worker and greeter, among other positions. 

Pre-employment transition services are federally-mandated by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act (2014) to prepare autistic transition-age youth for the workforce prior to exiting high school. While most job interview training programs can be limited — students may role-play with teachers once or twice — Smith’s virtual interview training program provides the opportunity for multiple practice sessions with increasing difficulty. 

The grant builds upon previous efforts involving virtual interview training for transition-age youth. In that study, the training improved interview skills, lessened interview anxiety, and led to more students finding competitive employment within six months of completing the program, Smith said.

The project also includes a partnership with San Diego State University, which will provide an opportunity to study participation in cultural diverse communities.

Professor Luke Shaefer spoke with “Detroit Today” on WDET about how rising income inequality affects our economy and our society. “Workers today want to feel like people are looking out for them,” said Shaefer, “and they don’t feel that when they see CEOs making so much, and they don’t feel that when they don’t see government playing a role.”

Lecturer Jewel Woods spoke with Psychology Today on the connection between therapists and their clients and why increasing the representation of men, particularly Black men, in the behavioral health workforce is so important. “There are so few male African-American clinicians, but we have tremendous opportunities to do good.”