Research Office News

Nick Espitia, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Sociology, has successfully defended his dissertation entitled “Our Existence is a Political Issue: Examining the Political Participation of Undocumented Latinx Immigrants in the Midwest.” Katie Richards-Schuster served on his committee.

Espitia has accepted a tenure-track faculty position in the department of social work at Oakland University.

Professor Emerita Edith Lewis has been named the 2022 Alexis J. Walker Lifetime Achievement awardee. The award recognizes her decades of contributions to feminist scholarship, teaching and service and is sponsored by the Feminism and Family Science Section of the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR). Lewis will give a plenary address at the 2023 NCFR conference.

Professor Andrew Grogan-Kaylor’s review of 50 years of research on corporal punishment was cited in a Chicago Tribune article about the return of corporal punishment to a Missouri school district. The review was also cited in an editorial in the Washington Post.

Associate Professor Robert Ortega’s profile of Professor Emerita Charles Garvin is featured in the latest issue of Social Work with Groups. PhD students Ronke Olawale and Andrea Shanon Mora are co-authors. The profile showcases Garvin’s lifelong contribution to social justice and social work with groups.

Assistant Professor Ashley Cureton and Field Faculty Rosalva Osorio have received funding for their project, The Implementation of Forum Theatre to Engage in Difficult Conversations within the U-M Social Work Community. The project uses Forum Theatre to provide social work students with concrete strategies on how to successfully engage in difficult conversations and challenging dialogues. The project was chosen by the U-M Arts Initiative, which supports the connection between teaching and the arts at U-M.

In a work of fiction for Current Affairs, Associate Professor Terri Friedline imagines “The Day Wells Fargo Closed” — the day when a bank once deemed “too big to fail” is shut down for the benefit of the public.

Associate Professor Matthew Smith created role-playing job interview training that helps people with autism and other disabilities find employment. Smith partnered directly with youth with autism spectrum disorders, their parents, teachers and employers, as well as employed adults with autism spectrum disorders, to ensure the program reflected their needs. Each practice interview is unique and a real-time coach provides ongoing feedback. Students reported that the program was enjoyable, easy to use and reduced anxiety during real interviews.

Lolita Moss, Joint Doctoral Program in Social Work and Psychology, has successfully defended her dissertation entitled “The Medium and the Message: An Investigation of Mainstream Media Use, Relationship Scripts, and Intimate Partner Violence among Black Adolescents.” Her committee consisted of Lorraine Gutiérrez and Richard Tolman.

Moss has accepted a position as a research faculty professor at Tulane University's Violence Prevention Institute in the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.