Research Office News

Professor Matt Smith’s research was cited in the MIT Technology Review on the potential of using virtual reality as a therapeutic tool, specifically for incarcerated individuals. Smith originally developed Molly, a virtual-reality tool for job interview training, for underserved groups. Molly was used in a pilot program with 44 men involved with the justice system. The findings showed that 82% of those who used the tool landed a job within six months of being released, compared with 69% of other program participants.

“Above just the employment rate, those that interviewed with Molly had stronger interview skills over time, greater reductions in interview anxiety over time, and greater increase in motivation to interview over time,” said Smith.

Associate Professor Shanna Kattari is quoted in USA Today on the recent negative attention and laws in the U.S. targeting transgender people. "All of this anti-trans rhetoric is absolutely about power and control, though some people may also hate trans people," says Kattari, "We are seeing the pendulum swing back in response to all the progress towards equity and justice that has been made over the past decade or so."

PhD student Olivia Chang is the recipient of the ResilienceCon 2023 Life Paths Promising Scholars Award. This competitive award is presented to a small number of current students attending ResilienceCon who are conducting high-impact resilience-focused research that focus on under-served or disadvantaged communities.

Professor Emeritus John Tropman’s new book, “Fixing Broken Meetings: A Manual on Meeting Rotten-osity, Deleterious Decisions, and Ineffective Implementation,” examines the myriad ways in which meetings regularly fail and how individuals and organizations can produce efficient meetings that lead to effective decision making. The book serves as a resource for courses and programs in business and organizational behavior, as well as for anyone interested in improving the functionality of meetings within their organizations.

Professor Luke Shaefer spoke with Marketplace about the recent report showing that only 25 percent of those who were out of work in 2022 applied for unemployment benefits.  “There is undoubtedly a set of people who actually are eligible for benefits and should be getting them,” said Shaefer, who calls unemployment benefits “the most arcane and complicated” government program.

Lauren Whitmer, Joint PhD in Social Work and Anthropology, has successfully defended her dissertation entitled "Ay Amiga, ¿Qué Puedo Hacer? Oh Friend, What Can I Do?: An Ethnographic Analysis of How Socio-Cultural and Structural Factors Shape Help-Seeking Relationships for Intimate Partner Violence in Lambayeque, Peru." Her committee included Beth Glover Reed (co-chair) and Richard Tolman.

Assistant Professor Rebeccah Sokol has been named a 2023 Public Engagement Faculty Fellow. The university launched its Public Engagement Faculty Fellowship program in 2020 to help faculty bolster their knowledge and skills, and also reflect on how public engagement aligns with their scholarly identity. The effort includes creating an interdisciplinary, intergenerational learning community, as well as encouraging recognition of and experimentation with all forms of public engagement.

Associate Professor Terri Friedline spoke with “Marketplace” about the benefits of public banking, especially given the recent turmoil in the banking sector. Not only would public banking provide a full range of services to underserved communities, but they also generally offer more safety than private banks. “State- and municipal-owned banks are intended to be publicly accountable, transparent, democratic,” Friedline said.