Image: Edmonton Food Bank, by Mack Male, cc.
Thanks for reading our weekly roundup of news and events at the School of Human Ecology. Have something we should know about? Email Public Relations Manager Serena Larkin, or submit your SoHE event via this form. View past issues of news and events here.
SoHE colleague congratulations
Congratulations and farewells to SoHE faculty this summer
This month, several faculty in the School of Human Ecology at UW–Madison step into new roles in their departments or depart to new endeavors. We congratulate all of them on their many accomplishments and the work that has earned them these new opportunities. Read more on SoHE’s blog.
Ponto wins data science research grant from American Family Insurance
Nine teams of University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty and collaborators have been awarded nearly $1 million through the American Family Funding Initiative, a research competition for data science projects. Among the recipients is Dr. Kevin Ponto, Associate Professor of Design Studies, whose project will investigate 3D capture and scanning technology for insurance documentation. Learn more in the university’s press release.
SoHE scholars in the news
Bartfeld food security mapping tool featured in Mid-West Farm Report
The newly updated Wisconsin Food Security Project website, foodsecurity.wisc.edu, is a free online tool that offers enhanced visualization and data resources on food security and its foundations in Wisconsin. Dr. Judi Bartfeld, Meta Schroeder Beckner Outreach Professor of Consumer Science and Food Security Research and Policy Specialist with Extension, spearheaded its development, so that users can see and understand local food security rates and the factors that influence food security, including demographic breakdowns, economic indicators, use of food assistance programs, and food access across the state. Users can customize these tools to create maps and profiles of counties, school districts, and municipalities around the state. The Mid-West Farm Report shared news of the new tool recently.
Poehlmann-Tynan Sesame Workshop research featured on WPR and Spectrum
Wisconsin Public Radio and Spectrum News 1 Milwaukee recently featured newly published research by Dr. Julie Poehlmann-Tynan, SoHE’s Dorothy A. O’Brien Professor of Human Ecology, on the benefits of Sesame Workshop materials she helped develop to aid children coping with the incarceration of a parent.
Kerr talks with News 3 Now about parenting and child stresses in pandemic
Dr. Margaret Kerr, Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, joined News 3 Now‘s Live at Four program Tuesday afternoon to share insights on parenting stresses, including their gendered imbalance, during the pandemic.
Wong on the future of retail on WPR’s Morning Show
Yesterday morning, Dr. Nancy Wong, the Kohl’s Chair in Retail Innovation and Department Chair of Consumer Science at SoHE, spoke with Kate Archer Kent of Wisconsin Public Radio’s The Morning Show about the future of retail and adaptive consumer behavior due to the COVID-19 pandemic. WisBusiness.com also shared highlights from her UW Now panel discussion on similar topics late last month.
Prior to the pandemic, Wong also gave a lengthy featured interview to the International Journal of Business and Marketing that it just published in its latest issue. There, she describes her approach as a “consumer psychologist,” her roles as Consumer Science department Chair and faculty director of the Kohl’s Center for Retail Excellence at SoHE, some of her more recent research, including on skin-lightening products, and her impressions from her first trip to Brazil (where the interview was conducted).
CommNS’ Civic Health Report featured by WPR and Superior Telegram
The recent report from the Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies (“the CommNS”), Civic Health in Wisconsin: Connectedness in Context, was written up by Wisconsin Public Radio and the Superior Telegram, noting declines in contested local elections and opportunities for further investigation. Authors of the report included CommNS Executive Director Mary Beth Collins and Civil Society and Community Studies PhD students Mallory VanMeeter and Garret Zastoupil.
Podcast: Raison gives an evolutionary perspective on depression
Dr. Charles Raison, the Mary Sue and Mike Shannon Chair for Healthy Minds, Children, & Families and Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, recently joined a podcast discussion with the Ottawa Institute of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for an examination of depression through an evolutionary lens. The wide-ranging discussion covered a variety of topics, from inflammatory processes in the pathophysiology of depression and adverse events related to antidepressant treatment to the potential of psychedelic compounds and meditation practices.
Papp research on marital money arguments cited in Forbes
A columnist for Forbes cited research by Dr. Lauren Papp, Associate Dean for Research at SoHE and the Vaughan Bascom Professor of Women, Family, and Community, about married couples’ arguments that found those concerning finances were generally the most rancorous.
Dong on feng shui in The List
The List recently published a short explainer of the concept of feng shui, quoting Professor Wei Dong, the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor in Design Studies, from his discussion of the topic with the New York Times several years ago.
Whelan comments on a new men’s wellness program in Men’s Health
Dr. Christine Whelan, Director of the Money, Equity, and Relationships Initiative and Clinical Professor of Consumer Science, offered her insights on a new wellness program, Madefor, in a recent Men’s Health article.
New research from SoHE
Duncan pre-print on prenatal mindfulness-based childbirth education
Dr. Larissa Duncan, the Elizabeth C. Davies Chair in Child and Family Well-Being and Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies, has a new pre-print available while it is under consideration with BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth that examines the effects of prenatal mindfulness-based childbirth education on child-bearers’ trajectories of distress over the course of the perinatal period.
Collins and CFS staff on elementary school financial education
Dr. J. Michael Collins, SoHE’s Fetzer Family Chair in Consumer and Personal Finance and Faculty Director of the Center for Financial Security (CFS), along with two others at CFS, Collin O’Rourke and Elizabeth Odders-White, and Dr. Michael Batty, UW-Madison Economics alum now working at the Federal Reserve System, have a new paper in the Economics of Education Review that finds strong improvements in financial knowledge among elementary school students who participated in the experiential “My Classroom Economy” program.
Jing on the effects of active learning environments
Mengguo Jing, a PhD student in Human Development and Family Studies, has a new paper in Learning Environments Research that expands understanding of the impacts of active learning environments on student learning outcomes. Active learning environments are those characterized by open learning spaces, movable tables and seats, and learning technologies.
Moore on a language processing tool for analyzing school interviews
Travis Moore, a PhD student in Civil Society and Community Research, has a new paper out with several fellow graduate students across UW–Madison in the Journal of Research on Technology in Education on the effectiveness of a natural language processing tool called “term frequency-inverse document frequency” (tf-idf) in helping to analyze interviews with students and teachers.
Events
CDMC gallery exhibitions now available online
Three exhibitions from the Center for Design and Material Culture‘s Ruth Davis Design Gallery and Lynn Mecklenburg Textile Gallery are now available to view as virtual exhibits, with a fourth yet to come:
- Harmony & Evolution: An Exhibition of the Chinese-American Art Faculty Association (organized by Professor Wei Dong, the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor in Design Studies)
- UNPACKED: Refugee Baggage
- Intersections: Indigenous Textiles of the Americas
- Forthcoming: Lace from the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection
Follow CDMC on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for updates.