What do you do at Kent State's College of Public Health?
I teach courses and conduct research on behalf of the college. I also co-coordinate the Kent State University interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Qualitative Research with professor Tricia Niesz from cultural foundations in the College of Education, Health, and Human Services, and I am finishing up my first year of a three-year term as editor-in-chief of the Ohio Journal of Public Health.
What is your latest research/project?
A few years ago, I received a small grant to conduct secondary analysis on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Violent Death Reporting System data. Since that time, I have designed and collaborated on multiple studies about death by homicide or suicide, using different segments of the same data. I am working now to finish up a study of three years worth of youth and adolescent death by suicide data where my focus is on the role of technology–broadly defined–preceding death by suicide. There are lots of cases and the data contain both qualitative and quantitative elements, so analysis is time consuming. I have found interesting patterns and think this will inform a useful manuscript.
Favorite teaching moment?
While I was completing my Ph.D. studies, I worked as a graduate instructor at the University of Mississippi. One time during a class discussion, students were debating aspects of reproductive health and sex education, which is maybe a more controversial issue in the south than here in Ohio. Several students expressed views based on philosophical or religious preferences and others described opposing views, generally based on real world conditions and challenges. During this discussion, my perception was that students on both sides started to, for maybe the first time, see what it was like to "walk in someone else's shoes." I would not say they accomplished mutual understanding, but I believe I saw the beginnings of mutual appreciation. I was so pleased this conversation took place in my class, and especially that it was done in a respectful way.
If you could have three apps on your smartphone, which ones would you pick and why?
I basically use my phone as a phone – for voice and text. I use a lot of technology in my work but mostly rely on programs that are too powerful for a phone, or that I use with data that need to be on a computer for confidentiality reasons. Most of my outside interests do not center on technology, so I do not have a response to this.
What's your favorite way to unwind after a busy day?
I have a lot of interests that vary seasonally. During a couple of time periods each year, I like to stream European bicycle racing - men's and women's, road and cyclo-cross. The availability of live-streaming is higher and the cost of packages is lower than ever before. Mostly during the winter months, I enjoy sewing clothes from vintage (1970s, 1980s) sewing patterns I buy on Ebay. I learned to sew when I was very young and it is a hobby I've kept up with throughout my life. I also do a lot of physically active things throughout the year,more indoor in the bad weather and more outdoor in the nice weather. I am a "Friend" of the Kent Stage, so take advantage of advance ticket sales to see lots of different types of bands and musicians. But my absolute favorite thing to do when weather and time permit, is to ride my bike on some of the hilly rural roads in Portage and Summit counties.
What is the last TV show you watched, or book that you read?
I am working my way through and not quite finished with an amazing book called The Dawn of Everything: A new History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow, who are an anthropologist and archaeologist, respectively, although professor Graeber died before the book was published. At its essence, this work is an exploration of the roots of inequity, and the authors show lots of historical evidence to argue that humans can live in more collaborative, equal, and mutually beneficial ways. I am finding Graeber and Wengrow's work both a little depressing because it points to many human-initiated factors that led to current inequity-associated problems, and encouraging because they suggest things could be different and better for many. It is a large book with 526 pages plus a lot of endnotes, but very engaging to read.
Complete the following sentence: "Key elements of leadership include:"
The ability to guide and encourage those you are responsible for toward improvement in self-efficacy and performance; to inspire appreciation of challenge; to model and encourage enjoyment of experiences.
What is something that you are looking forward to both personally and professionally?
Personally, I'm looking forward to the return of warmer weather so I can start swimming outside in a lake instead of inside in a pool. Professionally I'm looking forward to figuring out some new and interesting activities to do during classes I teach–that are both engaging and meaningful. I struggled with doing nothing but online or remote teaching, but because I spent minimal time with live students since Spring of 2020, I lost some of my confidence and creativity in live teaching. But I have some new ideas, and I'm looking forward to enjoying live teaching again in Fall of 2022.