Community Psychology Coverage in Introduction to Psychology Textbooks

The field of Community Psychology is approximately 50 years old, and it has become an active and invigorating source of ideas (e.g., prevention, ecological theory, sense of community, empowerment, participatory-based research, providing care to marginalized populations, etc.) for the overall field of Psychology. However, many undergraduates have never heard of this discipline in part because introductory Psychology textbooks are not providing adequate coverage of this field. The current study examined 53 introductory Psychology textbooks, published between 2010 and 2016, for their coverage of the field of Community Psychology. Findings indicated that only 17% of these textbooks contained an adequate representation of the discipline of Community Psychology. The lack of adequate coverage of this field in most introductory Psychology textbooks has significant implications for attracting undergraduates to this content area. Fifty percent of the textbook authors responded to an email that provided them information regarding the current study, and many indicated that new versions of their textbooks could include information from the field of Community Psychology.  This positive response suggests that many authors are willing to better represent the field of Community Psychology in their introductory Psychology textbooks.&nbsp

Community Psychology Coverage in Introduction to Psychology Textbooks

The field of Community Psychology is approximately 50 years old, and it has become an active and invigorating source of ideas (e.g., prevention, ecological theory, sense of community, empowerment, participatory-based research, providing care to marginalized populations, etc.) for the overall field of Psychology. However, many undergraduates have never heard of this discipline in part because introductory Psychology textbooks are not providing adequate coverage of this field. The current study examined 53 introductory Psychology textbooks, published between 2010 and 2016, for their coverage of the field of Community Psychology. Findings indicated that only 17% of these textbooks contained an adequate representation of the discipline of Community Psychology. The lack of adequate coverage of this field in most introductory Psychology textbooks has significant implications for attracting undergraduates to this content area. Fifty percent of the textbook authors responded to an email that provided them information regarding the current study, and many indicated that new versions of their textbooks could include information from the field of Community Psychology.  This positive response suggests that many authors are willing to better represent the field of Community Psychology in their introductory Psychology textbooks.&nbsp

Dark sectors 2016 Workshop: community report

This report, based on the Dark Sectors workshop at SLAC in April 2016, summarizes the scientific importance of searches for dark sector dark matter and forces at masses beneath the weak-scale, the status of this broad international field, the important milestones motivating future exploration, and promising experimental opportunities to reach these milestones over the next 5-10 years

MicroRNA-135b Regulates Leucine Zipper Tumor Suppressor 1 in Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is the second most common skin malignancy and it presents a therapeutic challenge in organ transplant recipient patients. Despite the need, there are only a few targeted drug treatment options. Recent studies have revealed a pivotal role played by microRNAs (miRNAs) in multiple cancers, but only a few studies tested their function in cSCC. Here, we analyzed differential expression of 88 cancer related miRNAs in 43 study participants with cSCC; 32 immunocompetent, 11 OTR patients, and 15 non-lesional skin samples by microarray analysis. Of the examined miRNAs, miR-135b was the most upregulated (13.3-fold, 21.5-fold; p=0.0001) in both patient groups. Similarly, the miR-135b expression was also upregulated in three cSCC cell lines when evaluated by quantitative real-time PCR. In functional studies, inhibition of miR-135b by specific anti-miR oligonucleotides resulted in upregulation of its target gene LZTS1 mRNA and protein levels and led to decreased cell motility and invasion of both primary and metastatic cSCC cell lines. In contrast, miR-135b overexpression by synthetic miR-135b mimic induced further down-regulation of LZTS1 mRNA in vitro and increased cancer cell motility and invasiveness. Immunohistochemical evaluation of 67 cSCC tumor tissues demonstrated that miR-135b expression inversely correlated with LZTS1 staining intensity and the tumor grade. These results indicate that miR-135b functions as an oncogene in cSCC and provide new understanding into its pathological role in cSCC progression and invasiveness

Homeless Advocacy, Research, and Collaboration (HARC) Lab

The Homeless Advocacy, Research, and Collaboration (HARC) Lab aims to address issues related to homelessness through research projects and collaborations with community organizations, including evaluating shelter and Housing First services, provision of housing services, and implementation of trauma-informed care. One of our key tenets is to understand experiences through various perspectives. We conduct research with individuals who experience homelessness, their providers, and administrators. Our primary activities include establishing research partnerships with interested organizations, conducting quantitative and qualitative studies, program evaluation, and consultation.https://via.library.depaul.edu/psychologynight/1100/thumbnail.jp

The People United: Popular Power and Political Fictions in Chile (1936-1973)

This dissertation examines how the concept of popular power, traditionally linked to Chile’s worker-led land and factory takeovers of the early 1970s, may also be applied to Chilean cultural production and, specifically, to the influence of individual creative works on state educational initiatives during the politically intense years of the Popular Front (1936-1941) and Popular Unity (1970-1973). Through close analyses of novels, short stories, comics, and film, I maintain that diverse political fictions—committed to class struggle and often created by workers—advocate both formally and at the level of plot for expanded conceptions of literacy and pedagogy, as well as for new uses of mass media technologies as educational tools. The first chapter studies proletarian Bildungsromans by Jacobo Danke, Nicomedes Guzmán, Carlos Sepúlveda Leyton, and Manuel Rojas which, I argue, turn to past scenes of reading and writing as a mode of questioning the Popular Front coalition’s broad acceptance of hierarchical, book-centered forms of pedagogy. In the second chapter, I suggest that Popular Unity-era noir novels and short stories by Fernando Jerez, Guillermo Atías, Enrique Lihn, and José Miguel Varas, as well as a comic strip by Rodrigo Lira, directly engage with Chile’s new state publishing house regarding how sensationalism and “pulp” aesthetics might effectively impart revolutionary lessons to readers. The third chapter focuses on two independent feature-length films of the 1970s by Carlos Flores and Raul Ruiz, which highlight real-life factory workers directly involved in the recent socialization of industry and the rise of popular power. I demonstrate that these works, building off of earlier-produced worker documentaries, eschew traditional modes of didactic reception amidst criticism of the government-owned Chile Film’s failure to complete full-length productions, aiming instead to ground educational work within the very process of filming. This study, through its focus on both critically acclaimed and lesser-known materials that go against the grain of dominant cultural systems, contributes to constructing a lineage of the struggle for cultural hegemony in twentieth-century Chile