Q. What is your educational background?

A. I have a BFA in Theater form New York University Tisch  School for the Arts, an MA from Hahnemann in Creative Arts in Therapy, an MA and PhD in Applied Developmental Psychology from Fordham University.  I also completed a postdoctoral work at Emory University.

 

Q. Prior to KU, where did you work and what positions did you hold?

A. Aside from my faculty position at KU, I have worked for about eight years in online graduate education and longer in traditional settings.  I have held various positions as a researcher and have been a contributing writer for websites on the topic of psychology.

 

Q. Tell us a little about your job at KU, why you chose to come be a part of our team, and what you enjoy most about being here.

A. I love working at KU.  The faculty and students are excellent and the drive and commitment to be a place of excellence is refreshing.  I am faculty in the Psychology department and am the Chair of the Institutional Review Board.  This means I have the opportunity to take a look at all of the research being conducted at KU – and it is impressive!

 

Q. You worked on a study while at Emory University that pertained to whether educational television and media help children to learn.  Can you share a little about that?

A. “There is clear evidence that high quality educational programming (such as Sesame Street) fosters learning in preschool and school-aged children.  This is the first controlled study to show that babies as young as 15 months can learn communicative skills from commercial videos and at least for limited exposure – just as well as from parents.”

(If you want to read more about this, you can read the news release from Emory University.)

 

Q. What is one thing about you that your co-workers and students do not know?

A. I attended a high school for the performing arts (for ballet) and continued to university for theater, followed by a short stint on tour, before returning to school for graduate studies.