Category: Past News

COSSA has analyzed the impact of the President’s proposed budget on behavioral and social sciences. NOTE- This budget is NOT final.

Find it here:  COSSA-FY-2018-Budget-Analysis

Congratulations to Jody Clay-Warner, OIBR Fellow, for receiving the 2017 William A. Owens Creative Research Award

Jody Clay-Warner, Meigs Professor of Sociology, investigates injustice from both basic and applied vantage points, addressing critical problems in our society: injustice, violence, victimization, and the laws and policies designed to control these problems. Her research broadens the understanding of injustice by systematically examining how social structure and contextual factors affect how people perceive and rationalize injustice, as well as the emotional, cognitive and legal processes involved in responses to injustice. For example, she challenged the notion that women are always more likely to perceive gender discrimination than are men, developing a theoretical model that explained how occupational structure affected perceptions of gender bias. Her work on violence against women demonstrates the role of structural and contextual factors on women’s responses to sexual violence and on re-victimization. Carried out in a rigorous way theoretically and methodologically, her work contributes to understanding and perhaps solving some of our most pressing social problems.

Research awards are sponsored by the University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc.

Congratulations to Grace Ahn, OIBR Affiliate, for receiving the Charles B. Knapp Early Career Scholar Award 2017

Grace Ahn, assistant professor in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, studies how user experiences in virtual worlds shape and transform individual attitudes and behaviors in the physical world. Ahn was among the first in her field to call attention to the need to re-examine and extend classical theories and models of persuasion and communication in a digital era. Her work, which has advanced the scholarship of persuasive communication by integrating communication, psychology, computer science and public health, makes unique and timely contributions to our understanding of how virtual reality systems can impact attitudes and behaviors of children and adults in ways that were difficult or impossible with traditional media systems. Widely recognized as a rising star of her field, Ahn’s work will have a profound influence on our understanding of how virtual communication technologies transform the way people learn, relate and play.

Research awards are sponsored by the University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc.

Congratulations to Rebecca Matthew, an Affiliate of OIBR and assistant professor in the School of Social Work is the Principal Investigator for her proposal entitled, ” Building a network of cultural liaisons to improve the health and well-being of Athens-area Latinos.

Rebecca’s team was one of twelve winning proposals selected for the President’s Interdisciplinary Seed Grant Program and was based on demonstrated potential to address key grand challenges and to generate new external funding in the future. Inclusion of public service and outreach components also was considered, among other criteria.  Congratulation Rebecca and team!

Research team consisting of Affiliate Jennifer Elkins, Fellows Steve Kogan & Jody Clay-Warner, former GDP David Okech, and Dr. Pippim were awarded the President’s Interdisciplinary Seed Grant (PISG) to conduct research on Community-based Participatory Research to Reintegrate Female Victims of Trafficking West Africa. Their research aim is to design and test evidence-informed intervention and reintegration programs for female victims of trafficking worldwide. Their collaborators in Ghana include the University of Ghana, Lifeline-a residential facility for female victims of trafficking as well as a local key informant who is a link between the team and the Government of Ghana. The PISG will enable them to conduct 150 quantitative interviews with trafficking survivors and 50 qualitative interviews with key informants. The interviews will be conducted this summer (2017). Congratulations OIBR team!

Congratulations to all of our Fellows and Affiliates on their Faculty Promotions:

FELLOWS

• Jayani Jayawardhana to Associate Professor
  College of Pharmacy, Clinical and Administrative Pharmacy
• Nathan Nibbelink to Professor
  Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources, Forestry & Natural Resources

AFFILIATES

• Rebecca Lieberman-Betz to Associate Professor
  College of Education, Communication Sciences and Special Education
• Nathan Carter to Associate Professor
  Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, Psychology
• Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn to Associate Professor
  Grady College of  Journalism, Advertising and Public Relations
• Joe Phua to Associate Professor
  Grady College of  Journalism, Advertising and Public Relations
• Jennifer Elkins to Associate Professor
  School of Social Work, Social Work
• Yoon Joon Choi to Associate Professor
  School of Social Work, Social WorkSource: UGA Office of Faculty Affairs, April 3, 2017

People are more effective than cartoons when advertising drugs, study says

Article in UGA Today, April 12, 2017

Jennifer Elkins, an assistant professor in the School of Social Work, is part of a team of researchers who are leading a program that helps parents form and sustain healthy relationships while making progress toward lasting economic stability.

http://www.uga.edu/faculty/profile/elkins-jennifer/