College of Education and Human Development

Family Social Science

Family Social Science Research Colloquium welcomes nationally renowned LGBTQ+ scholar

The Department of Family Social Science will hold a Research Colloquium Wednesday, October 2, 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. in 274 McNeal Hall on the University of Minnesota's St. Paul campus.   

The featured speaker is Dr. Jessica Fish, a human development and family science scholar whose research focuses on the health and well-being of sexual and gender minority (i.e., lesbian/gay, bisexual, and transgender) people and their families.  She will address, "The Paradox of Social Progress for LGBTQ+ Youth and the Untapped Potential of Family."  Fish is an associate professor in the University of Maryland's Departments of Family Science and Behavioral and Community Health. She is also co-director of the UMD Prevention Research Center and a faculty affiliate in the Maryland Population Research Center.

Contemporary sexual and gender-diverse youth are coming of age at a time of dynamic social and political change regarding LGBTQ+ rights and visibility and continue to experience mental and behavioral health inequities. Fish will discuss recent conceptual work framing LGBTQ+ youth development and health using the Developmental Collision Hypothesis. She’ll present how this framework shapes modern perspectives of LGBTQ+ youth development and health in context and how current social factors continue to drive inequality based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Fish will also discuss evidence-informed strategies to support LGBTQ+ youth thriving, with particular attention to new conceptual and empirical developments regarding LGBTQ+ youth’s family environment and the implications for intervention.  

More about Jessica Fish 

Fish studies the social and interpersonal factors that shape the development and health of sexual and gender minority youth and adults. Her overarching goal is to identify modifiable factors that contribute to sexual and gender minority health disparities in order to inform developmentally-sensitive policies, programs and prevention strategies that promote the health of sexual and gender minority people across the life course.

RSVP for this event 

Visit: https://z.umn.edu/FSOS-Research-Colloquium or scan this QR code: 

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