Faculty sharing expertise in Alumni Association webinars
Answering the call to create community and connect with alumni and friends isolated by the COVID-19 pandemic, five Family Social Science faculty members will be sharing their research and expertise over the next two months in live and pre-recorded interviews and webinars.
Tai Mendenhall, associate professor, will share strategies to improve the balance between self-care and relationship-tending in the webinar, “Health and Well-Being Require More Than Just Self-Care: Nurturing the Intimate Relationships That We Inhabit,” Thursday, April 2 at 3 p.m. The webinar is free and you can register at the UMN Alumni site.
Abigail Gewirtz
On Thursday, April 23 at noon, Abigail Gewirtz, professor, Lindahl Leadership Faculty Chair in the Dept. of Family Social Science and Institute of Child Development, and director of the Institute of Translational Research in Children’s Mental Health, will help parents talk to their children about the novel coronavirus based on information from her upcoming book, “When the World Feels like a Scary Place: Essential Conversations for Anxious Parents and Worried Children.”
Steven Harris, professor and interim program director of the FSOS Couple and Family Therapy program, discussed his research and some of the new challenges facing couples in the wake of COVID-19 with Jon Ruzek, vice-president of engagement, U of M Alumni Association. The interview is available on YouTube. Dr. Harris recently authored the Institute for Family Studies blog post, “Protecting Your Marriage From Becoming Another Coronavirus Victim.”
Upcoming recorded interviews will feature:
- Pauline Boss, professor emeritus, who will share insights into her ambiguous loss research to reduce anxiety. Read more in this CEHD news blog post.
- Jodi Dworkin, interim department head, professor and extension specialist, who will discuss how technology is affecting teens and their relationships with their families, as well as her research-based site for first-gen students and their parents.
Left to right: Pauline Boss, Steven Harris, and Jodi Dworkin
Webinars and recordings will be posted on the University of Minnesota’s Alumni Association calendar when available.