November 2, 2017
Byllye Y. Avery, founder of the Black Women's Health Imperative shared her story, exploring the many influences in her life that led her to become a health activist.
November 10, 2016
Over the past five years, the world has witnessed, in real time through social media, deaths of many Black youth and adults, often by the actions of police officers.
November 3, 2016
Physicians face complex and often subjective treatment decisions, and they are expected to make decisions in their patients’ best interest.
September 22, 2016
Studies show that the early years are important for children's growth and development, school readiness, and later life.
June 3, 2016
Charmaraman considers four areas around adolescent development as it relates to media literacy and media consumption in her presentation.
June 3, 2016
Ceder discusses research on women's leadership in nonprofit theaters and how other trends in women's leadership in elected office and on corporate boards, reflect the need for more female representation and participation.
May 19, 2016
There has been a long history of disconnection between the art of psychodynamic therapy work and the information being discovered in neuroscience research labs all around the world.
May 12, 2016
Linda Williams, Ph.D., discusses her research on intimate partner violence, sex trafficking, and gender-based violence, sharing insights and perspectives federal policymakers could consider more in the coming years.
May 12, 2016
Robeson discusses the value and need for quality early care and education, noting the significant wage discrepancies for educators in this field compared to other educators and other professions, and sharing recommendations for ensuring a well-compensated, skilled workforce to prepare children for lifelong learning.
May 12, 2016
Hoffman shares some of the titles and authors that were recommended by invited contributors to the Women's Review of Books, to be on the reading list of the next U.S. President.
May 12, 2016
Gladstone shares data on the alarming rates of depression in children and adolescents, providing insight and recommendations on ways practitioners and educators, with the help of policymakers, can help identify and prevent depression in more young people.
May 12, 2016
Gannett recommends ways policymakers and private industry can work together to create a stronger and more well-prepared workforce to meet the increased demands being placed on the out-of-school time field in order to contribute to both social/emotional and academic success of children and youth.
May 12, 2016
We are more alike than we are unalike – or so says the often quoted poem by Maya Angelou. Yet a substantial part of our cultural heritage is a racialized narrative that not only emphasizes our differences, but also ranks them as indicators of human worth.
May 5, 2016
For both teens and parents, talking about sex can be uncomfortable, but often teens and parents disagree about whether or not they have talked about sex at all.
April 21, 2016
In her April 21, 2016 lunchtime seminar, Amy Hoffman, M.F.A. read selections from her novel in progress Dot and Ralfie, which centers on a lesbian couple in their late sixties, who are facing some of the dilemmas of aging.
April 14, 2016
“Mind the Gap” is a well-known cautionary phrase from the London Underground, but it also offers an excellent picture of our child welfare system.
April 7, 2016
To say that health care is a community benefit and not simply an individual or national benefit, is to acknowledge that communities are critical moral actors in determining just and fair health care, argues Charlene Galarneau, Ph.D., in her forthcoming book
March 31, 2016
“Mindfulness” has become an increasingly popular term, especially when it comes to education.
October 29, 2015
In this seminar, Dr. Kates presented two types of data focused on mothers admitted to substance abuse services by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
October 22, 2015
The research team presented overviews of recent and emerging findings from the Media & Identity Project, a mixed-method online survey study of over 2,300 young people aged 12-25 in 47 states with 34 follow-up interviews.
October 1, 2015
In this seminar, April Pattavina, Ph.D., and Linda Williams, Ph.D., discussed their recent research for on police and prosecutor decision-making in cases of sexual assault, which revealed a pattern of “exceptional clearances”, rather than arrest, being used as a reason to close cases.
September 24, 2015
Laura Golakeh, M.A., shared personal reflections about how education enabled her to break the shackles of fear, pain and trauma in Liberia and gave her a new energy to give back to a "crying society.”
April 16, 2015
Talking with family about sex can protect teens from risky sexual behavior. Parents play a critical role in family sexuality communication, but today’s adolescents often rely on nontraditional communities for support, including extended family and “fictive kin,” who can serve as core parts of the family unit, particularly among African American and Latino families.
April 2, 2015
In this presentation, Kate Price, M.A. and Janelle Nanos, M.A. talked about their amazing journey together while investigating Price's history as a child sex trafficking survivor.
In this presentation Michelle Porche, Ed.D. and Myra Rosen-Reynoso, Ph.D. discussed findings from the 2012 National Survey of Children’s Health, which they used to investigate prevalence of co-occurring chronic physical and mental health care needs that put youth at increased risk for obesity, and for poor academic performance in school.
In this presentation Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D. and Amanda Richer, M.A. discussed the latest findings from the Media & Identity study and examined how the consumption of televised media and the use of social media affects young people.
One of the more insidious myths of post-racialism is that conversations about race and racism have no legitimacy in the cultural narrative of 21st century.
In this lunchtime seminar, Tracy Gladstone, Ph.D. presented on the CATCH-IT program, a primary care technology-based depression prevention program targeting adolescents who are at risk for depressive illness. In this lunchtime seminar, Tracy Gladstone, Ph.D. presented on the CATCH-IT program, a primary care technology-based depression prevention program targeting adolescents who are at risk for depressive illness.
Mike Brady from Brady Bunch? or Phil Dunfy from Modern Family? Who do you think of when you think of fathers today? Mike Brady from Brady Bunch? or Phil Dunfy from Modern Family? Who do you think of when you think of fathers today?
In this presentation Erika Kates, Ph.D. argued that to reduce the number of women in prison we must address the issue of the large number of women held in jail pending trial.
By 2030, estimates predict that 83.7 million people in the United States will be over the age of 60, at least 6 million of whom will identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE), 2014; U.S. Census, 2010).
35th Anniversary Symposium: Reflections, Conversations, New Directions Carolyn Elliott, Ph.D., Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, S.J.D., Haleh Esfandiari, Ph.D. Moderator: Susan McGee Bailey, Ph.D.
Research on the achievement gap suggests that the average student loses the equivalent of one month of instruction over the summer, and that the amount of loss differs for subsets of students.
In this lunchtime seminar, Sari Pekkala Kerr, Ph.D., discussed the effects of State and Federal family leave legislation on parental leave coverage and usage, with a specific focus on low-income households and other disadvantaged families.
Lunchtime Seminar October 17, 2013 (31:18 min.)
Beatrice Achieng Nas works with the program IREX, a Community Solutions Program, which works to help individuals and institutions build up vibrant societies – focusing on education, media, and strong communities. Beatrice has been working with communities focusing on education and empowerment for girls.
Lunchtime Seminar October 10, 2013 (20:31 min.)
In this presentation, Amy Hoffman, editor-in-chief of Women's Review of Books, read an excerpt from her forthcoming novel, The Off Season.
Lunchtime Seminar April 25, 2013 (58:52 min.)
Womanism and feminism each offer distinctive social change models. When we examine what each contributes to the process of increasing justice and wellbeing in the world for women and girls, their families and communities, and even the natural environment, we recognize that each is essential to a comprehensive approach.
Lunchtime Seminar April 11, 2013 (46:27 min.)
In order to change relationships and the brain pathways that guide them, you must have an in-depth, nuanced understanding of your relationships.
Lunchtime Seminar April 4, 2013 (41:23 min.)
In this seminar, Nancy MacKay, B.S., Pamela Seigle, M.S., and Michelle Porche, Ed.D. shared practices, insights and findings from a pilot program funded by the Center for Courage & Renewal titled “Weaving Strong Connections of Learning, Reflection and Mindfulness.”
Lunchtime Seminar November 1, 2012 (31:08 min.)
In this presentation, Nan Stein, Ph.D., talked about the shift that the terms used to teach about interpersonal violence among youth in K-12 schools have undergone in the last few decades.
Lunchtime Seminar October 25, 2012 (37:09 min.)This presentation looked at the qualitative interviews from 32 parents/guardians whose 7th grade children were part of the “Get Real” evaluation program, a three-year comprehensive sex education program for grades 6, 7, and 8.
Lunchtime Seminar October 18, 2012 (39:59 min.)
Partnering with Boston-based Teen Voices to produce a short video series, this year-long collaborative multi-media project, funded by the Schott Foundation for Public Education, was designed to understand and reveal key issues related to the educational equity of girls of color.
Lunchtime Seminar October 11, 2012 (38:42 min.)
Reclaiming and reframing history has been even more important for the LGBT movement than it has been for other identity-based movements--because our history and culture is not passed down to us by our families, communities, or the larger culture.
Lunchtime Seminar September 27, 2012 (49:42 min.)
In this seminar, Michelle Porche, Ed.D., and Lisa Fortuna, M.D., MPH, M.Div., presented results from a mixed-methods study of adolescents in a detox and stabilization residential treatment center.
Lunchtime Seminar April 20, 2012 (52:46 min.)
The Arab Spring was a powerful reminder of the global community we live in today and the importance of transnational idea sharing.
Lunchtime Seminar April 12, 2012 (36:16 min.)
Women's work relationships are a complex and often contradictory subject. Popular culture portrays women's workplace relationships as largely negative, with women often described as catty, mean, or intrinsically untrustworthy.
Lunchtime Seminar April 5, 2012 (57:52 min.)
Project CATCH-IT is a combined primary care/internet-based preventive intervention that aims to reduce the risk of depression in adolescents with depressive symptoms. It is designed to teach teens strategies to prevent depression.
Lunchtime Seminar March 15, 2012 (50:52 min.)
Prostituted children are vulnerable to exploitation through the lack of secure relationships and histories of betrayal.
Lunchtime Seminar March 8, 2012 (34:11 min.)
Amy Hoffman, MFA, editor-in-chief of Women's Review of Books, read excerpts from her forthcoming memoir, Lies About My Family. The book deals with issues of continuity and discontinuity between generations, immigration, and family bonds.
Lunchtime Seminar November 10, 2011 (58:51 min.)
Jennifer M. Grossman, Ph.D., Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., Ineke Ceder, B.A., Sumru Erkut, Ph.D, provide an overview of their mixed-method, longitudinal evaluation which uses a randomized control design to assess the impact of a middle school sex education curriculum.
Lunchtime Seminar November 3, 2011 (42:55 min.)
Anyone who has read aloud to children has seen that stories can evoke strong emotional responses and can stimulate new ways children view themselves and others.
Nan Stein, Ed.D. and Bruce Taylor, Ph.D.: Shifting Boundaries: Findings from a Youth Dating Violence Prevention Program Evaluation in NYC Middle Schools
Lunchtime Seminar October 27, 2011 (54:18 min.)
Lunchtime Seminar April 14, 2011 (55:54 min.)
Out-of-School Time Programs offer an opportunity for physical activity.
Lunchtime Seminar April 7, 2011 (55:00 min.)
In this talk, Jennifer Grossman, Ph.D., research scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW), and Michelle Porche, Ed.D., senior research scientist at WCW, will present mixed-method data on girls’ aspirations for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) work, what draws girls to STEM careers, and their perceptions of career and family roles.
Lunchtime Seminar March 24, 2011 (46:10 min.)
Sari Pekkala Kerr, Ph.D., explores whether temporary-help jobs improve the earnings of unemployed women.
Lunchtime Seminar March 17, 2011 (49:19 min.)
Research suggests that family variables are involved in the transmission of depression from parents to children. To date, marital and parent/child relationships have been explored in connection to youth depression, but the sibling relationship generally has been overlooked.
Lunchtime Seminar March 3, 2011 (64:04 min.)
In this lecture, Amy Banks, M.D. will discuss the “smart vagus” nerve as described by neuroscientist Dr. Stephan Porges.
Lunchtime Seminar November 11, 2010 (57:13 min.)
In explaining the origins of organizations, existing scholarship has tended to overemphasize the role of the lone entrepreneur, and neglect the fact that many new organizations emerge from existing organizations.
November 18, 2010 (32:42 min.)
Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, S.J.D., Director of International Human Rights Policy Programs at the Wellesley Centers for Women, leads a unique project that brings together women leaders from countries governed by Muslim Law.
35th Anniversary Symposium: Reflections, Conversations, New Directions
Peggy McIntosh, Ph.D., Nan Stein, Ed.D., Laura Pappano
Moderator: Maureen Walker, Ph.D.
November 13, 2010
35th Anniversary Symposium: Reflections, Conversations, New Directions
Deborah Tolman, Ed.D., Linda Williams, Ph.D., Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D.
Moderator: Monica Driggers, J.D.
November 13, 2010
35th Anniversary Symposium: Reflections, Conversations, New Directions
Jean Hardisty, Ph.D., Michelle Porche, Ed.D., Wendy Wagner Robeson, Ed.D., Joanne Roberts, Ph.D.
Moderator: Joanne Murray, Ed.M.
November 13, 2010
35th Anniversary Symposium: Reflections, Conversations, New Directions
Lynn Sherr, Judith Jordan, Ph.D., Susan McGee Bailey, Ph.D.
Moderator: Sylvia Ferrell-Jones, J.D.
November 13, 2010
35th Anniversary Symposium: Reflections, Conversations, New Directions
Laura Lein, Ph.D., Bridgid O' Farrell, Ellen Gannett, Ed.D., Sari Kerr, Ph.D.
Moderator: Nancy Marshall, Ed.D.
November 13, 2010
35th Anniversary Symposium: Reflections, Conversations, New Directions
Tracy Gladstone, Ph.D., Pamela Seigle, M.S., Georgia Hall, Ph.D.
Moderator: Carolyn Swift
November 13, 2010
35th Anniversary Symposium: Reflections, Conversations, New Directions
Sumru Erkut, Ph.D., Cynthia Garcia Coll, Ph.D., Anne Noonan, Ph.D.
Moderator: Maud Chaplin, Ph.D.
November 13, 2010
35th Anniversary Symposium: Reflections, Conversations, New Directions
Allison Tracy, Ph.D., Alice Frye, Ph.D., Jennifer Grossman, Ph.D., Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D.
Moderator: Robin Cook-Nobles, Ph.D.
November 13, 2010
November 4, 2010 (39:27 min.)
In this presentation, Senior Research Scientist Nan Stein, Ed.D., will discuss three main points related to the use of the label “bullying” in schools: the term “bullying” is imprecise and vague, and used as a default, a crutch, and a place holder; there is no agreement on the definition of “bullying,” and neither state laws nor researchers can agree on a common definition; and claims of effectiveness of classroom interventions/curriculum on bullying reduction are often inflated, exaggerated, and self-serving, and should be met with skepticism.
October 28, 2010 (68:20 min.)
In order to enhance wellbeing, the desire for connection and community must be honored. In this talk, Judith Jordan, Ph.D., will explore the importance of growth-fostering relationships in people’s lives.
During this presentation, Georgia Hall, Ph.D., senior research scientist at the National Institute on Out-of-School Time at the Wellesley Centers for Women, investigated how youth experience the democratic ideals and skills that form the foundation of a debate program, and in what ways those experiences influence the youth’s understanding of, participation in, and consideration of democracy.
October 5, 2006 (45:28 min.)
The news is full of talk of the “boy crisis in education,” but what, exactly does this mean? Susan McGee Bailey, Ph.D., executive director of the Wellesley Centers for Women, and author of the 1992 report, How Schools Shortchange Girls, has been following the debate surrounding the education of boys and girls for more than 30 years.
Ellen Gannett, Ed.M., director of the National Institute on Out-of-School Time at the Wellesley Centers for Women, highlighted the findings of a national study of professional credentials in the field of afterschool education and youth work
November 16, 2006 (53:59 min.)
Sumru Erkut, Ph.D., senior research scientist and associate director at the Wellesley Centers for Women, presented findings from the Critical Mass Study.
February 22, 2007 (53:58 min.)
This talk suggested that chronic lack of appreciation leads to demoralizing feelings of humiliation. Using Relational-Cultural Theory as a fundamental framework, Linda Hartling, Ph.D., associate director of the Jean Baker Miller Training Institute at the Wellesley Centers for Women, explored how this phenomenon—lack of appreciation—foments social pain through devaluation, demoralization, and disconnection.
March 29, 2007 (45:30 min.)
While the Right has benefited from a shared vision that unites its sectors and informs its messages, the progressive movement lacks such a unifying vision. Jean Hardisty, Ph.D., believes that there is a visionary treasure in the writings of past theorists, who have laid out beliefs behind a society grounded in social justice.
October 11, 2007 (58:30 min.)
Title IX was passed 35 years ago, and many today view it as having “solved” the problem of gender inequality in sports. However, while Title IX was critical to opening athletic doors to girls and women, it opened sex-segregated doors. Title IX never demanded equality, and has ironically served to keep female athletes in second-class status.
February 28, 2008 (61:31 min.)
Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, LL.M., S.J.D., senior advisor on international programs at the Wellesley Centers for Women, examined the recent revisions to the Women's Law in China through the lenses of some exciting new developments in gender-based lawmaking in Asia, and explored to what degree human rights norms and transnational connections have informed those legal transformations and how much of this is translated into actual practice.
March 13, 2008 (70:02 min.)
Sally Engle Merry, Ph.D., senior scholar at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW), presented a paper that explores the process of translating human rights into the vernacular, arguing that as rights ideas travel and land, they do not stand alone but form assemblages of various kinds with other social movements.
In this talk, Jennifer Grossman, Ph.D., and Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D., postdoctoral research fellows at the Wellesley Centers for Women, discussed the importance of race for White adolescents and how it differs across school and class contexts.
October 23, 2008 (37:00 min.)
In this presentation, Lorraine Cordeiro, Ph.D., M.P.H., National Institutes of Child and Human Development (NICHD) postdoctoral research fellow, discusses her study investigating the association between dietary diversity and undernutrition among a sample of adolescents aged 10-19 years from Kilosa District, Tanzania.
December 4, 2008 (61:50 min.)
Michelle V. Porche, Ed.D., and Lisa Fortuna, M.D., presented their initial findings of a needs assessment of child and adolescent refugee mental health services in New Hampshire.
December 11, 2008 (48:05 min.)
Erin Seaton, Ed.D., is the 2005 recipient of a Stone Center Grant from the "Empowering Children for Life" Program. This program established in 2003 at the Wellesley Centers for Women supports research and evaluation that advances understanding of the role of relationships in fostering child and adolescent well being and healthy human development.
February 26, 2009 (60:01 min.)
Alice Frye, Ph.D., MPH , a WCW research scientist, presented her work on study and remediation of psychopathology among adolescents at risk. Researchers generally acknowledge that the development of depressive symptoms in adolescents is an important area of research focus, as adolescent depression is associated with an increased risk for depression across the life span.
March 5, 2009 (69:01 min.)
In this presentation, Maureen Walker, Ph.D., Director of Program Development at JBMTI, discusses why noble intentions alone are insufficient to advance a social action agenda. Indeed, the hopes and aspirations on which social justice organizations are founded often dissipate under the weight of a power paradigm that normalizes relational constriction and hyper-control.
March 19, 2009 (59:31 min.)
In this seminar, Sally Engle Merry, Ph.D. discussed the use of statistical methods in understanding violence against women.
Depression, which often has its first onset in adolescence, is a common and impairing condition associated with difficulties in relationships, impaired school and work performance, and increased risk for substance abuse and suicide.
April 30, 2009 (61:04 min.)
Usually when right-wing researchers disseminate biased research posing as objective social science, mainstream and liberal opponents criticize the conclusions reached and the policies that flow from them.
October 29, 2009 (26:29 min.)
Lies about My Family is a memoir in progress about Amy Hoffman (M.F.A.)'s grandparents’ immigration in the early 20th century to the U.S. from Jewish villages in what are now Ukraine and Belarus.
November 5, 2009 (33:48 min.)
In this talk, Rangita de Silva-de Alwis, LL.M., S.J.D., will discuss her use of four innovative pilot projects launched in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, and Nepal as the lens to explore how the women’s rights and disability rights agendas intersect as a way to create a new paradigm based on a more holistic reading of the human rights framework.
November 12, 2009 (34:35 min.)
Ruth Harriet Jacobs, Ph.D., will give examples of older women in mentoring roles and discuss the impact these relationships can have on both older and younger women.
November 19, 2009 (54:21 min).
Nan Stein, Ed.D. discussed some key areas for research and public policy on gender-based violence and sexual harassment, including how to return the focus in U.S. schools to sexual violence and a discourse of civil rights and Katja Gillander Gadin, Ph.D., from the Department of Health Sciences at Mid Sweden University, Sundsvall, Sweden, discussed the normalization processes of violence and sexual harassment in schools from a Swedish perspective, analyzing and reflecting on why these problems still exist in Swedish schools.
April 1, 2010 (48:58 min.)
Alice Frye, M.P.H., Ph.D. presents results from a survey of published articles showing the variety of ways that socioeconomic status is currently constructed in adolescent research, discuss strengths and weaknesses of the current approaches, and suggest possible alternatives.
March 25, 2010 (57:04 min.)
Erika Kates, Ph.D. discusses her work in directing the Massachusetts Women in Prison Coalition, which she initiated July 2009.
Linda Charmaraman, Ph.D. discusses findings from a case study of an internship setting for urban teen girls in the Boston area called Teen Voices. In the study, Linda Charmaraman explored how working for an alternative teen magazine influenced adolescent girls’ identity development, including beliefs related to gender and family expectations, media stereotypes, and future success.
March 11, 2010 (59:16 min.)
Amy Banks, M.D. discusses how we change and grow by exploring the final common pathyway of change - the development of new neural pathways in our minds and bodies.