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Sarah Herrmann

  

From our Editor

Sarah Herrmann, Assistant Professor, Weber State University

In a recent meeting of the SPSSI diversity committee, as each member introduced themselves, we discussed how long we had been involved with SPSSI. This got me thinking about the first SPSSI conference I attended and the sense that so many of us share of having found “our people” at SPSSI. At that time, I was in graduate school, and among the only students in my program focused on applied research, so it was revelatory to meet so many people who shared my priorities. As I proceeded through grad school and into a position at a teaching-focused university, I was thrilled to find another community within SPSSI, those devoted to teaching and mentoring. In the winter edition of The Forward, we celebrate this community within SPSSI, highlighting award winners in teaching and mentoring.  

In this issue, SPSSI President Abigail Stewart discusses a recent grant to develop and present webinars and teaching-related toolkits focused on “Fostering Policy-Related Psychological Research” as well as ongoing efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion within the organization. We also receive reports on the continuing efforts of SPSSI Committees, including:

  • Communications Committee: Ashley Votruba reviews the mission and goals of the committee and its recent publications through the Sound Science, Sound Policy blog.  
  • SPSSI UN: Yasmin Hussein describes a recent event celebrating SPSSI’s 75 years of engagement at the UN.  
  • SPSSI-NY: Harold Takooshian details the history and recent meetings of the SPSSI-New York Regional group.   

Additionally, this issue highlights the winners of SPSSI’s 2022 Teaching Awards. We invited the winners of the Outstanding Teaching Award, Action Teaching Award, Action Teaching Grant, and Teaching Resource Award to submit articles pertaining to their teaching philosophies or awarded activities including: 

  • Apryl Alexander: Advocacy and Empowerment Model in Teaching for Social Justice 
  • Jessica Cundiff & Leah Warner: Motivating Action to Address Gender Bias in the Workplace 
  • Kevin Carriere: Lobbying for Change Requires a Willingness to Listen 
  • Simon Howard: Using Playlists to Demonstrate Understanding of Social Issues 
  • Alexandra Zidenberg & Brandon Sparks: Parole/Probation Assignment 

We also feature the student run newsletter Social Issues from Student Perspectives. This issue includes an introduction from Jacqueline Verrilli and contributions from GSC members on work that they led or were involved with during the past year, including: 

  • Hyunjin Cha, Suyeon Kim, & Eunsoo Choi: Demarginalization of Lesbian Identities on Social Media During Covid-19 
  • Rachel Siegal, Jennifer Langhinrichsen-Rohling, Elyse Hamilton-Childres, Isabella Jarvis, & Jessica Sykes: Initial Lessons Learned Implementing a Domestic Violence Research Collaborative Using a Participatory-Action Research Approach  

This issue concludes with an obituary for long-time SPSSI member and Journal of Social Issues editor Stuart Oskamp by Wesley Schultz and Patricia Winter.  

 

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