Colloquia and Other Events

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE ORGANIZATION COLLOQUIUM SERIES, FALL 2009

September 10th (11am-12pm in DAV 130)
Dr. Amber Gum
Asst Professor, Dept of Aging and Mental Health Disparities
Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, USF
“Improving Access to Mental Health Services for Underserved Older Adults with Depression”
Description: Dr. Gum will discuss her research on facilitators and barriers to older adults’ utilization of mental health services, as well as adapting and evaluate mental health interventions for service systems that reach underserved older adults.

October 8th (11am-12pm in CAC 133)
Dr. Stephanie Marhefka
Asst Professor, College of Public Health
University of South Florida
“Sexual behavior and HIV status disclosure among young women with HIV: Results of the WATS UP study”
Description: Dr. Marhefka will present data from a small ongoing mixed-methods study of young women who acquired HIV during adolescence or young adulthood. Results describe sexual behavior and HIV status disclosure to sexual partners, as well as the psychological and socio-contextual factors that affect such behavior. Data from a structured, close-ended Audio-Computer-Assisted Self-Interview (ACASI) and from an open-ended face-to-face interview will be discussed. The presentation will highlight how qualitative interviewing is useful for understanding results of close-ended questionnaires.

October 22nd (11am-12pm in DAV 103)
Grad School Talk
Description: Join the faculty of the Department in a question-and-answer session on the process of applying to and choosing a graduate program.

October 29th (11am-12pm in Steidinger Auditorium, Florida Fish & Wildlife Institute, 8th AVE S and 1st St)
Dr. Charlotte Patterson
Professor, Department of Psychology
University of Virginia
"Living Under the Rainbow: New Research on Lesbian and Gay Family Lives"

Abstract: The family lives of lesbians and gay men are contested terrain in the United States today; many public controversies about sexual orientation and family lives are topics of passionate debate around the country. In this context, the need for psychological understanding of sexual minority family lives is more acute than ever. In this talk, we consider evidence that is consistent with each of two broad perspectives. The "assimilation" perspective suggests that sexual minority families are fundamentally the same as other families and that they can be understood using standard concepts and tools from family psychology. In support of this view, data on sexual minority youths' hopes for the future and data on parenting by lesbian mothers and gay fathers are presented. The "separatism" perspective suggests that sexual minority families are fundamentally different from other families, and that they require psychologists to devise new theories, concepts, and methods. In support of this view, data on co-parenting strategies such as division of labor between members of a parenting couple are considered. We consider the likelihood that both assimilationist and separatist views are partially (but not fully) correct, and that a unified psychology of sexual minority family lives must account for both assimilationist and separatist realities.

Dr. Patterson's talk is in the building marked '2' on the campus map located at this link.