Faculty & Staff News
Week of Wonder is happening now! New events added daily – see the full line-up!
Register for Week of Wonder to pick up a free children’s book (while supplies last). Visit the Public Library Services Reference Desk (first floor): Monday, April 19 – Sunday, April 25: 12:00p.m. – 6:00p.m.
See our selections! Watch book trailers for some of our favorite titles.
Florence Neymotin, Ph.D, an Associate Professor of Decision Sciences at the H. Wayne Huizenga College of Business and Entrepreneurship recently had a journal acceptance at the Journal of Bioeconomics for a very timely and critical piece of research. Her work, entitled “Risky Behavior and Non-Vaccination” examines the multiple risky behaviors that individuals choose to engage in, and how they are related to an individual’s vaccination status. Neymotin found that greater sun exposure, poor oral hygiene, smoking, and poor diet are all predictive of reduced vaccination rates, both in the current year and over a person’s lifetime. While the Canadian data for this analysis focuses on seasonal influenza, reasons for non-vaccination tend to be similar across types of vaccinations. For this reason, Neymotin’s work has crucial implications for our ongoing and future efforts to improve vaccination rates against Covid-19 and achieve herd immunity status in the United States and globally.
Using Our Templates & Guides Resources
Friday, May 14
12:15-12:45pm
Surrealism in Mexico
Live Virtual Lecture by Jennifer Field, Ph.D.
Thursday, April 15
6:30 PM
Free to attend
(Suggested Donation $10)
This live virtual talk will examine the robust artistic period in Mexico between 1940 and 1955 that emerged from liberal ideas about collaboration, immigration, and gender roles. As European artists and writers sought refuge from World War II, some fled to the United States; others sought refuge south of the border. European Surrealists had long harbored notions of Mexico as a land deeply connected to the vestiges of a mythical, pre-modern utopia. Soon after their arrival, a core group of artist émigrés deepened their engagement with local histories and customs in ways that changed the development of their own work and of Surrealist thought. Artists Leonora Carrington, Esteban Francés, José and Kati Horna, Gordon Onslow Ford, Wolfgang Paalen, Alice Rahon, and Remedios Varo were among those who made Mexico their long-term or permanent home.
Jennifer Field is Executive Director of the Estate of David Smith. She has held curatorial and research positions at Di Donna Galleries, the Willem de Kooning Foundation, and The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Her projects have included the exhibitions Surrealism in Mexico at Di Donna Galleries and Martin Puryear, Manet and the Execution of Maximilian, and De Kooning: A Retrospective at MoMA. Dr. Field received her M.A. from Hunter College and her Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.
For additional assistance or questions, please contact Justine Scerbo via email
or 954-262-0249
Jacqueline N. Font-Guzmán, J.D., Ph.D., graduate of the doctoral program in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center (HCAS) has been named the first Executive Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Eastern Mennonite University. Font-Guzmán started this new position on April 1, 2021. Her responsibilities include serving as chair of the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, sitting on the President’s Cabinet and the Provost’s Council, leading and supporting faculty, students, and staff in long-term strategic initiatives, and building networks and relationships across the university and the greater community.
When asked about her education at NSU, Font-Guzmán said, “As I take on my new role at Eastern Mennonite University, I am certain that the conflict engagement skills that I learned during my studies at NSU will be instrumental in successfully advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
Prior to starting her new position, Font-Guzmán was the Director of the Negotiation and Conflict Resolution program and faculty at Creighton University. She was a Fulbright Scholar at Carlos III University School of Law in Spain and was an NSU Distinguished Alumna. She has been a Visiting Professor at Southern Methodist University and the University of Puerto Rico Law School.
In addition to her NSU degree, she has a law degree from the Interamericana University in Puerto Rico, a Master of Health Care Administration from St. Louis University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Coe College.
Bertha Amisi, Ph.D.
Bertha Amisi, Ph.D., faculty in the in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center (HCAS) was a presenter for NSU’s Learning and Education Center on March 26, 2021. Amisi’s presentation was entitled, “Using Case Studies to Enhance Instructional Approaches and Students’ Learning Experience.”
Amisi’s research and teaching interests include political conflict, globalization, state-society relations in Africa, and peaceful resolution of conflict. Amisi teaches courses such as Theories of Conflict, Research Design, and Gender and Conflict.
Vaccines at NSU Davie Campus
Thanks to a partnership with the Department of Health in Broward County and our amazing volunteers, NSU has had exceptional success completing vaccinations with the Johnson & Johnson single-dose COVID-19 vaccine. Starting Monday, April 5th, vaccines at the NSU vaccination location at the Fort Lauderdale/Davie Campus will be open to all NSU students and employees age 18 and up. Vaccinations are by appointment only, so visit https://nsuclinics.nova.edu/cv19vaccine/ to make yours today. Let’s applaud the faculty, staff, and students from NSU’s College of Pharmacy, Office of Innovation and Information Technology (OIIT), the Ron and Kathy Assaf College of Nursing, the NSU senior leadership team, and many others who worked so hard to make this happen. NOTE: Continued vigilance is a must as Florida is experiencing very high positivity rates. We are not discontinuing our COVID-19 practices at NSU sites. Masks remain mandatory along with distancing requirements, regardless of vaccination status.
Videos for Vigilance
The Undergraduate Student Government Association (USGA) has produced this excellent video to increase awareness during COVID-19. We applaud their efforts to help maintain vigilance as we strive to end the pandemic. Enjoy this short video!
Additionally, our talented and creative undergraduate students have been participating in the #TurnTheTide video awareness competition sponsored by Environmental Health and Safety and Campus Life and Student Engagement. Visit the Diversity Student Council Instagram page to see the work of our students and vote for the winner! Be sure to follow the page, and the video with the most likes will win a prize. Please continue to be a Smart Shark and help us #TurnTheTide.
Voyaging
Are you considering a trip? Have you recently traveled? Be sure to follow CDC Travel Guidance.
If you are not yet fully vaccinated per the CDC criteria (2 weeks post final dose), then it is recommended you get PCR tested within 3-5 days after travel AND stay home and self-quarantine for a full 7 days after travel.
All University-sponsored international travel continues to be suspended, and no international travel should be planned or scheduled.
Elena Bastidas, Ph.D.
Elena Bastidas, Ph.D., faculty in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center (HCAS) gave a presentation at the Third Annual Broward Youth Climate Summit, a Virtual 3-Day Conference Led by Youth and Environmental Experts for BCPS Students in Grades 5-12.
Bastidas’ presentation was entitled, “Climate Change and Indigenous People.” The presentation explored how indigenous peoples constantly track changes in their surrounding environment by making comparisons between historic and present events. And how learning from them can help us to adopt resilient strategies for climate change.
Bastidas teaches courses in Sustainable Development, Environmental Conflict, and Research Methods. Her research and community-based projects include developing conflict resolution capacity-building strategies for governments, NGOs, and local communities in Ecuador, Colombia, and Suriname.
Monekka Munroe, Ed.D.
Monekka Munroe, Ed.D., graduate of NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice (FCE&SCJ) authored the book chapter, The Acceptance of Rape Cultural and Sexual Violence Against Black Girls in Athletics and Entertainment, in the criminal justice textbook, The Disparate Treatment of Black Youth in the Juvenile Justice System.
Munroe brings awareness about an issue that is often overlooked, disrespected, and swept under the rug. In this chapter, she brings attention to the many atrocities that cause Black Girl Magic to be hidden behind walls of guilt, shame, self-doubt, and addiction.
She currently serves as a criminal justice department chair in Richmond, Virginia. The focus of her current research is childhood trauma’s impact on the left cerebral hemispheric brain development. Munroe created two new criminal justice courses to add to the curriculum in Virginia. The first course, Childhood Trauma and Adult Criminality was developed to discuss various types of traumatic experiences and how those experiences can lead to criminal behavior and ultimately, incarceration. The second course is Epigenetics and Criminal Behavior, the study of how an individual’s behavior and environment cause DNA modifications.
Munroe earned Doctor of Education with FCE&SCJ in 2016.
Jonathan Perle, Ph.D.
Jonathan Perle, Ph.D., ABPP, graduate of NSU’s Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program, recently published “A Mental Health Provider’s Guide to Telehealth: Providing Outpatient Videoconferencing Services”. This book was written to serve as a videoconferencing guide for psychological providers.
Perle explained that the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many health care providers to rely more on technology than ever before. While this transition to telehealth services has been made, it has not been without challenges. He added that “telehealth has certainly exploded in response to the COVID-19 pandemic” and he does not see the trend reversing anytime soon. Therefore, “a provider should be knowledgeable on both the positives and drawbacks of telehealth use in order to ensure optimal practice.”
Reminiscing about this time at NSU, Perle noted that while he was completing his degree, “telehealth wasn’t really discussed”. His main influencer of this line of work was NSU College of Psychology professor Barry Nierenberg. “Looking back, it was really Dr. Nierenberg who supported my telehealth work by encouraging me to learn more about the topic, and who later chaired my telehealth-focused dissertation. Together, we published numerous articles on the topic in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Nierenberg introduced me to several well-known American Psychological Association (APA) telehealth experts which allowed me to become part of a select group of students to have contributed to the APA’s Telepsychology Guidelines. He is one of the biggest reasons why I have continued this line of work.”
Concerning his book, Perle explained that it is a culmination of about 10 years of personal study, use, and teaching about telehealth topics. The book combines research literature with professional experiences to create a videoconferencing guide for psychological providers. The purpose of this endeavor was to present a broad, simplified, and practical overview of pertinent factors through relatively brief and directly applicable chapters. The book provides readers with foundational knowledge including terminology, background research on the use of videoconferencing, and presents an overview of existing practices with guidebooks. Specific recommendations for ethical and legal factors are also presented. In the book, Perle also details numerous essential factors of a videoconferencing-based practice, including considerations of one’s computer system, video camera, display screen, microphone, videoconferencing platform, bandwidth and latency, room setup, documentation methods, and self-care practices. Multiple appendices and checklists are also provided to assist the reader.
Perle graduated from the Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology program in 2013. Additional information about his book can be found here: https://www.routledge.com/A-Mental-Health-Providers-Guide-to-Telehealth-Providing-Outpatient-Videoconferencing/Perle/p/book/9780367713577