Current Students 

Sapir Elimaliah (Soker)

BA Psychology, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel

Year Matriculated: 2017
Email: selmaliah@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: Ashdod, Israel

Research Background: Sapir focused her research on the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy during her undergraduate career. Upon receiving her degree, and after a year as a teacher in a behavioral preschool for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), she owned a clinic specialized in ABA therapy for toddlers with ASD. Her current research investigates the physiological markers of autism spectrum disorder in high-risk infants. Additionally, Sapir is interested in the autonomic nervous system activity that characterizes restricted and repetitive behaviors in autism. 

Areas of Interest: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Motor development, Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors (RRB), Physiology and Autonomic Nervous System, Eye tracking, Applied Behavior Analysis Therapy (ABA). 

 

Lisa Babel

BA Sociology and Political Science, Hunter College
MA Childhood / Youth Studies, Graduate Center CUNY

Year Matriculated: 2017
Email: lbabel@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: Chesterfield, MI

Research Background: Lisa’s interests in child development stem from her time as a nanny, teaching assistant, and public school tutor for grades K-12. As an undergrad, Lisa conducted an independent study on the nation’s Head Start program. Soon after, she compared Head Start to Montessori preschools and the role of different learning environments on children and their families. During her graduate studies, Lisa researched the rise in academic standards and what it means for children to become kindergarten “ready.” She continues to work on issues surrounding education and children’s development, such as the transition to schooling, universal preschool, kindergarten readiness, and academic redshirting. 

Areas of Interest: Sociocultural Theory, Social Emotional Development, Narrative Inquiry, Early Childhood Education, Academic Achievement, Alternative Schooling. 

 

Melissa Horger

BA Psychology, Millersville University 

Year Matriculated: 2016
Email: mhorger@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: Croydon, PA

Research Background: Melissa researched a range of topics in Developmental Psychology during her undergraduate career. Upon receiving her degree, she was employed at an autistic support school for several years where she gained experience with clinical data collection procedures and behavioral interventions. Her current research investigates the influence of quality and timing of sleep on motor learning during infancy. 

Areas of Interest: Motor and cognitive development, quality and timing of sleep, sleep states, problem-solving, exploration, learning, infancy, eye-tracking

 

Isabella Fante

BS Chemistry, Fordham University
MPA City College of New York

Year Matriculated: 2016
Email: ifante@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: White Plains, NY

Research Background: Isabella began working in public schools in 2013 as a City Year Corps Member in San Jose, CA, then spent three years as a Program Director at a Community and Renewal middle school in the South Bronx. Through this work, she developed an interest in the combined effects of individual socio-emotional capacities and external school climate factors on adolescent development and academic achievement. Her current research examines how a mixed-method approach prioritizing student voice and perspectives through narratives can serve as an evaluative tool for school-based interventions seeking to improve these factors. 

Areas of Interest: Social-emotional development, urban education, classroom climate, culture and context, narrative inquiry, academic achievement, adolescent development, program evaluation, mixed methods. 

 

Henry Love

BA History, Emory University
MA Sociology and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University

Year Matriculated: 2015
Email: hlove@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: Detroit,MI

Research Background: Prior to beginning his studies at the Graduate Center, Henry taught kindergarten and first grade for three years in East Harlem and in Bedstuy, Brooklyn. Over that time he encountered many children coping with the stress and trauma associated with poverty, and systemic marginalization. He is particularly interested in Black students’ development of self-regulatory skills during the pre-k to kindergarten transition. His work also explores teacher perceptions of Black male students in during early childhood (3-7 years old) and it’s relationship to students’ behavioral outcomes.

Areas of Interest: Social emotional development, self-regulation, perspective taking, trauma, poverty, bias, teacher-student social relationships, school discipline, early childhood education, urban education, academic achievement, Critical Black Theory, Cultural Historical Theory, Narrative inquiry.

 

Marjorine Castillo

BA, Psychology, Hunter College, The City University of New York
MA, General Psychology, Hunter College, The City University of New York

Year Matriculated: 2015
Email: MCastillo@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: New York, New York

Research Background: Marjorine is broadly interested in how culture and context shape the psychological development of US-born ethnic and racial minorities. She is particularly interested in how ethnicity, race, social class, migration, and generational status is related to cultural change in Latino/Hispanic-American youth. Her most recent research project involves examining longitudinal patterns of cultural orientation among Puerto Rican-American youth living in the United States and Puerto Rico, and how these patterns are associated with positive developmental outcomes. She also teaches “The Psychology of Student Success” at The City College of New York, where she focuses on the ways in which various psychological, societal, cultural, political, and historical factors impact student’s academic experiences and outcomes in urban higher education settings.

Areas of Interest: Latino/Hispanic-Americans, mental health, culture and context, biculturalism, positive adolescent and emerging adult development, ethnic and cultural identity, longitudinal changes in acculturation.

Jessica Murray

BFA, Design, University of Texas at Austin
MA Liberal Studies, Psychology of Work and Family, CUNY Graduate Center

Year Matriculated: 2014
Email: jmurray@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: Allen, TX

Research Background: In her first career, Jessica worked as graphic designer, production artist, and art director in Dallas, TX before moving to New York City in 2008. She eventually managed a small creative team at an online marketing company in New York, simultaneously discovering interests in interpersonal work relationships and the intersection of work and personal life domains, with a special interest in commuting and transportation. While completing her MA at The Graduate Center, her interests changed to reflect a growing awareness of how geographic location, race, class, gender, age and disability impact the experience of physical mobility. Her future work will explore the connection between independent mobility, autonomy, and emotional and social development for adults with disabilities. More importantly, she hopes to bring awareness to and provide critical assessment of systems that fail to support 100% of humanity.

Areas of Interest: mobilities, work-family psychology, transportation, technology, accessibility, and disability rights

 

Dennis Bublitz

MA, General Psychology, Hunter College

Year Matriculated: 2013
Email: dbublitz@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: Baton Rouge, LA

Research Background: My MA thesis was supervised by Dr. Sandeep Prasada; we investigated the normative dimension of concepts. We expect normal instances of kinds of things to have certain properties, perhaps because the properties are understood as being beneficial. We ran a series of experiments which examined this possibility using various statements focusing on the normative aspect of the properties. This research is the first to investigate the basis of normative expectations in concepts and suggests at least two bases for them

After using language to study concepts, I started to explore language acquisition with Dr. Patricia Brooks. Our research looked at possible factors involved in perceiving novel speech sounds, including sex, prior knowledge of foreign languages, tasks of temporal processing, and scores on a music test looking at tone and rhythm. Specifically, this indicated built upon work investigating the relationship between musical ability and speech perception.

Areas of Interest: My current work involves the design and implementation of an intervention program which assists college age students with ASD make successful transitions to college and into the workforce. As the students move from an often highly structured background to college, the need for self-advocacy, independence, and organizational skills is paramount. We are utilizing a participatory action peer mentor model to provide the scaffolding they need to have a productive college experience.

 

Ayşenur Benevento

BA, Counselling Psychology, Ankara University
MS, Educational Psychology, Ankara University

Year Matriculated: 2012
Email: aataman@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: Ankara, Turkey

Research Background: Ayşenur Benevento is a research associate with the Children’s Environment Research Group (CERG) and New Media Lab. She received both her B.A. and M.A. from Ankara University in Turkey. Her research interests concern civic engagement and political participation among children and young people with an emphasis on how their development is influenced by their social interactions through different activities within different sociocultural contexts. Currently, she is especially interested in the ways parents and children use interactive digital media, more specifically, visual narratives as a function of their specific social, economical and cultural contexts.

Areas of Interest: Youth civic engagement, youth participation, active citizenship, ethnic identity, narrative inquiry, national and ethnic enculturation, political cognition, and civic attitudes

-See more at Ayşenur’s website

Kelly Conover

BA, Communications, The Pennsylvania State University
MSW, Fordham University

Year Matriculated: 2013
Email: kconover@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: Glen Mills, PA

Research Background: Kelly is interested in understanding the self-regulation process in adolescents and its relation to academic achievement. She is also interested in looking at how trauma and family dynamics influence self-regulation skills. Her research interests stem from her work with adolescents as a clinician and a program and data coordinator for a Robin Hood Foundation funded clinical and life skills program.

Areas of Interest: Self-regulation, trauma, academic achievement, youth development, parent-child relationships

Alumni

Juliana Karras-Jean Gilles

BA, Psychology, Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego
MA, Applied Psychology, New York University Steinhardt

Year Graduated: 2017
Email: jkarras_jean_gilles@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: San Diego, California

Research Background: The past three years Juliana has worked with the Child and Family Policy Center at NYU Steinhardt. At the center she has worked primarily with a longitudinal randomized controlled trial evaluation of a school readiness home visitation intervention that serves families with 2-4 year olds, which began in 2010. Currently she is working on the follow-up to this original project. She has also worked with The Leadership Program to conduct a mixed methods investigation that identified factors that contributed to increased attendance at school-based workshops in a parent engagement program serving thousands of NYC parents. Her research interests include: (1) early childhood development within the context of low-income, urban settings; (2) developing community-based early childhood programs using a participatory approach from development to implementation and evaluation; (3) and the integration of developmental, biological psychology, and applied psychology research.

Areas of Interest: early childhood development, culture and context, program evaluation, participatory research, and mixed methods

 

Ralitsa Todorova

BA, Psychology, Clark University

Year Graduated: 2018
Email: rtodorova@gradcenter.cuny.edu

Research Background: Ralitsa’s research focuses on access to education, especially among underserved populations. Her most recent work focused on the college admissions essay and how students and institutions frame and respond to the essay task. She has previously participated in narrative inquiry projects, such as the Roma Pedagogical Assistants project.

Areas of Interest: Adolescence, narrative inquiry and qualitative methods, inequality, poverty, education.

 

Rita Obeid

BA, Psychology, American University of Beirut
MA, Psychology, American University of Beirut

Year Graduated: 2017
Email: robeid@gradcentercuny.edu
Hometown: Beirut, Lebanon

Research Background: Rita’s early graduate work focused on examining coping styles and social support and how that affects the well-being of mothers of children with autism in Lebanon. Rita recently works on different studies that examine language development of children with speech and language impairments in addition to examining the efficacy of a program that mentors college students on the autism spectrum.

Areas of Interest: Autism, parent and child relations, culture, language development, and teaching research

 

Tanzina Ahmed

Ph.D., Graduate Center, CUNY
M. Phil., Graduate Center, CUNY

Year Graduated: 2017
Email: tanzina.ahmed@kbcc.cuny.edu
Hometown: Queens, NY

Research Background: Dr. Tanzina Ahmed is an assistant professor at Kingsborough Community College, City University of New York (CUNY). She is also a graduate of the Developmental Psychology program at The Graduate Center, CUNY. Her research focuses on understanding how community college students in the Bronx navigate issues of academic achievement, food access, and socio-economic status. She uses narrative inquiry and a detailed mixed-methods approach to delve deep into how urban minority students interpret their life experiences, both at home and on the college campus. She works with the Bronx Community Research Review Board (BxCRRB) to advocate for the empowerment of all Bronx residents.

Areas of Interest: Narrative inquiry and mixed methods; Academic development of community college students; Urban students’ food insecurity on college campuses; Young people’s perceptions of socioeconomic status and social mobility

 

Jeremy Sawyer

BA, Psychology, Stanford University
MS Ed, School Psychology, Queens College, the City University of New York

Year Graduated: 2017
Email: jsawyer@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: Lawrenceville, GA

Research Background: As an undergraduate, Jeremy assisted in research on cognitive patterns in shyness at the Stanford Shyness Clinic. During his Master’s program, he worked on a project that surveyed school psychologists, investigating the ways that they collaborate with interpreters to support linguistically diverse students and families. Jeremy is currently developing a project to investigate the relationship between children’s motivation and their use of self-directed, private speech.

Areas of Interest: Vygotskian approaches to early childhood development and education; cultural-historical activity theory; communication and cognition; social class and psychology; psychology of activism; transformative activist stance (TAS); time perspectives; the evolution/development of cooperative behavior

 

Francis Yannaco

BA, Psychology, Hunter College, the City University of New York

Year Graduated: 2017
Email: fyannaco@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: Westchester, New York

Research Background: Francis started out in human research in projects concerned with the connection between measures of social cognition and early indicators of autism. His early graduate work focused on ethnic identity development in college students. Most recently he has worked on a project exploring predictors of suicidal ideation among NYC college students.

Areas of Interest: Children’s rights, learning simulations and games, ethical and moral decision-making, ethnic identity

 

Lauren M. Gardner

LMSW, Fordham University
BA, Vanderbilt University

Year Graduated: 2017
Certificate Program: Women & Gender Studies Certificate
Email: lgardner@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: Queens, NY; Cleveland, OH

Research Background: Lauren’s work is focused on understanding how urban youth of color construct and expand upon tools of hip hop dance as a historical discourse of critical consciousness to develop, and embody an activist stance. Furthermore, her work seeks to understand the affordances of Hip Hop dance and how Hip Hop dance choreography is utilized as a tool for transformation. Lauren is a Licensed Master of Social Work (LMSW) in New York, has an MSW degree from Fordham University with a concentration in Research, and a Bachelors degree in English and Film studies from Vanderbilt University.

Areas of Interest: Developmental Psychology, civic engagement, critical consciousness, dance as discourse, urban arts education, identity development, multimodality, Black feminisms, narrative analysis, and Hip Hop Psychology (www.hiphoppsychology.org).

 

Anna Schwartz

BA, Archaeology. Boston University

Year Graduated: 2018
Email: aschwartz2@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: Brookline, MA

Research Background: Anna’s early graduate work has focused on eye tracking, language processing and cognitive development of executive control. Prior to beginning at CUNY she was a research assistant studying language acquisition and cognitive abilities in animals. She is interested in the relationship between word and language acquisition and the figurative concepts that are used in language.

Areas of Interest: language acquisition, semantics, figurative language and metaphor, adult language learning, bilingualism, language and thought, executive function, attention and memory as substrates of language performance, language and cultural evolution.

 

Patrick Byers

BA, Psychology, Clark University

Year Graduated: 2016
Email: pbyers@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: Cazenovia, NY

Research Background: Patrick’s initial work in psychology focused on children’s developing knowledge of number and mathematics. Currently, his work focuses on ‘knowledge’ as a word that functions as a psychological tool that is used for positioning and sense making. His underlying interest is in exploring possibilities for cultural-psychological approaches to lead to new ways of relating materialistic and phenomenological discourses in psychology. In addition to this work, Patrick does research on children’s media at the Michael Cohen Group.

Areas of Interest: cultural psychology, social representation, semiotics, discursive psychology, epistemology, mathematical thinking, children’s media, embodied cognition

 

Danielle N. DeNigris

B.A., Psychology, Gettysburg College

Year Graduated: 2016
Email: ddenigris@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: Colts Neck, NJ

Research Background: Danielle’s early research experience focused on parent-child autobiographical memory conversations in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.  Currently she is extending this work to examine gender differences in the development and sharing of past events.  Another line of research concerns the teaching of psychology and ways to foster student participation and engagement in large lecture halls.

Areas of Interest: autobiographical memory development; parent-child relations; teaching of psychology; student engagement

 

Latifa T. Fletcher ‘Tia’

MA, Forensic Psychology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
BA, Psychology and Dance, Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Year Graduated: 2017
Email: lfletcher@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: New York, New York

Research: Tia’s current research focuses on how young black adults ascribe meaning to their early childhood experiences and how family configuration plays a role in adult identity construction. Tia is also a Pinkerton Fellow at the John Jay College’s Research and Evaluation Center and an adjunct lecturer at Brooklyn College. Previously, she was a researcher at the Child Study Center at New York University and an intern in the human rights clinic with Doctors of the World USA

Areas of Interest: Black studies, Latino Studies, Identity, Memory, Family studies, Narrative Inquiry, Sociocultural theory, Cultural Historic Activity Theory, Transformative Action Stance

 

Kristal Haynes

BS, Psychology, Messiah College

Year Graduated: 2015
Email: khaynes@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: Walden, NY

Research Background: Kristal is broadly focused on developmental intergroup relations and youth civic engagement.  She is currently researching how children evaluate interracial social exclusion under the direction of Dr. Martin Ruck.  Her study focuses on the development of stereotype consciousness in minority youth.  During her first year at the Graduate Center, Kristal worked as the lead research assistant on The PAPAYA Project, a study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and led by Dr.Kevin Nadal of John Jay College, CUNY.  This project examined the physical activity and mental health of Filipino American Youth.  She was also able to assist Dr.Nadal in examining the experience of racial microaggressions for the Filipino American Community.

Areas of Interest: Developmental intergroup relations, youth civic engagement, prejudice studies, stereotype and stigma consciousness, pedagogy research

 

Svetlana Jović

M.Phil, Psychology, The Graduate Center, 2013
B.A. & M.A., Psychology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia, 2007

Year Graduated: 2017
Email: sjovic@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: Belgrade, Serbia

Research Background: Svetlana has a rich international experience in youth civic engagement work, which substantially informed her academic interests. Some of her previous research explored psychosocial characteristics of development-inhibiting and development-promoting environments in lives of the inner-city youth. She also studied the developmental potential of community youth organizations. Svetlana’s current research explores the ways in which socioeconomic and racial/ethnic background predisposes young people to seeing the world, and other people in it, as more or less just and trustworthy. In addition, as a co-chair for the Center for the Humanities Narrating Change seminar, and a Writing Fellow at Bronx Community College, Svetlana is exploring the developmental and pedagogical benefits of inviting and validating students’ alternative discursive skills in the context of formal education.

Areas of Interest: Urban youth development, individual-society interaction, effects of social class on human development, narrating and narrative inquiry, hegemonic vs. alternative discursive/expressive skills, community youth organizing.

Philip Kreniske

M. Phil. Human Development, Psychology, The Graduate Center, 2013
M.A. Human Development, Psychology, The Graduate Center, 2013
M.S. Ed. TESOL, Lehman College, CUNY, 2007
B.A., Oberlin College, History and Creative Writing, 2004

Year Graduated: 2016

Certificate Program: Certificate Program: Interactive Technology and Pedagogy
Email: pkreniske@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: NYC

Research Background: Philip’s interest in psychology stems from five years teaching in high needs public schools in San Francisco and New York. In addition, Philip taught English and conducted pilot research in the San village of Tsumkwe, Namibia.

Areas of interest: Philip’s recent work focuses on the intersection of technology and education with a particular emphasis on writing in digital contexts. In addition, Philip is co-chair for the Center for the Humanities Narrating Change seminar where he runs the blog, Narrating Change. He also maintains a personal blog where he shares what he’s reading, writing and seeing around New York City.

 

Kasey L. Powers

BA Telecommunications / BS Elementary Education, Indiana University
MA Psychology, The Graduate Center

Year Graduated: 2015
Email: kpowers1@gradcenter.cuny.edu
Hometown: New York, NY via Madison, Indiana

Research Background: Kasey started with a career in media working in research and curriculum for such shows as Bubble Guppies and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. Her early graduate work was a meta-analysis of the effects of video game play on information processing. Kasey also has extensive experience in the classroom and has conducted research of student learning in hybrid courses.

Areas of Interest: Media, technology, learning. 

Dissertation title: Children’s Social Media Use and Perceptions of the Lifeline of Information on the Internet

 

Chana Etengoff

PhD, Developmental Psychology, Graduate Center of the City University of New York
M. Phil, Psychology, Graduate Center of the City University of New York
MA, Psychology, Graduate Center of the City University of New York

Year Graduated: 2013
Email: cetengoff@barnard.edu
Hometown: New York, NY

Research Background: Dr. Chana Etengoff’s scholarship is focused on understanding how cultural, gender and sexual minority groups navigate sociorelational prejudice and discrimination. Her work is informed by a theoretical stance that human development is a constructive process embedded in relational, sociopolitical and historical contexts. Recent projects include inquiries into how Muslim emerging adults navigate difficult intergroup relations post 9/11 and how gay emerging adults from religious backgrounds mediate familial and cultural conflicts. Current lines of research are focused on understanding the mediating role of transgender vlogs and how best to reduce minority prejudice on college campuses.

Areas of Interest: minority stress, conflict mediation and resolution, cultural historical activity theory
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Jon Taylor

PhD, Developmental Psychology, Graduate Center of the City University of New York
MS Yale University, Developmental Psychology 1975
BA Harvard College, Social Relations 1971

Year Graduated: 2015
Email: jontaylor5819@gmail.com
Hometown: Larchmont, NY

Currently I am interested in studying the Specialized High School Admission Test the criterion employed by NY City to admit students to its elite public high schools. Admissions to these schools, which include Stuyvesant and Bronx Science has been controversial because of the disproportionate representation by gender and ethnicity. It is plausible that the scoring procedures of this exam may contribute to this disproportion. Surprisingly, the SHSAT has never been validated.

Areas of Interest: I am interested in the use of evidence-based research to influence public policy decisions in the area of urban education. My second year research project was an evaluation of an I Have a Dream Program in Miami. IHAD is a national intervention offering a program of enrichment, tutoring, social services, and college tuition. Its most important contribution may be that it gives youth hope. The evaluation reported gains on state achievement tests as well as on a measure of hope.