Faculty Research Interests

My research interests are immigrants, workers, and working-class cultures in the 20th century U.S. It was as an undergraduate at Carnegie Mellon University when I learned the value of social history ("history from the bottom up"), the importance of cultural identity, and became fascinated by the histories of immigrants and labor. I focused on both fields in my graduate program at the University of Pennsylvania, and my dissertation took up industrial relations in the coal mining industry, welfare capitalism, and migrations of southern and eastern European immigrants to a 'model' town in western Pennsylvania in Finding Stability in a Company Town: A Community Study of Slickville, Pennsylvania, 1916-1943. 

My current research focuses on Croatian Americans during the Great Depression, World War II, and the early Cold War, and just how they used transnational networks to conjure ethnic and class-based activism for economic justice at home (in the U.S.) and for political freedom abroad (in the former Yugoslavia).

My research interests include the impact of experiential (e.g. service-learning, diversity) learning on university student outcomes, the development and assessment of literacy programs for youthful offenders, and mental health among justice-involved female youth.

My current research interest is how magic was performed on the early modern stage and how magic interacts with gender norms. I also enjoy the work of editing editions of early modern plays.

An active and ongoing research agenda perpetuates knowledge that is meaningful to society and memorable to students in the classroom. My research focuses on communication pedagogy, ethical journalistic reporting in cases of suicide, emotional intelligence, gendered communication, and interactive interdisciplinary research. The topics of research are connected by interpersonal communication theories and application.

My research focuses on the diverse interface between plants and insects. Plant-insect interactions are incredibly diverse and can largely be divided into interactions where plants co-opt insects as pollen vectors (for plant reproduction) and interactions where insects utilize plants as food sources and brood sites. Frequently these two sets of interactions are interrelated. I find it important to consider (1) insect perception of plant cues such as scent, color, shape, and texture, and (2) the multiple contexts in which plant cues, especially scent, may be used by the insect community.

Specifically, I am interested in ecological (multi-trophic) interactions related to floral and vegetative scents and how plant-to-insect olfactory signals function in concert with visual and/or tactile plant cues.

My research focuses primarily on all things poetry and poetics. My book, Adelante, is a collection of poetry that examines the relationships between place and loss, juxtaposing the death of my Cuban father with the suffering and resilience of the natural world. I am also interested in global poetic forms and ekphrastic modes. Other creative pursuits include creative nonfiction and place-based writing. My critical interests include immigrant, Latinx, and Caribbean literatures, and I have presented scholarship on writers such as Eduardo C. Corral and Derek Walcott. Whether crafting original poetry or critically engaging literature by others, I am interested in how images conceal and reveal ideas.  

My research interests include urban space and urban populations with a particular focus on the human/environment relationship, urban planning and social geography, and transnational exchange and adaption of ideas about nature and cities. 

I am working on two research projects: One examines the assignation of meaning to and responsibility for public space through an examination of a particular park location that became a suicide destination in fin de sicle Paris. The other work considers Franco-British greenspace design and exchange from 1660–1880.

I primarily specialize in research related to gender, work, and family. The bulk of my research is on work-family conflict and the division of paid and unpaid labor in households. I am particularly interested in health outcomes associated with various aspects of work-family balance. A second area of research examines the effectiveness of high impact practices, such as experiential classroom simulations, in achieving student learning outcomes. While not a primary area of focus, I have also conducted research on how culture and identity shape food patterns and meanings.

My research interests include the treatment of rape victims by the criminal justice, medical and legal systems, the transformation of rape crisis centers, and the experiences and struggles of rape victim advocates, and Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners.   In addition, I have conducted research on the effect of marijuana legalization on crime rates, mock jurors’ understanding of sentencing instructions, and students’ fear of crime on campus.

I have a variety of research interests that mostly focus on prospective teacher education. The four main foci include mathematical knowledge for teaching teachers (MKTT), the professional development of mathematics teacher educators, prospective teachers' knowledge of fractions, and task development for mathematics content courses for prospective teachers.

I currently have three primary areas of ongoing research for publication and scholarship. These include: (1) sexual minority professional identity and development; (2) social work and human sexuality pedagogies; and (3) social work and human sexuality textbook efficacy.   

As an offshoot from my dissertation, the professional development of sexual minorities in the field of social work continues to interest me greatly. My dissertation raised numerous questions about the role of oppression, social identity, and organizational culture as well as how these factors, among others, influence sexual minorities pursuing graduate level education and beyond. As a result, I continue to explore identity management within the context of applications to therapists and educators.   

In light of my approach to pedagogy as an experiential educator, my respective fields of social work and human sexuality, and the institutional support of experiential learning in Widener University’s Strategic Plan. I am also passionate about studying the art and science of teaching.   
Finally, I have recently co-authored a textbook book on sexuality and social work to be employed within the context of both social work and human sexuality classrooms. Analyzing the efficacy of the text will be a focus for some years ahead.

My research explores how culture and the environment influence cognition. Much of my work looks at how intergroup attitudes emerge in different contexts. For example, I’ve looked at the development of bias in childhood in the U.S. and the Faroe Islands. I’ve also studied Faroese attitudes about diversity (e.g., immigration, LGBTQ+ rights). My more recent studies consider how childhood experiences that promote exploration and interactions with nature, may lead to improvements in spatial skills, attention, and overall well-being.

I am trained in comparative literature and specialize in Argentine cinema produced since the late 1990s. I am particularly interested in representations of social justice, gender issues, sustainability, and the environmental humanities. I have also published pieces related to global education. I organize transdisciplinary symposia in Latin America that bring together faculty from a variety of fields to make connections with one another and work around themes of sustainability.

My research interests are literature of the Middle Ages, particularly Arthurian Literature, 19th-century writers, and the correlation between literature and popular fiction and film.