February 2020 Newsletter

Spotlight: Brianna Lemmons, Cohort Four Fellow

Brianna P. Lemmons, Cohort Four fellow, is an Assistant Professor in the Diana R. Garland School of Social Work at Baylor University in Waco, TX. She has also held faculty positions in schools of social work at Howard University in Washington, DC and California State University, Los Angeles in East Los Angeles, CA. Her current research focuses broadly on the historical, social, political, and economic factors impacting the structure and functioning of African American families. She utilizes mixed method approaches to understanding the determinants of father involvement among non-resident African American fathers. She is currently working on an edited volume that provides insights on social work practice with fathers in the areas of assessment, intervention, and engagement. Furthermore, in response to the #girldad movement, Brianna also plans to launch a research agenda that sheds light on the relationships between African American fathers and daughters. The goal of this agenda will be to celebrate these relationships within African American families and bring clarity to the mechanisms that underlie them. Aside from her research in the area of fatherhood, for the past four years, she has taught research in social work programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Brianna has dedicated herself to the scholarship of teaching and learning, and specifically to investigating best practices for teaching research-related courses in social work. Her goal is to train the next generation of social workers to understand the value of research for their practice. Of the Doris Dukes Fellowship, Brianna says, “During my time in the fellowship, I was introduced by fellowship staff to a leading fatherhood scholar in the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration—Dr. Waldo Johnson. What I thought would be a short-lived relationship has turned into a long-term mentorship experience that continues to evolve. I have not only published with Dr. Johnson and worked on numerous research projects, I have also become part of a rich network of collaborators that includes several of his mentees with whom I currently write and publish. I also continue to be connected to past Doris Dukes fellows who conduct research in the area of fatherhood. These networks have helped tremendously with meeting my tenure goals and remaining actively involved in the field of fatherhood. All in all, I continue to benefit from my experience in the fellowship and will be forever grateful for the doors it has and continues to open.”

National Conference for Engaged Scholarship on Foster Alumni

Megan Piel, Cohort Three fellow, and Jennifer Geiger, Cohort One fellow, served on the Conference Planning Committee for the Inaugural National Conference for Engaged Scholarship on Foster Alumni, held in Washington DC, February 19th-20th, 2020. The conference aimed to move beyond traditional research conferences by engaging an interdisciplinary group of researchers and practitioners across the country to actively build new research projects to be conducted in the 14-16 months following the conference.

Lisa Schelbe, Cohort One fellow, also took on a leadership role for the conference, joining Megan and Jennifer to lead three of the six teams of interdisciplinary researchers and practitioners. The research developed from this conference will serve as the foundation for the follow-up conference in September 2021, with a broader audience of researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers.

Leading up to the inaugural conference, invited research summaries were shared through six bimonthly issues of the Scholar-Practitioner, targeting the research-to-practice gap for foster care alumni and postsecondary education. The September 2019 Issue featured research of Megan Piel, Jennifer Geiger, Lisa Schelbe and colleagues. Nate Okpych, Cohort Five fellow, also co-authored a summary for the May 2019 Issue.

Research to Action Grant Featured in Boston University Magazine

Photo by Katherine Taylor, Boston University School of Social Work magazine.

The work of one of the Research to Action Grant teams was recently featured in the Boston University School of Social Work magazine. The team is led by PI Judith Scott, Cohort Five fellow; Julia Fleckman, Cohort Six fellow; and Bridget Cho, Cohort Seven fellow. The team’s work, with their community partner, the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC), is featured. The article highlights the work they are doing together to bridge the gap in cultural parenting practices and perspectives.

Leadership Committee February Meeting

The Doris Duke Fellowships Leadership Committee convened at Chapin Hall on February 24-25, 2020. The meeting began with feedback and updates from Deb Daro and Lee Ann Huang and continued with robust discussions amongst the Leadership Committee over the two-day period. In the afternoon of February 24, The Leadership Committee met with Marrianne McMullen, Director of Communications and Dissemination at Chapin Hall to work on developing communication plans. The Leadership Committee will be circulating details from the meeting to fellows via email and will continue to have monthly calls focused on defining goals and planning the SRCD workshop.