2023 Invited Speaker:
Thank you to everyone that attended Dr. Woodward’s talk: “Acting, action understanding and learning during infancy” on Friday, March 1st.
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Amanda Woodward
William S. Gray Distinguished Service Professor and
Dean of the Division of the Social Sciences
The University of Chicago
Friday, March 1st, 2024
Abstract:
Development depends on children’s active engagement in the experiences that support their growth as well as children’s capacity to understand and learn from other people. These two aspects of development are tightly linked: As infants gain the capacity to organize their own actions to achieve goals, they also gain insight into the goals of other people’s actions. In this talk, I present our recent studies exploring the role of action and action understanding in supporting children’s and infants’ learning and memory. We find that toddlers’ own actions fuel their learning from adult instruction, that when children and infants think about events in terms of other people’s actions, they remember them better, and that infants’ analysis of others’ actions gates their propensity to learn from others. Together these results suggest that children’s actions, even relatively simple, concrete actions, are cognitively generative.
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Call for Proposals for Invited Speakers on Developmental Science Topics for Fall 2022!
Graduate Field Committee in Developmental Science (sponsor)
University of Maryland
This is an opportunity for faculty members, postdocs and doctoral students in programs associated with the Graduate Field Committee in Developmental Science (GFCDS) at the University of Maryland to submit proposals to invite a faculty member to visit UMD and give a talk. Sponsored by a faculty member or postdoc with a grad student group, the team will be responsible for hosting the speaker, including organizing meetings and meals during the in-person visit. The speaker proposed should be of broad appeal to our developmental science community.
$1500 is available to cover expenses for a talk (including travel, lodging, meals, honorarium, campus room reservations, etc.). Obtaining matching funds from the department and/or co-sponsorship if needed is highly recommended. To apply, the attached form and the proposal should be submitted, including the speaker’s bio with description of current research relevant to developmental science as well as the identification of matching funds if needed to sponsor. Typically, 3 – 4 graduate students co-organize the event with the faculty sponsor. The evaluation criteria include the fit of the topic within the field of developmental science, feasibility of securing the speaker, and breadth of interest to the community at the University of Maryland. The Executive Committee will read the proposal and provide feedback.
Graduate student organizers should ask their respective faculty advisors to review the proposal, make suggestions, and approve of their involvement.
Send proposal to: Jade Dunstan, Graduate Student Committee Member, jdunstan@umd.edu
Questions: Executive Committee (Dr. Tracy Riggins, riggins@umd.edu and Dr. Lucas Butler, lpbutler@umd.edu, Co-Spokespersons).
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Sample Previous Presentation
Towards a Science of Diversity for Urban Schools
Sandra Graham
University of California, Los Angeles
Distinguished Professor and Presidential Chair in Education and Diversity
Friday, November 22nd, 2019
Abstract
In this talk, I describe my program of research on the psychosocial benefits and challenges of racial/ethnic diversity in urban schools. This kind of research is important and timely for addressing the increasing segregation of the nation’s public schools despite the fact that our school-aged population is more ethnically diverse than ever, and for the theoretical goal of contributing to a science of diversity for urban schools. The work presented describes the benefits of schools that are racially and ethnically diverse for intergroup attitudes, reduced feelings of vulnerability, and the development of social identity. A longitudinal study of approximately 6000 6thgrade students as they entered one of 26 urban middle schools in California and then transitioned to more than 200 high schools will be presented. The large sample is ethnically diverse, comprised of Latino, African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, White, and multi-ethnic students. I make the case that greater school ethnic diversity can buffer many of the normative challenges of early adolescence for all youth. A central goal of this research is to contribute to the new field of diversity science by conceptualizing diversity in schools as a multi-faceted, multi-level, and dynamic construct that can change across time and place.
To post an event, please contact Jade Dunstan at jdunstan@umd.edu.