Dr. Méndez, Dr. La Paro, and grad student Amy Mejia train project participants from Children and Families First.

Program engages bilingual kids in science

Sitting criss-cross in a circle, five preschoolers reach out to touch pieces of fabric their teacher spreads in front of them. As the children pat the leather, denim, and cotton, she starts a conversation about which they like best. “Do you wear clothes that feel like these fabrics?” she asks.

Esports center

Scientists Dive into Esports Athlete Health

Esports – competitive, multiplayer video gaming with spectators – is on the rise. To put it in perspective for the non-gamers, about 175 million people play video games in the United States alone: that’s about 33 times more than the number of Americans who play football.

Sudha Shreeniwas

Prescribing the Arts for Older Adult Health

Dr. Shreeniwas – Human Development and Family Studies Professor – recently won National Endowment for the Arts funding to see if a practice called social prescribing for the arts, or SPA, could be effective as part of the U.S. healthcare system, particularly for older adults.

Centering Black Voices

Jocelyn R. Smith Lee, now an assistant professor of human development and family studies at UNC Greensboro, was interviewing a young man in Baltimore. It was part of her work as a doctoral research assistant, examining how young Black men transition from childhood to adulthood in communities where they’re disconnected from traditional school-to-work pathways.