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I began feeling pretty out of it when I was 18. I had just started college after moving away from a tight-knit friend group in my hometown and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I’d come back from class, stuff my face with junk while binge-watching Netflix, and consciously try to shut out the world. It felt like I was slogging through mud just trying to get through each day. Despite how I was feeling, when family and friends would call to ask how I was doing, I always responded...

I chose to title my course "White Racism" because I thought it was scholarly and succinct, precise and powerful. White racism isn't an opinion. It's a historical and contemporary truth, supported by evidence, that's been taught for decades. Evidence shows that race still matters in the labor market and workplace , education , and even in access to clean water . Race matters in health care , the criminal justice system , and even everyday retail and dining experiences. The most common...

Science By Elisabeth Pain Approximately one-third of Ph.D. students are at risk of having or developing a common psychiatric disorder like depression, a recent study reports. Although these results come from a small sample—3659 students at universities in Flanders, Belgium, 90% of whom were studying the sciences and social sciences—they are nonetheless an important addition to the growing literature about the prevalence of mental health issues in academia . One key message for scientific...

College might be a ticket out of poverty, but for blacks and Hispanics making the climb, it might not be a ticket to good physical health, UNC-Chapel Hill researchers say. In fact, yardsticks like blood pressure and blood chemistry indicate students who start from “higher levels of disadvantage” may “actually experience a cost” to their future health from the stress surrounding the experience, a team led by post-doc Lauren Gaydosh and sociology professor Kathleen Mullan Harris said in a...

PORTLAND, Ore.--( BUSINESS WIRE )--More than 25 percent of American youth experience a serious traumatic event by their sixteenth birthday, and many children suffer multiple and repeated traumas, according to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. This trauma affects children learning in the classroom. Beginning January 2018, students in Concordia University-Portland’s College of Education can complete an MEd in Curriculum & Instruction with a concentration in Trauma and Resilience...

We designed a curriculum to help students become comfortable addressing typically uncomfortable topics, practice listening and collaborating skills, and ultimately form confidence to implement their knowledge of ACEs and TIC in clinical practice. Using a model of teamwork and collaboration, we sought to better understand future health care practitioners’ consideration of the lifelong effects of trauma and violence, and ways to combat resistance to such understanding. We hypothesized that...

Dr. Harise Stein at Stanford University edits a web site -- abuseresearch.info - - that focuses on the health effects of abuse, and includes research articles on ACEs . Every month, she posts the summaries of the abstracts and links to research articles that address ACEs on the main ACEs Connection site. If you missed December's summary review it HERE . Scott Webb from WIsconsin Dept of Health Services catalogs research and news about ACEs and trauma-informed care . His summary from December...

This past December, I hit a rough patch. I entered into a terrifying depressive episode, full of thoughts and feelings I couldn’t handle. Life with mental illness necessitates these moments on occasion, but there are still things I can do to try to prevent big collapses into depression . I had not been taking care of myself, and I fell apart. What was remarkable about this particular depressive episode was its timing in my life. It was exactly one day after finals ended, my first day of...

San Diego State is reviving a course on the indigenous Aztec language, Nahuatl, next semester. The announcement comes as faculty and students revive a decade-long debate on campus about the appropriation of the Aztecs as a mascot. “This is a reaction to respect, to notions of respect,” said Center for Latin American Studies Director Ramona Pérez. “It’s a reaction to doing things right.” She said the university had offered a course on the language in the early 2000s, when concerns about the...

“She’s just going to be a maid anyway.” This was the reason given to me by a fifth grade teacher as to why I, a student teacher at the time, shouldn’t give extra help to a child who was working hard to improve her reading. Once my shock at this disturbing statement wore off, I realized that the teacher’s beliefs and assumptions were potentially jeopardizing the quality of life and future aspirations of this student. Bar none, reading skills are essential to life. And while there is...

When O’Nesha Cochran teaches medical residents about adverse childhood experiences in patients, she doesn’t use a textbook. Instead, the Oregon Health & Science University peer mentor walks in the room, dressed in what she describes as the “nerdiest-looking outfit” she can find. And then she tells them her story. “My mom sold me to her tricks and her pimps from the age of three to the age of six,” she begins. “I could remember these grown men molesting me and my sisters. I have three...

As the #MeToo movement has gathered steam, women have gone public with accusations of sexual misconduct by professors at dozens of colleges. But one institution in particular has faced reproach as a hotbed of abusive behavior. The Berklee College of Music was described in a recent Boston Globe article as having a "a culture of blatant sexual harassment." The Globe’s characterization did not surprise students or faculty members at the college, many of whom said they knew or had heard about...