by Christina M. Bobesky, M.S., doctoral student in Child and Family Studies at Syracuse University
Political and economic turmoil have challenged the stability of family life and national heritage in Ukraine for several decades. In an effort to highlight my Ukrainian roots and shed light on a unique group of White ethnics, I discuss intergenerational relationships, such as that of grandparent and grandchild, within the context of Ukrainian-American culture.
This conference has been designed to provide a forum in which participants can learn about the important ethical principles involved in considering the incorporation of the faith-related issues in the context of therapy.
The program’s goal is to give these church leaders the background and preparation they need in order to offer variety of domestic violence prevention and intervention activities in their churches and communities. Please check out the manuals and powerpoints.
I am a family sociologist teaching in the Department of Family and Consumer Studies at the University of Utah. My research has explored marriage and divorce, the changing economics of single motherhood, work-family issues among higher education faculty, and how religion affects marriage and other intimate relationships.
I am the author of Understanding the Divorce Cycle: The Children of Divorce in Their Own Marriages (Cambridge University Press, 2005) and the editor, with Lori Kowaleski-Jones, of Fragile Families and the Marriage Agenda (Springer, 2005). Two additional books are under contract: Soulmates: Religion and Relationships among African-Americans and Latinos (Oxford University Press), with W. Bradford Wilcox, and Do Babies Matter? Gender and Family in the Ivory Tower (Rutgers University Press), with Mary Ann Mason and Marc Goulden.
Mary Ann Hollinger, Director of International Programs and Partnerships at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, will describe how social scientists have long been ambivalent, even wary, about incorporating religion into their teaching and research agendas. As a result, the influence of various world religions on the lives of families, communities and nations is often either trivialized or ignored altogether. This presentation will consider the benefit of infusing religious themes throughout the family science curriculum. It will begin with a brief overview of tensions and competing views of religion in the American academy. This will be followed by an illustrated discussion of religion as a theoretical paradigm, research variable, unit of analysis and curricular component.
How Faith Works and Why Religion Matters to Diverse Religious Couples and Families
Presented from both a research and a pedagogical focus. David Dollahite, Brigham Young University, will report on research related to How Faith Works and Why Religion Matters to Diverse Religious Couples.
Rosemary Blieszner received her Ph.D. from The Pennsylvania State University in Human Development–Family Studies with a major concentration in adult development and aging and a minor in sociology/social psychology. Her research has been supported by NIH and several foundations. She has published four books, with two more under contract, as well as nearly 100 book chapters and research articles in gerontology, family studies, psychology, sociology, and personal relationships journals. In 1997-98 she received the university’s Alumni Award for Teaching Excellence, in 2000 she received the Alumni Recognition Award from the College of Health and Human Development at The Pennsylvania State University, and in 2002 she was named Alumni Distinguished Professor, a position held by 10 faculty members at the university. She currently serves as editor of Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences.
The Effects of Parental Divorce on the Spiritual Experiences of Young Adults: Do They Vary by Levels of Parental Conflict? Research has shown that parental divorce can have a lasting influence on the religious and spiritual lives of young adults. In particular, children of divorce tend to be more disengaged from institutional religion than their counterparts from two-parent families, even with controls for many potentially confounding factors. But do all types of divorces, or all types of marriages, have the same effects on religiousness and spirituality? Christopher Ellison, Ph.D, University of Texas at San Antonio.
First Comes Marriage. Data from the General Social Survey, indicate that the deep and enduring ties between religion and family have characterized much of the nation’s history continue up to the present. This study also suggests that family change has played a particularly important role in recent declines in religious attendance among specific groups in American society. W. Bradford Wilcox, Ph.D., University of Virginia.
