Affiliation(s):

• Wayne State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Department of Sociology, Wayne State University
• Department of Psychiatry, Wayne State Medical School

• Undergraduate: Sociology and Art History, Bucknell University
• Graduate: Sociology, Yale University

Trauma and Resilience Related to Urban Social Problems
Before Covid-19 Downtown Detroit was experiencing an urban renaissance. However, instead of the downtown revitalization being a harbinger of what neighborhoods would soon enjoy, the result was “polarized urbanism” due to factors including the size of the city, scarce resources, crime, and geographic restriction. To understand the impact of this polarized urbanism related to revitalization, my research team (graduate students at Wayne State) and I used field and interview notes, health screens, and survey data from the American Community Survey from residents of a periphery neighborhood that experienced the compounded impacts of out migration, depopulation, blight, and social decay. Individuals who remain in these now isolated neighborhoods recall their former beauty, “it used to be beautiful,” and friendliness. Today their social networks are more isolated, impacting norms around behavioral health and habits including (un)healthy eating, smoking, and substance abuse that also result in individuals being vulnerable to Covid-19. The results of our data collections will be published in an article called, “Detroit and Why it Matters” in Contexts Spring 2022.

When I moved to the Detroit area I was in institutions studying the transition to the community from total institutions including prisons and the transition into social services. I Found Detroit so vibrant that I decided to get out in the community into the neighborhoods where people live and essentially “transition” the lessons I learned about trauma and resilience into community based settings. I have also learned a ton about food systems, connectivity, the schools, and social services

I just got a grant linking my expertise with prisoner reentry and higher education creating a pipeline for formerly incarcerated people into higher education programs. That will keep me busy for a while but I really would like to continue my research in the community on low cost high yield interventions that result in healthier communities like mindfulness for smoking cessation.

Kai Erikson’s (he was my advisor and a great influence – I was his TA when he was teaching the musings of this book), “A New Species of Trauma.” I actually based my Environmental Justice course on the chapters that link communities, toxins, and man-made disasters and are illustrative of how you help communities be resilient in the face of trauma.

Rachel Carlson – she just figured it out so she is a favored scientist.

I have had too many role models to list them – any more senior females in the academy that were nice to me to begin – Susan Gore, a Sociologist at UMass Boston, Joan Liem a Psychologist at UMass Boston and Dean of the Graduate School. Maryann Davis from UMass Medical School Department of Psychiatry. Michael Collins Chancellor at UMass Medical School has always had time for me and has always been very funny!

I am a wife and a mother to 2 strong independent teenage girls – they are a lot to keep up with. I love to read. I love to garden. I love to spend time with my family and friends and beloved pets – we have 2 cats and 2 dogs