Joint PhD Program in Urban Systems
- New Jersey Institute of Technology
- Rutgers University Newark
- University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
Urban Change through Education, Health, and Environment
Urban Systems Conference
Newark, New Jersey
June 8, 2012
7:30am – 7:00pm
What: Conference hosted by Doctoral Students in Urban Systems
Urban Systems is a joint PhD program hosted by the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rutgers University- Newark, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. The program in Urban Systems examines the complex interrelationships within urban environments, including the social, cultural, political, economic, geographic, organizational, and bioenvironmental factors that influence urban populations.
When and Where: The conference will take place in Newark at Rutgers University, Newark and the New Jersey Institute of Technology on Friday, June 8, 2012. In many ways Newark, New Jersey epitomizes the problems and possibilities of urban America today. It is thus an appropriate host setting for the multidisciplinary Urban Systems Conference. We invite you to join us for the day in this exciting twenty-first century metropolis located just 20 minutes from New York City on public transportation.
Why: Any urban problem involves health, education, and the environment. The mission of this conference is to create a cross sectoral dialogue which penetrates these three silos in the public interest.
Featuring Keynote by David C. Berliner
ASU Regents Professor of Education, Mary Lou Fulton College of Education, Division of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
DAVID C. BERLINER is Regents Professor of Education at Arizona State University. He has taught at the Universities of Arizona and Massachusetts, at Teachers College and Stanford University, as well as at universities in Australia, The Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland. Dr. Berliner is a member of the National Academy of Education, a Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and a past president of both the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the Division of Educational Psychology of the American Psychological Association (APA). He is the recipient of awards for distinguished contributions from APA, AERA, and the National Education Association (NEA). He is co-author (with B. J. Biddle) of the best seller The manufactured crisis, co-author (with Ursula Casanova) of Putting research to work, and co-author (with N. L. Gage) of the textbook Educational psychology, now in its 6th edition. He is co-editor of the first Handbook of educational psychology and the books Talks to teachers, and Perspectives on instructional time. His newest book, Collateral damage (with Sharon Nichols) is about the corruption of professional educators through high-stakes testing. Professor Berliner has also authored more than 200 published articles, technical reports, and book chapters.
(Sources: photo is from http://nepc.colorado.edu/author/berliner-david-c and bio. is from https://webapp4.asu.edu/directory/person/28597)
Featuring Closing Speaker - Sandra Echeverrķa, PhD, MPH
Sandra E. Echeverría is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), School of Public Health. She received her PhD from Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health and joined the UMDNJ faculty in 2008. Dr. Echeverria’s research focuses on the social determinants of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cardiovascular risk factors, specifically physical inactivity and smoking. She is particularly interested in examining how neighborhoods and immigrant status pattern cardiovascular risk among Latinos and other racial/ ethnic minority populations, and has shown that specific features of neighborhoods such as neighborhood safety, aesthetics and cohesion are associated with CVD risk factors in a large, and racially/ ethnically diverse epidemiologic cohort. Recently, she completed quantitative and qualitative projects in the city of Newark, New Jersey (NJ) where she investigated exposure to neighborhood violence and its impact on youth physical activity in a community sample, and explored community members’ perceptions of the role of parks and the surrounding neighborhood for promoting health. Her other research projects include investigating the contribution of immigrant status, neighborhood disadvantage and built environment features shaping physical activity behaviors among Latino youth, how distinct modes of physical activity relate to changes in weight over time, and estimating differences in smoking patterns for Latinos surveyed through landline vs. cell phone national sampling approaches. Dr. Echeverria teaches graduate-level epidemiology courses and advises Master’s and doctoral students. She is also involved in several local and state initiatives aimed at addressing obesity and physical activity, including serving on the state’s CDC-funded Shaping NJ program and the NJ Partnership for Healthy Kids, New Brunswick.
The title of her talk is "Disentangling racial/ ethnic, neighborhood and built environment factors associated with physical activity and weight status: Results from two population-based studies of youth and adults".
Featuring Panelists
- Jean Anyon: CUNY Graduate Center
- Junius Williams: Rutgers-Newark, Abbott Leadership Institute
- Nancy Zak: Ironbound Community Corporation
- Irene Cooper-Basch: Victoria Foundation
- Naa Oyo Kwate: Rutgers
- Tony Schuman:New Jersey Institute of Technology
- Ras Baraka: Principal of Central High School
- Lauren Wells: New York University
- Scott Dvorak: Trust for Public Land
- Sarah Jonas: Children's Aid Society
Photo Gallery
Set: View Photos