Noteworthy: Research grants, awards and publications

A woman with shoulder-length silver-brown wearing a pink crochet sweater smiles for a portrait against a gray backdrop.
Cynthia Najdowski, associate professor in the Department of Psychology, recently coauthored a chapter on the psychological consequences of racial disparities in policing in The Oxford Handbook of Developmental Psychology and the Law.

ALBANY, N.Y. (Jan. 25, 2024) — The latest developments on University at Albany faculty and staff who are receiving research grants, awards and other noteworthy attention.

  • Nicholas Bell, assistant professor in the School of Education’s Department of Educational & Counseling Psychology, was recently awarded a $75,000 racial equity grant from the Spencer Foundation for a study titled, “Advancing QuantCrit Methods and Data Sensitivity Approaches in Special Education Research.” The project aims to uncover zones where Black and Latinx students are overidentified for special education, which can limit educational opportunities, and to understand how educators can disrupt this process.
  • Vice President for Research and Economic Development Kesh Kesavadas was featured on a recent episode of the Artificial Intelligence Podcast to discuss the future of AI in higher education and the work he and his team are doing to pioneer generative AI integration in universities. Listen here.
  • A new book by Assistant Professor of Korean Studies Peter Kwon, titled "Cornerstone of the Nation: The Defense Industry and the Building of Modern Korea under Park Chung Hee," is available now for pre-order from Harvard University Press. Kwon will give a talk about the book at Harvard University on Feb. 6 at noon. The event will be streamed online via Zoom. Register here.
  • P.D. Magnus, professor of philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences, published a paper in the Springer journal AI & Society titled “Generative AI and photographic transparency.” The article discusses how we understand the objects in photographs compared to how we see paintings or actual objects, and compares that to how we see and understand AI-generated images.
  • Cynthia Najdowski, associate professor in the Department of Psychology, coauthored a chapter titled “Racial Disparities in Policing: Psychological Consequences Over the Lifespan,” which was published in The Oxford Handbook of Developmental Psychology and the Law (Oxford University Press).