CEHHS Experts Author New Books on Anti-Racism, Biomechanics
- contact: College of Education
- email: unocoe@unomaha.edu
Don't Look Away: Embracing Anti-Bias Classrooms
Dr. Kerry-Ann Escayg, Assistant Professor of Teacher Education, has co-authored a book, Don't Look Away: Embracing Anti-Bias Classrooms, with colleagues Dr. Iheoma Iruka, Dr. Stephanie Curenton, and Dr. Tonia Durden.
Don't Look Away: Embracing Anti-Bias Classrooms leads early childhood professionals to explore and address issues of bias, equity, low expectations, and family engagement to ensure culturally responsive experiences. This book will challenge readers to consider perceptions and thought processes; identify and recognize unconscious biases; minimize bias in the classroom, school, and community; connect with children and their families; and help close the opportunity gap for children from marginalized communities. This book offers strategies, tools, and information to help early childhood professionals create a culturally responsive and equitable learning environment.
Dr. Escayg's research focuses on anti-racism in early childhood education as well as children and race. As a social theorist, Dr. Escayg has utilized elements of Critical Race Theory, Black Feminist Thought, and Anti-Racist Education to offer new exegeses on children's racial identity development, including strategies to promote positive racial identity among Black children; a research-derived protocol to assess children's play; and an anti-racist approach to U.S. early childhood education.
William Frantz Public School: A Story of Race, Resistance, Resiliency, and Recovery in New Orleans
Dr. Connie Schaffer, Associate Professor of Teacher Education and Director of Ombuds Services, has co-authored a book, William Frantz Public School: A Story of Race, Resistance, Resiliency, and Recovery in New Orleans, with colleagues Dr. Meg White and Dr. Martha Graham Viator.
Readers may not know the name William Frantz Public School, but they will recognize the famous photograph of four U.S. Federal Marshals escorting six-year-old Ruby Bridges—the first Black student to attend the school—from the front door of the building in 1960. Dr. Schaffer’s book recounts the well-known story of the school’s desegregation as well as lesser-known yet important stories that examine public education and its intersections with race, resistance, resiliency, and recovery.
According to Dr. Schaffer, "I became intrigued by the rich history of William Frantz Public School when I included a story of a teacher from the school as a case study in a previous book I co-authored with Meg White. The more we researched, the more our interest increased. Research included hundreds of hours reviewing the archives of the Orleans Parish School District, the Amistad Center, the New Orleans Public Library, and the New Orleans Times Picayune. Visits to the school and interviews with locals helped to us to better understand the unique context of public education in New Orleans."
Biomechanics and Gait Analysis
Dr. Nick Stergiou, Assistant Dean and Director of the Division of Biomechanics and Research Development, has published his forth book, Biomechanics and Gait Analysis, which presents a comprehensive book on biomechanics focused on gait analysis.
For his latest book, Dr. Stergiou draws on his expertise in movement variability and nonlinear dynamics, and his strong research publication record of over 200 scientific articles. Both students and professionals will find Dr. Stergiou’s latest book a comprehensive read, “I felt that such a book is needed as my perspective of Biomechanics and Gait Analysis is different than others. This is because my approach is not purely mechanical or biological. It is more integrative, incorporating theoretical frameworks from neuroscience and movement control."
Biomechanics and Gait Analysis is written primarily for biomedical engineering students, professionals and biomechanists with a strong emphasis on medical devices and assistive technology, but is also of interest to clinicians and physiologists. It allows novice readers to acquire the basics of gait analysis, while also helping expert readers update their knowledge. The book covers the most up-to-date acquisition and computational methods and advances in the field. Key topics include muscle mechanics and modeling, motor control and coordination, and measurements and assessments.