2008 EARA-SRA Summer School in Torino
Students share their experiences!

In May 2008, 25 students from North America, Europe, and several other countries attended a 4-day summer school in Torino, Italy. The summer school was sponsored jointly by EARA and SRA, funded by the Jacobs Foundation, and organized by Lauree Tilton-Weaver. Together with senior faculty from around the world, these students immersed themselves in discussions of a diverse set of theoretical and empirical issues related to adolescent development.

(left to right) Devora Shamah, Rachel Yeung, and
Guina Cohen share a picnic in one of Torino’s public parks

Petra Filkuková, Mathias Lasgaard, and Nicole Ja
pose during a poster session at the EARA conference

Chris Skaletz and Tina Kretschmer, two of the students who attended the summer school, wrote an article about their experiences for a recent issue of the EARA newsletter. Many of the students sent in reactions to their summer school experience. These reactions, along with some background information, are posted below.

Students were overwhelmingly positive and unanimously recommended the summer school to others. Perhaps after reading about their experiences, you will consider applying for the 2009 Summer School in Vancouver!

(left to right) Janelle Cambron, Cecily Hardaway, Alice
Ho, and Nicole Ja stroll through Torino

(left to right) Carmen van der Zwaluw, Tina Kretschmer,
Elsa De Mattos, Mina Adel Mina, and Nicole Ja are still
smiling at the end of the summer school

Guina Cohen
I am a doctoral candidate in the clinical psychology department at Israel's Ben Gurion University (BGU). I attended the EARA/SRA Summer School in May 2008 in Torino, Italy and it was one of the most enriching experiences I have had, both academically and socially as it presented a wonderful opportunity to exchange ideas with such a diverse group of people while having fun and exploring a new culture. I truly enjoyed the entire program as a whole, but what made it so different from other programs is the fact that you spend time both with peers and with senior researchers in an open and free environment, giving you a chance to learn from others and develop your ideas. In addition, we had a great time just getting to know each other and having some well deserved fun after working our minds all day! I think attending the summer school program was a great privilege and would recommend it highly.

Suna Eryigit
I am, originally from Turkey, a Ph.D. student at Auburn University, in Alabama. I am currently working on my dissertation research, which is a cross-cultural study about identity formation during young adulthood. My favorite part of the Summer School was the group project tasks each scholar gave us after their presentations; working in groups with students with different areas of study and different perspectives helped me to learn more about other areas and practice my research/collaboration skills. I also learned more about research areas of scholars from various places. Thus, I highly recommend the EARA-SRA Summer School to other students, this is an opportunity to interact more with scholars and students in various places in the World. We don’t often find such an opportunity at conferences.

(left to right) Christian Skaletz, Suna Eryigit, Roxanne Moschetti,
Nicole Ja, and Petra Filkuková socialize during happy hour

Petra Filkuková
I have Master degrees in both Psychology and Media Studies. So far I have been a PhD student in Social Psychology at Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic, with my main focus being media effects on children and adolescents. However, as of October 1st, 2008, I will transfer to a Ph.D. program at the University of Oslo, Norway. My new project is dealing with perceptions of dishonesty in public and private communications.

The EARA/SRA Summer School in Torino was just great! First of all, I really appreciated that we were ahead provided a lot of information about the Summer School and also about Torino and that the organizers always promptly replied to our numerous e-mails. In Torino, everything was perfectly organized for us and we did not have to
worry about anything (meals, transportation) and could fully focus on the academic program. The lectures held at the Summer School by world-famous experts were just excellent, dealing with different fields of research on adolescence. It was also very interesting to learn about PhD projects of the fellow Summer School students and receive feedback on one’s own project presentation. I very enjoyed the truly international community, with both seniors and PhD students coming from different countries and continents. The academic program, lasting from early mornings till late afternoons, was
really rich and as prophesied in the schedule we had received ahead, we really slept like a log every night. During the few but very intense days, we also had an opportunity to get to know each other and became friends. We have now a group web site on Facebook and many of us are still in touch. I can strongly recommend the EARA/SRA Summer School to everyone; it is a magnificent experience you will definitely never forget!

Cecily Hardaway
I am a graduate student in developmental psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. My research focuses on understanding the effects of poverty and economic hardship on family processes, child and adolescent development, and the transition to adulthood. I am particularly interested in cultural, family, and sociostructural factors that influence the development of both poor and non-poor African American children and the functioning of African American families. The EARA/SRA Summer School in Torino provided a great opportunity to meet a diverse group of students and professors from around the world. We listened to presentations and worked together on activities designed to further our knowledge about cutting edge research and expose us to novel methodological approaches. My favorite thing about the summer school was getting to know the other students and learning about their research. I highly recommend the EARA/SRA Summer School to other graduate students who would like to share their research with others and build on their training.

(left to right) Petra Filkuková, Sara Lindberg, Roxanne Moschetti,
and Megan Patrick take a coffee break between sessions.

Nicole Ja
I'm currently a 5th year MA/PhD student in the Department of Human Development at Cornell University. I completed my undergraduate work at the University of California, Berkeley, in Psychology and English Literature. My master's research focused on capturing girls' perceptions of opportunities for development in team vs. individual sports, using the diary method to examine the role of systematic diary reflection on the sport experience while collecting rich descriptions of the participants' themselves. My doctoral work will examine the developmental benefits of organized activity involvement for youth growing up in poverty, particularly how youth use activity involvement as personal and social resources for promoting their own development.

The Torino Summer School, for me, was one of the highlights of my time as a graduate student. Having the opportunity to get to know other graduate students and faculty from around the world both personally and professionally while sharing our research, our perspectives, and our experiences was an exciting and enriching experience, one that I know contributed to my development as a young researcher. Having the opportunity to learn about a diverse range of topics about adolescent research from a broader, more global perspective while engaging in activities addressing both theoretical and methodological concerns, broadened my knowledge base in gaining a better understanding of the approaches and work of other students and faculty while infusing me with an enthusiasm spawned by our common objective and interest in promoting adolescent development. Being able to have such an experience while roaming the streets of Torino, Italy made everything just that much more incredible! The uniqueness of the learning environment fostered a sense of connectedness between and among students and faculty which has lasted well beyond our time there.

(left to right) Sarah Stoddard, Marina Merkaš, and
Mina Adel Mina engage in group discussion

Mathias Lasgaard
I am Ph.D. student at the Department of Psychology, University of Aarhus, Denmark. I am working on a thesis about loneliness in adolescence. I was very fortunate to participate in the summer school. In particular I learned from the seniors - the lectures, the personal feedback on my research, and the informal talks about research and career opportunities.

Francesca Lifranchi
I’m a Ph.D. student in Psychology at the Catholic University of Milan, Italy. My main research interests concern individuation in young adults, close relationships, transition to adulthood, and cross-cultural methodology.

This year I’ve had the opportunity of attending the 2008 EARA-SRA Summer School. I think that it was a great and intense experience. I found it very useful to present my research to other students, who came from many countries (such as Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, and Israel). Senior scholars (Rutger Engels and Wim Meeus from the Netherlands, Inge Seiffge-Krenke from Germany, Lauree Tilton-Weaver from Sweden, Marlene Moretti from Canada, Avi Assor from Israel, as well as Brian Barber, Stephen Russell, and Donna Spruit-Metz from the United States) gave me some very useful feedback and suggestions. Moreover I found it very interesting to listen to the presentations of the other students and senior scholars because it increased my knowledge of some psychological themes related to adolescence. Finally, I had the opportunity of putting myself in a European context and I feel that I learned very much from this experience.

Francesca Lifranchi (left) and Elsa de Mattos (right)
smile during a group dinner

Sara Lindberg
I just received my Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from the University of Wisconsin. My research examines the psychosocial changes associated with puberty and the impact of gender roles on adolescent development. The Torino summer school was an amazing professional opportunity, which also turned out to be a lot of fun. I got to connect with emerging and established scholars from across the globe, and made professional connections and friendships that will serve me well for years to come. We've already made plans to reconnect at the upcoming SRCD conference, and I'm exploring
cross-cultural collaborations with a couple people who share my research interests.

Elsa de Mattos
I am a doctoral student at Universidade Federal da Bahia in Brazil. For me Torino Summer School was really a wonderful experience! I was very excited to have the opportunity for intellectual and personal development among a team of recognized senior researchers and other students from around the world. That experience I will never forget!

Marina Merkaš
I come from Croatia, a small but very beautiful country. I am currently working at the Institute of Social Sciences “Ivo Pilar” in Zagreb and preparing my dissertation. I attended the Summer School in Turin that was jointly sponsored by EARA and SRA. Well, I can assure you that it was great! Attending the School was a wonderful experience for me personally, as a PhD student, but particularly valuable were professors’ commentaries and suggestions on my work which was introduced through an oral presentation. I think the most valuable assets of this School’s experience were the team work and really great professors. I learned a lot, but above all I learned that the constructive criticism and a suggestion coming from professors or colleagues is extremely important for the scientific development of a young student aspiring to become a senior researcher. It's a great opportunity to meet students and professors from different countries and to exchange ideas and experiences. My recommendation to all young PhD students is: Don’t ponder on it and wait, just do it, apply for the next Summer School!

Roxanne Moschetti
My background has always fueled my passion for research. Due to homelessness and frequent relocation, education was not a priority for me as a child. Realizing that my environment was a major contributor towards this state of affairs, I reached for every avenue to change my situation for the better and became the first person in my family to graduate from college. I recently graduated from University of California, Santa Barbara with my Ph.D. in Child and Adolescent Development. I am currently a Lecturer in the Department of Child and Adolescent Development at California State University, Northridge. I study social networks, support, and persistence among economically disadvantaged first generation college students. Specifically, my dissertation focused on the experiences of low-income European-American students in Higher Education.

My favorite part of the summer school experience was getting to know students and senior researchers from around the globe. The EARA summer school provided me with the opportunity to develop working relationships and friendships with students and senior researchers while learning about diverse areas of research on adolescents. Since the summer school, I have met and collaborated with other summer school participants as well as senior researchers and recently submitted a symposium proposal to SRCD with another participant from the summer school. I would recommend the EARA summer school to anyone looking for the opportunity to learn about cutting-edge research from around the world while receiving feedback from senior researchers on their own personal work. My experiences during the EARA summer school were some of the most memorable experiences throughout my graduate education!

Megan Patrick
I graduated from Penn State University with a Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies in August 2008. Currently, I am a post-doc at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. The EARA/SRA summer school was a valuable experience. The most rewarding part was getting to know students and faculty from all over the world, by coming together to discuss our ideas and provide and receive feedback about our respective areas of research. I would recommend the summer school to graduate students who are interested in networking with researchers internationally and in developing their own research ideas in the process.

All students and faculty who participated in the 2008
EARA-SRA Summer School in Torino

Christian Skaletz
I work together with Inge Seiffge-Krenke at the Department of Developmental Psychology at the University of Mainz, Germany. My dissertation deals with work-life-balance in emerging adulthood and the impact of minority status on well-being. The most impressive aspect of the Summer School was getting into live contact with senior researchers and discussing my own ideas and thoughts with them in a pleasant and stimulating atmosphere. It was great fun to get to know so many different people from the US and Europe - "[Louis], I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship". The Summer School of EARA/SRA gives fresh impetus and generates new ideas and perspectives for one's own research, so it's definitely a great possibility to participate.

Sarah Stoddard
I participated in the 2008 EARA/SRA Summer School in Torino, Italy. I am currently a doctoral candidate in nursing with an emphasis in adolescent health at the University of Minnesota. For my dissertation I am examining social connections, trajectories of hopelessness, and participation in overt violent behaviors among youth living in urban impoverished neighborhoods, specifically exploring the role hopelessness plays in mediating the relationship between social connections and violent behavior. Summer School was a wonderful opportunity to interact with students and faculty interested in adolescent research from across the globe. The experience was an opportunity for formal and informal conversations; some of the best were informal over coffee, lunch, and dinner. Some of the conversations about research ideas have continued since Summer School adjourned. I now have a network consisting of both peers and mentors that I can reach out to as my career develops.

Rachel Yeung
I am currently a Doctoral student in the Life-Span Developmental Psychology program at University of Victoria, Canada. In May 2008, I participated in the EARA/SRA Summer School in Torino, Italy, where I had the opportunity to interact with leading senior researchers who have expertise in diverse areas of adolescent development and on prevention and intervention. I also collaborated with an international group of doctoral students on group projects, and we discussed various theories, research methodologies, and applications within the community to develop effective program interventions in our research areas. Furthermore, I had the unique opportunity to present my dissertation research, and the feedback received from this interdisciplinary group of researchers and doctoral students was invaluable. My participation at the EARA/SRA Summer School has enriched my understanding on how adolescent research is being conducted internationally. The information gained from this experience has allowed me to further develop my own research direction for my dissertation as a result.

Carmen van der Zwaluw
I am from Nijmegen, a beautiful city in the East of the Netherlands. I am doing my PhD-ship on gene-environment interactions in adolescent alcohol use at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands. In my project I focus on the interplay between candidate dopamine and serotonine genes and specific family factors, such as parenting and parental alcohol use, and its effect on adolescent drinking. The summer school was great. I learned lots from seniors and follow students, especially on theoretical stuff (which is not my cup of tea). Various research fields were part of the program (e.g., experimental studies on eating behavior and alcohol use, studies in former war areas on individuals´ well being). It was very informative to discuss all kinds of research matters with the other students (often in small groups). If you have the chance, I would certainly recommend it to other students (and seniors for that matter ;-) ).