La Verne Professor to Give Sexual Orientation Presentation at Claremont Symposium
Assistant Psychology Professor Dr. Nadine Nakamura and scholars from around the country are scheduled to gather in March to discuss sexual orientation research and how it affects current public policy debates.
The 29th Annual Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology will be March 21 at Claremont Graduate University. Speakers plan to share research on lesbian, gay, and bisexual issues, address connections between science and practice and discuss future research and policy. Past Applied Social Psychology symposiums have addressed topics such as diversity, ideology and the environment.
Nakamura’s presentation, called “United by Love, Divided by Law: Same-sex Binational Couples and the Impact of DOMA” will cover the Defense of Marriage Act and its effects on federal marriage benefits and spousal immigration sponsorship.
“This presentation will focus on survey data collected in June 2013, before the Supreme Court overturned DOMA, in order to understand the implications that this discriminatory policy had on individuals in same-sex binational relationships,” Nakamura said.
Nakamura, who has taught at La Verne since 2011, was awarded grant funding in 2013 from the Society for the Psychological Social Issues for her project “Love exiles: Same-sex binational couples living outside of the United States.” Her research interests relate to multiculturalism and intersectionality, including immigration, HIV, as well as ethnic, sexual minority and mental health.
She said the La Verne campus community may wish to attend, since speakers will address current LGBT issues such as health, same-sex marriage and lesbian and gay parenting.
“This symposium may be of interest to our campus community because it will exhibit how applicable psychological research is to important, timely policy issues,” she said.
Other speakers scheduled for the symposium include Dr. Gregory M. Herek, a Professor of Psychology at the University of California at Davis who is an internationally recognized authority on sexual minority issues. He provided testimony challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8 in the California legal case Perry v. Schwarzenegger.
Dr. Charlotte J. Patterson, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia, will speak on lesbian and gay parenting – a topic she explores in child development research. Also speaking will be Dr. Ilan H. Meyer, Senior Scholar for Public Policy at the Williams Institute for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy at UCLA’s School of Law. He plans to discuss the shifting social climates and health of sexual minorities in the U.S. Meyer has researched the impact prejudice and stigma against sexual minorities has on their health.
The symposium will be at the Albrecht Auditorium in the Stauffer Hall of Learning, 925 N. Dartmouth Ave. Cost is $25 for students and $50 for professionals and academics. Information: John LaVelle, Director of Operations and External Affairs for the School of Social Science, Policy & Evaluation, at John.LaVelle@cgu.edu or (909) 607-9016.
