SRA International Fellowships

In 2008, SRA established the International Fellows Program, an initiative designed to foster international and cultural diversity in SRA. This program provides support for the International Fellow to attend, present, and discuss his/her research in a symposium or roundtable at a biennial meeting. International Fellows are senior scholars or professionals who have well-established reputations and networks in regions of the world less familiar to the general SRA membership. The SRA International Fellow presentation at biennial meetings provides an opportunity for SRA members to learn potentially unique and indigenous ways of understanding adolescence across the world. The International Fellow's registration, transportation and lodging expenses are covered by SRA. He/she also receives a $500 honorarium.

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2014 SRA International Fellow. We are seeking nominations of colleagues from Majority World countries who fit the above description. Self-nominations are acceptable. Please send a letter of nomination and a short biosketch of the nominee to the following email: intlfellow@s-r-a.org. The deadline for nominations is June 27, 2013. The 2014 Biennial Meeting will be held March 20 - 22 in Austin, Texas, USA.

Past SRA International Fellows:

Raija-Leena Punamäki, the 2012 SRA International Fellow, is a psychologist and professor in University of Tampere, Finland. Her research focuses on child and adolescent development and mental health in traumatic conditions, especially in war and military violence. The research topics include symbolic processes (dreaming, fantasy and playing), family dynamics and attachment development. The main aim is to translate the knowledge of adolescent emotional, symbolic, social and cognitive development into evidence- and theory-based treatments for young trauma survivors. In the field of war trauma, she works in close cooperation with Palestinian and Kurdish colleagues, in research, professional training and interventions. In the Nordic and Finnish context, she studies social, emotional, psychophysiological impacts of ICT (Information and communication technology) on adolescent development, and predictors of suicide, drug abuse and school violence among adolescents. She is an active member of the Finnish Psychologist for Social Responsibility, and the Board Member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, of the Research on Family Relations, of the National Doctoral Program, and of the Nordic Network for Research on Refugee Children.

2012 SRA International Fellow Roundtable—“What Should Change and Why in Preventive Interventions for Traumatized Adolescents? Cognitive, Emotional and Symbolic Processes”
Moderator: Doran French, Purdue University
Panelist 1: Raija-Leena Punamäki, International Fellow
Panelist 2: Stephen T. Russell, Commentary

Silvia H Koller, the 2010 SRA International Fellow, is Brazilian and works as Professor and Chair of the Center for Psychological Studies on At Risk Children, Youth and Families at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. She was Associate Editor of the International Journal of Behavioral Development, member of the Scientific Committee of the International Society for Research in Behavioral Development (ISSBD) Biennial Meetings (Belgium, Canada, Australia, Germany, Zambia), one of the organizers of the Brazilian Workshop of ISSBD in 2007, served on the Executive Committee and as the Ad Hoc Representative of Latin America for ISSBD. She is member of the International Committee of SRCD and serves on the Executive Board of the Interamerican Society of Psychology (SIP). Her research focusing primarily on ecological development, populations at risk, street children and positive psychology has been supported by the Kellogg Foundation, World Childhood Foundation, World Bank, EveryChild and various Brazilian agencies. Dr. Koller has published in several international and Brazilian journals.

2010 International Fellow Roundtable Discussion Symposium—“Street Children in Latin America: Lessons From the Ground”
Chair: Brian K. Barber, University of Tennessee
Panelist 1: Silvia H. Koller, International Fellow
Panelist 2: Patricio E. Cumsille, Commentary
Panelist 3: Niobe Way, Commentary
 

A. Bame Nsamenang was selected as the inaugural SRA International Fellow for 2008. He is Associate Professor of Psychology and Learning Science at Yaoundé University’s Advanced School of Education [ENS Bambili campus], Cameroon. He is the CEO of the Human Development Resource Centre (HDRC), a research and service facility in Bamenda, Cameroon. Professor Nsamenang has taken up the challenge that sub-Saharan African scholars face to connect their academic and professional knowledge and their skills and values to the state of their communities and Afrique Noire Interactive contextualism and biological embedding—the foundational determinants of human thriving, health, and social competence—constitute his theoretical foundation. He is one of Africa’s most visible scholars in developmental science, extensively publishing and guiding influential works on adolescence and early childhood development in Africa. Professor Nsamenang’s lifetime commitment is to contribute to an Africentric developmental science to enrich adolescent research and global psychology. For more information and a list of selected publications, see: http://www.unige.ch/fapse/SSE/teachers/dasen/Nsamenang.htm.

Inaugurating the SRA International Fellows Program, Paper Symposium—“A Focus on Africa With Professor A. Bame Nsamenang”
Chair: Brian K. Barber, University of Tennessee
International Fellow: A. Bame Nsamenang
Commentators: Reed Larson and Deborah J. Johnson