Spotlight: Arpana Inman, PHD

COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS VISIT THE UNITED NATIONS

Twenty College of Education Counseling Psychology graduate students visited the United Nations in New York in March 2006 to underscore their program's emphasis on global social justice and diversity issues.

"Too often we focus on domestic culture in graduate training, " says Counseling Pscychology Assistant Professor Arpana Inman, PhD, who orchestrated the U.N. trip. "But with globalization, countries and cultures are increasingly interdependent, which is reflected in issues addressed at the United Nations."

Students met with Richard Alderslade, the senior external relations officer and acting deputy director of the World Health Organization Office to the United Nations, who talked about the history of mental health access and current trends in psychological health-care issues across cultures.

Anju Kaduvettor, a Lehigh fourth-year graduate student, whose research did not explore international issues prior to the trip, left the United Nations eager to learn more about mental health access in different countries. "When I left the United Nations, I knew I wanted to do some type of international research, " she says. Now, she aims to expand her research focus to examine international mental health concerns.

he Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE) hosted an audio and two web conference presentations with Dr. Perry Zirkel in September. Dr. Perry Zirkel is a Professor in the Educational Leadership program, and was former dean of the College of Education. He is a prolific writer in the area of school law and is a frequent invited presenter across the country. The primary author of Section 504, the ADA, and the Schools, Perry is an active labor arbitrator and also serves on the special education hearing appeals panel for Pennsylvania.

As it pertains to the IDEA regulations, Dr. Zirkel provided an early analysis of the most significant revisions and their possible legal implications for local directors. The format consisted of a 60-minute audio-web presentation and 30 minutes of questions and answers from the audience. The web-based program (termed "webinar") for CASE went out to a total of 120 sites across the country and the audience included individuals representing school districts, state education departments, universities and law forums. For more information visit http://www.casecec.org/.