Research Areas

The department's signature emphasis on RPI (research-practice integration) is reflected in its commitment to developmental science, in the applied research of its faculty, in the grantsmanship and productivity of its research centers, institutes, and special programs, and in its community-based partnerships through which collaborative research and applied projects are implemented. Faculty in the department conduct research across socio-culturally diverse communities and address issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The work is interdisciplinary and has three focal approaches:

• Developmental: to understand childhood and youth in the 21st century and the roles that families and caretakers, as well as the media and new technologies, play in these complex, multi-cultural digital societies
• Global: to meet the needs of all children around the world
• Design: to conceive new technologies, programs and policies to change children's lives