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Hello and welcome
to my web pages. I am a Professor at West Virginia University (WVU) in the
Department of Technology, Learning, and Culture in the College of Human
Resources and Education where I coordinate the undergraduate and graduate
programs in Child Development and Family Studies. I also am a core member of
the Native American Studies Program at WVU and support that program through
service and teaching. My interest in American Indians extends back to my
childhood growing up in Minnesota, and was solidified through work with
Ojibwe and Dakota Sioux families and adolescents in Minnesota and South
Dakota. My B.S. was earned in Family Relationships from the University of
Minnesota (1981). Subsequently, I received an M.S. (1985) in Child
Development and Family Relations from North Dakota State University during
which time I also taught at the Sisseton-Wahpeton Tribal College in South
Dakota. In 1985, I moved west to complete my Ph.D. (1988) in developmental
psychology from Utah State University. Then, I served in an academic
appointment at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada and came to WVU in
1993 which has been my home since that time. During my professional
development leave in 1999 I stayed on the Navajo Nation in New Mexico and
Arizona and did the same on the San Carlos Apache Nation in 2007 where I
consulted at the high school working with troubled youth.
I am
delighted to announce the recent publication of my book, Empowerment of
North American Indian Girls: Ritual Expressions at Puberty (University
of Nebraska Press), which encompasses results of my field research on
contemporary expressions of puberty rituals as well as a multidisciplinary
analysis of these vital ceremonies entrenched in ancient oral traditions and
practices. Traveling extensively, engaging in participant observation
research, forming new friends along the way, and writing this book were
amazing learning experiences. I am keenly interested in American Indian
history, beliefs, and ritual practices and, consistent with my background as
a developmental psychologist, study indigenous models of human development
and the roles of rituals as mechanisms designed to promote optimal outcomes
across the life span. Adolescence, in particular, is the age span of
particular relevance in my work as indicated in my scholarly publications on
identity formation, ego strength, and structured activity involvement. The
Psychosocial Inventory of Ego Strengths (PIES) is an instrument my graduate
students and I developed in the 1990s and continues to be adopted
for use by scholars. I am a member of the American Psychological
Association, the Society for Research on Adolescence, and other professional
organizations including my role as President-Elect of the Society for
Research on Identity Formation.
With
time and opportunity, I love to travel to our house in Arizona where I
write, play my guitar, hike in the desert and mountains, eat good Mexican
food, and visit friends on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. These are the
best of times and only improve when my husband Rick Sale and our chihuahuas Shasta
and Sister can travel with me.
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