Leading social science researcher to present April 24 lecture at Syracuse University on gay and lesbian family life

Leading social science researcher to present April 24 lecture at Syracuse University on gay and lesbian family life April 14, 2009Michele Barrettmibarret@syr.edu

Charlotte Patterson, one of the leading researchers of the development of children being raised in gay and lesbian families, will present, “Living Under the Rainbow: A Social Science Perspective on Gay and Lesbian Family Lives,” on Friday, April 24, at 11:30 a.m. in the Sims Hall Atrium (third floor). Paid parking is available in the Irving Garage.

The lecture, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by Syracuse University’s College of Human Ecology; the Family Issues Network (a group of SU faculty, staff and students interested in teaching, research, service and policy development related to children and families); and SU’s School of Education, Department of Psychology and LGBT Resource Center.

The first to conduct a systematic investigation of preschool and elementary children born to openly lesbian parents, Patterson is a professor in the Department of Psychology and in the Center for Children, Families and the Law at the University of Virginia. She is also a distinguished research fellow at the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law. Her research focuses on the psychology of sexual orientation, with an emphasis on sexual orientation, human development and family lives. In the context of her research, Patterson has worked with children, adolescents, couples and families. She is perhaps best known for her studies of child development in the context of lesbian- and gay-parented families.

For more information about this event, contact the College of Human Ecology Research Center at (315) 443-9233.

About the College of Human Ecology at Syracuse University

The College of Human Ecology is dedicated to excellence in professional academic education and integrates publicly engaged scholarship as a philosophy and method in all of its programs. The college brings together a rich history of academic programs whose signatures of social responsibility and justice join new and evolving majors reflective of educating global citizens whose leadership can-and does-change the places and people where they live and work.

Previously known as the College of Human Services and Health Professions until it was renamed in 2007, the College of Human Ecology hosts seven departments with strong roots in SU history: Child and Family Studies; Health and Wellness; Hospitality Management; Marriage and Family Therapy; Nutrition Science and Dietetics; Sport Management; and the School of Social Work.