College of Human Ecology to hold book signing April 15

Syracuse University’s College of Human Ecology and its College Research Center will host a book signing on Thursday, April 15, for the SU and local communities featuring the published works of professor emerita Alice Sterling Honig and professor of health and wellness, social work and anthropology Sandra Lane. The event will take place beginning at 3:30 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons in E.S. Bird Library. The program is free and open to the public, and will include a reception to meet the authors and have books signed by them. The SU Bookstore will have publications by both authors available for sale at the event.

Honig, professor emerita of child development and celebrated early childhood expert, has published “Little Kids, Big Worries: Stress-Busting Tips for Early Childhood Classrooms” (Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co., 2009), a guidebook for early childhood professionals to help them address the most common causes of stress in a young child’s life, from separation anxiety and bullying to jealousy and family circumstances.

Reviewed by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Honig’s book is celebrated for providing teachers “practical and sensitive tools” through memorable stories and down-to-earth, easy-to-use ideas. Her expert advice helps children develop the early social and academic skills necessary to succeed in school. With her 40-plus years of experience, Honig shows readers how these stress-busters can make a real difference in children’s lives, and the questions at the end of each chapter are ideal aids for self-study or professional development courses.

Lane, professor of health and wellness, social work and anthropology at SU, as well as a research professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at SUNY Upstate Medical University, has published, “Why Are Our Babies Dying?: Pregnancy, Birth and Death in America” (Paradigm Publishing, 2008). The book looks at Syracuse of the late 1980s–at that time a city that led U.S. cities in African American infant deaths. Even today, infants of color die more than twice as often as white babies. Infant mortality is often addressed as an isolated problem; Lane’s book, which includes stories and data, illustrates that low birth weight, premature birth and infant death are a part of life patterns resulting from systemic discrimination that not only increases risk over a lifetime but also in many cases reaches the next generation.

“This path-breaking study explains why more infants die in America than in many third-world countries. This book leaves room for hope, and should be required reading for all those working to end health disparities in the U.S.,” says Marcia C. Inhorn, professor in the School of Public Health, Anthropology and Women’s Studies at the University of Michigan.

For more information about the event, call (315) 443-4925.