Marion H. Steele Symposium
Human Development and Family Studies hosts annual event
8:12 a.m., May 6, 2011--After graduating from the University of Delaware’s Women’s College in 1928, Marion Harlan Steele became one of the pioneers of the American home economics movement. Her career began as secretary to the editor of the American Home Economics Association's Journal of Home Economics, eventually becoming managing editor in 1946.
On April 29, UD's Department of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) in the College of Education and Human Development hosted the 26th annual Marion H. Steele Symposium, initiated by the Steele family upon her death in 1985.
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The symposium consists of paper presentations and posters by undergraduate and graduate students based on work about families, consumer sciences, human development and communities, recognizing the high standards of scholarly work to which Steele dedicated her professional efforts.
This year the symposium consisted of 17 paper submissions and five poster submissions by undergraduate and graduate students in human development and family studies, biology, communications, exercise sciences, cognitive science, and fashion and apparel studies. The papers and posters were judged by a panel of faculty and professional staff.
The top undergraduate paper, “Implementation of Home and Community-Based Services in Managed Care Organizations through Medicaid Waivers,” was by Jacqueline Rachel McCulley, of Newark, Del. The top graduate paper, “Family Coping and Resilience in the Face of Childhood Cancer,” was by Meghan Julia, of West Chester, Pa.
The winners of the top posters were undergraduate student Molly Torres of Lido Beach, N.Y., for “The Sociocultural Theory and its role in the Effects of Magazine Covers on College Women’s Body Satisfaction” and graduate student Jessica Schulz, of Maple Shade, N.Y., for “Adolescent-Parent Communication and Technology Use.”
Donald Unger, department chairperson, welcomed attendees to the event, including special guests J. Rodman Steele of Boca Raton, Fla., and Tracy Steele and Marion Ainsley Steele of Philadelphia.
Barbara Settles, professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies, provided a brief history of Marion H. Steele’s legacy to the University of Delaware and the Delaware Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (DAFCS).
Rita Hovermale, family and consumer sciences associate with the Delaware Department of Education and president of the DAFCS, addressed the group, encouraging the students in their chosen field. “If you look at addressing the issues facing society, from childhood obesity to home foreclosure, all are a part of who we are," she said. "Never has the need for our discipline been greater.”
The symposium ended with the introduction of the undergraduate and graduate participants, followed by a reception and opportunity to speak with the students about their research.