In lieu of an in-person lecture series during the 2020-2021 academic year, the University of Kentucky Center for Research on Violence Against Women (CRVAW) is featuring an on-demand video lecture series online.

The “Ignite Your Research” series features presentations by endowed faculty and staff from the center covering a range of topics including intimate partner psychological abuse, financial abuse and the reported increase in intimate partner violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. They discuss how shelter-in-place orders, quarantine requirements, and increased stress due to working at home, home schooling children and the financial crises spurred by the pandemic have exacerbated the problem of domestic violence.

This week, the center released the second episode of the series, "Challenges of Researching Intimate Partner Psychological Abuse," in which Diane Follingstad, professor of clinical and forensic psychology and CRVAW Endowed Chair, discusses the nuances of collecting and measuring data pertaining to intimate partner psychological abuse. Her insightful commentary illuminates areas of special consideration for designing studies that are both meaningful and useful in this vitally important and sensitive research field. 

Additional upcoming episodes include:

• Episode 3 (April 12): “See You Now Podcast, COVID-19 The Nurse Response: Safe Homes,” hosted by Shawna Butler and featuring Cralle-Day Foundation Endowed Professor Camille Burnett. 
• Episode 4 (April 19): “Domestic Violence & Financial Status,” a discussion originally recorded and published by the COVID-19 Domestic Violence Task Force featuring Claire Renzetti, the Judi Conway-Patton Endowed Chair.
• Episode 5 (April 26): “Career Spotlight: Verizon Wireless Endowed Chair, Ann Coker.” Coker talks about the path of her career and how she began studying the coincidence of negative health impacts related to violence against women. 

The first episode was released in December 2020: "Introduction to Missing Data Analysis" by CRVAW statistician Caihong Li.

For more information, visit www.uky.edu/crvaw/.