Ruben Parra-Cardona, associate professor in the program of couple and family therapy at Michigan State University and associate director of the MSU Research Consortium on Gender-based Violence, will present the second Jurich Lecture on Social Justice at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 17.
He will present “Building Bridges of Social Justice: Embracing prevention research to support Latino/a communities in the U.S. and Mexico.”
The afternoon lecture and reception will be at the K-State Student Union. On Friday, Sept. 18, marriage and family therapy alumni and friends are invited to breakfast at the Family Center and then join a program and center tour.
Parra-Cardona’s research, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), compares and contrasts the differential treatment efficacy and cultural relevance of two culturally adapted versions of an evidence-based parenting intervention.
His violence research focuses on the evaluation of cultural relevance of services for Latino survivors as well as Latino men who batter and abuse.
He serves as consultant for the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence,
The lecture series honors Jurich, a professor who taught in the School of Family Studies and Human Services for more than 39 years before his death in 2010.
Jurich earned national recognition for his work as a leader in the field of family therapy. He believed in social justice and challenged his students and colleagues to value diversity, promote equality and endorse fairness, said Sandra Stith, University distinguished professor and head of the marriage and family therapy program.
In 2014, Jurich’s wife, Olivia Collins, and his brother, Steve Jurich, established the Tony Jurich Community Commitment and Leadership Student Awards, which recognize graduating students who demonstrate a commitment to the professor’s core leadership tenets.
The tenets — strive for resonance; assume value and be respectful; be compassionate; do what is right; seek out, affirm and utilize diversity; and lead by example — provide a road map for sustainable community change, said Marcie Lechtenberg, marriage and family therapist, instructor and therapist supervisor in the School of Family Studies and Human Services. She received a Jurich graduate student award in 2014.
“Tony was loved and respected as a dedicated therapist, an enthusiastic teacher and researcher, and a wise supervisor and mentor,” Lechtenberg said.
