This summer, Cody Solesbee, a third-year doctoral student in the Educational Psychology Department, is investigating how technology may help to put an end to bullying. Solesbee is a recipient of a Digital Scholarship Incubator (DSI) fellowship, a program sponsored by the Nebraska Center for Digital Research in the Humanities. The DSI program provides students with a stipend to conduct their research in a cohort experience and gives them an opportunity to make connections with University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty and staff.
Through research, Solesbee aims to open a space where middle and high-school aged youth can build awareness, “track kindness” and practice important social and emotional skills, such as bravery and empathy.
“A lot of the research coming out of the bullying literature shows that if kids have skills like empathy, they’re less likely to be involved in the bullying dynamic,” said Solesbee. “I’m taking a public health mindset, a more preventative approach to teaching these skills early and more effectively before they’re needed.”
Over these past two months, one-on-one and group consultations and sharing work space have been mutually beneficial activities for all DSI fellows. Being a DSI fellow has afforded Solesbee the time and perspective needed to work toward the development of more sustainable anti-bullying interventions and programs. It is a program dedicated to strengthening scholarship–forging networks, contributing to broader understandings, and developing new strategies, and it is a program spurring system-wide change. Other 2018 DSI fellows include Marcus Barbosa, Sarita Garcia and Alice Miller MacPhee.
For more information on the DSI program, please visit https://go.unl.edu/yfmw or contact Elizabeth Lorang, associate professor, university libraries, at llorang2@unl.edu.