Dr. Stephen M. Gavazzi

Professor Gavazzi has established a research program that identifies the impact of family dynamics on adolescent development, psychopathology and problem behavior. He is the author of the textbook Families with Adolescents: Bridging the Gaps Between Theory, Research, and Practice. Dr. Gavazzi also is known for his work on a variety of higher education issues. His book Land-Grant Universities for the Future: Higher Education for the Public Good (co-authored with E. Gordon Gee) was published in 2018 by Johns Hopkins University Press. Gavazzi and Gee also are co-authors of the book What’s Public About Public Higher Ed? Halting Higher Education’s Decline in the Court of Public Opinion that was published in October 2021 by Johns Hopkins University Press. Professor Gavazzi also co-edited (with David Staley) the book Fulfilling the 21st Century Land-Grant Mission that was published in 2020 by The Ohio State University Press.

Research Interests

• Adolescent and At-Risk Youth
  • Alcohol and drug use
  • Delinquency
  • Educational gains
  • Exposure to trauma
  • Gang affiliation
  • Mental health issues
• Assessment
• Civic Education
  • Civitas
• Community/Youth Development and Organizations
  • Positive youth development
  • Primary prevention programming
• Family and Community Human Services
• Family Systems
  • Marriage and family therapy
• Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA)
  • Campus-community relationships
  • Town-gown relationships
• Human Development and Family Studies
  • Families with adolescents

Education

• PhD, Family Studies, School of Family Studies, University of Connecticut, 1991
• MA, Marriage and Family Therapy Program, School of Family Studies, University of Connecticut, 1985
• BA, Psychology, Pennsylvania State University, 1983

Ongoing Newark Earthwork's Center's Research

• Stepping Out and Stepping Up: The Land-Grant Truth and Reconciliation Project
  • Stepping Out of Our Comfort Zone and Stepping Up to Our Responsibilities
• "Toward Truth and Reconciliation: Present-Day Indigenous Peoples in Ohio"
• Indigenous Ohio: OSU and Native Arts and Humanities Past and Present Grant

Selected Research

• Gavazzi, S. M., Low, J.N. Confronting the Wealth Transfer from Tribal Nations that Established Land-Grant Universities: Steps toward atonement. American Association of University Professors. 2022. [external link]
• Williams, R. B., Gavazzi, S. M., Roberts, M. E., Snyder, B. W., Low, J. N., Hoy, C., Chaatsmith, M. L., and Charles, M. Let Us Tell the Story of Our Land and Place: Tribal Leader Interviews Concerning the Seizure and Sale of Territories Benefiting Land-Grant Universities. Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education. Volume  33, No. 4- Summer 2022. [external link].
• Williams, R.B., Gavazzi, S. M., Roberts, M.E., Chaatsmith, M.L., Hoy, C., Low., J. N., and Snyder, B. W. Paying Old Debts. Tribal College Journal of American Indian Higher Education. Vol. 33, No. 2. 2021.  [external link]
• Gavazzi, S. M. (2021). Reckoning with the Original Sin of Land-Grant Universities: Remaining Land-Grant Fierce While Insisting on Contrition and Repentance. Native American and Indigenous Studies, 8, 157-161. [Project Muse external link]
• Gavazzi, S. M., and Staley, D. C. (2020). Fulfilling the 21st century land-grant mission: Essays in honor of The Ohio State University’s sesquicentennial celebration. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University Press.
• Gavazzi, S. M. (2020). The Land-Grant Mission in the 21st Century: Promises Made and Promises to be Kept. Animal Frontiers, 10, 6-9.
• Gavazzi, S. M. (2020). Teaching excellence: The core of the land-grant mission. Journal of Empowering Teaching Excellence, 4, 6-12.
• Gavazzi, S. M., and Gee, E. G. (2018). Land-grant universities for the future: Higher education for the public good. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Gavazzi, S. M. (2018). Campus and community leadership in the spotlight: How university presidents and city managers view town-gown relationships. Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 11, 8-19.

Selected Presentations

• Phillips, J., and Gavazzi, S. M. (2021). How We Address Access, Equity, and Inclusion with a Focus on Native Peoples. Presentation and moderation of discussion at the Western Region Joint Summer Meeting (virtual). [external YouTube link]
• Gavazzi, S. M. (2021). Reckoning with the Original Sin of Land-Grant Universities: Remaining Land-Grant Fierce while Insisting on Contrition and Repentance. Presentation at the Native American and Indigenous Studies Conference (virtual).
• Gavazzi, S. M. Two Steps Land Grants Should Take to Fight Racial Injustice. Inside Higher Education, May 7, 2021.
• Brian Snyder and Steven M., Gavazzi. Stepping Out and Stepping Up: Toward Truth and Reconciliation with Dispossessed Native American Tribes. Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation (InFACT) newsletter ,OSU Discovery Themes, December 17, 2020.