NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State University’s Department of Social Work and Computer Information Systems program are hosting a visiting scholar from the University of Alicante, Spain, this semester. Professor Jose Emiliano Ramirez Garcia is a clinical social worker and educator who is partnering with Social Work and CIS to focus on suicide ideation – another term for suicidal thoughts — and protective factors among college students.
Dr. MaryAnne Candley, head of NSU’s Department of Social Work, said the collaboration will provide an opportunity to study and compare cultural influences of suicide ideation among American and Spanish college students.
“I am a social worker, family therapist, researcher and university professor,” Ramirez Garcia said. “My academic and professional career has focused primarily on social work in school settings, family and couples therapy, systemic approaches and research related to social, mental and community well-being.”
Although not his only area of expertise, suicide research is an important part of his current work.
In recent years, he has focused on suicidal behavior, providing suicide prevention training to public-sector professionals such as teachers, police officers, firefighters and social services professionals.
At NSU, he will collect and analyze surveys, review literature and design a focus group to explore issues identified in greater mixed method depth. He will also guest lecture at two seminars for students.
“One will focus specifically on the use of dolls and stuffed animals as a therapeutic technique, while the other will focus on the methodology we are using for the research project,” Ramirez Garcia explained. Candley and Dr. Begoña Pérez-Mira, professor in NSUs Computer information Systems program, will both be involved in the research and seminar.
“I believe that the relationship between Social Work and Computer Information Systems is one of the most interesting aspects of this collaboration. Bringing students from different disciplines into the same study allows us to examine whether there are differences in how risk and protective factors are perceived and experienced, and it enables us to develop genuinely interdisciplinary research,” Ramirez Garcia said. “It also has an important gender perspective, since Social Work is a highly feminized discipline, while Computer Information Systems is predominantly male-dominated, both in the United States and in Spain.”
Although not his first visit to the United States, this is Ramirez Garcia’s first research stay and he said it’s been an enriching experience. NSU and the University of Alicante have a long relationship, having established an exchange agreement several years ago that promotes international study, collaborative research and cultural enrichment for students at both universities.
“This collaboration has also led to an opportunity to connect with another project I am involved in in Spain, ADoptic+65, which focuses on older adults and technology. Interestingly, a related project with different objectives is also being conducted within the University of Louisiana System, Global Leadership Experience. This creates the possibility of developing a comparative approach to some of the findings from these projects as well.”
Information on NSU’s Department of Social Work is available at https://www.nsula.edu/social-work/.
Information on NSU’s Computer Information Systems program is available at https://www.nsula.edu/academics/colleges-and-schools/college-of-business-and-technology/school-of-business/computer-information-systems/.