UCCS is home to a number of published faculty members. Their wide-ranging research has been featured in books, textbooks and journals. Faculty members across multiple departments shared some of their favorite works with The Scribe.
Department of Anthropology
Tara Cepon-Robins is an associate professor for the department of anthropology. Robins authored an invited perspective for the Nature Reviews Neurology journal, set to release later this year. Robins’s work, “Embodiment of Structural Racism and Multiple Sclerosis Risk and Outcomes in the USA,” explores inequity in multiple sclerosis risk, diagnoses and disease outcomes based on race.
“In this paper, we explore the downstream consequences of structural racism and embodied inequality that contribute to MS susceptibility,” Robins said in a statement via email.
“From Rivers to Forests: Unveiling Primate Resource Strategies in the Neotropics,” co-authored by assistant professor Susan Howell, is under review to be published this year. Howell’s work will be featured in the American Journal of Primatology.
This study seeks to gain insight into how primates use resources within their ecosystems. For her research, Howell measured land and water use across three species of neotropical primates.
In 2022, Michelle Escasa-Dorne co-authored “Women’s lifetime reproductive profiles and frailty among aging individuals in the USA and the Philippines” for the Journal of Physiological Anthropology. Escasa-Dorne is an associate professor for the department of anthropology.
Escasa-Dorne’s work focuses on changes in sex steroid hormone levels throughout women’s lifetimes. The study “[reviews] data on reproductive profiles and risks of frailty among post-menopausal women,” Escasa-Dorne said in a statement via email.
Department of Criminal Justice
Anna Kosloski is an associate professor and the chair of the department of criminal justice. Kosloski wrote “The crime of luring a minor for contact sexual abuse: Exploration of demographic patterns & criminal records of convicted offenders” in 2024.
Kosloski’s work was included in the Child Abuse & Neglect journal. The article analyzes the behaviors of individuals involved in luring minors in hopes of developing more effective preventative measures and intervention strategies.
“Bridging the Divide: Exploring Nonprofits’ Perceptions of Cannabis Philanthropy in the Changing Legal Landscape of the United States” was published in the Journal of Drug Issues in 2024.
In “Bridging the Divide,” assistant professor Kate Quintana explains cannabis donations to non-profit organizations and their perceptions of the positive or negative quality of cannabis philanthropy.
Quintana found that most respondents saw cannabis philanthropy as positive. This could suggest “a favorable environment for the cannabis industry to engage in philanthropy and partnerships with nonprofits,” according to the article’s abstract.
Daniel Olson, an associate teaching professor, collaborated with Quintana and Kosloski to write “Cybersecurity Skills, Knowledge and Abilities for Criminal Justice Professionals: An Exploratory Study of Practitioners’ Perspectives” for the Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice.
Published in 2024, this work discusses the growing importance of cybersecurity within the field of criminal justice. Olson’s research is aimed at addressing knowledge gaps in criminal justice professions to help criminal justice students succeed after graduation.
Jonathan Caudill is a criminal justice professor and interim dean for the College of Public Service. Caudill authored “Homicidal ideation in a sample of capital murderers: Prevalence, morbidity, and associations with homicide offending” in 2024.
Caudill’s article is published in the Homicide Studies journal. His research expands upon homicidal ideation, an understudied area of criminal justice.
Through a sample of death-sentenced prisoners in California, Caudill and his peers discovered a link between homicidal ideation frequency and severity and murder and attempted murder charges.
In 2023, teaching professor Katy Hudson authored “Beyond the Gates: Profiles of American Corrections Environments.” Her book contains a profile of several prisons across the United States. Hudson covers the histories of correctional facilities, their practices and notable inmates.
Henriikka Weir is an associate professor for the department of criminal justice. Weir wrote “Diverse Long-Term Effects of Childhood Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence: Development of Externalizing Behaviors in Males and Females” for the Journal of Interpersonal Violence.
Published in 2021, the article investigated how continued exposure to domestic violence led to externalized behaviors including delinquency, violence and drug offenses in male and female victims.
Department of Philosophy
Jennifer Kling and Colin J. Lewis, associate professors for the department of philosophy, co-authored “Contemporary Politics and Classical Chinese Thought” in 2024.
According to a UCCS Communique article, the book applies classical Chinese philosophical arguments to modern political discourse. The book addresses gaps in political theory and emphasizes a more global understanding of political philosophy.
Department of Sociology
Jeffrey Montez de Oca is a professor and the chair of the department of sociology. He published “Athletic Activism: Global Perspectives on Social Transformation” in 2023. The book discusses how people use sports to advance political activism.
Montez de Oca said that the book explains how sports professionals “use sports to engage in conscious, concerted and sustained efforts to transform the world they inhabit.”
This article is the second in a two-part series. Find the first part here.
Books authored by professors John Harner and Byeong Kil Lee. Photo by Logan Cole.