CEHD Welcomes New Faculty Members
New hires bolster CEHD’s Master of Social Work program and its Department of Human Development and Family Sciences
This fall, the University of Delaware College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) welcomes four new faculty members specializing in social work, organizational change and early childhood education. These faculty members bolster the college’s programs in social work (MSW), human relations administration and early childhood education, while deepening its broad expertise in supporting children, youth and families in Delaware and beyond.
Anna Ferris joins CEHD as an assistant professor specializing in social work. Her research seeks to understand how forced displacement is experienced across different humanitarian protection statuses and how policies governing humanitarian protection shape inequality among forced migrant communities. Her dissertation, Liminality of Forced Displacement: Syrian Refugee and Immigrant Lives in the United States, examines humanitarian protection through the lens of legal and geographic migration trajectories. Her work helps bring forced displacement among refugees and other communities to the forefront of scholarship on migration and social welfare.
Alisha Fletcher begins new roles in CEHD as an assistant professor and program coordinator for CEHD’s MSW program. Fletcher previously served as the director of the Delaware Network for Excellence in Autism (DNEA) in the Center for Disabilities Studies (CDS), overseeing projects that provide resources, training and technical assistance that benefit autistic individuals, their families and the professionals who serve them.
Under her leadership, DNEA’s first responder training program received the 2024 Compassionate Champion Award from the Delaware Family Services Cabinet Council, Trauma Matters Delaware and the Office of Governor Carney. Before joining CDS, Fletcher worked as a licensed clinical social worker in an outpatient mental health setting, specializing in supporting children, neurodivergent individuals and their families.
Kevin J. Knudsen joins CEHD as an assistant professor and the human relations administration (HRA) program coordinator in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences (HDFS). Knudsen’s research interests include organizational change and development with a focus on the interplay between micro- and macro-level change. His current project investigates the converging perspectives of different organizational members on AI adoption in the workplace. Knudsen’s research provides a foundation for bringing organizational issues and perspectives into the classroom and connecting students’ learning experiences with the challenges facing contemporary organizations.
Sarah Ryan, who will receive her Ph.D. in HDFS from CEHD this December, rejoins the department as an instructor, teaching courses on early childhood mathematics methods and child development this fall. Her research interests include early childhood and elementary mathematics, how young children learn mathematics in the context of their families, the feasibility and effectiveness of family math interventions and mathematics teacher education. Before joining UD, Ryan worked as an elementary mathematics coach and professional developer for 20 years, working in schools to support pre-K-8 teachers in teaching mathematics more effectively.
To learn more about CEHD faculty and the programs they support, visit the Department of HDFS, School of Education or Social Work webpages.
Header image caption: New faculty members Anna Ferris, Alisha Fletcher, Kevin J. Knudsen and Sarah Ryan are pictured from left to right.
Article by Jessica Henderson. Graphic by Shelly Silva. Photos courtesy of Anna Ferris, Alisha Fletcher, Kevin J. Knudsen and Sarah Ryan.