Understanding Racism's Impact on Child Development: Working Towards Fairness of Place in the United States

Contents Podcast Panelists Additional Resources Transcript   In December 2023, we continued our Place Matters webinar series with our second installment: “Understanding Racism’s Impact on Child Development: Working Towards Fairness of Place in the United States.” During the webinar, Stephanie Curenton, PhD, Nathaniel Harnett, PhD, Mavis Sanders, PhD, and Natalie Slopen, ScD, discussed their latest research, exploring how racism gets “under the skin” to impact children’s development and how it contributes to unequal access to opportunity in the places where children live, grow, play, and learn. Together, they explored ways to dismantle systemic barriers and work toward solutions that promote healthy child development. The webinar discussion has been adapted for this episode of the Brain Architects podcast.  Panelists Stephanie Curenton, PhD (Moderator)Director, Center on the Ecology of Early Development, Boston University Nathaniel Harnett, PhDDirector, Neurobiology of Affective and Traumatic Experiences Laboratory, Mass General Brigham McLean Mavis Sanders, PhDProfessor of Public Policy and Director of Policy Solutions, University of Michigan  Natalie Slopen, ScDAssistant Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health Tassy Warren, EdM  (Webinar Host)Deputy Director and Chief Strategy Officer, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University Cameron Seymour-Hawkins (Podcast Host)Communications Coordinator, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University Additional Resources Place Matters: The Environment We Create Shapes the Foundations of Healthy Development Moving Upstream: Confronting Racism to Open Up Children’s Potential Priorities for Child Trends’ Applied Research Agenda on Black Children and Families - Child Trends A Bibliographic Tool on Protective Community Resources for Children and Youth - Child Trends Black Children and Youth Can Benefit From Focused Research on Protective Community Resources - Child Trends Black Adolescents Are More Likely to Flourish in Neighborhoods Featuring Four Key Amenities - Child Trends Transcript   Cameron Seymour-Hawkins: Welcome to The Brain Architects, a podcast from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. I’m Cameron Seymour-Hawkins, the Center’s Communications Coordinator.Our Center believes that advances in the science of child development provide a powerful source of new ideas that can improve outcomes for children and their caregivers. By sharing the latest science from the field, we hope to help you make that science actionable and apply it in your work in ways that can increase your impact. In December, we continued our Place Matters webinar series with our second installment: “Understanding Racism’s Impact on Child Development: Working Towards Fairness of Place in the United States.” During the webinar, Doctors Stephanie Curenton, Nathaniel Harnett, Mavis Sanders, and Natalie Slopen, discussed their latest research, exploring how racism gets “under the skin” to impact children’s development and how it contributes to unequal access to opportunity in the places where children live, grow, play, and learn. Together, they explored ways to dismantle systemic barriers and work toward solutions that promote healthy child development. We’re excited to share this conversation on today’s episode of the Brain Architects podcast. Now, without further ado, here’s Tassy Warren, the Center’s Deputy Director and Chief Strategy Officer, who will set the stage for our conversation. Tassy Warren: Hello.