Media Room

Media Relations Staff

Jonathan Gust
Director of Media Relations
(610) 519-6508
jonathan.gust@villanova.edu

Kathleen Scavello
Assistant Director of Media Relations
(610) 519-6733
kathleen.scavello@villanova.edu

Kate Johnston
Assistant Director of Media Relations (Villanova School of Law)
(610) 519-8333
kate.johnston@villanova.edu

Kiera Daly
Media Relations Specialist (610) 519-7357
kiera.daly@villanova.edu

Emily Walsh
Media Relations Coordinator
(610) 519-5152
emily.walsh@villanova.edu

Media Relations E-mail
media.relations@villanova.edu

Did You Know?

Villanova University is one of only two Augustinian Catholic institutions of higher education in the country.

Faculty Experts - Pamela Blewitt, Ph.D.

Pamela Blewitt, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Villanova University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Area of Expertise:

Early childhood education and care
Young children's acquisition of vocabulary
Quality of child care and its effects on early language and literacy

Summary

Dr. Blewitt is a leading authority on how young children acquire vocabulary. She has researched the basic cognitive processes that support word learning while delving into environmental factors that enrich verbal expression such as shared book reading and adult-child conversation. Blewitt can also address how the quality of child care affects early language and literacy and discuss how to make developmental science accessible to parents, caregivers and helping professionals.

Education

Ph.D., University of Rochester
M.A., Teachers College, Columbia University
B.A., University of Rochester

Selected Publications

Broderick, P.C., Blewitt, P., The life span: Human development for helping professionals (1st, 2nd and 3rd Editions), Prentice-Hall, Saddle River, NJ, 2003, 2006, 2010.
Blewitt, P., Rump, K.M., Shealy, S.E. & Cook, S.A., "Shared book reading: When and how questions affect young children's word learning," Journal of Educational Psychology, 101, 294-304, 2009.
Dolena, A.L. and Blewitt, P., "Social class differences in the 'slow mapping' of word knowledge in young children." Presented at the biennial meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Denver, Colorado, 2009.
Fedor, M.C., Blewitt, P., "Language input and shared book reading: The role of SES and preschool type." Presented at the biennial meetings of the Society for Research in Child Development, Denver, Colorado, 2009.

Selected Professional Experience

Associate Professor of Psychology, Villanova University
Assistant Professor of Psychology, Villanova University
Instructor in Psychology, Nazareth College
Remedial Reading Teacher, Berkshire Farm for Boys, Canaan, New York

Selected Research

National Institute of Mental Health, "Relating Adult Speech to Children's Word Learning," 1982-83.
National Institute of Mental Health, "A Study of Acquired Aphasia in Children," 1979-80.
Villanova Faculty Research Grant, 1977, 1983, 1994.

About Villanova
Since 1842, Villanova University’s Augustinian Catholic intellectual tradition has been the cornerstone of an academic community in which students learn to think critically, act compassionately and succeed while serving others. There are more than 10,000 undergraduate, graduate and law students in the University's five colleges – the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Villanova School of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Nursing and the Villanova University School of Law. As students grow intellectually, Villanova prepares them to become ethical leaders who create positive change everywhere life takes them.

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