Dr. Parminder Parmar, assistant professor of human development and family studies at Penn State Worthington Scranton, president of the Association for Research on Asian Indian Communities (ARAC), will chair a session at the Fourth Annual Conference of ARAC at Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut. The Conference will take place Saturday, April 29th.
Dr. Parmar will chair Panel 3 of the Conference entitled "(Un) Modeling Indianess: Diaspora Cultures and the Acquisitions of Cultural Identity."
Dr. Parmar is a noted authority in the areas of early childhood development, education and parenting. Dr. Parmar earned her doctorate degree in child and adolescent development from the University of Connecticut. She received the master of science degree in child development from Punjab Agricultural University, (PAU), India, and a bachelor of science degree in home science from the Gobind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, India. She was awarded several assistantships at Penn State which involved research, teaching and undergraduate mentoring.
Dr. Parmar's research interests include parenting practices, cross cultural parenting studies, and early childhood development and education. She has over 15 years of teaching, extension and research activities, including work as a research associate in the Family Nutrition Program at the University of Connecticut and graduate research assistant, International Study of Children, Parents, and Schools (The Netherlands, US, Australia, Spain, Italy, Poland and Sweden) through the Human Development and Family Studies Programs at Penn State. At PAU in India, she held the position of assistant professor, assistant extension specialist, and faculty in-charge of student affairs.
Dr. Parmar attends numerous conferences and seminars. She is a member of the International Maternal and Child Health Association of India; The Society for Research in Child Development; The International Society of Social and Behavioral Development; The Society for Cross-cultural Research and the Child Development Society, where she serves as secretary. She is also a member of the Indian Association for Preschool Education.
Dr. Parmar is extensively published and is a popular author in India on such diverse topics as Child Births In Water, The Take Off of Universal Immunization, Enuresis and the Philosophy of Early Childhood Education. She has delivered televised talks on Indian State television aimed at parents on topics such as childcare practices and child development.
She is an active international presenter and educator and has contributed information to conferences in Sweden, Australia, China, Switzerland as well India. Working with UNICEF, Dr. Parmar conducted a course entitled "Care and Development In Pregnancy" at a workshop on Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas at Ludhiana, India.
Dr. Parmar worked closely with poor rural women to educate them for uplifting standards of health and sanitation. She taught nutrition, gardening and healthy eating and also provided information about supplementing the family income through creating and marketing arts and crafts.
Parmar resides in Clarks Summit.