Spring Term 2026
Embedded Files
Child, Youth, and Family Studies Major: A Multidisciplinary Education
We are excited to announce that the Commencement ceremony will be held in Viking Pavilion on PSU's campus this spring. Plan for a Saturday June 13th Commencement ceremony for all graduating students in SSW programs! More details to come or you can check PSU's Commencement page.
-FSHS (CYFS/HS) Program Director,
Jana Pursley (Meinhold)
Office Hours: by appointment
Summer 2026 term:
CFS 312U
Title: FAMS IN LIFECOURSE PERSPECTIVE
CRN:80128
CFS 313
Title: MTHRS, MTHRNG & MTHRWRK
CRN:80996
CFS 330U
Title: AMERICAN FAMILIES IN FILM & TV
CRN:80129
CFS 350U
Title: INTRPERSNL VIOLENCE:CHLDN&FAMS
CRN:80130
CFS 381U
Title: FAMILIES, STRESS, AND CHANGE
Course Number: 381U
CFS 487
Title: EXAMINING BIAS AND BELIEF
CRN: 80133
CFS 410
Title: Global Displacement and Migration
CRN: 80997
FALL 2026 term: (PDF)
10455, CFS 101 Title: INTRO TO CHILD & FAMILY STUD, WEB
10456, CFS 301 Title: WAYS OF KNOWING, WEB
10457, CFS 310 Title: CRIT HST CYFS: GEN/RACE/CLASS, T/Th
10458 & 10459, CFS 312U, Title: FAMS IN LIFECOURSE PERSPECTIVE, WEB
10460, CFS 313 Title: MTHRS, MTHRNG & MTHRWRK, WEB
10461, CFS 318U Title: BLACK FAMILIES IN THE US, T/Th
10462, CFS 320U Title: ABCS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD ED, WEB
10463, CFS 330U Title: AMERICAN FAMILIES IN FILM & TV, WEB
10464, CFS 340U Title: QUEER FAMILIES, WEB
10465, CFS 350U Title: INTRPERSNL VIOLENCE:CHLDN&FAMS, WEB
10466, 10467, CFS 381U Title: FAMILIES, STRESS, AND CHANGE, WEB & T/Th
10468, 10469, CFS382U, Title: MENTAL HEALTH IN FAMILIES, WEB & T/Th
10470, CFS 385U Title: WORKING W/DIVERSE FAMILIES, WEB
10471, CFS 386U Title: YOUTH SEXUAL HEALTH EDUCATION, WEB
10472, CFS 390U Title: SEXUALITY AND FAMILY SYSTEMS, WEB
10473, CFS 391Title: FAMILY THEORIES, WEB
10475, CFS 410 Title: TOP: PARENTING/PARENT ED, WEB
13640, CFS 410 Title: TOP: MIXED STATUS FAMILIES, WEB
10477, CFS 440 Title: CRITICAL YOUTH STUDIES, WEB
10478, CFS 460 Title: GRIEF AND LOSS IN FAMILIES, WEB
13639, CFS 475 Title: WIC: BUILDING PROF IDENTITY, T/Th
10479, 10480, CFS Title: EXAMINING BIAS AND BELIEF, WEB & T/th
10481, CFS 488 Title: STRUCTURAL OPPRESSION, WEB
10482, CFS 489 Title: ACTIVISM FOR SOCIAL CHANGE, WEB
10483, CFS 492 Title: FAMILY LAW AND POLICY, T/th
10486, CFS 497 Title: PRACTICUM, WEB
2025-2026
Welcome Family Studies and Human Services Students
Hello Students! Please stop by and say hello, my office is located in ASRC on the 6th floor 620J or via email jpursley@pdx.edu. The CYFS Program will be kicking off activities and meet-and-greets during the new University "Community Time" this fall, more information to come.
This year marks the start of my 22nd year as faculty at PSU and in the CYFS Program. There have been a lot of changes at PSU in 22 years, but one consistency is our amazing students. The past two years I have served as the Program Director of CYFS and I look forward to another year of working with all of you through whatever comes our way!
This year also marks an exciting milestone—our program now includes two undergraduate majors: Child, Youth, and Family Studies (CYFS) and Human Services (HS), which together make up the Family Studies and Human Services Program.
Thank you for choosing CYFS and choosing a career pathway that gets you out there supporting people and communities! Looking forward to another academic year!
Jana Pursley (Meinhold)
Program Director Office Hours: by appointment
The Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) credential has achieved significant recognition by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Office of Head Start. The CFLE credential is awarded by the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) and is recognized across the U.S. and Canada for its excellence in Family Life Education. Excitingly, the Child, Youth, and Family Studies (CYFS) program at Portland State University is a CFLE-Approved Program. This approval means that our graduates are well-prepared to meet the rigorous standards required for the CFLE credential, further solidifying our commitment to excellence in Family Life Education.
Dr. Staci B. Martin - Working Symposium on Refugee & Migrant Education
Dr. Staci B. Martin - Working Symposium on Refugee & Migrant Education
Dr. Staci B. Martin and several colleagues recently presented a working paper on South-to-South Knowledge Mobilization Arts-based Research at the Working Symposium on Refugee and Migrant Education, held at Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, USA. The symposium brought together voices from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas. It focused on displacement in places like Kenya, Malawi, Jordan, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Myanmar, and the Rohingya crisis. Many of the authors, including members of the Afghan Female Tactical Platoon and scholars from Elimisha Kakuma, are themselves refugees or displaced persons, ensuring that lived experience shapes the academic conversation.
The symposium used a different session format to encourage active collaboration. Instead of long presentations, authors who shared their papers in advance spent the first three minutes to:
Highlight specific areas where they welcome feedback.
Note how they hope to further develop their arguments.
Indicate connections between their paper and broader symposium themes.
Instead of giving a traditional research paper presentation, Dr. Martin wrote a short essay about her research process, highlighting the three areas mentioned above. She used the 1980s film Planes, Trains, and Automobiles as a framework. Her paper is called “Planes, Trains, Automobiles, and Matatus.” Here is an excerpt from her talk.
TOJC has developed justice and inclusion teaching/learning Toolkits with activities for ECE classrooms, home visit programs, and in-home care settings and for families, based on the six core social identity categories: race/skin color; gender, family structure, culture/language, socio-economic status, and able-ness. The Toolkits are available online to purchase and download and will be available in hard copy soon!
Are you interested in serving as a Student Representative in the CYFS?
The School of Social Work values student input and participation on SSW committees. Duties: attending CYFS Team meeting once a month. These committees influence policies, practices, faculty training, and curriculum, in addition to other school-wide functions. Interested? Please email: cyfs@pdx.edu, looks great on your resume
CYFS program has purchased APA guidelines for all of the CYFS majors. We hope that this tool is useful to you as you move through your classes. Writing using the APA format is something CYFS majors work on in all of our classes, but especially in the Professional Self required writing series. Please let us know if you find this tool helpful.
Please fill out the form with your PDX.edu email below if you did not received an APA guideline and would like one. We can not guarantee you will receive one (but will try our best).
CYFS Students Resources:
The Learning Center at PSU https://www.pdx.edu/learning-center/ has academic coaching, D2L support, tutoring and a variety of tools to help you find success in your studies. These programs are free and remote this term.
The library at PSU provides a number of academic supports for students, including long term loans of Chromebooks and other equipment. You can find out more about their Spring services here https://library.pdx.edu/services/library-services-2021/
Your CYFS faculty is also here if you have questions or concerns. Please feel free to contact your instructors, stop in during their virtual office hours, or visit me on Tuesdays from 3-4 at https://pdx.zoom.us/j/86438158970 .We are not together in person yet, but we are here.
This SSW Undergraduate Programs newsletter will be the place to look for current information and events throughout the term. It will appear at the beginning and middle of each month. If you have any information you would like to share with your fellow students, you can do by submitting it to sswundergrad@pdx.edu
The PSU Covid-19 Response page is a good place to find out the most current guidelines, information, and resources for PSU students.
Portland State University requires all employees and all students who live, work, learn, or access services on our campus to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or be approved for an applicable exemption. You can find additional information on the PSU Covid -19 Vaccinations page.
Masks are no longer required in most spaces at PSU, except for campus health care and child care spaces. However, quite a few people are still most comfortable wearing masks, so we need to recognize and respect that people will be comfortable with differing mask usage. You can find out additional information on the PSU Masks page.
All of the CYFS faculty and staff look forward to seeing you - whether online or in person. Make sure to reach out to us so we can assist you in having a good school year. My weekly open office/student hours are on Tuesdays from 4-5 on zoom https://pdx.zoom.us/j/89938911731
Check out our community partnership page and get involved. Our children development center at Portland State University is looking for students who are interested in gaining leadership skills in family and children learning environment by joining their advisory board and attending a meeting once a month. Contact Helen Gordon Child Development Center
Previous newsletter information: Link to previous newsletter information here
Roberta Hunte & Susanne Klawetter recently published "'Black Nurses in the Home is Working:' Advocacy, Naming, and Processing Racism to Improve Black Maternal and Infant Health" in Maternal and Child Health Journal. The article explores how racism-related stress impacts Black women’s health, pregnancy, & parenting and how a culturally-specific program can affect this relationship. Any Student interested in working or discussing research with Roberta Hunte, email hunte@pdx.edu
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