Melissa Landers-Potts
College of Family and Consumer Sciences
Senior Lecturer and Assistant to the Dean for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Dr. Melissa Landers-Potts is focused on teaching undergraduates and serving as DEI advisor to the College of Family & Consumer Sciences & HDFS Department. She is also a faculty advisor to the HDFS Association and Phi Upsilon Omicron.
Education
| Degree | Field of Study | Institution | Graduation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ph.D. | Human Development and Family Science | University of Georgia | 1998 |
| M.A. | Sociology | University of Georgia | 1994 |
| B.A. | Sociology/Anthropology | Carleton College | 1990 |
Research
Dr. Landers-Potts is interested in how socioeconomic status/overall access to tangible resources and social capital, as well as race/ethnicity influence the success of human beings as they grow--particularly as these contexts relate to their educational outcomes. Generally, she studies and incorporates into her teaching the importance of recognizing the ways that marginalization of people impedes optimal development and how this can be recognized and addressed. Recently, she has also written, presented and taught about the effect and implications of new technologies on individuals and their development. Additionally, she frequently presents on the design of online service-learning courses and her teaching model in which she has partnered with a private sector business to further the learning of her students.
Teaching
Diversity, Structural Inequality & Racism, Human Development, Adolescence, Effect of Technology on Human Development
Awards
| Award Name | Awarded By | Year Awarded |
|---|---|---|
| UGA Teaching Excellence Award | UGA Office of the Provost | 2022 |
| UGA Teaching Academy Inductee | UGA Teaching Academy | 2020 |
| Family & Consumer Sciences 100 Centennial Honoree | College of Family & Consumer Sciences | 2018 |
| Cognella/National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) Innovations in Teaching Award | Cognella Publishing Company and National Council on Family Relations | 2018 |
| UGA Creative Teaching Award | UGA Office of the Vice President of Instruction | 2018 |
| UGA Service-Learning Award | UGA Office of Service-Learning | 2018 |
| UGA Student Government Association Teacher of the Year | UGA Student Government Association | 2017-2018 |
| Teacher of the Year | College of Family and Consumer Sciences | 2013 |
| Teacher of the Year | College of Family and Consumer Sciences | 2010 |
Outreach
Dr. Landers-Potts regularly incorporates experiential and active learning into her teaching. She teaches a service-learning Adolescent Development course each semester in which she partners with an online mental health company in the private sector. Her students become online peer mentors to adolescents and emerging adults across the globe by way of sharing and discussing the developmental information they are learning about these life stages.
Advisory Committee
Advisor to the Dean--Diversity, Equity& Inclusion, College of Family & Consumer Sciences
Facilitator--Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Social Justice Coalition in HDFS Department
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging strategic plan committee chair on outreach for College of Family & Consumer Sciences
Faculty Advisor for Phi Upsilon Omicron Honor Society
Faculty Advisor for Human Development & Family Science (undergraduate) Association (HDFSA)
UGA Active Learning Summer Institute speaker
UGA Service-Learning Fellows speaker
UGA New Student/Parent Orientation speaker
UGA New Teaching Faculty Orientation speaker
Division of Academic Enhancement
Areas of Expertise
Economic hardship, Race-ethnicity, Lifespan Well-Being; Technology & Human Development; Adolescence
Melissa Landers-Potts is an avid runner who is a member of the Athens Road Runner racing team. Her husband and older son are graduates of the University of Georgia and her younger son is a UGA student and member of the cross country and track teams.
Current Classes
HDFS 4330: Diversity in Human and Family Development
HDFS 2200 & 2200H: Lifespan Development
HDFS 3700 & 3700S: Adolescent Development
HDFS 4900: Seminar in Medical Technology, Ethics & Human Development
Current Research
Effects of economic stress and race/ethnicity on children/adolescents
Racism, sexism & classism
Effects of electronic communication on the well-being of military youth
Journal Articles
- Armah, A., & Landers-Potts, M. (2021). A Review of Imaginary Companions and Their Implications for Development (with considerations for race & social class). Imagination, Cognition and Personality, 41(1), 31–53.
- Landers-Potts, M. A., O’Neal, C. W., & Mancini, J. A. (2017). Electronic communication use and socio-emotional well-being among military youth. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 26(12), 3266-3277.
- Simons, L. G., Wickrama, K. A. S., Lee, T. K., Landers‐Potts, M., Cutrona, C., & Conger, R. D. (2016). Testing family stress and family investment explanations for conduct problems among African American adolescents. Journal of Marriage and Family, 78(2), 498-515.
- Landers‐Potts, M. A., Wickrama, K. A. S., Simons, L. G., Cutrona, C., Gibbons, F. X., Simons, R. L., & Conger, R. (2015). An extension and moderational analysis of the family stress model focusing on African American adolescents. Family Relations, 64(2), 233-248.
- Brody, G. H., Jack, L., Jr., Murry, V. M., Lander-Potts, M., & Liburd, L. (2001). Heuristic model linking contextual processes to self-management in African-American adults with Type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Educator, 27, (5), 17-25.
- Malone, D. M., & Landers, M. A. (2001). Mother’s perceptions of the toy play of preschoolers with intellectual disabilities, Journal of Disabilities, Development and Education, 48, 1.
- Landers-Potts, M., & Grant., L. (1999). Competitive climates, athletic skill and children’s status in after-school recreational sports programs, Social Psychology of Education, 2, 297-313.
- Landers, M.A., & Fine, G. A. (1996). Learning life’s lessons in tee-ball: The reinforcement of gender and status in kindergarten sport. Sociology of Sport Journal, 13, 87-94.
Publications
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=H3wjpnQAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra