Community Impact Fellows Program

Randi Shedlosky-Shoemaker, PhD, is an associate professor in the psychology department at YCP. She is a social psychologist by training, with a focus in social cognition (e.g., attributional processes, biases and stereotypes, attitudes) and social relations (e.g., group dynamics, prejudice). Her doctoral work specifically focused on narrative psychology (i.e., how we use and are influenced by stories). Randi teaches general psychology, essential skills and tools for psychology majors, multicultural awareness, psychological perspectives on intimate relationships, and senior capstone in psychology. She conducts research in several areas of social psychology, but often focus most on topics that relate to attitudes towards sociocultural issues and social identity. In addition, she research issues related to student learning and success, including striving to create more inclusive and equitable learning environments. Randi predominantly work with quantitative methodology and has experience designing surveys, correlational studies, experiments.

PJ Verrecchia, PhD, is Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice. He started his career in juvenile probation, and then moved to state administration for Pennsylvania's juvenile justice system. The author of over 20 peer reviewed journal articles and two textbooks, PJ has been with the college since 2006.

Peter Leasure, JD, PhD, is an assistant professor at York College of Pennsylvania in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Peter attended New England Law Boston for law school and the University of South Carolina for his research doctorate. His research areas include experimental design, research quality control, corporate compliance, and collateral consequences of conviction. Peter's research has appeared in various scholarly journals such as Crime and Delinquency, the Journal of Experimental Criminology, the Journal of Financial Crime, and the Journal of Money Laundering Control. 

Chrystine Mitchell, PhD, is a graduate of University of Maryland, College Park with a PhD in Reading Education. She teaches literacy education courses as well as foundational courses in education. She enjoys working with pre-service teachers to help integrate best practices in literacy instruction and assessment. Her area of research and passion is embedding digital technologies and culturally sustaining pedagogies in her coursework to help prepare future teachers for the changing landscape in schools.

Nick Anspach, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at York College of Pennsylvania, having received his Ph.D. from Temple University in 2016. His research has appeared in outlets such as Political Communication, Political Behavior, New Media & Society, Environmental Politics, and Research & Politics, among others. He teaches courses on political psychology, the news media, campaigns & elections, and public opinion, and in 2020, Nick received the Outstanding Academic Advisor Award from the York College Student Senate.
 

Corey M. Brooks, PhD, Associate Professor of History, has been teaching at York College since 2010, the same year he completed his Ph.D. at the University of California, Berkeley.  His research interests include American political and policy history, and he is an expert in nineteenth-century America, with an especial focus on Civil War-era politics and slavery and antislavery movements in the nineteenth-century Atlantic World.  His 2016 book Liberty Power illuminates the profoundly influential role of radical antislavery third parties in transforming American political conflict on the road to the Civil War.  His current project is entitled “A Tremendous Undertaking”: A Closer Look at the Politics, Potential, and Problems of the Freedmen’s Bureau."  This research will reexamine the Bureau as both a signal example of radical political leaders seeking to promote far-reaching social change through exercise of federal power, as well as of the serious challenges so many subsequent federal bureaucracies encounter as a result of policymakers’ underestimation of the financial demands of, and of the tenuous, often ephemeral political support afforded, such ambitious public efforts.  He has also published on the history surrounding recently removed monuments to proslavery Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney.  His courses taught at York College include American Civilization I, American Civilization II, Coming of the Civil War, Civil War and Reconstruction, Race and Racism in American History, History of Alcohol and Drugs in American Life, Methods and Theory in History, Senior Seminar in History, and Policy and History in York.

We are looking for partners in the community to assist us with outreach and making connections with local organizations, businesses, and government entities. If you are interested in getting involved, contact us at publicpolicy@ycp.edu.