Professional Bio

Current Courses

SOC 5 - Social Problems (The Social Construction of Social Problems)

SOC/CRIM 479 - Special Topics: Community Engaged Research: Science for the Greater Good

Academic & Professional Interests

Socioeconomic & Health Disparities

Youth Development, Identity, and Culture

Community Research

Popular Music and Media Studies

Recent Presentations and Talks

Ahlkvist, J. A. (September 2019). Supporting and Empowering First-Generation College Students. Paper presented at the Annual Division of Undergraduate Studies Conference on Promoting Innovative Scholarship on Academic Advising, Penn State University, University Park, PA.

Wadsworth, M.E. & Ahlkvist, J. A. (April 2019). Reducing the Biological and Psychological Toxicity of Poverty-related Stress: Building a Strong Identity and Coping Skills. Paper presented at the Global Mental Health Research without Borders 10^th anniversary conference, Bethesda, MD.

Ahlkvist, J. A., Gilfillan, B. (March 2019). Helping First-Generation Students Find & Keep their Balance in College. Presentation for the Penn State University Undergraduate Education Steering Committee, University Park, PA.

Wadsworth, M., Broderick, A., Loughlin-Presnal, J., & Ahlkvist, J. A. (September 2018). Physiologic reactivity to and recovery from acute social-evaluative stress: Differential associations with preadolescents’ internalizing and externalizing problems. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology, Irvin, CA

Recent Publications

Wadsworth, M.E., Broderick, A.V., Loughlin-Presnal, J.E., Bendezú, J.J., Joos, C., Ahlkvist, J.A., Perzow, S.E.D.,  & McDonald, A. (In Press - 2019). Co-activation of SAM and HPA Responses to Acute Stress: A Review of the Literature and Test of Differential Associations with Preadolescents’ Internalizing and Externalizing. Developmental Psychobiology.

Wadsworth, M.E., McDonald, A., Perzow, S.E., Joos, C.M., Ahlkvist, J.A., Tilghman-Osborne, E.M., & Brelsford, G.  (in press - 2019). Reducing the Biological and Psychological Toxicity of Poverty related Stress: Building a Strong Identity and Coping Skills. American Journal of Community Psychology.

Wadsworth, M. E., Ahlkvist, J. A., McDonald, A., & Tilghman-Osborne, E. (2018). Future directions in research and intervention with youths in poverty. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2018.1485108

Wadsworth, M. E., Bendezú, J. J., Loughlin-Presnal, J., Ahlkvist, J. A., Tilghman-Osborne, E., Bianco, H., . . . Hurwich-Reiss, E. (2018). Unlocking the black box: A multilevel analysis of preadolescent children’s coping. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 47(4), 527-541. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2016.1141356

Wadsworth, M. E., & Ahlkvist, J. A. (2015). Inequality begins outside the home: Putting parental educational investments into context. In P. R. Amato, A. Booth, S. M. McHale & J. Van Hook (Eds.), Families in an era of increasing inequality: Diverging destinies; families in an era of increasing inequality: Diverging destinies (pp. 95-103, Chapter xiv, 242 Pages) Springer International Publishing, Cham. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08308-7_7

Ahlkvist, J. (2015). Climbing the charts: What radio airplay tells us about the diffusion of innovation. Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 44(4), 550-552.

Selected Earlier Publications

Ahlkvist, Jarl A. 2011. “What Makes Rock Music ‘Prog?’ Fan Evaluation and the Struggle to Define Progressive Rock.” Popular Music and Society, 34 (5) December: 639-660.

Rhoades, G. K., McIntosh, D. N., Wadsworth, M. E., Ahlkvist, J. A., Burwell, R. A., Gudmundsen, G. R., . . . Rea, J. G. (2007). Forgiving the september 11th terrorists: Associations with coping, psychological distress, and religiosity. Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal, 20(2), 109-128. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1061580070119540

Ahlkvist, J. A., & Faulkner, R. (2006). Are they playing our song? programming strategies on commercial music radio. In J. Lampel, J. Shamsie & T. K. Lant (Eds.), The business of culture: Strategic perspectives on entertainment and media; the business of culture: Strategic perspectives on entertainment and media (pp. 155-176, Chapter xv, 328 Pages) Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, Mahwah, NJ.

Ahlkvist, J. A. (2001). Programming philosophies and the rationalization of music radio. Media, Culture & Society, 23(3), 339-358.

Ahlkvist, J. A. (1999). Music and cultural analysis in the classroom: Introducing sociology through heavy metal. Teaching Sociology, 27(2), 126-144.