Flannery standing in front of a black background and smiling. She has short curly hair and is wearing glasses and a light purple and brown dress.


E-mail: currinf@denison.edu

Denison University Olin 210

Research


StoryCarnival

StoryCarnival aims to provide low-tech supports (stories and an adult-operated voice agent) for children's face-to-face social play. The stories introduce characters with complementary skills working together to partially resolve a problem, and it is up to the players to decide what might happen next. We have found that the structured activities and voice agent can help integrate shy children in play and overall encourage a trend toward more collaborative, social play. StoryCarnival is now publicly available at storycarnival.org.

Ethics of Emerging Technologies for Children

Studies of ethics of emerging technologies are always challenging because they require anticipating future changes in technologies and the way people use them. Emerging technologies can always have unanticipated impacts on people in general, and children in particular who may not be the initial target audience for new technologies. This project aims to develop participatory approaches to involving children and adult stakeholders (e.g., parents, teachers, healthcare professionals, etc.) in anticipatory ethics studies.

Iowa Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (ILEND)

In 2021-2022, I was a trainee in the Iowa LEND program . I attended twice-weekly seminars and worked with graduate students in other disciplines, self-advocates, and family members on two research projects: one focused on provision of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) services in Iowa schools and another focused on the intersections of disability, mental health, and incarceration.

Communication between Family and Respite Caregivers of Older Adults

As an REU student at IU Bloomington, I worked on a project interviewing family and respite caregivers of older adults about their communication needs and preferences for coordinating short-term care.