Students from Professor Nancy Gartin Checchi’s Advanced Mental Health II course presented their workshop, “Urban Green Space, Mental Health, and Solidarity with Refugees: Promoting Dignity and Community Well-Being,” at the Center at Mariandale. Left to right: Students Rebecca Scherle, Jamin Ruprich, and Cecilia Scharschmidt; Nancy Gartin Checchi, Professor of Clinical Practice and Graduate Coordinator of the School of Nursing; Mac the service dog; and graduate student Amrita Paul.
Mount Saint Mary College students and faculty recently presented their research at the annual Saint Catherine of Siena Environmental Summit at the Center at Mariandale in Ossining, N.Y.
The day-long conference was cosponsored by Mount Saint Mary College and centered on the theme “Solidarity in Action: A Conference on the Dignity of Refugees and Migrants.”
The regional gathering brought together distinguished scholars, practitioners, and student researchers from across the tri-state area to discuss global displacement issues and share academic research.
The Mount representatives highlighted graduate-level healthcare research and undergraduate philosophical inquiry. Scholars from the Advanced Mental Health II graduate nursing course, taught by professor Nancy Gartin Checchi, Graduate Coordinator, delivered a workshop presentation titled “Urban Green Space, Mental Health, and Solidarity with Refugees: Promoting Dignity and Community Well-Being.”
Delivered by graduate students Rebecca Scherle, Jamin Ruprich, Cecilia Scharschmidt, and Amrita Paul, the research analyzed how structural access to safe, inclusive green environments functions as a psychiatric protective factor. Their findings detailed practical methodologies for mitigating trauma, social isolation, and the disproportionately high rates of mental health disorders experienced by displaced populations.
In addition, Charles Zola, Assistant Vice President for Mission, director of the Catholic and Dominican Institute, and associate professor of Philosophy, accompanied a contingent of undergraduate students from his Introduction to Philosophy course.
The event was anchored by a keynote address from Leo Guardado, associate professor of Theology at Fordham University, who examined global migration through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching and the historic role of the Church as a place of sanctuary.