Aced It
The Aced It podcast is the place to go if you‘re trying to find out what‘s new in the health and justice research world, but don‘t have the time, energy, or know-how to decipher all that academic writing. Dr. Danielle Rudes and Shannon Magnuson from the Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence (ACE!) at George Mason University developed the Aced It! podcast to bring relevant research articles to a broader audience by putting them into layperson’s terms sharing the findings and implications in about 15 minutes.
Listen on:
Episodes
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
Yes, a podcast episode about research methods! Yes, it’s format is fun, interesting, and user-friendly…even though the title is a bit boring. Methods are how researchers conduct their studies and mixed methods means they use multiple methods simultaneously to gather richer data to answer their questions. This podcast provides some explanation for methods terms and ideas that may baffle you…. and it pairs wonderfully with Dr. Liz Evans’ LEAP Learners Course on Mixed Methods.
For more information, download the one-pager for this episode (PDF)
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
There are so many things for researchers to consider when conducting research inside prisons and/or jails. One important part of this research is the ethical concerns around consent and confidentiality. This podcast episode pairs nicely with the LEAP course in Justice Cultures by Dr. David Farabee by engaging listeners with important ethical concerns and offering some practical advice to avoid ethical pitfalls.
For more information, download the one-pager for this episode (PDF)
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
You’ve probably heard of researcher-practitioner partnerships…the ways that science and practice can collaborate. But, have you heard of co-producing knowledge? This episode covers this important topic by taking these relationships further than just how they’re formed…and into what amazing things can be accomplished when scientists and practitioners team up. You’ll find that this episode is a great companion to the LEAP Justice Cultures and Correctional Staff courses.
For more information, download the one-pager for this episode (PDF)
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
We. Need. More. Prison Research. However, access is not always easy. This episode discusses some of the challenges researchers face when doing, or trying to do, research in prisons and offers some suggestions to bolster relationships with carceral institutions that yield data, findings, and…more research. This episode is a wonderful accompaniment to all of the LEAP Learners courses.
For more information, download the one-pager for this episode (PDF)
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
The way things work inside an organization or “how things get done” is what we commonly refer to as the culture or climate of an organization. But culture is more than just that… it is often a facilitator or a barrier to change and reform AND studying it is hard. In this episode, we discuss the many layers of culture and climate and why/how each matters. The episode pairs perfectly with the LEAP Learners Course on Justice Cultures by Dr. David Farabee and the Correctional Staff course by Dr. Lauren Brinkley-Rubenstein.
For more information, download the one-pager for this episode (PDF)
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
Tuesday Jun 01, 2021
The words we use to describe certain individuals or groups matter greatly. Words possess indirect connotation or tone beyond their direct meanings. This episode considers language around individuals and groups involved with the criminal legal system and offers suggestions for how to make sure language is specific, stigma-free, and humanizing. This episode fits nicely with the JCOIN goal of capacity building and enhances the entire LEAP curriculum.
For more information, download the one-pager for this episode (PDF)
About Aced It
Dr. Danielle Rudes and Shannon Magnuson from the Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence (ACE!) at George Mason University developed the Aced It podcast series to bring relevant research articles to a broader audience by putting them into layperson’s terms sharing the findings and implications in about 15 minutes.
The Aced It podcast is the place to go if you're trying to find out what's new in the health and justice research world, but don't have the time, energy, or know-how to decipher all that academic writing.
Shout Outs!
Aced It also graciously thanks Heather Toronjo and Arden Richards-Karamarkovich for their fabulous research and scripting and for the one-pagers that accompany each episode. And, thank you to the countless students who contributed ideas and episode scripts. We also thank Tisha Wiley, Lori Ducharme, and Julia Zur at NIDA for their ever-thoughtful support and guidance and Faye Taxman at ACE! for her career-long devotion to inspiring change and improvement to criminal legal organizations and all those who work with or are served by them. Finally, a ruckus thank you to Shannon Magnuson (GMU and Justice Systems Partners) for her part in inspiring the creation of this podcast.
Meet the Host
Danielle S. Rudes, Ph.D. is a Professor of Criminal Justice & Criminology at Sam Houston State University and the Deputy Director of the Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence (ACE!) at George Mason University. She received her B.A. in mass communication (broadcasting) from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, her M.A. in Communications from the University of New Orleans, and an M.A. and PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Rudes is an expert qualitative researcher whose methods include ethnographic observation, interviews, and focus groups with over 20 years of experience working with corrections agencies at the federal, state and local county levels including prisons, jails, probation/parole agencies, and problem-solving courts. She is recognized for her work examining how social control organizations and their middle management and street-level workers understand, negotiate, and at times, resist change.
Dr. Rudes’ experience includes working with corrections agencies during adoption, adaptation, and implementation of various workplace reforms. She also works with institutional corrections (both general population and solitary confinement) to examine key areas of living and working in these carceral spaces including decision making, perceptions of risk/punishment, and negotiating change/reform.
Dr. Rudes received funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institute of Justice. She also serves on the Editorial Board of the journals Criminal Justice & Behavior, Victims & Offenders and the journal Law & Policy and is an Associate Editor at the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. Dr. Rudes received the American Society of Criminology’s Teaching Award in 2018, the Mentoring Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences in 2021, and several George Mason University awards including Teaching Excellence, Mentoring Excellence, and the Emerging Researcher, Scholar, Creator Award.
Dr. Rudes works closely with her team at ACE! to develop each podcast episode and records all episodes from her home studio.