Bio:

Emily Scheinfeld (PhD, The University of Texas at Austin) is an assistant professor of Communication at Kennesaw State University. Her research interests center on how adult children and their parents communicate about challenging or difficult health issues, including end of life and grief, genetic testing, alcohol and drugs, the choice to be a donor. She is interested in examining how everyday family health communication differs from family communication more generally and the process of disclosure when attempting to seek out social support during these challenging issues, and how that may impact stress and coping. She has presented at various regional, national, and international conferences and been published in Health Communication, Journal of Social & Personal Relationships, Journal of Death & Dying, Health Behavior & Policy Review, American Journal of Health Behavior, Annals of the International Communication Association, Social Media + Society, and American Journal of Infection Control. 

Current Research:

She is currently examining how and why people grieve online, how having final conversations, and the context of those conversations, assists in coping following the death of a parent, and how religion plays a part in the grief and coping process aside from spirituality or G-d. 

Position:

Emily is proud to serve as the secretary of the Death and Dying board to ensure everyone is kept up to date on all relevant information through minutes, newsletters, and announcements. She has served as secretary in a variety of contexts, starting with her nerdy days in the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization (where she had a pocket guide to Robert’s Rules), throughout college organizations and greek life, to alumni boards. 

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Outside of Academia:

Emily started a nonprofit, L’dor V’dor Judaica. L’dor V’dor takes donations of Judaica that are no longer being used, were bought in surplus, or the family member has passed away, and rehomes it to other Jews in the community who are in need and/or find joy in these items. As someone who is constantly interested in how people talk about their life, health, and at the end of life, this project felt like a way for people to not only share a narrative, help other people, repair the world (tikkun olam), but also allow for a legacy to continue on. This is where the name comes from, L’dor V’dor - from generation to generation. 

Emily also has a dachshund, picked up baking and cooking during the pandemic in order to have gluten free goods more easily, and is a plant mom to an indoor jungle. She coaches 13-16yo volleyball, has a TBR list that may last 5yrs, and loves a good estate sale. 

Links: 

Website: https://tinyurl.com/enscheinfeldphd

Faculty website: https://facultyweb.kennesaw.edu/escheinf/index.php 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/enscheinfeld/

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Emily-Scheinfeld 

Twitter: @profscheinf 

Email: escheinf@kennesaw.edu