Jessica Gladden

Biography

Jessica Gladden has an M.S.W. from Grand Valley State University and her Ph.D. from Michigan State University. She joined the Ferris State University faculty in 2013, and she has previously taught at Michigan State University, Grand Valley State University and the University of Phoenix. Jessica specializes in refugee studies, and has written her dissertation on Coping in East African refugees after visiting a refugee camp in Kenya. She also founded and supervises Thrive: A Refugee Support Program, which works with post-resettlement refugees in the Grand Rapids area. Jessica has previously worked in the areas of adult mental health, foster care, with survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence, and emergency services, in addition to refugee work.

Research Interest

Her teaching interests are in the areas of policy, cultural competency, and field seminar and liaison courses.