The April issue of O, Oprah Winfrey's magazine, features associate professor of psychology, Matthew Hertenstein's study on touch, which highlights the presence some DePauw professors can have in the nation's media.
In the article, Journalist Diana Spechler challenges others to embrace the art of touching. Spechler opens the piece by describing a personal encounter of brushing her leg against a man on a bus. The accidental encounter surprised her, and she experienced a sense of comfort. The encounter sparked Spechler's interest in whether touch deprivation exists, which is how she came across Hertenstein's study on the importance of touch amongst humans as relating to a person's mood and health.
"Most of us...need more human contact than we're getting," Hertenstein said in the article. "Compared with other cultures, we live in a touch-phobic society that's made affection with anyone but loved ones taboo."
Hertenstein conducts his studies on touch in the Touch and Emotion Lab (TEL) with DePauw students in the basement of Harrison Hall.
Hertenstein said he believes the topic of touch deprivation in itself is interesting to connect to everyday life.
"I think it's always nice when people bring scientific findings into the public realm in a thoughtful and sophisticated manner," Hertenstein said.
Numerous studies support the positive relationship of touch in our lives and the positive health outcomes.
"Stimulating touch receptors under the skin can lower blood pressure and cortisol levels, effectively reducing stress," Hertenstein said in the publication.
In addition to doing studies with touch, Hertenstein and his students study topics such as emotional development in early life as well as the connection between facial expressions and life outcomes.
Hertenstein is not the first professor to be featured in the media. Robert Steele and Tom Chiarella are examples of professors that have had their work showcased.
Steele '69, director of the Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics, has past experience working in television news as reporter and producer. Steele also worked as an ethics instructor for The Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, Fla. for 20 years.
Although Steele is now a professor at DePauw, he still advises journalists who have trouble with ethical issues in their news publications, and does interviews with journalists who are writing about ethical issues. One reason Steele choice to focus on teaching was to give him a chance to expose himself to different views.
"It seemed like a neat opportunity to put my skills to work in a different way and a chance to give something back to DePauw, and...to keep learning as I rub shoulders with professors and other students here," Steele said.
Associate professor in creative writing, Tom Chiarella is a writer for Esquire magazine. While Chiarella said that he tries to focus most of his time on teaching, he also writes monthly short essays for a men's advice column, and occasionally works with editors he wants to connect with. Chiarella said he tries not to do too much freelancing for other magazines. Instead, he tries to keep a balance.
"I don't want to work at DePauw unless I'm committed to the students," Chiarella said. "And I don't want to work for Esquire unless I'm committed to the copy."
Hertenstein also said that he believes balancing outside projects and teaching can be difficult, although it's different depending on the type of work one does.
"I'm just thankful that students are collaborators in most of the research I do," Hertenstein said.