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Interview with a Hurricane Katrina survivor. New Orleans. 2007.
Research
 I am a doctoral student in the Social-Personality Psychology subprogram at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York. 
I received my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Houston,
concurrent with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Arts-Painting.  I recently received my Masters in Psychology from The Graduate Center, have completed my doctoral coursework, and am currently working on my dissertation about women artists using their art to help them rebuild their lives after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and Hurricane Ike in Galveston.
 
Curriculum Vitae
Autumn Beckman vitae

Prior to August 2005 my work centered on healthy female sexuality
Healthy Female Sexuality
but Hurricane Katrina immediately changed by research focus. Recently, I completed my first major project on the Gulf Coast in which I interviewed twelve survivors in New Orleans and Houston about their experiences with and since the storm.  The following is an abstract and link to the full paper, Ties That Bound After Levees That Broke:
Loss, Attributions of Responsibility, and Levels of Functioning in New Orleans Following Hurricane Katrina.


Me with my film assistant, Rock Romano, in New Orleans, 2007.

 Abstract
Two weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, President Bush pledged to
“do what it takes” and “stay as long as it takes” to “help citizens rebuild” but nearly a year and a half later very little had changed in New Orleans. This study explores the effects of broken promises on the lives of individual Hurricane Katrina survivors. Through interviews with twelve ethnically diverse participants (9 who returned to New Orleans, 3 who relocated to Houston), an analysis was undertaken of: l) types of loss suffered, 2) attributions of responsibility for problems and solutions, and 3) the effects of loss and responsibility on individual levels of functioning. Findings indicate that the social support networks and Protestant work ethic which might facilitate recovery in other circumstances are insufficient following the multiple and cumulative losses of Hurricane Katrina. Support from larger entities such as the government and insurance companies is essential and, without it, individuals struggle to survive. Despite this, a thread of hope and determination emerges across narratives.
Read the research paper:
Ties That Bound After Levees That Broke 

Here is the abstract and link to another of my papers, Survivors, Pioneers, and Candy Makers: A Review of the Literature on Resilience, Thriving, and Growth:

Abstract
The terms resilience, thriving, and growth have been used somewhat interchangeably to describe people’s positive responses to adverse events.  In this paper I review multidisciplinary literature on these responses and discuss the paradigmatic shift from negative to positive responses and the ways resilience, thriving, and growth have been defined, conceptualized, operationalized, and contested.  I discuss the complexities of intrapersonal and interpersonal findings on resilience, thriving, and growth and present empirical examples to illustrate the constructs.  Finally, I suggest areas for future research and propose rebuilding as a lens through which to examine the ways people transition from decreased functioning following an adverse event to more elevated levels of positive functioning.
Survivors Pioneers and Candy Makers

Concurrent to the Ph.D., I have completed all requirements for a Certificate in Film Studies at The Graduate Center and, in addition to the research paper on Hurricane Katrina, I created films from the interviews with survivors.  I have presented shorts in several academic settings and have created a two-hour piece sent to all who participated in the study.  This piece, Ties That Bound After Levees That Broke: Collective Stories of Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans, tells the stories of life surrounding Hurricane Katrina from the perspectives of the twelve survivors interviewed.  Their stories begin with the days leading up to the storm, take us through evacuation, the week following the storm, returning, and end with accounts of life since the storm.

I have published a chapter, Remember to Press Record: A Practical Guide to Using Video in Research, in the book Video Vision: Changing the Culture of Social Science Research available on Amazon:
Video Vision
 
Me being interviewed by Curtis Green, a Hurricane Katrina survivor, for his radio show
which is dedicated to keeping the displaced New Orleans community together in Houston.
90.1 KPFT. Houston. 2007.
 
I am now in the early stages of my dissertation research examining ways women are rebuilding the Gulf Coast in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina and Galveston following Hurricane Ike.  In addition to the written dissertation, I hope to publish a full-color coffee table book entitled Women Rebuilding the Gulf Coast with photographs and stories from the women I interview.
 
 
Loretta's Authentic Pralines,
a woman-owned business that has survived Hurricane Katrina.
New Orleans. 2007.
Loretta's Authentic Pralines
 
Beyond my Ph.D., I plan to earn a Masters in Social Work with a Mental Health concentration so that I can work with women as a mental health counselor.  I currently volunteer at the Houston Area Women's Center which works with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.