Education & Human Development

Faculty & Staff

Robert Milardo
robert.milardo@umit.maine.edu
rhd360@maine.edu

(207) 581-3128

Title
Professor of Family Relations

Areas of Research

• Family relationships, aunts and uncles, marital relationships, kinship, friendship.

Education

• Pennsylvania State University
  Dept. of Individual & Family Studies
  University Park, PA 16802
  Ph.D., March 1982
  Major: Human Development & Family Studies
  Minor: Social Psychology
• Connecticut College
  New London, CT 06320
  M.A. Social Psych., 1977
• Southern Connecticut State University
  New Haven, CT 06450
  B.A. Psychology, 1972

Teaching

Undergraduate

• CHF 451: Family Relations (fall and spring)
• CHF 452: Family Violence (spring)
• CHF 406: Research Methods (fall)

Graduate

• HUD 511: Seminar in Family Research (fall)
• HUD 540: Theories of Family Development (spring)

Recent Publications

• Milardo, R. M. (2004). Conjugal roles and social networks. In G. Ritzer (Ed.), Blackwell encyclopedia of sociology. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
• Milardo, R. & Wellman, B. (2005). The personal is social. In S. Duck & W. Dragon (Eds.), Understanding research in personal relationships (pp. 244-246). Sage Press.
• Milardo, R. (2005). Comparative methods for delineating social networks. In S. Duck & W. Dragon (Eds.), Understanding research in personal relationships (pp 247-253). Sage Press.
• Milardo, R. M. (2005). Generative uncle and nephew relationships. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 1226-1236.
• Milardo, R., Marks, S., & Helms, H. (2006). Social capital in personal relationships. (Ms. under review.)

Recent Books

• Milardo, R.M. (Ed. ) ( 2001). The Decade in Review: Understanding Families into the Next Millennium. Lawrence, Kansas: Allen Press, and sponsored by the National Council on Family Relations.

• Milardo, R. M. (in preparation). The Forgotten Kin: Aunts and Uncles. (Sample chapters available on request.)

• Milardo, R. M. & Duck, S. (Eds.) (2000). Family as Relationships. London: J. Wiley.

Recent Presentations  

• Milardo, R. M. (July, 2004). Generativity and the culture of uncling. Invited keynote address (Past Presidential Address), biennial meetings of the International Association for Relationship Research, Madison, WI. 
• Masciadrelli, B., Milardo, R., & Pleck, J. (April, 2005). Academic stress and father involvement among university student fathers. Poster presented at the annual meetings of the Society for Research on Child Development, Atlanta, Georgia. 
• Milardo, R. M., Helms, H., & Marks, S. (November, 2005). Social capital in family relationships. Paper presented at the Theory and Method Workshop, annual meetings of the National Council on Family Relations, Phoenix, AZ. 
• Proulx, C. M., Helms, H., Milardo, R., & Payne, C. (November, 2005). Support and interference from spouses and friends: Links to relational quality. Paper presented at the annual meetings of the National Council on Family Relations, Phoenix, AZ. 
• Milardo, R. M. (July, 2006). Beyond the household: The relationships of aunts and uncles. Invited paper presented at the International Conference on Personal Relationships, Rethymnon, Crete. 
• Milardo, R. M., & Petronio, S. (July, 2006). Finding your muse: Writing and publishing in the social sciences. Workshop presented at the International Conference on Personal Relationships, Rethymnon, Crete. 
• Milardo, R. M. (November, 2006). Families in gendered contexts: Relationships among aunts and nieces. Paper presented at the annual meetings of the National Council on Family Relations, Minneapolis, MN. 
• Milardo, R. M. (March, 2007). Theorizing families as multiple households: The relationships of aunts and nieces, uncles and nephews. Invited keynote address presented to the Interim meeting of the European Sociological Association research network on Families and Intimate Lives, University of Lausanne, Switzerland. 

Selected Professional Activity  

• Hofstede Fellow, Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, The Hague, 1991.
• Associate editor, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships (1989-1994)
• Editor, Journal of Marriage and Family, 1996-2001.
• Visiting Research Professor, School of Psychology, Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand (2002)
• President, International Association for Relationship Research, 2002-2003.
• Elected fellow, National Council on Family Relations, November 2005.

Selected Media Interviews

• Alan Adelson, PBS American Parent Series
• Mary Jo Kochakian, Hartford Courant
• Michelle Borstein, AP, NYC office
• Sheryl Tucker, Money Magazine
• Leonard Rosenfield, Judy Jarvis Radio Show
• Jennifer Nagorka, Dallas Morning News
• Michelle Leone, Today Show
• Cynthia Crossen, Wall Street Journal
• Penny Crabtree, USA Today
• Prime Time Live, ABC News
• Roger Rosenblatt, Modern Maturity
• J. Schwartz, ABC News
• Nancy Gammerman, ABC 20/20
• Psychology Today (Heads Up Column)
• Washington Post ( Suz Redfern )
• The Guardian (Luisa Dillner )