The annual Dialogue on Progressive Enlightenment (DOPE) Conference was designed to examine developmental psychology in African and African-American communities. The event returns to the campus of North Carolina A&T State University and this year’s theme addresses the challenge of being a non-traditional college student. Conference organizer Brian Sims, an assistant professor of psychology at NC A&T, and presenter Jahmeri Smith join host Frank Stasio to discuss what institutions of higher learning can do to support the black family dynamic.
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.